Dirty Cowboy

by Alycia Taylor

  The night before Brady and I had worked until late, and then spent most of the evening drinking beer and watching movies. That, apparently, was Brady’s idea of having a party. But I didn’t mind. I was exhausted from a long day out on the ranch, and putting my feet up was exactly what I wanted. Brady had decided it would be a good idea to watch three Star Wars movies in a row. Halfway through the second one, I was already wondering if we’d make it. But we did. I rubbed my eyes, now wishing I’d gone to bed earlier.

  “I’m excited for next week. Although, I wished I’d slept in a bit today. I’m exhausted. I still can’t believe we watched all three movies.”

  “We used to do that as kids all the time, don’t you remember?”

  “I do remember. But we’re not kids anymore. I’m exhausted. But, naturally, I still couldn’t sleep in. My eyes just automatically open at five in the morning now.”

  “It’s six-thirty now, so you must’ve slept in a bit.”

  I shook my head. “Nope. I just lay there willing myself to sleep, but I couldn’t. I was wide awake. Ah, thank you,” I said as he handed me a cup of coffee.

  “So,” I said. “Are you working today?”

  “Nah, I don’t think so, actually. I have the new guy coming tomorrow, so I think I’ll work tomorrow rather than today.”

  I looked at Brady and laughed. “So what are you going to do on your day off?”

  “I’m not sure. Just relax, I guess.”

  “You’re going to relax? You have no idea how to relax.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, actually I don’t know. Already I’m wondering if I should just go in.”

  “Hey, why don’t you help us today?”

  “With what?”

  “Emily is moving into her new place. Terra and I are going to help her move. She bought a whole bunch of furniture during the week, and it’s all sitting in Terra’s garage. I could use the help.”

  “Yeah, count me in.”

  I smiled to myself. Brady was just happy that he had something to do with his day. That man could not sit alone for one minute without wondering what needed to be done around the ranch.

  After breakfast, we made our way to Terra’s house. Emily came bounding out the house to kiss me. She was wearing tiny little denim shorts, a white tank top, and sneakers. She looked adorable.

  “I like your moving outfit,” I said to her.

  She chuckled. “Thank you very much. Although I doubt this white shirt is going to stay white for very long.”

  “It is. Because you’re not going to lift a finger.”

  “Oh, I like this!” she said and smiled at me. “And I see we have company. Hey, Brady, good to see you again.”

  “Hey, Emily; hey, Terra. I thought I’d come and help,” Brady said as if it was his idea in the first place.

  The girls beamed at him and told him that they appreciated it.

  “So, how’s my old neighbor doing?” Emily said to Brady as we walked to the garage to collect some things.

  “Good. Busy. The usual,” he said. “Sorry about what happened.”

  “Ah, it’s okay. I’ve had enough time to be upset over it. Now I’m just focusing my attention on moving on. Thanks for convincing your brother that Buffalo was the place to be, by the way. I think I have you to thank.”

  Brady looked uncomfortable. “Sure,” he said.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I watched him interact with the girls. When he was with me, he was outgoing and talkative. At the ranch, he completely took charge of everyone and walked around with a sense of authority that came naturally to him. But now he seemed aloof and unfriendly. He was definitely not used to interacting with the general public. I hoped he loosened up by the end of the day.

  We loaded everything into the truck, and made our way to Emily’s new house, with Emily and Terra in front of us to show us the way. Their car was filled with boxes. I felt a little sad that all it took was one trip to take all her things. She’d ordered quite a few things, but she still didn’t have as many things as she should have. She’d lost it all in the fire.

  “You’re not the most talkative person when it comes to girls, are you?” I said to Brady as we drove.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve known Emily for years. I mean, you lived next door to her. And Terra is from this town, so I assume you know her well too. But you talk to them like you don’t know them at all.”

  “That’s just the way I am,” Brady grunted, and I decided not to push the matter.

  When we arrived, we unloaded everything and took a quick tour of the house. It wasn’t what I had been expecting. The house was small but very cute. It wasn’t the house that most people would’ve picked out, but it had Emily written all over it.

  “I like the yellow wall,” I said as we walked into the kitchen.

  She squealed. “Me too.”

  “I think she got this place just for that wall,” Terra said.

  “You do realize that you could’ve painted a wall yellow in any house?” Brady said.

  Emily pulled a tongue at him. “That’s what the real estate agent said. And yes, I know that. But I liked this place. The yellow wall is a sign that it’s perfect just as it is. And look, I have a reading nook! Oh, I love this place.”

  I smiled at her. It was nice to see her so happy. I walked over and kissed her, and Terra groaned.

  “Not in public, please.”

  I looked up in apology, but she was laughing.

  “So, what do you think, Brady? Like the place?” Emily said to my brother.

  He looked around and nodded as if seriously assessing every part.

  “Yeah, I like it,” he said finally.

  She grinned. “I’m glad. You know. In all the time that we were neighbors, we really didn’t spend a lot of time together. We should do this more often. The four of us,” Emily said.

  Terra gave Emily a funny look, and I knew in that instant what Emily was trying to do. She was trying to set Terra up with Brady. I looked at Brady, but he seemed to have no idea what was going on. Typical.

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s a great idea. Brady is such a hard worker. I keep telling him he needs to take a break. We might have to drag him away from the ranch, but I’m sure we can do it.”

  “Terra is the same, you know. Hardest working girl I know,” Emily said. Terra raised her eyebrows at Emily as if it to say, what are you even talking about? But Emily continued talking, and Brady continued not having a clue. It felt a bit like a comedy of errors, but at least she was trying.

  We spent the rest of the day moving all the furniture inside while Emily and Terra walked around the house, making plans on what they were going to do. It was nice to see Emily so happy again. Once we were all done, Emily surveyed the house and smiled at all of us.

  “You guys are amazing. Thank you so much for helping me out like this. It feels more like a home with all this furniture. I still need a lot more, but this is a good start. So, what’s everyone doing for dinner? I can go out and get something for all of us. As a way of saying thank you.”

  I grinned at her. “That sounds great to me!”

  “Actually, I have to get going,” Terra said. “I have a few things I need to do tonight. But thanks for the offer. I’m going to miss having you as a roommate.”

  “I’m going to miss you too.”

  “You guys make it sound like you’re not just down the road from each other,” I said to them and laughed.

  “I know! But it’s not the same,” Emily replied. She looked at Terra. “I’ll have you over for mac and cheese soon. Now, I just realized you don’t have your car here. Let me drive you home.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Brady interrupted. He’d been so quiet for most of the day that hearing his voice actually took me by surprise. “I need to get back to the ranch, anyway. Thank you for the offer, Emily. I’ll take Terra home.”

  Emily seemed delighted by this news and eagerly walked them out to the car. Onc
e they were gone, I turned to Emily and grinned.

  “Were you trying to set those two up?”

  “Was it that obvious?” she asked.

  I laughed. “Yeah, it was. But don’t worry, Brady had no idea. That guy is clueless when it comes to women.”

  “Do you think he’ll go for it? Think she’s his type.”

  I thought about what Brady said to me about never wanting to settle down with anyone, and I shrugged. “I honestly have no idea what his type is. But it’s worth a shot. Terra’s a great girl. Now, tell me more about this mac and cheese.”

  She chuckled. “It’s only the best mac and cheese in the world.”

  “It is? Wow, you’re confident. What makes it so special?”

  “Three different kinds of cheese, and more bacon than you’ll ever see in your life.”

  I laughed. “Okay, you’re right. That does sound like the best in the world.”

  “Want to make some? I’m going to have to go to the store, though. I have nothing in this kitchen.”

  “Nah, I don’t want you to work on your first day moving in. Although, it does mean you’ll have to invite me over for dinner sometime.”

  “Now that I can most definitely do.”

  “How about we just order pizza? Have a glass of wine or something?”

  She smiled. “Great idea. Do you think they deliver wine too? I just realized I don’t have any.”

  “Hang on. I’ve got a better idea. Give me half an hour. I’ll be right back.”

  I quickly got into my car and drove off. I went straight to the pizza shop to order the food, then drove to the liquor store to get a bottle of champagne. I went back to grab the pizza when it was ready and made my way back to her house. The moment she opened the door, I held up the champagne.

  “We need celebration drinks, don’t you think?” I said.

  “You’re the best!”

  “Oh, and I didn’t know what pizza to get, so I just made sure it had a lot of bacon and cheese.”

  She giggled. “Perfect.”

  We sat together with the pizza and champagne and said cheers to her new house. It felt good to be with her. And now that Terra and Brady were out, we immediately got talking just like we always did. Conversation always flowed so easily with Emily. I told her more about the fireman job and she asked me again how long I was intending to stay in Buffalo. It was a question I had been asking myself lately. I had never intended to stay this long in the first place.

  “I’m not sure. I’m starting to feel like staying is more of a possibility. I never thought I’d like it here as much as I do.”

  She smiled. “That’s the thing with small towns: either they can stifle you, or they can make you feel free. Either way, they have a way of sucking you in.”

  There was a lot that Emily didn’t know about me. She knew bits and pieces from information that I’d divulged over the past few weeks. But there was a lot still that she didn’t know about me. A lot that I didn’t share with anyone. She had no idea how much the small town was what I needed. It was the change that I’d been seeking for a long time. I just hadn’t known it at the time.

  After dinner, I could see that Emily looked tired. I thought about asking her if I could stay the night, but I quickly changed my mind. For the first time since meeting Emily, I got scared that I was getting in too deep. What if I didn’t end up staying in Buffalo? What if I realized that small town life wasn’t for me? I liked her, but it was too soon to start staying over and getting too involved.

  “I better get going, Em. I’m exhausted.”

  “Me too,” she said and yawned.

  “You’re very pretty when you’re tired. Enjoy your first night in your brand new home,” I said.

  I had to force myself to stop thinking about how adorable she looked at that moment.

  “Goodnight, Em,” I said and walked away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Emily

  That morning I went to work from my new house, and when I parked at the same time that Terra was parking, I got out and giggled.

  “Great timing. Hey, ex-roomie. How are you?”

  “Hey, Em. It’s weird not driving in with you. Although, we practically live on the same road. We should totally take turns in driving every day.”

  “That’s not a bad idea, actually. Okay, great, I’ll come pick you up you tomorrow.”

  “Deal! So, how’s the new place? You’ve had two nights there now already.”

  “It’s great. I battled to sleep the first night, but last night I slept like a baby.”

  We walked inside, and I asked her if anything had happened with Brady, but she said that he was very polite, very sweet, but also very quiet. She said she had no idea whether or not he liked her or wanted to see her again.

  “Which only makes me like him even more, of course,” she said and sighed dramatically.

  “Naturally. I tried to find out what his type was from Grant but even he has no idea. You have your hands full with this one. Hopefully he’s worth the effort.”

  She shook her head. “If he’s interested, then I’m here, but I’m not going to run after him if he doesn’t want to. So, we’ll see. So, how you feeling? You know, after the phone call. I’m sorry for bringing it up, but it’s good to talk about things. You know that’s my philosophy in life.”

  I nodded and walked over to the coffee machine to make us both a cup. I handed her one and sat down. As much as I had tried not to think about it, it had been on my mind ever since he had called. And if there was one person I didn’t mind talking to, it was Terra. I shook my head.

  “I don’t know what to do. I keep thinking about it. I keep playing the phone call over and over again in my head. I can still hear his voice. It’s weird. I mean, I waited for that call my whole life. But I never really thought it was ever going to come. Maybe I should just meet up with him. At least hear him out. I’m not sure I’ll be able to really let it go until I do.”

  “Are you even sure that it’s him?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, just hear me out. I was thinking about this the other day, and the more I thought about it, the more of a possibility it seemed to me. What if it’s not even him? What if it’s some weirdo trying to freak you out?”

  “Some weirdo?”

  “Have you ever considered that it might be Brett? That dude got so creepy on you. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  I shook my head. “No, I could hear it wasn’t Brett.”

  “Have you ever spoken to Brett on the phone, though? Some people sound different on the phone. And he could’ve been putting on a voice.”

  “You’re freaking me out now. I don’t think it’s Brett, though. Look, I have no idea if it’s really my father or not. But I think I need to make a decision whether or not I want to see him. Either I tell him no, and I forget about it for the rest of my life, or I just go and see what he has to say. I’m still undecided.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, I guess I don’t blame you. That’s a big decision. Well, I’ll support whatever you do. Just be careful. And don’t let this guy mess with you. You’ve done well without him your whole life. Don’t let all that unravel just because he’s suddenly decided he wants you in his life. I love you lots, Em. And you’re an incredibly strong person.”

  I smiled. “And you’re a good friend. I promise to be careful. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do, anyway.”

  “Take your time, Em. There’s no point rushing this. Better to do it in your own time when you are ready. After all, he’s the one that kept you waiting for so long. That’s if it’s even him.”

  “That’s true. Okay, I’ll take my time. I’m not even going to think about it right now. Which reminds me, I better go and prepare for the first client. I have a new girl coming in today.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Good luck! I better go too. See you later,” she said and walked to her office.

  Betty Lindon was a small little girl with long b
londe hair and a smile that lit up the room. She was seven and had a problem with her pronunciation. I’d had a long discussion with her father on the phone and he’d explained that she’d been like ever since she started to speak. When she got excited or upset about something, her speech got worse, and neither he nor his wife knew what to do. Someone had suggested they take her to a speech therapist, and he’d called me to ask if I could help. It was Betty’s mother that dropped her off. She was a thin woman, with blonde hair similar to Betty’s, and bright-green eyes. I took an immediate liking to her.

  “Thank you so much for helping Betty,” she said to me. “She’s a good girl, and very hardworking, so I’m sure she’ll thrive here. We just weren’t sure how to help her. We’ve actually been homeschooling her, but she’ll be going to a real school next year, and we wanted to make sure she was ready to interact with the other kids. Sometimes people have trouble understanding her,” she whispered so Betty wouldn’t hear.

  “She’s in good hands with me,” I said.

  “Her father will be here to get her in two hours. His name is Reed. You’ll know it’s him right away. Betty looks so much like him.”

  When she left, I turned to look at Betty. “It’s lovely to meet you, Betty. My name is Emily. Today we’re going to get to know each other and see where you stand. I always make my first session two hours long just so that we don’t feel rushed. Would you like me to show you what I do?”

  She nodded, and I took her around the room showing her everything, and making sure that she felt comfortable. I showed her the drawings that some of the other children had done and then sat her down to explain what a speech therapist was. I wanted her to understand that having a speech problem didn’t at all mean that there was something wrong with her. That was the most important part of the process for me. Once they realized that they could overcome it, they put a lot more effort into it.

  The two hours went by quickly, and I enjoyed my time with Betty more than I did with some of the other kids I worked for. She reminded me a lot of Wendy. Good natured and willing to put in the effort. It always amazed me how hard kids worked and how determined they were to fix their problems. I often wished that adults could be the same. Her father, Reed, came to get her a few minutes before the end of the session. His wife had been right: it was obvious to see that he was Betty’s father. I opened for him and let him in, and then I laughed as I watched Betty run toward him.