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.

THE LONE OLDTIMER 1

the dodge one tone pickup with the 14 foot gooseneck triler hooked to it slowley roled up to the curb in front of the cowboys bar and grill. slowley the drivers door opened and a tall leggy man emerged. he stood in the open door of a few moments. then steped away and closed the door. a black hat topped his streaked gray hair. his shirt was red and white checked with the tail tucked into the waist band of wraangler denim pants with the cuffs over the top of black , mule hide olathe brand boots. a worn pair of tarnished silver spurs were strapped to them. when the man stepped down along the side of the truck it was plain to see one leg bowed out at a rough angle. the result of some long ago wreck. as he passed the trailer he looked inside at the sorrel bald face horse standing saddled there, the man nodded and patted the trailer fender as he walked by. the door to the cowboys bar and grill was blocked open with a bar stood letting the outside air in and the juke box music out, the man walked in and went half way down the bar and slid onto a bar stool. the bar tender walked over drying his hands with a towel" howdy buck, did you rope tonite?" buck looked at the bartender" yep and i won enough to leave it here, gimme a double beam over ice and a fifth to go." when the bar tender brought the glass of jim beam buck nodded his thanks. he took a deep sip then spun his stool to look at the people scattered around the dance floor. a shapley blond got up and sashsayed accros the floor to the juke box and dropped some coins in then punched the buttons of the songs she wanted to hat. when done she spun on a heel and danced over to buck. she had a snug pair of denim britches and white blouse that had ruffles down the fron with top 3 buttons undone exposeing ample cleavage. "come on buck dance with me." she held out her hands. buck shook his head " i dont dance so geood with this crooked leg, especially to a fast song. ill buy you a drink tho until a slow song comes on." the blong slid her self onto the stool next to buck. she waved to the bar tender who brought her a class with a clear liquid and a slice of lemon in it." buck, when we going out? arnt you tired of being alone yet?" " cleo, ime old enough to be your daddy. isnt there a younger man who intrests you?" buck said as he took another sip from his glass. " theres no one here thats the real deal cowboy, just some pretenders and ive heard all those lies already about the wild cows and horses they had dealt with. every one knows you dont have to lie about it. you lived it !"cleo blurted. " well is it the man or the life style and reputation you want to date?" buck grinned at the blonde who made a face when he asked her the question. she got off the bar stool and went back to her table. " ya know buck she is about as lonely as you are. you ought to check her out." the bar tender was drying a glass standing behind buck. " who said i was lonely? i got 300 mother cows and ole baldy out there in the trailer, they keep me company." buck smilled and picked up the paper bag with his fifth in it and drained his glass with the other hand he droppd two 20 doller bills on the table."keep the change pard ime headed home." out side just as buck was reaching for the door handle on his truck a policeman stepped up behind him" whats in the bottle buck?you dont have a open container there do you?" " nope its closed , here you wanna look?" byck held the bottle out to the policeman. the cope took a step back and looked at buck" you been drinking you cant drive like that. ill haave to arrest you if you get behind the wheel," " he s not driveing , i am" came a voice from the door of the bar, buck looked over his shoulder to see cleo walking out the door with her purse over her shoulder. when she got to the driver side of the truck the cop stepped close to her. she blew in his face, i drink lemon water ill pass any test you want to pull." the cop backled away," ok git" he said. buck stood there dumb struck"what are you doing girl?" " keeping you out of jail get in and lets go." cleo opened the drivers door and was getting in as buck walked around the truck." i hopwe she knows how to haul a trailer" he said to no one in particular. the dodge roared out of town into the night.