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.

ENTANGLED 18

ZANE HAD SPENT THE NIGHT IN HIS HORSE TRAILER HIS BED ROLL SPREAD OUT WITH HIS HEAD ON THE EDGE OF THE FLOOR AT THE OPENNING. HE AWAOKE TO SOUNDS COMMING FROM THE BARN. HE SAT UP AND RUBBED HIS FACE AND run his finger through his hair.he got up and rolled his bed roll back into the rolled up shape for transporting it. as he started to step out of his trailer he found a steaming cup of coffee sitting on the floor. he picked it up and stepped down out of the traailer. cassie was standing there her house coat openexposing her night gowen. zane gulped the sip of the hot coffee. " good morning" zane cassie said sweetly. before zane could answer leo stepped up out of the dark" cassie go help your mom with breakfast, i want to tak to zane a minute." cassie made a face and turned to go" and put some clothes on!" leo called as she walked back to the house. zane had burned his lip on the hot coffee but he gulped again to get it down.while leo didnt scare him he did respect him and didnt want to make a enimy of him. " i dont know your mom, but ive heard of her. she knows how to pop the brush. i also mheard she may need help over there soon. when you get home and evaluate the ranch and find you need some help you call on me. as for cassie i approve of your comming to see her. just dont hurt her. i know she is a grown woman and i treat her like a little girl, my little girl. ill try to not be a pain in the butt."leo was grinning at zane his teeth shinning in the erly morning air. zane nodded and took another sip of the coffee" thank you. and if we do need help you would be the first i would call. and cassie will be safe with me. i never had a girl friend so i wouldnt know how to hurt one. if i do it will be a accident. " " lets go have breakfast, you cant be going home on a empty belly." leo put his arm around the youngmans shoulder. after breakfast zane was loading his horses and getting ready to start home. as he closed the trailer gate and latched it cassie stepped up close" when are you comming back?" she asked. shakeing his head zane slowley said" i dont know yet. it depends on what i find at home. but ill be back sooner than later i promise. cassie steped closer and put her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard. when she stepped back she said " that ought to hold you till you get back" " well i dont know i might run short sooner than we all think" zane stepped to her and kissed her. " we could do this all day, ill be back" he said as he pulled away from cassie. as he drove down the drive way leo came out of the barn " i like that young man, take care of him" cassie sniffed" ime doing my best."