One Night Rodeo (Blacktop Cowboys 4)

Garnet did the wave when they arrived. “About damn time. We started without you.” She gave Celia, Tierney, and Harper a one-armed hug, since she held a drink in her other hand. “Cheap drinks tonight, so I intend on bein’ a cheap drunk.” She whistled for the cocktail waitress. “Another round, barkeep!”

“Garnet is in good spirits,” Bernice said, “so watch out.”

Harper scanned the group. “Where’s Tilda?”

“A Skype date with her grandson who lives in Singapore.” Pearl pointed to the dance floor. “And Vivien’s already cuttin’ a rug with some feller. But he’s got wandering hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if Viv slapped him.”

“Which is why Pearl hasn’t taken her eyes off them,” Maybelle said. “Ten bucks says she slugs him in the stomach.”

“You’re on,” Pearl said.

They were both sorely disappointed when Vivien just gave the guy a stern talking-to with lots of finger shaking.

Susan Williams, Buckeye Joe’s owner, delivered a round of drinks and promised to return and drink a toast.

Garnet held her glass aloft. Her gaze encompassed Celia, Tierney, and Harper. “To these young gals. May their friendships last as long as ours have.”

“Hear, hear.” Glasses clinked.

That was a sweet and tame toast—from the woman who wore a royal blue tank top emblazoned with GILF in rhinestones. Beneath that, Garnet had on a black lace long-sleeved T-shirt. Her pants were stretch denim covered in glittery sparkles.

And Celia had worried that her outfit was too over the top? She fiddled with the belt to her coat, making sure it stayed knotted. It was always cold in the bar in the winter, so no one thought anything of her leaving her coat on, especially if she wasn’t dancing.

Conversation flowed as freely as the booze. Celia wasn’t in the mood for either, so she nursed her drink and listened.

An hour passed. She heard about Bernice’s upcoming bunion surgery. Vivien bragged on her grandchildren. Pearl talked about starting the Jack Daniel’s knitting club. Harper talked about her sisters’ military lives. Tierney announced she was throwing a baby shower for Janie and Tyler.

Garnet leaned closer. “See the dude in the beige hat at the bar?”

Celia angled back for a better look. “Gray hair?”

“Yep. How old do you think he is?”

“Between fifty and sixty, closer to the sixty side.”

“Practically a baby,” Garnet snorted.

“Age is relative. You’re the one who taught me that. You oughta ask him to dance.”

“I will.” She put her mouth on Celia’s ear. “Don’t tell no one at this table what I’m doin’.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’ll try to stop me. For my own good. But Lord. I’m tired of being good. Know what I mean?”

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Pearl demanded.

“Nothin’. Just giving Celia sex advice,” Garnet trilled. “Pretty raunchy stuff, Pearl. You’d probably blush.”

Celia choked on her drink.

“Is that right?” Pearl asked Celia.

“Uh. Yeah. I’m blushing, but it’s stuff I, ah, needed to know.”

Satisfied, the ladies returned to their conversation.

Garnet murmured, “Thanks for covering for me. I’m off to rock his world.”

Another half hour passed. Celia wondered how long she had to stay.

“Boot Scootin’ Boogie” blared from the speakers and everyone jumped up for the line dance, except Maybelle and Celia. They volunteered to stay at the table to keep an eye on drinks and purses.

“How’s married life treating you?” Maybelle asked.

“Great. We’re getting the house set up. Working cattle. Doing all the never-ending ranch stuff. Getting ready for calving.”

Maybelle patted her hand. “Celia, dear, that’s not what I meant. I wondered if you and Kyle are getting along okay.”

Celia bristled. Given their past, did everyone assume she and Kyle would constantly be at war with each another? “Yes, we are. Why?”

“I remember the first few months Earl and I were married. The man drove me insane. I swore I’d made a mistake. Living with him every day was nothing like the rosy world of dating, where he was all cleaned up when he picked me up for a date and he was always on his best behavior. Listening attentively to whatever I said. Buying me little tokens. I was shocked by how fast some of that wooing behavior disappeared after the wedding bells stopped pealing.”

“But obviously you worked around it because you were married for over fifty years.”

Maybelle offered a sad smile. “Yes. I miss that man every day. But at first it took me a while to admit I liked the real side of Earl better than the idealized dating version. Sure he was a slob. And he had no patience for my dillydallying. We’d fight over the dumbest things. He’d storm off and I’d cry. But he wasn’t mad for long. We’d air our grievances and then it was over.”

Celia found herself confessing, “Kyle hurt my feelings yesterday. He’d been saying some mean things that I’m probably overly sensitive about.”

“What did you do?”

“Stomped off. Bought myself some new clothes. Stayed away from home for a few hours.”

“What happened when you went home?”

“He apologized.”