THE LONE OLD TIMER 3

buck drove up to cleos little half ton pick up truck parked in the lot at the bar.when she got out she said" why dont you follow me home, its not to much out of the way we can have lunch later. you got nother else to do today." buck thought a moment the nodded ok. a few minutes later they pulled up to a little frame house on a tree lined street. buck parked in the street. when in the house cleo found a couple of cold sodas and they sat down at the kitchen table. cleo smiled" now this is a way to spend a sunday". buck looked at her and made a mentel desion.he took a swallow of his soda then looked at her" let me tell you something, i find you very attractive, ime not as old as i look. ime not much older than you. but years ago i was married with a small child. there was a house fire, they were trapped. i tried to get to them. a beam fell hit me. i woke in the hospital two days later. my leg in a cast half my hair burned off and my face scared from burns. when i got well the young people started calling me the old timer. i took the insurence money and bouht the ranch, something we had always planed on haveing. now you know why i stay to my self as far as women are concerned. my only vice is i like to rope.other than that i live at and take care of my ranch. ime a pretty boering person." cleo sat there listening totaly engaged with the story." ok you told your story, you want to hear mine? its not as intresting as yours but you ought to know who i am." buck sat there a minute" i suppose so but only if you want to." i was raised right here. never left this town until i turned 18. then i got a job at the state capitol as a receptionist for a state senate. after a couple of months we became romanticly involved. he was cheating on his wife but i didnt care. then we got caught together in a motel. he went back to his familyy and i came back here. disgraced. i got a job at the hardware store as their book keeper. ive had a long string of boy friends but no one serious. every one thinks ime easy." cleo ducked her head. " well we both got some history huh? i dont think its enough to kill us tho. whats for lunch? all these confessions made me hungry." buck smiled at her. later that afternoon buck was driveing back to the ranch. his mind was cluttered with cloe and all she had told him. it had made him like her even more. when he left he told her he waould be back in town the following saturday to rope in the jackpot roping out at the rodeo grounds, but he still made no commitment. he had to thhink on this deal ever since the loss of his family hehadnt even thought about another woman. as he drove along the road to his house he passed ten cows and calves walking single file along the road he noticed two of the calves wernt braanded. he decided to go home and get a horse aand bring these cattle to the corrals at the house and brand the calves.

THE LONE OLDTIMER 2

whenn cleo pulled intothe ranch yard buck got out of the truck and turned to cleo " go in the house, go to bed in my bed , ill sleep on the couch. ime going to take care of baldy then ill be in." cleo walk to the house as buck unloaded baldy and led him over to a empty corral. he pitched a big flake of hay in the manger for him. when buck got into the house he found cleo sound asleep on the couch and covered with a navaho blanket he had . he was tempted to wake her up and send her to his bed but he thought better of it and went on to bed after turning off the lights. buck opened his eyes to a pitch black room. he lay there a moment staring up at the ceiling. then turning he looked at a battery clock with a illuminated face on the bed side stand. it said 630. then he realized he could smell bacon frying. he rolled from the bed and pulled his pants on. getting his pants zipped up he padded into the kitchen. cleo stood at the stove frying bacon. she looked over at buck and smilled. "bout time you got up old timer." "you just move in and take over a mans out fit like that?"buck acused "i couldnt sleep any more, i figgured i could do something. go wash your face , comb your hair and finish dressing. this is about done." cleo ordered. buck turned around and stumped back into his bed room mumbling to himself. " old timer, she has a lot of nerve." when buck came back in the kitchen cleo was dishing up breakfast for him. a cup of coffee and a fresh made hot buttered biscuit topped off the meal. buck looked up at cleo, you really put on the dog girl. thanks." cleo smiiled sweetly" ime going to use your bathroom if its ok. you eat while i pull this mess together" when cleo came back from the bat room her hair was brushed and styled. her face had a touch of make up ans her clothes were put together looking like the night before.she poured a cup of coffee and pulled out a chair at the table. buck had finished eating and was sipping his coffee. he looked over the rim of his cup with a appraising look." you clean up pretty good gal" "well arnt you sorry you been holding me off for so long?" cleo asked. " well in a way yes, but our ages havent changed. but i do appreciate the drive home and now this breakfast. you will spoil me"buck stated." i guess i better take you back to town as soon as i feed my stock." " no hurry, i dont have anything to do until i go back to work tomorrow. while you fo your chores ill put things in order here."cleo said. bucks ranch lay on the eastern slope of the dragoon mountains. it had been chopped up years before by land developers. a lot of the people who bought parceles and moved there didnt understand that they had to fence their property to keep the cattle out. buck had been able to aquire the grazeing leases because the previous owners had growen tired of the folks complaining about the cows trespassing. but as time went on buck hadhelped the new commers fence their property some even just fenced around their houses and let bucks cows graze their unfenced land. most of the new people wernt hard to get along with. as buck was driveing cleo back to town he explained all that to cleo. she absorbed it all like a sponge. they passed some of bucks cows grazeing along the side of the dirt road and cleo could see fresh branded calves along with a few un branded ones. she turned to buck. " who helps you brand? looks like you missed a few," " i do it my self, i do what i can if i get tired i know theres always tomorrow."buck never took his eyes from the road as he spoke. "mmmmm" was all cleo said.