The Cougar and the Cowboy

“And I never forget a beautiful redhead, either. It’s Maggie, right?”

“You, sir, have a fantastic memory. What can I get for you tonight?”

Will ordered and watched her as she moved around the busy bar area. She was good at her job for sure and easy on the eyes, too.

When she came back to see if he needed a refill, she told him, “Y’know, you left a magazine here. I kept it for a while but then I took it home and read it. It’s still at my place so I’m afraid I can’t give it back.”

He shrugged. “No problem. I know the editor and owner and occasionally I buy a copy just to see what’s being published for women who are close to my age.”

Maggie squinted at him. “And that would be about…hmm…forty or forty-five?”

“You flatter me, Miss Maggie. There would have been fifty candles on my last birthday cake, if I’d had one. A cake, that is.” She chuckled at that.

“You know, I was thinking my friend might be here in Bozeman. You don’t recall hearing the name, Camille Desmond, do you?” He glanced around the crowded room.

Shaking her head, Maggie said, “No, I haven’t and I do know a lot of people in Bozeman and surrounding areas. It’s one of the perks or drawbacks of my job, depending on how you look at it.”

Mitch hurried around the end of the bar, almost colliding with Maggie.

“What are you doing, Mitch? Somebody chasin’ you?”

“Oh my gosh, Maggie. Larry was working at the grill when he suddenly said he felt dizzy. If I hadn’t caught him, he would’ve ended up on the floor. His cousin was here tonight and volunteered to take him to the after-hours clinic but we’re gonna have to shut the kitchen down and there’s still a bunch of orders hangin up waitin’ to be made.”

“Well, crap!” was Maggie’s undignified reply. “I am not a grill cook by any stretch of the imagination. Go ask Jace if he can fill in. Hurry. We don’t want to lose the new customers we just found.”

Will watched all the commotion and debated if he wanted to get involved. ‘You said you wanted to return to being a good person.’

“Hey Maggie, if your boss won’t mind a stranger in the kitchen, I could help you out. I was a grill cook in high school and college. I wield a mean spatula. By the way, my name is Will.”

Before he was done talking, Maggie had him behind the bar and was tying an apron around his waist.

“At this point, I don’t care if your name is Attila the Hun…you’re hired.”

When the kitchen closed, Jace thanked Will. “You saved our butts tonight. How can I ever thank you?” He pressed some bills into Will’s hand, which he promptly returned.

“I can’t take your money. I had a blast. I haven’t had to physically work that hard or that fast for many years. It was great fun. I should be paying you.”

“If you ever come back through Bozeman, make sure you stop in to see us.”

Will smiled and handed Maggie his card. Then he looked at Jace. “If you give this beautiful creature a vacation, send her to St. Louis, okay?”

He grabbed his jacket from the bar stool where he left it and slung it over his shoulder. Then he quickly kissed Maggie and walked out the door.

***

When the evening drew to a close, Cal invited Jace to attend church with them again in the morning. Glancing at his watch, he said, “We can attend late service and then head straight to the park. What do you say? Luke will be looking for you and I think you enjoyed it last week.”

Jace didn’t want to go. He was whipped after three days of non-stop activity, if you counted the day the band arrived and set up. The thought of seeing Dani again went through his mind and he agreed. “You twisted my arm, Cal. I’ll be there.”

***

Maggie slept in on Sunday morning. She might wander over to the park in the afternoon just to take pictures of the crowd she was certain would show up but this time, she could enjoy the music without having to take orders for drinks. She made herself a cup of tea and lounged around in her pajamas, enjoying the solitude. It took half the night and into the morning before her ears stopped ringing from the crowd last night and before she stopped thinking about that last-minute kiss. She took her tea and a piece of toast to the porch. As she glanced at the pile of mail she had tossed onto a chair for the last two days, she remembered the magazine she ordered from Amazon.

‘You might as well read the rest of the information about being a cougar and enjoying the company of a younger man, Maggie. You’re not getting any younger and Jace isn

’t getting any more willing.’

She turned to the inside cover and table of contents. While scanning the names of articles to find the page number for the dating one, she noticed this issue had the picture of the editor-in-chief along with her name. She looked at it and then looked a second time…unless Emily Hasbro had an identical twin, that was her in the picture but the name was Camille Desmond. ‘What the hell?!’