Her Favorite Cowboy

by Mary Leo

Buck had come up to stand next to Gage for the picture.

  “Yes, a good thing,” Cori repeated, hoping like heck Gage would back off.

  “Timing’s everything in this life,” Gage said and let go of her. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine,” she told him, relieved that he’d decided to honor their agreement. He grinned and walked around to the other side of his grandfather, while Hailey and Gram walked over to Cori.

  “Are you okay, Corina-May? What happened?” Gram asked.

  “I’m fine. I tripped on the track.”

  “And Gage caught you. So far he’s saved both of us, Momma. He’s a real hero,” Hailey said over the din of chatter as everyone tried to get into position for the group photo. “We should give him a medal or something.”

  “Or something,” Cori said, not thinking anything of it until Gage smirked over at her.

  Every time she was around him she could barely think, let alone do or say anything rational. She knew deep in her heart that she was falling for him, and if they went through with making love, she couldn’t be sure her heart wouldn’t break into a million pieces when she had to walk away from him.

  But at this point, and after what she’d felt the previous night each time he kissed her, there was little hope she wouldn’t go through with their agreement. She craved him more than she’d like to admit. Now all she had to do was figure out how that moment would come about.

  As the group moved in tighter for the photo, Cori felt a flush wash over her face. She wanted to get away from everyone. Instead, they kept encroaching on her space, making it difficult for her to keep her distance from Gage. She told herself to calm down, to take deep slow breaths, but for some reason being that close to him with everyone around was more than she could deal with.

  “Hold on,” Gage told her, as his hand slipped around her waist. “You’re getting a bit wobbly.”

  “I need to sit down,” she whispered, feeling a bit light-headed.

  She knew she was experiencing a touch of altitude sickness. She needed to relax, to allow her body to get used to the height, and Gage standing next to her with his broad shoulders and chiseled face wasn’t helping.

  The picture-taking stopped and everyone began to disperse.

  “Are you okay, Mom?” Hailey asked, looking scared, her thick caramel-colored hair falling around her face in loose curls and ringlets. “Is being so high up making you sick, Mom?” Cori felt certain her daughter was an old soul wrapped in a young girls’ body. Cori had warned her about altitude sickness weeks ago when they were planning their trip.

  “I’m fine, honey, I just need to sit down.”

  “Maybe you’ve got low blood sugar, like me. Get her some juice, son,” Buck said to Gage.

  “My granddaughter does not have low blood sugar, and if she did, she certainly doesn’t need your advice,” May snapped.

  “He was just being helpful, Grammy,” Hailey countered.

  “Nobody needs you to stick your nose in where it ain’t needed,” Buck told May.

  “She’s my granddaughter, and I have a perfect right to stick my nose in wherever I want to,” May announced, her face slightly red.

  “Can everyone please calm down?” Gage interrupted, holding up his hands.

  “I don’t need to calm down. What I need is to get away from this here woman who makes my blood boil,” Buck argued. “Are you coming, son?”

  “Not until I know that Doctor Parker is all right,” Gage said while gazing over at Cori.

  “I can take care of my granddaughter just fine without a Remington hanging around.” May balked, then folded her arms across her chest.

  “I’m perfectly fine, but I won’t be as long as you two keep arguing like this. Can’t you both come to some sort of truce?”

  “There ain’t no truce to come to as long as this woman keeps hoarding all the Zane Grey stuff for herself.”

  “Look who’s talking, you old goat. Your grandson outbid me for the one thing I wanted at this year’s conference—Zane’s fishing rod. Just because Gage has more money than anyone else at the conference, don’t mean he’s got to flaunt it.”

  “I don’t want that damn fishing rod. Told him so right after he won the bid. For all I care, you can have it to hide away with all the rest of Zane’s things.”

  “Will you two please stop,” Cori said, interrupting whatever her grandmother started to say next. “Let’s everybody try to enjoy the day. I’m feeling much better now. No one has to worry or try to take care of me.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Buck said. Then he turned to Gage. “Are you coming, son?”

  “If you’re sure.” Gage’s face reflected all the sadness Cori felt over the ongoing battle between their grandparents.

  “Thanks, but there’s no need for you to stick around. I’m fine. Really.”

  “Then let’s get going, Gage. I got me a list of things I want to see, and we only have a couple hours to get it all in before the train leaves. There ain’t no route down this mountain once the last train leaves.”

  “If you knew anything about Silverton, you’d know there’s a bus out of here as well,” Gram corrected.

  “I know all about the bus, but it’s the same as the train. Once the last one leaves around three-thirty there ain’t no way to get out of here unless you hitch a ride with someone driving down the mountain.”

  “No way down, huh?” Gage asked.

  “Nope,” May affirmed.

  It was as if Cori and Gage had the same exact idea at the same exact time, with each of them giving the other a knowing smile.

  Chapter Eight

  All Gage could think about was finally being able to get Cori alone: no grandparents, no Hailey, and no one around from the conference. They’d each taken off in different directions from the train station. Gage left his gramps at a mine museum for about a half hour with a group of friends while he found the perfect historic hotel. It didn’t take long for him to secure a room for the night and to take care of all the details. The woman at the front desk helped him arrange everything. Dinner would be delivered to their room exactly at eight. She assured him that the room was well stocked with water, chocolates and everything Cori needed for a cup of hot tea, along with several different types of juices. He’d made sure the hotel could provide robes, slippers and anything else they might need. He tried not to overlook anything and was counting down the minutes until everyone would get back on that train.

  “I’m thinkin’ I should catch an earlier bus back down the mountain. This altitude don’t seem to be agreeing with me,” Gramps said as they stood inside the San Juan County Jail. Gage had been reading about the four small steel cells that sometimes housed as many as six men in canvas hammocks when his grandfather faltered inside one of the cells.

  “What’s wrong?” Gage asked, as his stomach instantly tightened.

  “I’m feelin’ all woozy, and that ham sandwich I ate ain’t sittin’ too easy in my stomach.”

  “You can’t go alone, Gramps,” Gage insisted, knowing he would have to abandon his plans for that night. “I’ll come with you.”

  He escorted Buck out of the jail, holding on to him around his waist, thinking this could be more than just altitude sickness. “Maybe we should stop in to see a doctor here in Silverton, first.”

  “Don’t go talkin’ about no doctors or callin’ no ambulances. I know exactly what I need, and that’s to get down off this here mountain. Nine thousand feet is too high for this old dog.”

  Gage held him close to his side as his gramps leaned into him and let Gage do all the work as they walked. Buck was heavier than Gage had anticipated, and he had to steady himself a few times in order to keep them balanced.

  “Gramps, it could be anything. Let me call a doctor, or at the very least I can call Cori. She�
��ll know what’s wrong.”

  Gage hoped his grandfather would agree as he slid the phone out of his pocket and began to unlock it.

  “Put that dang thing away. I don’t want her messin’ around in my business again. I know what I need, and I don’t want to hear no more about it or I’ll go down by myself.” He broke away from Gage, took a few wobbly steps and stopped. Gage ran up and caught him just as he lost his balance and staggered forward.

  “What’s wrong?” Steve asked, as he and his wife Betsy came up the wooden walkway.

  “Not feeling too good,” Gramps told him. “Gonna try to catch a bus back down the mountain.”

  “Where’s that Doctor Parker when you need her?” Steve asked.

  “Don’t need no dang doctor. All’s I need is to get me back down closer to sea level.”

  “We’ll go with you,” Betsy, offered.

  “Thanks, but Gage can take me. You two stay and enjoy yourselves.”

  “We’ll be too worried about you to enjoy it,” Betsy told Buck, while gently rubbing his shoulder.

  “Thanks, but I know what’s wrong with me. Happened a couple times back home in Idaho. I’ll be fine, soon as I descend a couple thousand feet. I’ll have Gage here call you with an update once we get to the hotel. ’Scuse us, but I wanna get on that there bus before it leaves.”

  “Here, Gage, take these,” Betsy said, handing him a plastic bag. “You two might need some water on the bus. It’s a long way down this mountain.”

  “Thanks,” Gage told her, gazing inside the bag to see two bottles of water and a couple protein bars. “But are you sure you won’t need these?”

  “We won’t be hurting for water or food. This town has more than its share of bars and shops. We can easily replenish what we’re giving you.”

  “Thanks,” Gage said, glad to have it.

  Steve turned to Gage and wagged a slightly crooked finger his way. “You take good care of Buck, or there’ll be hell to pay. He’s one of my closest friends.”

  “Yes, sir.” Gage replied, thinking how he had no idea Steve was such a good friend to his gramps. Somehow, he never considered that his gramps had other friends besides the friends he had in Briggs, and even there, most of those people had been closer to his grandma. “I won’t let him out of my sight.”

  “Good idea,” Steve told him.

  “Do me a favor and take some pictures,” Gramps asked Steve. “I been wantin’ to see this town for a long time.”

  “Will do,” Steve said, smiling.

  “Thanks. Now we best be movin’ along.”

  Betsy gave Buck a hug, and Gage hustled him back to the train station where he’d seen one of those luxury buses standing by. While he bought the tickets, Gramps sat on a bench just outside of the station. As soon as he had his gramps situated on the bus, he’d text Cori to ask her about altitude sickness. He hated that Gramps was so darn stubborn, and decided not to honor his wishes.

  He knew Gramps would get all riled up if Cori came on the scene checking for a pulse, so if she would agree to come back with them, they’d have to pretend it was her own doing. Gage knew he had to stop worrying so much about his gramps and give him credit for making it all these years, but even Gramps had admitted that ever since his sweet Rose had passed he wasn’t too good at minding his health.

  He and Gramps were finally coming to terms with each other, and Gage didn’t want to do anything to disrupt their fragile progress. It was too important to him.

  Gage didn’t know what being alone with his gramps would be like now that they were getting along better, but at the moment all he could focus on was texting Cori about his change of plans. Those “benefits” they both seemed to be counting on would have to wait until his gramps felt better—if that was even possible, with how ornery his grandfather could be.

  “I’m sorry,” Gramps told Gage as they boarded the luxury bus after Gage had paid for their tickets. As they made their way to their seats, Gage had to fight back the lump that was forming in his throat. He was the one who should be apologizing to his gramps, not the other way around.

  When they were seated, Gage said, “Don’t ever be sorry for not feeling well, Gramps. It’s not something you have any control over. And besides, your not feeling well allows me to take care of you. Payback for all you did for me when I was a kid. I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner. I was too caught up in my own world to think about anything other than what I wanted. I’d forgotten all that you and Grandma had taught me, but I can remember it now that I’m sober again. I love you, Gramps, and there isn’t anything I won’t do for you.

  “Now sit back and relax. We have about an hour and a half until we pull into Durango. You should start feeling better once we begin our descent down the mountain.”

  “Thanks, son. I’m feelin’ better just knowin’ I can depend on you.”

  “Always, Gramps. You can always depend on me,” Gage told him as he reached over and squeezed his grandfather’s hand.

  Gramps grabbed his hand for a moment and then made himself comfortable. Gage wished with all that was in him that his grandfather would allow him to be the grandson he always expected him to be. Gage was ready now, ready to fit into those grandson boots.

  * * *

  CORI, GRAM AND HAILEY had spent the past hour or so shopping at Rocky Mountain Gifts and a couple of other tourist-type stores. They’d grabbed burgers to go at High Noon Hamburgers, and stopped in at the Shady Lady Saloon for sodas. Most of the buildings were the original redbrick structures or had refurbished wooden plank buildings. The town itself had much more of an Old West feel to it than Durango, and Cori fell in love with it. There was even a staged shootout on notorious Blair Street, where most of the saloons and bordellos had once dominated the tiny mining town.

  “This has been so much fun,” Hailey said as Cori checked her phone for the umpteenth time. Her service had been sporadic at best. So far, there had only been one text from Gage, right when they’d first traded phone numbers. He’d told her that he would be missing the last train off the mountain and hoped she would be doing the same.

  She had immediately texted back that she would, but the text hadn’t been delivered. Nevertheless, she quickly secured a room for them at the Wyman Hotel and Inn while Gram and Hailey had been trying on a selection of hand-crafted jewelry at one of the shops. She’d sent the clandestine news to Gage, but once again the text hadn’t gone through.

  “Did you get everything you wanted?” Cori asked her daughter. They stood outside of Natalia’s Restaurant on Blair Street.

  “Yep, I bought matching T-shirts for Susan and I, and a silver badge for Gage. It’s not exactly a hero’s medal, but it’s close enough.”

  “I’m sure he’ll love it,” Cori told her as she checked her phone once again, hoping she’d hit a hotspot soon so it would start working again. Cori was not about to get on that train, but now she questioned whether Gage would actually do the same? If he hadn’t received any of her messages, he wouldn’t know she had agreed to their little scheme.

  “Is something wrong, Corina-May? You’ve been on that phone most of the time we’ve been here.”

  “Sorry, I’ve been, um, checking on the weather for our drive home tomorrow.”

  Hailey looked up at the bright blue sky. “I think it’s going to be another day just like today.”

  “You can never be too sure. I’d hate to get caught in a storm.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Gram said, giving Cori a dubious look. “Funny that your phone has been working, when mine hasn’t.”

  They walked in front of a coffee shop and Cori’s phone began to chime, signaling several text messages had just come through.

  Gram’s phone also chimed with messages.

  “Seems we’re back up and running,” Gram said as she reached inside her purse for her flip
phone.

  Cori grabbed her own phone from her pocket and slid her finger over the screen until she came to the latest text message from Gage:

  Gramps says he’s suffering from altitude sickness. Refuses to let me contact you and won’t see a doctor. Sorry. Change of plans. We’re on a bus at the train station headed back to Durango. We leave in 15 minutes.

  “I have to go,” Cori told Gram and Hailey.

  “Go? Go where?” Gram asked, shuffling her many shopping bags between her two hands. She’d scored big time in Silverton, and Cori felt certain her gram had not only bought several things for herself and Hailey, but that Cori would also be wearing a few new articles of clothing. Gram didn’t like to make a big production of her gifts. New clothes simply appeared in Cori’s suitcase, neatly folded with the tags removed as if they’d always been there. Gram did the same when Cori and her mom would visit and use the upstairs bedroom. The closet would suddenly contain new T-shirts, dresses, shoes, slacks or any number of things. When Cori or her mom would ask Gram about them, Gram would deny any knowledge, end of discussion.

  “Back to Durango. Buck is sick, and he and Gage are taking a bus down the mountain. It’s quicker.”

  “But we haven’t even seen everything yet,” Hailey protested, her face all scrunched up, looking like a cute little troll.

  Cori knew how many events her daughter had given up because Cori couldn’t get away from the ER to take her on various school activities, so she certainly didn’t want her day cut short because of another emergency Cori had to attend to.

  “You guys stay and take the train back as planned. I need to check on Buck. Gage said he won’t see a doctor.”

  Her grandmother frowned. “What makes you so sure he’ll talk to you? You know how pig-headed that man can be.”

  “I know, but if I’m on the bus and his symptoms get worse, I can treat him.”

  Hailey sighed. “Then you better go, Mom. I like Buck, and I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him.”

  Cori stooped over and gave Hailey a tight hug.

  Then she turned to Gram. “Thanks. Love you, guys.”