The Cougar and the Cowboy

CHAPTER 34

“I TOLD YOU I write some articles for a magazine. That’s true, but I think I left out the part about how I own the magazine, Collier. The name is Mavis’ Mag and the offices are in St. Louis, Missouri. If some of this information is redundant, bear with me. Sadly, when a person doesn’t tell the truth about things, they forget what they’ve said and what was left unsaid.”

“The sales have been dropping over the past year…not free-falling but slowly and steadily declining. The staff and I brain-stormed for several months; throwing out ideas, rejecting them, then revisiting the same ideas but with a twist of some kind.”

She paused for a minute. “Did I mention the audience for the magazine is middle-aged women…anywhere from age forty to ninety or older? So, my staff and I were exhausting our brains trying to come up with something interesting and fresh. We settled on the subject of online dating but with a twist. There would be a series of articles written ‘from the field’ so to speak. Someone would actually become involved in online dating, write of the experiences, good and bad and give the readers tips on how to do it safely and correctly, if there is such a thing. I was the only one on the staff of the correct age, so here I am…Emily Hasbro, online dating expert.”

“So you’re telling me you had a date with all the men whose names I saw on your desk?”

“No, not a date with all of them. But I did interact with all of them, either through texts, e-mails, phone conversations or yes, in some cases, an actual date.”

Collier was silent. Camille didn’t know if he was thinking or if he was angry or disappointed or all of the above.

“Say something, Collier…anything would be okay at this point. I didn’t sleep with any of them, if that counts as a plus in my favor.”

“I don’t really know what to say, Camille. I mean, that was a long list of names. I don’t consider myself a jealous person but I cared for you and it seems to me, I was just another one of those names. The only difference was I knew your real name. Does Jace know any of this?”

She shook her head. “No and he doesn’t need to. He believes my name is Emily Hasbro and I prefer we leave it at that. In a few more months, I’ll go back to St. Louis and be Camille Desmond again and everything will be back to normal…for me and for you. I’m sorry if I hurt you. I never intended to fall for you or anyone else. It just happened.”

Collier stood and picked up his hat. “I need some time to think through everything you told me tonight, Camille. I’ll come by in the morning and we can talk some more.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out the door.

“Bye, Cowboy,” she said softly as he left. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she grabbed her phone and dialed a number.

“Yes, I need to schedule an early morning flight. Tomorrow. Yes, I realize it’s short notice and will be expensive…I don’t care.”

***

The Branding Iron saw an even bigger crowd on Saturday evening than had attended Friday night. There was a line out the door and spilling onto the sidewalk with standing room only inside. Many of the people there were the same faces as last night but there were plenty of new ones, too.

Ken grabbed Jace’s arm as he walked by his table and asked, “So tell me, buddy, how are you gonna top this? Got anything in mind for future weekends when Hubie and the band are back in Indiana?”

Jace shook his head. “Not anything firmed up yet but one of the customers last night told me about a band he and his friends like. They play mostly in Billings but he thought they could be persuaded to come to Bozeman.”

As he walked away, Jace had what he thought was a brilliant idea…he’d put Ken and his personable ways, in charge of soliciting entertainment. He would offer to pay him of course for his time and trouble but it might serve two purposes: it would give Ken something to do besides sit at the bar and he wouldn’t have to do it himself. Somehow, soliciting performers wasn’t high on the top of his ‘want to do’ list at the moment.

As the night wore on, he saw Collier come in for a few minutes, look around the room and start to leave again. Jace caught up with him. “Aren’t you staying tonight? I’ll knock someone off a bar stool so you can sit down,” Jace told him, laughing.

Collier shook his head. “Not tonight.”

“What’s wrong? And where’s Emily?”

“That’s what’s wrong, Jace. She’s gone. Disappeared. I showed up at her house this morning to tell her I was sorry about last night and the house is empty. She only brought two bags when she came and they’re both gone.”

Jace was frowning… “I don’t understand. Where would she go? And why would she go?”

Collier shrugged. “She told me some things last night after I took her home. I didn’t respond in the best way, for sure. But I was going to tell her this morning that I was sorry and I loved her, even if we haven’t known each other long. As for where she went…I would assume she went back to Missouri. She’s not planning on coming back, though. The only things she bought after she got here were jeans and cowboy boots. She left those at the house with a note asking me to give them to someone.”

Jace put his hand on Collier’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, friend. I didn’t know you felt that strongly about Emily but obviously, you do. In time, you might decide it’s for the best.” He looked in the direction of Lorna and said, “She left me high and dry once upon a time too, but as I look back on it, I’m glad she did.”

Collier nodded and left. He would never believe it was for the best. That woman had crawled under his skin and he wouldn’t forget her soon.

***

Missy’s rendition of ‘My Church’ and ‘Earl Had to Die’ and Travis and Hubie’s duo performances brought the people to their feet. The crowd loved every minute of it.

They never took a break, but Hubie did take the time to announce the next day’s scheduled ‘family friendly’ concert in the park. He introduced the gentleman who hired the band to add Sunday to their schedule and handed him the microphone.

“Okay, my friends. The concert is at 1pm at Bogert Park. Bring the kids, bring your picnic lunches…heck, bring the dogs…on a leash, of course.” Everyone laughed as he then continued, “Let’s show these great people how we appreciate them with a Montana Sunday, okay?”