It Takes a Cowboy

“Or what, cowboy? You going to make me shut up?”

Jeffrey was giggling now, his hands over his mouth to quiet the sound.

Looking utterly bored, Scott stifled a yawn. “Not today. I have much better things to do.” And then he dismissed her with a condescending look, turned and sauntered away, his head high, almost exuding cowboy confidence.

Blair chuckled. “Okay,” she said. “You win.”

“You take it all back?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Oh, yes,” she assured him, then added meditatively, “except what I said about your horse.”

He grinned and ruffled her hair on his way back to his seat. “Cute.”

“That was real funny,” Jeffrey commented, his smile gone again. “But it’s not that easy. What if she didn’t shut up? What if she followed you and kept yelling things at you?”

“Then I’d have kept walking,” Scott replied. “Without a reaction, she’d have gotten bored and gone away.”

“And what if he—I mean, what if she had thrown the first punch? Wouldn’t you fight back if someone hit you?”

“I would never use my physical strength against someone who is smaller or weaker—as your aunt obviously is. So it wouldn’t have mattered if she had hit first, I wouldn’t have hit back.”

“Jason’s not smaller than me or weaker,” Jeffrey muttered. “What if he had hit me first?”

“Well, he didn’t, of course,” Blair had to point out.

“And if he had,” Scott added frankly, “you might have been forced to defend yourself. A man does everything he can to avoid a fight, but sometimes he isn’t given a choice.”

Blair frowned. “Fighting is never the answer.”

Scott gave her a look. “C’mon, Blair, you don’t expect him to let someone

beat the crap out of him, do you?”

“I would hope he would try to get away without fighting.”

“Of course. That’s what we were just talking about. I said it should be the last resort. So what Jeffrey should agree to is to never again be the guy who throws the first punch, no matter what drivel someone else spouts off. Can you promise us that, Jeffrey?”

“I’ll try,” the boy muttered.

Scott shook his head. “Not good enough. Before I went to Lost Springs, I was in a fight nearly every day. If someone even looked at me funny, I punched him. My counselor at Lost Springs made me promise I wouldn’t start any more fights and I kept that promise, even though sometimes it was very hard to do.”

“You’ve never been in a fight since then?”

Scott hesitated only a moment before answering, “I’ve never been in one without trying everything I could to avoid it. And I haven’t struck the first blow.”

“Scott made a promise,” Blair emphasized before Jeffrey could ask for details about the fights Scott hadn’t been able to avoid. “Will you make the same promise, Jeffrey? Will you agree that you won’t start any more fights, no matter what the provocation?”

“Okay,” Jeffrey conceded. “I won’t hit first.”

She supposed that was the best she could get at the moment. “Thank you. Now, as far as the next two days go, you’ll have to spend them at Aunt Wanda’s house since I’ll be at my office. I’m going to instruct her that you are not to watch television or play video games during school hours. You’ll attend to your schoolwork and read the book you’ve been assigned for your book report. I want the report finished by Sunday.”

“But it isn’t due till Wednesday,” Jeffrey protested.

“Then you’ll be finished early, won’t you?” she asked implacably. “You’ll have plenty of time to work on it.”

“Psst,” Scott said behind one hand. “Better quit while you’re behind, partner. She’s little, but she’s feisty.”

Jeffrey’s mouth twitched in what might have been a faint smile. He nodded. “Okay. It will be finished by Sunday. Can I still play with Belle when we’re home?” he asked worriedly.