The Cougar and the Cowboy

lunch and to switch drivers. Jace was prepared to be nervous about allowing Dani to drive his truck. It was one of his possessions that was paid for. His fears were unfounded as she handled the driving effortlessly.

Since it was nearly 650 miles to Loveland, they planned on driving all day and into the early evening. The person that wasn’t driving was trying to sleep. They had no mechanical trouble but did encounter a few traffic jams and a lengthy construction area which caused them to arrive later than anticipated.

The Frasier rig was in the designated parking lot when they pulled in.

As Dani climbed out of the driver’s side, Lucy came to her with outstretched arms and wrapped her in a big hug. “Oh, Honey, I’m so happy to see you.”

Cal hugged her, too and then proceeded to shake hands with Jace, who was slowly waking up. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Jace…face to face.”

“Yes Sir, it is,” was his groggy response.

“Well, come on up to our hotel room and get the dust washed off.” Lucy invited. “Then we’re going to take y’all to a nice place for dinner.”

Dani went to the room to try to make herself presentable if they were going out to eat. She hadn’t expected to be going anywhere but in retrospect, she should have known better. Cal and Lucy would never allow her and Jace to turn around and immediately head back. It wasn’t in their nature.

The two men looked at Jasper. “He’s a good-looking piece of horseflesh, Jace and I’m happy to take him home with us. It’s obvious you take excellent care of your animals. You won’t have to worry about him. I give you my word he will have a home on our ranch until he dies.”

Jace was nearly in tears. “I know he will and I thank you for that. I will miss him so,” he said quietly.

Cal put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “It’s hard when you have to part ways with a horse that’s been your best friend. I know the day is coming when my horse, Cutter, and I won’t be together anymore; either due to his death or mine,” he said softly. Then he turned and smiling again, said, “Let’s get these two horses switched so they’ll be ready to travel in the morning.”

When Dani joined them, Jace observed she looked like she was just starting her day instead of like someone who had been riding in a truck for twelve hours.

“Okay, it’s your turn to try to wash off the horsey smell,” she told Jace.

“Don’t scrub too hard,” Lucy interjected. “There’s nothing better than that horsey smell.”

Dani stepped up into the horse trailer. She clasped her hand over her mouth when she saw the mare that was going home with her. “Oh my,” was all she could say as she ran her hands over the horse’s side and down her rump. She moved to her head and whispered to her, “You’re beautiful. I can’t even describe just how beautiful you are.”

Dani stayed with her until one of the others said they were going to eat with or without her. She wouldn’t have cared but her stomach was complaining.

They laughed and told stories during dinner at a local BBQ restaurant, with Lucy giving a blow-by-blow description of the time the bull had two of their grandsons cornered in a pasture. “Dani was an integral part of their rescue,” she bragged.

Jace smiled at Dani. “I’m impressed. Was this before they knew you were a girl or after?” he teased.

Jace described The Branding Iron for them but omitted the part about the looming possibility he might have to sell it soon. He had trouble admitting that fact to himself, let alone telling it to people he hardly knew.

As they ate their dessert, Cal cleared his throat and became serious. “Lucy and I have a big favor to ask and it concerns both of you. We are planning a trip to the West Coast…Washington, specifically…and want to know if our grandson, Luke, could stay with you, Dani, for a few weeks. And Jace, even though we understand it’s been a while since you were riding the rodeo circuit, we’re asking you to show him some of the positives and maybe more of the negatives of making that his life’s vocation.”

Dani immediately nodded and was smiling from ear to ear. “I would love to have Luke stay. Dad would enjoy his company, too. Of course, the answer is yes.”

Jace hesitated. “I guess I don’t know exactly what you want me to tell him or show him. Do you want him to be a rodeo man or not?”

Cal and Lucy exchanged glances. “His parents are not exactly thrilled about his choice. He’s still young but he’s talked of nothing else since he was old enough to talk. I guess we’re asking you to just be truthful with him. Describe the dangers without totally obliterating his dreams. Is that possible?”

Jace shrugged, “I’ll give it my best shot. Maybe after I show him my scars, he won’t need any other persuasion.”

“Great. It’s a deal. Thank you both. The plan is to drop him off on our way to Washington. We’ll fly to Montana and drop Luke with you, Dani. Then we’ll drive the rest of the way to Washington. This is a serious business trip but we’re going to mix in a bit of pleasure too. A country-western band we enjoy is going to be playing at a music festival in Seattle and we plan on being in the crowd one night. On their website, they have the dates and locations they’ll be playing on their way back home so we may follow them back as far as Montana when we pick Luke up again.”

Jace laughed. “So you two are groupies?”

“Yep,” Lucy agreed. “We are Texas groupies for an Indiana band. I bet that doesn’t happen often.”

Before they left, Lucy told them, “I reserved two rooms for y’all. You can’t drive safely when you’re exhausted. Get a good night’s sleep and leave in the early morning.”

They both protested but to no avail.

“This mare you can’t use because of her bloodlines,” Dani said pointedly to Cal, “does she have a name?”