A Girl in the Night

A Girl in the Night
by Jake Rivers ©

Author’s Note:

Country music to me is simply stories that are set to music. A great example is “A Girl in the Night” by Ray Price:

“She lives her life in honkytonks and the crowded back street bar.
A world of make-believe that knows no sun, no moon or star.
Where the music's loud, she's in the crowd, a lonely girl in the night.”

The main character in this story was a paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne in Viet Nam. The Airborne Hymn, “Blood on the Risers” is well known to all paratroopers, and dates from the Second World War:

Blood on the Risers
(Author unknown. To the tune of Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.)

“He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright.
He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight.
He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar.
You ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus:
Gory, gory, what a hell of way to die.
Gory, gory, what a hell of way to die.
Gory, gory, what a hell of way to die.
He ain't gonna jump no more.”

This story reprises some of the characters and the locale from my earlier story, The Other Woman.

PROLOGUE – BIG BEND, TEXAS

Summer, 1987

We, my buddy Bobby Morse and a couple of our friends, had been riding our horses on the Blue Creek Trail in Big Bend National Park, dropping down to see the remains of the Homer Wilson Ranch. It was a rugged, dry country and I was glad to get off the damn horse for a while. My leg had tightened up, as I knew it would – it always did when I rode for more than a half hour – and I ruefully rubbed the ragged scar with the heel of my hand.

I sank down in the dust and leaned against a convenient rock. I knocked the dottle out of my pipe and absently packed it as I looked up at the rocky mesa behind the remains of the ranch house. Massaging my leg I remembered that midnight made bright with flashing mortar rounds exploding all too frequently nearby when I got my personal memento of that crazy Asian war in the Pacific.

Operation Junction City was an eighty-two day military operation conducted by U.S. and Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam) forces begun on February 22, 1967 during the Vietnam Conflict. It was the largest U.S. airborne operation since Operation Market Garden during the Second World War, the only major airborne operation in the Vietnam War, and was one of the largest U.S. operations of the Southeast Asian conflict.

The operation was launched with four US divisions, and was essentially a massive search-and-destroy mission along the Cambodian Border, looking for the Viet Cong headquarters in South Viet Nam. American troops over-ran much of the area before encountering significant resistance.

There were three major battles, each initiated by the Viet Cong: the first, at Ap Bau Bang; the second, at Fire Support Base Gold and the third at Ap Gu. In each battle, the Vietcong attacked US forces and were repulsed, suffering very heavy losses.

In all, the Viet Cong lost almost three thousand troops in the battles, while the US lost less than three hundred. Nevertheless, the Viet Cong headquarters, the main target of the operation, was not captured and, once the US troops withdrew, the Communists reoccupied the area.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade had come over to Nam from Okinawa - I was with Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry. My job was to operate the radio for the battalion commander. It was a heavy PRC10 and I had to jump with an extra battery. I was okay until the second battle of Ap Bau Bang. I was standing next to the colonel and found myself lying on the ground in shock with the ugly sound of the AK47 bullet ricocheting off a nearby M-113 resounding in my ear. The deformed slug tore a chunk out of my thigh and gave me a ticket home.

Funny, though, I never dreamed of getting wounded. The nightmare that still woke me up with some regularity was streamering in from a low level drop. The drop zone had been a large, dry rice paddy near the Cambodian border. As I left the C-130 I could see the DZ was already behind us. We’d jumped at 750 feet and right after my chute popped open with a jerk I saw a flash of white screaming past me. I’d seen a streamer once before on an equipment drop of some howitzers but I knew there was a living, screaming body at the end of this one … for a few more seconds, anyway.

I’ll never forget the scream that quickly reduced in volume with the Doppler effect. Sometimes as I lay awake in the stillness of the night I try to remember if that was Corporal Jennings – a kid I went to jump school with at Benning – screaming, or if it were my scream … or both. Whichever, I lived that jump over and over except it was always my chute that failed. The dreams were always violent but mercifully short, as I never hit the ground. I would see the jungle canopy flashing at me with breathtaking speed … but I never hit the ground.

Every time after the dream the last stanza of the airborne Hymn would run through my mind,

“There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the 'chute.
Intestines were a-dangling from his paratrooper suit.
He was a mess, they picked him up and poured him from his boots.
And he ain't gonna jump no more.”

Heavy stuff at three in the morning.

*****

A frown came over my face as an unwanted memory came to me as I heaved myself up to get back on my horse. As a strange epilog to my war experience I was at Stapleton Airport in Denver on my way home – in uniform with my purple heart prominent among my medals and still using a cane – and leaning against a post waiting for my connection to San Antonio to start boarding.

I was half asleep when this really cute girl walked up. She must have been about sixteen or so and I smiled as she approached me. I had my left leg bent to take the weight off it. She pointed at the bent leg and asked, “Did you get that in Viet Nam?”

I smiled at her and said, “Yes, I was …”

She interrupted me and said, “Good! I wish your whole fuckin’ leg had been blown off.” She spit in my face, turned, and ran into the Ladies restroom. I should have known from the “peace” symbol hanging around her neck that peace was the last thing she was thinking about.

The gate attendant handed me some tissues and murmured, “I’m sorry. That stuff happens all too often.

My folks were just happy to see their son, Spec 4 Thomas Patrick Ryan, home safe from the war.

KNIPPA, TEXAS

Fall, 1987

I think the reason people like bars is that it gives them a chance to suspend reality, that is, to kind of put their life on hold for a couple of hours while they enjoy a beer, listen to the music, maybe dance a little … and hide their loneliness. I mean, how can you be lonely when the place is crowded? That’s really the key ‘cause it isn’t that you aren’t lonely; it just gives you a few minutes to pretend you have a normal life and a love to share. Yeah, a love to share. What a joke!

I particularly liked Willy’s Tavern because the bartenders were friendly – they took the time to learn your name – and if you were a little short they would run a tab for you. And speaking of which …

Jeanie was behind the bar tonight and she walked over with the little notebook she used to keep track of who owed what, “Hey, Tom, another?”

“Sure, Jeanie, then I gotta run.” I didn’t really but it made me sound like I had a life. “Hey, who’s that dolly over there that’s been putting all the quarters in the jukebox and wearing that tight dress so well?”

“That’s Kathy Morgan … well, really Kathy Jenner. She took her maiden name back when she dumped that asshole husband of hers. He owns that restaurant, Moxie’s, over to Sabinal. He was supposed to be doing inventory one night when she stopped by and caught him with one of the waitresses. She’s been pretty much broken up about it.”

She bought me the beer and I signed my name, Tom Ryan, in her notebook. I looked over at Kathy – I’d seen her in a few times the last month of so. She was really nice looking. I couldn’t imagine a man having a wife like that and messing around on her. She was maybe medium height with a small waist that made her bust and hips look bigger than they really were.

In a way it was sad to see such a nice looking woman wasting her life in bars and crowded honkytonks. She should have a real life … like me. Sure.

I’d noticed that she never danced more than once with the same guy and never let anyone sit at her table. I’d see guys go up and try to sweet talk her but she would just sit there and shake her head. If the bar was crowded, like on a Friday or Saturday night, it would happen a lot and then she’d eventually get pissed off and get up and leave. I never saw her go out to some cowboy’s truck and come back all mussed up a few minutes later like a lot of the other girls that came to places like this … many of them married.

Somehow I had become fascinated watching her and wondering who she was, what had happened to her. She looked so lonely sitting there. Her hooded eyes seemed to show such regret. She sipped a glass of wine to pass the evening away … just a girl alone, in the night.

Was she thinking of dreams that didn’t last? Was she haunted by past heartaches? Was there a story of a love that wasn’t right? Now the shadows hid her empty pride … the loneliest girl I’d ever seem – hiding in the crowd.

I watched her light a cigarette, take a couple of puffs, and stub it out. The smoke seemed to bring tears to her eyes … or maybe it was something else. Was she there to tempt a lover with that dress that hugged her so tightly?

On a whim I got up and walked over to her table. I figured if I didn’t ask for anything maybe she would be more receptive.

“Hi, Kathy. Jeanie told me your name and suggested I offer to sit with you to keep the jerks away. I’m not doing anything so it’s no bother for me.” Jeanie hadn’t really said that but I guessed she’d back me up.

She looked up at me like she was measuring me for a coffin and said, “If that’s a pick up line, that’s about the worst one I’ve ever heard. And believe me, Buddy, I’ve heard a lot of them!”

Taking a chance I sat down and looked seriously at her. Sometimes the truth is better than lying. “Well, the thing is I’m feeling sorta low down and lonely tonight. It would be nice to have someone to talk to and listen to the music with. If you don’t want to talk, that’s okay. I can just sit here and keep the wolves at bay for you. And by the way, my name is Tom, not Buddy.”

She gave me a speculative look and then a faint smile, “Okay … Tom. Sit for a while if it suits you.”

She didn’t say anything for a long time - just sat there nursing her beer and watching the crowd - then walked over to the jukebox. A bit later the sad, smooth sound of Faron Young came wafting through the smoke filled barroom:

“Oh, it's cryin' time again, you're gonna leave me.
I can see that far away look in your eyes.”

I began to see what might be bothering her. Jeanie had told me a bit about her husband and she felt that Kathy wasn’t upset so much about her loser husband as she was about being treated with such disrespect, that a man could be so low down to her. She sat there looking at the table as if she were intently listening to the lyrics. Sometimes I thought that listening to the jukebox was like getting psychiatric treatment for two bits. Of course, there is the part about you getting what you pay for.

Kathy had jet-black hair that was long and quite glossy … and eyes the color of charcoal that seemed to draw me in. She was actually quite pretty, much more so than I had thought at first.

She suddenly stood up and with a faint nod turned and walked away, out the door and more than likely, out of my life. I sat there for a minute, thinking about her, and then went on home.

Home was a nicely finished but small house surrounded by a quarter section of pecan trees between Uvalde and Knippa. A neighbor took care of the trees and we split the proceeds. The house had two bedrooms and two baths with the kitchen and bedrooms built around one large great room. There were several huge oak trees in the front that provided shade.

I’d worked for a few years selling farm and ranch equipment but since the problems with Cindy Lou I lived on the income from several oil wells over by Midland that became mine when my dad died. They weren’t pumping huge volumes so I was getting around ten grand a month. That was plenty of money for me but it hadn’t been near enough for Cindy.

I met Cindy the summer after I finished college in Austin, with a degree in Oil and Gas Engineering. Summers starting from when I’d finished high school, and then all the way through college, I’d worked as a roustabout, and then a roughneck for a friend of my dad who was into wildcatting in a big way in the area around Odessa. The first summer I’d mostly done gofer stuff and by the end I was doing the more complex, dangerous stuff. A roustabout does the work that requires little training and a roughneck does the stuff around the rig or involving handling pipe.

A roughneck’s job breaks down into the different aspects of the job, such as tool pusher, driller, derrickhand, motorhand or floorhand/chainhand. The lowest job for a roughneck is a leadhand or worm. The lowest job is a worms’s helper, called a ginsel. One roughneck calling another a ginsel was the quickest way to start a fight as it was considered a derogatory term.

There had been a break after my sophomore year of college for what I thought would be three years of the army but it lasted a bit under a year when I got shot in the leg in Nam. I’d had to use a cane for a couple years, and although I still walked with a bit of a limp it didn’t really bother me. Because it had been a ricochet I had one butt-ugly scar on my left thigh. I was sensitive about it for a while but didn’t think much of it anymore.

When I met Cindy at a bar in Midland, I didn’t want to go into all that so I just told her I was in the “oil business.” That turned out to be a huge mistake and I must have missed the way her eyes lit up. She became real friendly, real fast. It wasn’t more than an hour later we were banging the headboard of her bed against the wall making all kinds of racket that failed to drown out her squealing.

We spent the next few weeks doing the horizontal tango – and variations thereof – whenever we had the time and a place. I started having second thoughts about her when she came up and told me that I was gonna be a daddy. I’ll never forget that night. She showed up at my apartment one evening and said, “You’re gonna be a daddy!” Damn! Could she be subtle, or what?

So I did the right thing, which for sure turned out to be totally the wrong thing. I had planned on staying with the same oil company I was working for but the way it worked is I made big money if a well came in and nothing but wages if it didn’t. Cindy made it clear that we needed guaranteed money, and now. I found a job selling farm and ranch equipment in San Angelo and I turned out to be pretty good at it. Then my dad died and I got that extra income so I thought Cindy was reasonably happy.

Well, it turned out that reasonable wasn’t in Cindy’s vocabulary. It did turn out that she was really pregnant – at least she didn’t lie about that. Six months after we were married, Jefferson Davis Ryan was born. Six months after he was born, Cindy took off with a guy that had a huge cattle ranch down in the Pampas of Argentina. She took Davy – that’s what I called him anyway – with her. When he started school she started sending him to me for the summer school break – December through February in Bahia Blanca near where they lived.

Davy had turned out to be a pretty good kid. He was sixteen now and I’d lined up a job for him at a good friend’s ranch starting when he came in several months for his stay. The ranch was four thousand acres and mostly a cattle ranch, although it was starting to be used for some private hunting, and was owned by Bobby and Annie Morse. Annie’s first husband had worked on the same rig as I did for a couple of summers. A few years ago he had been killed in a blowout that had caught on fire. I’d met Annie a few times before they got married and then often afterwards.

Davy always came by himself. Once Cindy took off I never saw her again until the time of Davy’s trouble. Davy said every year when he came that she seemed happy so I guess her rich gaucho was giving her something that I hadn’t been able to give her. It probably had a lot to do with his sixty-one thousand acre ranch and only God knew how many cattle.

After I got home that first night I’d met Kathy I thought a lot about her. I mean, sure, she had a great figure and was pretty as all get out, but there was a presence about her that fascinated me. I had the strongest feeling that there was a lot more to her than I’d seen at first glance. I felt there were depths to her that few, if any, men ever got to see.

I also knew she was lonely … really lonely. I’d seen many women do the bar/dance scene like in the song, “… lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.” I had the sense that Kathy had been there, not because she was looking for a man, or for love, but because she wasn’t happy with who she was and what her life had turned into. As I saw it she didn’t want anyone else’s company and she didn’t want her own either, so she hid from herself in the noise and bustle of the crowds.

I went by Willy’s a couple of times over the next few weeks but I didn’t see Kathy again. Not that I was looking for her. Not by a long shot. Damn, I had sworn off women … why would I keep my eyes open for one that just happened to be pretty and … well, maybe I was looking for her. I emptied more that a few bottles of fine Texas beer trying to decide if I was really stupid or really wise. I did seem to get a lot smarter after a couple bottles of beer.

Then I met her again, unexpectedly, under what should have been more favorable circumstances. My buddy, Bobby, called and said they were having a big barbeque at his ranch and invited me to come over. It was going to be on Labor day and he wanted me to come out a few days before to see if we could get a couple of small javelinas.

I’d never tasted them before, but Bobby told me, “The way I cook them is after preparing them, wrap them in bacon and then heavy duty aluminum foil. By getting young ones we don’t have the problem of the scent glands and they are a lot more tender. I cook them at low heat for four or five hours. By then the meat just about falls off the bones.”

“What do they taste like?”

“Well, some say they taste like the dark meat of chicken only a bit greasier. I don’t think that does them justice. Cooked right they are delicious. I’ve got everything else we need. I’m fixing some huge porterhouse steaks, a couple of grilled kids and all the fixings.”

I gave him a funny look at the grilled kids comment and he came right back with, “You know, whole baby goats that are slow roasted on the grill. It’s best to hunt the javelinas around daybreak or dusk, your choice.”

We decided on daybreak and by mid-morning we had three that Bobby thought were just right. On Labor Day I went over there early to help him get things ready and help cook. I had a lot of fun and Annie was a real sweetheart, as always.

Later in the morning she took me aside. “Tom, I hate to ask you but I’d really appreciate it if you could do me a favor.”

She had done so much for me after Cindy left that I told her, “Sure, anything.”

“Well, don’t be too eager, although this isn’t really what I’d call hard duty. I’ve got a friend that’s recently gone through a bad divorce and seems kind of lost. She’s lost confidence in herself and is so damn lonely it breaks my heart.”

A bit confused, I asked, “Well, Annie, just what is it you want me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ll introduce you and you can play it by ear. Try to spend some time with her … you can show her what you are doing with the javelinas. Maybe chat with her. Anything you can do to distract her. I’m not asking you to do anything after this. If you can cheer her up a bit I’ll be forever grateful.”

“Sure, Annie. I’ll be around – let me know when she gets here.”

I hung around the grill area for a while – I was feelin’ a bit proprietary about the javelinas. Bobby was also grilling a couple of suckling pigs and two lambs. Annie and some of her friends were taking care of the trimmings.

Bobby’s son, Travis, and a cute blond who appeared to be about sixteen stopped by.

“Mr. Ryan, Dad said I was to take over for you. This is Rae Dawn Miller. She lives at the ranch west of here. I think you’ve met her dad a couple of times. She’s my girlfriend,” he added somewhat bashfully. She seemed a bit startled by that revelation.

I took off and walked around for a while. It was a hot day with not a cloud in the sky … just that deep blue Texas sky that went on forever. I saw Annie standing with Kathy and I wondered whether she was the friend Annie was telling me about. Maybe this wouldn’t be hard duty after all.

I walked over to them expecting Kathy to say hello or something. She didn’t say anything about having met me already so I took my cue from her and didn’t say anything either.

Annie introduced us and then – not a surprise! – said, “I’d better get back to the kitchen or things will never be ready on time."

Kathy looked at me with a wry look on her face, and said, “Annie is a sweetheart and one of my best friends, but I’m getting tired of her trying to set me up all the time. If I want a man I’m quite capable of finding my own. Oh, well. Let’s spend a little time together pretending to like each other so we don’t hurt her feelings.”

“Well, excuse me! I actually did like you and I really did want to spend some time with you. But if you see that as such a goddamn burden you can just go to hell!”

With that I stalked off, got in my truck and drove back to my place. Damn, the gall of that woman.

When I got home I ran for an hour around my pecan grove, the neighboring one and down a dirt road behind it. I sweat like one of the pigs Bobby had been roasting, and after taking a cold shower inhaled a couple of Shiner Bocks.

Bobby called later and apologized for both Annie and Kathy, “Jeez, I don’t know what it is about a woman that just can’t stand to see a man alone and happy.” We chatted for a while about the barbeque and he promised to drop some meat off.

I went on to bed early and left the next morning for several days of fishing at Choke Canyon Reservoir. I was mostly doing catch and release for largemouth bass but I did catch some channel cat for dinner one night. I enjoyed just lazing around, sometimes talking with some of the other fishermen. I came here fairly regularly so I knew a few of the guys.

I thought about Kathy, but not too much. I had been interested in her but I didn’t need the grief. I guess she must have been really hurt when her marriage failed. Oh, well. Not my problem.

I got home and there was a short message from Kathy apologizing for being rude. I erased it and forgot about it. I guess she was expecting me to call and forgive her or something ‘cause the next time I saw her at Willy’s she studiously ignored me. I could live with that.

I’d found a brunette that lived over in Uvalde that was fun to be with. I’d read a book about Sam Spade or some such and in describing the girl in the book it said she had “pneumatic thighs.” That was Cherry. Nothing serious. She was about ten years younger than me and was out for a good time. She was a good dancer and great in the sack but I didn’t think I wanted her around when Davy came up.

Thanksgiving came and went and suddenly Davy was here. I drove him out to Bobby’s place each day and picked him up in the evenings or else Bobby or Annie dropped him off. He wanted to learn the breeding business and was going to take a couple of bulls back for his step dad’s ranch.

It was great to see him again – he had grown a couple of inches and put on some weight. He was a handsome kid and I knew he was going to have girl problems. Hell, I did too so what could I say.

About the middle of December, Davy wanted to visit a friend of his that lived in Uvalde for several days . On Friday night about ten he called me – his buddy’s family had a family emergency in Austin and all of them left to drive up. He didn’t want to stay by himself so I drove over to pick him up.

On the way back I stopped at Jake’s Place, a newish dance hall a few blocks off highway 90. I’d sold Jake a shotgun that had belonged to my grandfather. It wasn’t in great shape but it had some old time sentimental value for Jake. When I gave him the gun he didn’t have the money with him so as long as I was close I figured I’d stop in and collect.

“Davy, just wait in the truck. It shouldn’t take too long but Jake might make me drink a beer before he gives me the money.”

It was a Friday night and the place was jumpin’. I saw Jake behind the bar and sure enough, he pulled a beer before he even came over. We chatted for a while and I congratulated him on the crowd.

“Yeah, this place has turned into a real money maker for me. I try to bring in good bands, so that eats into the profit a bit.”

When I walked out Davy was standing there looking both scared and excited. “Dad, there’s a guy over there trying to push a woman into a truck. It don’t look like she really wants to go.”

I ran over where he was pointing and just as I got there I guess the guy was tired trying to push this unwilling woman into the truck ‘cause he grabbed her arm and pulled her back out. I didn’t hesitate. I ran up behind him and placed a kick very carefully, just so the point of my cowboy boots caught him in the scrotum. He lost interest in the woman real fast and just kind of curled up in a fetal position, gasping like a fish out of water.

I looked down at the woman … damn, it was Kathy. I tried to stand her up but she was out of it. Not really thinking about it I figured it best to get her the hell out of there and think on what I should do later. I threw her over my shoulder and carried her over to my truck.

“Strap her in, Davy.”

Without waiting on him I fired up the truck and left. I explained to Davy who she was while I was trying to decide what to do. Her sudden snoring seemed to take away the option of taking her home since I had no idea of where she lived. I thought about taking her to Annie’s but it was right on midnight now and I knew they got up early. I finally decided to just take her to my place. If she wound up not liking that … well, to hell with her. She could find some one else to save her next time. Damn!

I carried her in the house and lay her on the sofa. Her jeans looked tight so I undid the snap at the waist and pulled her shirt out. I took her boots off with Davy’s help and covered her with a sheet. It was still around ninety so I didn’t think she’d get cold. I hadn’t seen a purse so I called Jake and told him what happened. He thought that was funny as hell. The guy had called the police and said three men attacked him. He had her purse in his office so that was one thing Kathy wouldn’t have to worry about.

Davy and I went to bed – he had his own room that was always set up. I took a quick shower and slept like a log. I woke once and checked on Kathy and she was in a deep sleep with a slight smile on her face. She really was quite attractive. Her disposition was certainly better when she slept.

The next morning I was up early as usual. Now that I was “retired” I couldn’t sleep past six or six-thirty to save my soul. I didn’t want to chance scaring her by waking her up so I ignored her and set about making breakfast. I was going to wake Davy up at seven. We were going fishing on the Frio River up by Concan. He liked to do the things he never got a chance to do in Argentina.

I put on some thick ham steaks, got some bread ready to toast and got the eggs out of the fridge. The coffee was ready so I sat at the table sipping and waiting for everyone to wake up. The kitchen was open to the living room but the sofa was facing away from me. Pretty soon I saw a head peak over it, and then it started. I should have expected what her reaction would be.

She jumped up and screeched, “God damn you. What the hell did you do to me last night?”

I looked at her, then turned and poured her a cup of coffee.

She took a couple of steps closer and started yelling, “You sonofabitch. You damn pervert. What did you do to me?”

Two things happened at once: Davy came running out of his bedroom rubbing his eyes, and asking, “Dad, what’s going on?” At the same time I handed Kathy her coffee. She quieted down fast when she saw Davy – he looked way too sweet and innocent for me to have done much in the way of being a pervert.

“Kathy, if you would ask politely, ‘Mr. Ryan, what happened last night?’ I can explain everything.”

She looked at me for a minute – she was clearly trying to adjust to the idea that maybe I wasn’t a pervert. “Mr. Ryan … Tom, how did I get here? What did happen last night?”

By this time Davy had his coffee and with youthful exuberance took over. “Ma’am, we stopped by Jake’s place last night around 11:30. Dad went inside to see Mr. Jake and I stayed in the truck. I saw a man trying to force you into his truck.” He added, a bit delicately, “Ma’am, I think you had a couple of beers too many.

“Anyway, when dad came out I told him what was happening and he came over and really kicked that guy in the balls.” Blushing, he continued, “I mean he kicked him real hard. Then dad thought there might be trouble, like maybe the guy had friends or something, so he threw you over his shoulder and carried you to his truck.” He looked at her, as if measuring her, “Ma’am, he picked you up like you weren’t nothin’. I didn’t know he was so strong with you not being a small woman an’ all.

“We couldn’t take you home ‘cause we didn’t know where you lived and you were snoring like crazy. So we brought you to our place, put you down on the sofa and we went to bed because we were really tired.”

I was smiling by then. It’s not quite how I would have told it but I think she got the picture. While Davy was talking she blushed, then turned really red and then I swear she started almost glowing. She staggered over to the table, spilling a goodly amount of her coffee and collapsed down on a chair. She put her face in her hands, holding like that for a long time.

Raising her head, she meekly whispered, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. For some reason I always do the wrong thing with you. Do you know how to poach eggs? Two with dry toast and some water. A lot of water. Damn!”

I poached a couple of eggs while frying some for Davy and myself. Deftly serving everything up I sat down to eat. Davy had cleaned up her spill and refilled all the mugs.

“I don’t know what happened. I was feeling sorry for myself – my life seems to be a mess right now. I know I had a couple of beers. There was this big guy that kept trying to get me to dance with him but I didn’t want to. Finally I danced one with him then he sat down and wouldn’t go away. I tried to ignore him and I guess I had some more beer. Then this jerk showed up with a gin and tonic. I must have had a couple of them.

“I don’t remember leaving the bar. My purse! Did I have my purse?”

“Jake has it in his office. There won’t be anyone there until around noon. Davy and I are going fishing this morning. Why don’t you go with us? I can pack some beer …”

“No! No more beer. Nothing alcoholic. I can’t anyway. I … I’m not really dressed for fishing.”

“You have jeans and boots. That’s pretty much what Davy and I are wearing. Besides, we’re going and I doubt you want to stay here by yourself for several hours.”

In the end she agreed to go with us as long as we didn’t take any beer. Since I hadn’t been planning on taking any it made no difference to me. I was planning on going up the Frio River south of Concan. There was a place that both Bobby and I went to occasionally. It was in a bend of the river where it was narrow and overhung with trees, giving some shade from the Texas heat. We mostly fished for Guadalupe Bass. They were real fighters and provided a challenge when fished with light tackle.

This was strictly fun stuff this trip. The plan had been to get Davy alone with me so we could chat for a while. They had good trout fishing in Argentina and mostly used dry flies. I wanted Davy to get some good experience fishing for what was in our rivers.

I could see Kathy was worn out so I spread a blanket in a spot where the sun was filtered down through the trees and she immediately conked out. Davy and I fished, not getting much action in the heat of the day. If we stayed until sundown it would pick up a lot. We did get a couple of sunfish.

Kathy woke up about three and spent a while talking to Davy about living in Argentina. He was shy at first but as she asked him questions he opened up and became enthusiastic. Kathy really did seem interested and for some reason that pleased me … a lot.

I dropped her off at Jake’s place to pick up her purse and car, station wagon really. I didn’t really expect to hear from her again but one evening in the middle of the week, I got a call from her.

“Tom, I’d like to invite you over for dinner on Sunday. I guess I was a little bitchy the other day and I want to thank you. Can you and Davy make it?”

A little bitchy? And did she really like Davy that much or was she afraid to be alone with me … pervert that I am.

“Just a minute?” I put my hand over the mouthpiece and asked Davy, “Do you want to go to Kathy’s for dinner Sunday?”

“Uh, dad … ask her if I can bring a friend.”

“Kathy, you still there? Davy has a friend he would like to bring. Is that okay?”

It was okay, so the plans were in place. Davy kept on working at Bobby’s ranch the rest of the week and Saturday for missing some time the previous week. He seemed to be spending a lot of time on the phone but I assumed he was calling his mom so I didn’t say anything – or ask.

Sunday about two, I followed as Davy directed to the ranch bordering to the west to Bobby’s place. I remembered that was the Miller’s place. All of a sudden I had a bad thought.

“Uh, Davy. Isn’t that where Rae Dawn lives?”

“Yeah, do you know her?”

“Well, I met her at a barbeque at Bobby’s a few weeks ago. She was with Travis. He said she was his girl friend.”

“Well, she ain’t! He says that and it pisses her off to no end. I met her last year and we’ve been writing. She comes over most days; Bobby is teaching her how to do barrel racing.”

I looked askance at him for the “pisses” part.

He blushed and said, “Sorry, Dad. It’s just he won’t leave her alone. I think we’re gonna have a fight about her.”

I didn’t say anything. Sometimes fighting was part of a boy becoming a man. I wasn’t gonna tell him not to do something I did all the time at his age.

I drove down the road leading off from the highway. The place was kept up quite nice. The name on the mailbox was Miller, all right. I remembered they had moved from Chicago a few years ago when they purchased the ranch.

Davy went in and was just a couple of minutes when he came out with the pretty blond I’d met at the barbeque. They walked right up to the truck and he opened the door for her. She hopped in while Davy introduced her, even though I’d just told him I’d already met her.

“Dad, this is Rae Dawn. She’s my friend.” They both blushed at that so I assumed they were good friends. I took a quick look at her before I turned the truck around. She was probably sixteen and cute as all get out. She looked almost as tall as Davy but it was hard to tell with the cream colored Stetson she wore. Under the hat, her long blond hair streamed down covering her shoulders. She also had on a colorful red checked shirt and form fitting blue jeans. The boots seemed expensive and she looked like she was on her way to do some dancing.

She was quiet at first as I turned onto US 90 towards Sabinal where Kathy lived. After a couple of minutes she opened up and chatted like she’d known me for years. Davy seemed shy with her and he wasn’t a shy guy at all. When she reached over to hold his hand he looked like he won the lottery. She and Davy talked some in Spanish to each other – it turned out her family had lived in Spain for six years. They weren’t rude about it, just quick questions or comments. I didn’t know if Davy remembered I was fluent in Spanish. Oh, well. Better not to embarrass him. But, yeah. They were good friends.

When we got to Kathy’s it turned out she wasn’t a bit surprised that Davy had bought a girl with him. I guess I was the only one out of the loop. Kathy turned out to be a gracious host and a great cook. She made Osso Buco and had a great Italian wine with it. She had an older house in a nice neighborhood, with a large patio out back. It looked like they had done a lot of entertaining before their marriage broke up.

We ate on the patio under a trellis that provided plenty of shade so it was comfortable. The conversation was lively and covered a wide range of topics. The time got away from me before I realized it was nine and the kids had school the next day.

“Kathy, it was really nice – you are a great cook and we all enjoyed it.”

“Well, after I got home last Saturday I realized you had done something quite nice and then I tore into you, with no justification at all. I can only say I was mortified, waking up in a house and having no idea at all of where I was. I guess we haven’t got on very well and it’s my fault. Annie swears you are a great guy. Bobby even said you were okay.”

Bobby just said I was just okay? I’d get him for that.

“Well, you have more than made up for it.”

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and we left. I noticed when we dropped Dawn off she gave Davy a much bigger kiss than I got.

I thought about calling Kathy to see if she wanted to do dinner and dancing but I kept putting it off. I was convinced she was just being polite and had no real interest in me. Which, I guess, begged the question … did I have an interest in her? Being honest with myself I’d have to say that I did. That, indeed, I had since that first night I saw her sitting alone at Willy’s Tavern – a girl in the night, sitting alone and lonely but not admitting it to herself.

Davy came out back one night after we finished dinner. I was just sittin’ there watching the sunset and the pecans growing. “Dad, when are you going to ask Kathy out for a date?”

“Well, I took her fishing and we went to her house for dinner.”

“Dad! That’s not a date. If you think taking a woman fishing is romantic … well, it’s no wonder mom left.”

Well, hell. I’d thought she had always enjoyed it! Was I really that much of a stick in the mud?

“Okay, okay. I’ll call her. But she really doesn’t like me.”

“Dad, where have you been? She likes you a lot. She is just scared of men because of her jerk of a husband. Look, I’ll bet you she will accept right off.”

“You’re on. What’s the bet?”

“Well, I’ll do dishes for a week if she says no and if she says yes you have to take Rae Dawn and me to the All American Cowgirl Chicks Rodeo over at Gonzales the following weekend. It’s their Christmas Parade and Championship Rodeo. And you might want to invite Kathy to that also. She loves rodeo. Did you know she used to be a champion barrel racer?”

Well, no, I didn’t know that. And how did Davy find out? Hmmm, I smell a conspiracy.

“That’s in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth? Okay, I’ll call her now.”

I dialed her number, half hoping for a message. It rang three times, and then she answered with a breathless, “Hello?”

“Ummm, hi, Kathy, it’s Tom. I was, uh, wondering if you would like to go to dinner Friday or Saturday and then maybe dancing.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun. Why don’t we go dancing on Friday and Saturday I’ll fix you dinner.”

Surprised, I answered, “Sure. Great. Uh, is the dinner just for me or should I bring Davy?”

“Just for you, silly.”

What happened to that witch/bitch that was at the barbeque?

“Okay, great.” Damn, I was sure turning into a fine conversationalist. “Oh, and while I have you on the phone, the following Saturday I’m taking Davy and his girlfriend to Weatherford for the rodeo. I guess you wouldn’t be interested in that though, would you?”

“Tom, you don’t know me at all, do you? I love the rodeo. I used to … a long time ago, do some riding myself. That would be the All American Cowgirl Chicks, right? Actually I was thinking about going up anyway. I used to compete with the woman that is in charge of training for them – we became good friends.”

As a friend of mine from Liverpool was wont to say, “I’ll be gobsmacked.”

So I found myself Friday night standing in front of Kathy’s door all dressed up for dancing and with flowers in hand. She seemed pleased with the flowers and didn’t say anything about my new shirt. I thought the mother-of-pearl buttons were a bit much but the saleslady said it was the fashion. Shows how much I knew. But I knew the Stetson hat and the Justin boots were top quality, only slightly worn, and even fairly clean for a drugstore cowboy.

We went over to Jake’s place and were pleased that one of the better bands was down from Austin for the weekend. We had a lot of fun … a lot of laughs. Kathy kissed me goodbye at the door – for the first time on the lips. No tongue, but what the hell – progress is progress. I could see that the way she behaved the first couple of times I met her was mostly because I was a man and she was pretty well pissed at men at the time. Well, she still was, I guessed. I didn’t think it was me personally … just men. At least that’s what I thought.

She did seem to like me and I have to say she appeared to enjoy my company. But then I didn’t know she would go out with me nor was I aware that she liked rodeos and used to be a performer. Being honest with myself – which I seldom tried to do (it made life way too complicated) – I was starting to like Kathy … a lot! She was smart, pretty, and available and she liked me. Well, maybe she did. It’s hard to tell where ego and commonsense fall when the topic is women.

The dinner was more personal. I grilled steaks on her barbeque, she did the salad thing and the wine was good. It was a pleasant day – mid-seventies and no wind – and the neighborhood was quiet. She talked for the first time about catching her husband and his secretary together.

“He was at the restaurant, Moxie’s here in town. He was supposed to be doing inventory and I was home fat, dumb and happy. His brother-in-law called from Dallas – his sister just had a baby. I tried to call the restaurant but no one answered. I tried a couple more times and became worried when there was still no answer. Finally, getting scared a little, I grabbed the key he kept on the key rack in case of emergencies and drove over there.

“In my worry I forgot to reset the alarm and just as I got to his office the alarm went off. He’d just opened the door with one hand while he was struggling to get his pants on with the other. Behind him I could see Marsha, a new girl he’d just hired a week ago. I started yelling, the alarm was still going off and no one heard the security company’s callback.

“We’d got to the point where I’d redefined his ancestry, he had his pants and shoes on and little miss muffett had grabbed an apron, and the police showed up. I could see the smirks developing as they figured out what had happened and to this day I get these looks all over town. It wasn’t really a quiet affair at the finish. I seem to remember lots of flashes going off. God, I hope they don’t show up on the Internet!

“After that I’d go out to Jake’s or Willy’s places just to get out. I was going totally nuts being at home by myself. I was still lonely when I was at the dance halls but at least I wasn’t watching old movies by myself and feeling pathetic. I didn’t really want to dance but I figured that was the price I had to pay to get some privacy.

“Then I finally met a nice man but I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut. I thought you were like the rest of the jerks … just trying to get me into bed. That night at Jake’s I was feeling particularly bad about my life and how I had treated you and I wound up drinking too much. I hope you don’t think I’m like that all the time.

“I was feeling woozy and when I went back to the rest room the waitress told me I should stop drinking those doubles. That asshole had been trying to get me drunk by switching over to gin and tonics and making them strong. I tried to slip out but he saw me. Thank God you were there.”

She came over and sat on my lap. “This is for being such a nice guy.” She kissed me like our tongues were listening to Dueling Banjos. I should have felt great but I felt like shit. That first night at Willy’s Tavern I hadn’t been thinking about anything else but getting her into bed. It was a good thing that my daddy had made sure I understood that honesty is not always the best policy.

Now I’m not saying that I didn’t still want to get into her pants but it was kind of in the background. I think I was really falling in love with her and was thinking about a long-term relationship.

Later when I got ready to go she came into my arms and I kissed her again. It was extra steamy this time and I put my hands around the globes of her well-formed derriére and pulled her close. I knew I could lead her into her bedroom but I realized it would be the wrong thing to do. She clearly hadn’t been with a man for the last year and was vulnerable, but damn it, I cared for her and knew the next morning she would feel hurt and probably somewhat disappointed.

I kissed her ear and whispered, “Kathy, I want to stay … I really do. But I think it best if I leave now. I hope you understand.”

She stepped back and looked at me, her eyes big and showing conflicting emotions. Foremost was some expectation of being hurt again, followed closely by confusion. There was a shading of want, of passion. There was something else that wasn’t clear to me … maybe a kind of smoky dreaminess. I had the sudden image of a jigsaw puzzle: the pieces were all there but meaningless without their being put together just right. And here I was with no clue that I even had all the pieces, let alone how to fit them together.

I pulled her close trying to somehow communicate my want, my desire and my respect for her. I silently turned and walked out to my truck and drove away wishing I had stayed. Yeah, I knew the old saw that nice guys finished last … but at some point a man has to be true to himself. I knew who I was and if that didn’t get the job done then I was just heading for heartache. What was that song by Billy Ray Cyrus? “Achy, Breaky Heart?” Well, I’d had my heart broken before and I’d rather be hurt again than not be a man my dad could be proud of.

We made our plans for the next weekend. We would drive up late on a Friday and see the Christmas Parade during the day and the rodeo at night. There was a dance we could all go to after the rodeo. Kathy and Rae Dawn would stay in one room and Davy and I in another for the two nights. We would drive back Sunday after breakfast.

We were able to leave earlier that I had planned so we made the six-hour drive and arrived at the motel at ten. I drove Kathy’s station wagon for the extra space. Dawn had made sandwiches for the drive so we were able to get right to bed. During the drive I looked back and saw them holding hands. I caught Kathy’s eye and nodded my head back at the kids. She turned and looked and gave me a big smile. After that she held my hand most of the way.

When it got dark I did see some kissing from the back seat but it looked like I didn’t have too much to worry about. I decided then that they really liked each other and it wasn’t just out-of-control hormones. I hardly could claim to be an expert on love but it seemed this young couple had a very mature caring for each other. For sure it appeared to me that the look of love was more visible on Dawn’s face than on Kathy’s.

We had a leisurely breakfast the next morning at a nice family place a few doors down from where we were staying. Think chicken-fried steak and three eggs and hash browns perfectly crisp on both sides and you would know the kind of place. I thought about not leaving a tip ‘cause I was sure mom was in the kitchen!

After that we walked around town for a while and, after a light lunch, watched the parade. It was much nicer than I had expected. The crowds were fairly large but seemed more polite than I would have thought. Everyone seemed to be laid back with big smiles on their faces. Must be the whole crowd was from Texas.

The rodeo was great. The club – the All American Cowgirl Chicks – trained girls in the various rodeo events and each was expected to eventually perform at the “Olympic level”. Dawn was really excited by the skills shown by girls at the various ages.

We went on to the dance and that was even more fun than the rodeo. It was more or less a family affair so there were no drunks or rowdy cowboys.

At breakfast Sunday morning, Dawn looked at Kathy and asked, “Do you ever do any coaching? Travis dad, Bobby, has been helping me with my riding but of course, he never competed in the girl’s events. I know you were so great and was one of the best.” Shyly, she added, “I don’t mean to be too forward but it’s so important to me.”

Kathy laughed, “I don’t know if I was that good, but, sure, I can work with you. Are you going out for your school team?”

Rae Dawn nodded and they talked about it some more. Soon after that we left for home and everyone but me fell asleep and stayed that way until I stopped to let Dawn off. Davy never woke up and was chagrined he didn’t get a chance to kiss her goodnight. Oh, the perils of youth!

UVALDE, KNIPPA, SABINAL, TEXAS

Winter 1987, 1988

It seems that there is a law of nature that as soon as a person is too happy that something has to happen to change that. I finally accepted that Kathy did indeed love me and Davy was in seventh heaven with Rae Dawn’s attentions. Life was good … too good.

The call came a little before three on a windy, chilly Saturday afternoon. Davy had gone over to Bobby’s ranch to meet with Kathy and Dawn for Dawn’s first training session. They were using one of Bobby’s rodeo horses that Dawn was talking about buying.

Have you ever noticed that the phone rings differently for bad news? A certain harshness in the ring tone sends a chill of premonition down the spine and a sense that catastrophe could be averted by not answering. But we do answer because that’s why we always grab the phone as quickly as possible with maybe a hint of trepidation. At least that was how I felt as the vibration of the ring tingled my hand as I picked the phone up.

“Tom? This is Annie. I’m at Memorial Hospital in Uvalde. Davy has been hurt.”

I was never one to ask a lot of questions when action was what was needed. I just told Annie I’d be right there. I knew it had to be serious or he wouldn’t be in the hospital and I knew Annie well enough that the tightness in her voice, a slight trembling hinting of tears spoke of a certain degree of seriousness.

I jumped in my truck and drove over to the hospital. I found Bobby waiting for me in the lobby. He looked pretty upset but I waited for him to talk.

“Damn, Tom. This is hard. Davy is in critical care upstairs. He has a head injury and is in a coma. It’s too early for any real prognosis. He had some swelling inside his head and they had to drill a hole in his skull and drain the blood that was causing the pressure. I understand they induced the coma to give some stability.”

“What happened?”

“Tom, I wasn’t there and don’t really know the details. Rae Dawn had that bay mare she’s looking at in the corral. There was some kind of fight between Davy and Travis. Davy fell down and the mare clipped his skull with her hoof. Luckily it wasn’t a straight on hit. You can talk to Travis and Dawn and they can tell you more. They are both pretty upset about it.”

“Was the fight about the girl?” I asked this knowing the answer. I had been expecting something like this.

With some disgust he replied, “Yeah, both of the boys have had their testosterone up over the girl. I don’t think it was a bad fight, just some pushin’ and shovin’. But both of them damn well know not to horse around in the corral.”

Later when I talked to the doctor he told me about the same as Bobby had except I didn’t understand it as well. The bottom line was we were just going to have to wait for a week or ten days and then they would try to take him out of the coma.

He continued, “We’ve done everything we can and I think he’s going to be okay. But there is always risk in this sort of thing. He is strong and young and in the best of health so I am somewhat optimistic.”

Kathy showed up and slipped into my arms, not saying anything, just holding me. Asked her if she had been there.

“Yeah, Dawn was practicing with the barrels. The first try she did well and when she came over to us Davy put his arms out to help her down and she somehow slipped into his arms and gave him a kiss. The next time Travis slipped in front of him and said, “My turn.” Davy grabbed his arm and yanked him and Travis threw him over his leg and he fell under the horse. The mare tried to get out of the way and her front, left hoof nicked Davy in the temple.

“It really was an accident but Travis feels really bad about it.” She paused, looking into my eyes. “Are you going to call his mom?”

Damn! Cindy! I hadn’t even thought of her. “I’ll call her first thing in the morning.”

“Tom, from some things you and Davy have said I know you have a lot of hard feelings about her. For Davy can you put those on the shelf until this is over? She’s a mom and I know she will insist on coming up.” She hesitated. “And, Tom, dear, can you do it for me also? It’s going to be hard for me to meet and spend time with her. This probably isn’t the best time to tell you but, Tom, I … well, I’ve fallen in love with you. I hope and pray we can find some kind of lasting relationship.”

With that she put her head in my chest and started crying. Women. At the best of times I didn’t understand them and this certainly wasn’t the best of times. But, damn, it felt good to hold her tight while she got my shirt all wet. The dreaded word marriage came to mind and I flinched, but, yeah, I did want some kind of permanent togetherness with her.

The next morning I called Cindy and told her what I knew. She called me back a half hour later. “Rod and I will be in San Antonio at ten tomorrow morning. We will rent a car so no one needs to pick us up. He’s at the hospital in Uvalde, right? We will go straight there. If he comes to, tell him I’m coming.”

Rod was Rodrigo Urchubi, her husband. I’d never met him so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I went on to the hospital and was able to visit Davy a couple times for a few minutes. I wasn’t comfortable with all the machines and tubes so I ceded my visits to Dawn. Travis showed up looking forlorn. Before the troubles over Rae Dawn they had been the best of friends since they were kids. I took him outside on a clear, cool but sunny morning to talk to him.

He acted like he expected me to be mad at him but I really wasn’t. Hell, it was just the kind of thing I did at his age. We walked a couple of blocks to a breakfast place and got a pot of coffee.

“Trav, it was an accident, I understand that. Two boys fighting over a girl has been going on since the first cavemen. Both of you know better than doing something like that in a corral but, hell, boys your age are like a couple of bulls fighting over a prime cow. Being rational is not part of that.”

“I know, Sir … Tom. I knew that Dawn liked him more than me. I liked to call her my girlfriend but I guess she never really was. I wanted her to be so bad that I didn’t always act right. I talked to Dawn yesterday and apologized for everything. I do want her … and Davy, to be my friends. If I can’t have her I’m glad she likes Davy. I kinda forgot he was my best pard.”

Dawn was there when we got back and she ran into my arms and cried. She kept visiting my boy but I guess the tubes and bandages bothered her as much as me.

Cindy and Rod showed up around noon the next day – that was Monday – and met with the doctor. After they had a brief look into Davy’s room I took them to lunch. Dawn insisted on going to lunch with us. She felt somewhat possessive of Davy and she didn’t care who knew it. I’d already explained to Cindy about her but she still gave Dawn a careful looking over.

There was no question what Rod thought. He was a male Latin and breathing and Dawn was as close to being beautiful as she could be. She only needed a couple years of maturity and filling out to be a real beauty.

Rod seemed to be a very nice person. He presented himself well in his light gray Armani suit. He was a bit stout – though it looked all muscle. He was a big man and wore the suit well. He exuded self-confidence and seemed a man that would always be in control of the situation.

And Cindy. Damned if she didn’t look hot as hell. She had a black knit dress that clung to her curves like it was knitted around her. Pearl earrings, necklace and bracelet were her only accouterments. She was self-possessed and more focused than I remembered her. It was hard to read how they felt about each other except at some level they gave off the aura of a partnership.

Cindy didn’t seem embarrassed at all in meeting me again. She was practical and showed a common sense I’d never seen before. I had to wonder if I had matured as much as she did. I was pleased to see her take to Dawn. I don’t know if this was her new practicality and she could read the writing on the wall that this was her daughter-in-law and she might as well accept it. I think Cindy was expecting some kind of ogre (actually I was too) but they hit it off right away.

Cindy asked me if I’d ever found anyone new and Rae Dawn jumped in and answered. “Yes, he has a beautiful woman named Kathy. She used to be a rodeo star and she’s coaching me so I can go out for the rodeo team at Uvalde this fall. They are very much in love.”

I sat there a bit speechless while Cindy smirked at me. After that we went back to the hospital where I introduced Kathy to them.

Cindy said, “Yes, we heard how beautiful you were.”

Kathy looked askance at me but I just shrugged. What did I know?

The next Saturday – a week after his injury – they brought Davy carefully out of the coma. He woke as expected and improved rapidly. He was moved to a regular room and could have visitors as he wanted. There was lots of coming and going and once I saw Dawn with her parents and her younger sister, Connie, who was two years younger than her.

A week after Davy came out of the coma and two days before he was to be released, Cindy wanted to meet me for dinner to talk about his future. She drove their rental and we went into San Antone, to a nice restaurant along the River Walk.

“Tom, I don’t want you to get upset but this is a bit of a fait accompli. Once you think about it I don’t think you will have any objection. We have talked a lot with Davy, Dawn and Dawn’s parents. We’re going to take Davy home with us on the Lear we came up on. Dawn and her sister will be coming down with us. Dawn and Davy will finish high school down there early next November. Connie will be there as a chaperone/companion for Dawn. Their parents are okay with this.

“Davy wants to go to the University of Texas in Austin for pre-law. Dawn will go there too. She wants to major in Latin American Studies with a major in Spanish. She has been taking Spanish in high school and should become fluent pretty quickly.”

She took a deep breath and continued as I stared at her. “They plan on getting married next Christmas on her parents’ ranch. Rod is buying them a house in Austin, a new car for each of them and all school expenses. Now don’t go getting on your high horse. Rod doesn’t have any children of his own and all we have will go to Davy eventually. Rod is just setting up a trust to see that Davy is educated to the point that he will be able to manage the estate. So he will also be getting a cash allowance each month that should allow them to go to nice restaurants and live comfortably.”

She leaned back and told me, “Okay, now you can start yelling at me.”

I looked at her, looked down at my hands and thought about what she had said. Finally I stood up and walked around the table. I took her hands and lifted her up. Giving her a big hug I breathed into her ear, “Thank you. I think it makes a lot of sense.”

Before I knew it I was alone again. Kathy and I were invited to Dawn’s folks fairly often. They seemed fairly happy with everything, but being parents they planned on flying down to Argentina every couple of months “… to make sure the girls are happy and okay.”

Kathy and I became closer as time passed and on Easter we were married. Rod flew the girls and Davy up for the wedding but Cindy chose not to attend. We decided to keep my place but I had several large rooms added.

At the end of everything we were happy and got along well. The sex was … great. When it came time for Kathy to dress for Davy’s wedding I heard some down home cowboy swearing coming out of the bedroom. Solicitously I went in to see if I could help. It seemed that Kathy was having a hell of a time getting her dress on. She finally did but was quite uncomfortable. Funny, I hadn’t noticed her getting fat at all, but damn, she was a bit thick around the waist.

So I was standing there looking perplexed and Kathy took pity on me. “You really don’t know, do you? I’ve known for a few weeks but I just never found the right time to tell you. You do remember how to change diapers, don’t you?”

Well, damn!

~~~~~~

The years have passed gracefully and I’m at the reception for our oldest (of two) daughter’s wedding reception. Kathy was giving Liz a hug with both of them crying tears of joy. To be honest my eyes were kind of misty also. Mary Anne slipped up next to me and I put my arm around her while she looked on at her mom and sister.

Watching Kathy I was struck by an image of her sitting alone at the table in Willy’s Tavern those many years ago. Her sad beauty remembered with a deep poignancy in my memory was at odds with the image before me. Her beauty had greatly multiplied in my eyes but the sadness was a distant memory. She was no longer just … a girl in the night.