The Cougar and the Cowboy

“Great. I have some unfinished business with her.” He went behind the bar and grabbed the magazine to take with him. Then he changed his mind, threw it on the bar and went out through the office and the back door, instead, saying, “I don’t need to take that with me.”

***

While Mitch was cleaning up and Larry was giving Will instructions, Dani came in the door. Mitch’s face lit up like a candle.

“Hi Dani. What brings you in here?”

“I dropped Dad at the doctor’s office but they’re running way behind today. I didn’t want to sit there but don’t want to spend the time and gas to go home either, so I thought I’d come here and drink lemonade for a while.”

“That’s great,” Mitch told her as he put a glass of ice cold lemonade in front of her.

He went back to cleaning while she sipped the cold drink. When she spied a rolled up magazine on the bar, she opened it to read while she waited. When checking the cover, she saw it was for middle-aged women but since it was the only thing available to pass the time she decided it would be better than nothing. She scanned the recipes and vacation tips. When she reached the feature article, she saw someone had written JACE on the one column with a Sharpie. There was another name scribbled on the next page…COLLIER. She began reading the words but her face contorted before she got to the end.

“I have to go, Mitch. Thanks for the lemonade. Dad’s waiting for me.” She slid off the stool and practically ran out the door.

When Maggie returned, she asked, “Did I see Dani in here?”

“Yes, for a little bit,” Mitch answered with a bewildered look.

“Why did she leave without saying hello?”

“Don’t ask me. One minute she was reading a magazine and the next minute, she was gone.”

Maggie realized what Dani had been reading which wouldn’t have been a problem if she hadn’t written Jace and Collier’s names on the pieces she was convinced were about them. She never meant for anyone but the two men to see it.

***

Dean got into the truck and was talking to Dani but she wasn’t replying.

“What’s the matter…cat got your tongue?”

She shook her head but didn’t say anything. That’s when he noticed the few tears on her face.

“Awww, Honey. What’s the matter? Please don’t cry. I never could stand to see my girl cry. Tell me what happened.”

“It’s complicated and I don’t even know how to explain it, Dad, because I don’t understand what’s going on. People always have secrets of some kind, it seems to me.”

***

Jace wheeled his truck into the drive at Camille’s house. He knocked…hard…but no one answered. Maybe she hadn’t come back after all. As he was preparing to leave, he heard faint music coming from the back deck. He walked around the house and found her sitting cross-legged on the wooden flooring while she stared at the mountains in the distance.

“Emily or Camille or whoever you are,” he began in a rather loud voice.

Startled, she turned to look up at him. She acknowledged his presence and said softly, “Jace.” With the next breath, she told him, “The name’s Camille.”

He stood there for a minute, unsure of what to say next. She looked like a little girl with her hair pulled back and a ball cap on. If there had been any make-up, it was probably washed off by the tears he thought he saw when he first walked up.

“I wanted to give this back to you,” he said as he tossed the check on her lap. “As it turned out, it wasn’t needed. Some good friends paid for the band and their accommodations. I could have destroyed it but I wanted to give it back in person and tell you I don’t appreciate being used. You only pretended to enjoy our dates so you’d have material for your magazine.”

In the same monotone voice, she answered him, “And you only dated me because you knew I had money and could bail your ass out of a jam. It would seem as though we used each other, Jace. I guess you could call it double deception, don’t you think? By the way, you’re welcome and I’m happy the weekends were a success.”

She returned her gaze to the mountains and he sat down beside her.

“Look, Camille. I came here today prepared to let you know how angry I’ve been at you. I know we had a few dates but in my recollection, none of them ended up like you wrote…or even close to it. I am pretty naïve about the pu

blishing world, but can you explain the whole situation to me? I like you and to tell the truth, I laughed when I first read about our imaginary escapades but if Maggie figured out who you were writing about, I’m sure there are others who will, too. And there’s one woman in particular that I don’t want to see your article, y’know?”

She took a deep breath. “I’ll make this as succinct as possible, Jace. My magazine was experiencing declining numbers. Sort of like your bar. I needed something relevant for my readers to pique their interest like you needed Hubie and the band. My staff and I agreed to run a 6-month series of articles on the subject of online dating…specifically of the cougar type…older woman and younger man. Instead of just giving them boring statistics it was decided to send me to some far-off state where no one knew me and I would actually do the online dating. Under an assumed name of course…Emily Hasbro. I liked you and enjoyed our dates but I didn’t want to lead you on to the point of being serious so I made up that part. End of story. I’m very sorry if it’s become a problem for you. Mavis’ Mag isn’t distributed in this part of the country so it shouldn’t show up where your friends can see it. Oh, and this was my mother’s house so that’s how I ended up in Bozeman.”