I felt myself wavering.
I tended to be frugal with my money, and it had been ages since I’d splurged on a frivolous outing. I could afford to buy a drink or two at a small country bar.
And maybe it would be good to get a change of scenery. I hadn’t been out to the country since I went to the War Eagle Fair in October.
“All right,” I relented. “I’ll go.”
Dee danced around the store. “Woo! We are going to catch ourselves some cowboys tonight!”
I couldn’t help but feel some of her spirit. Dee was still young enough that every day felt like an adventure. I was nearing thirty, and my party days were long gone.
Chuckling, I told her, “I thought they weremountainmen.”
She gave me a mischievous look. “Well, there’s bound to be both types there tonight. You just choose whichever you want.”
Either way, tonight would be fun. And who knows, maybe I would catch a cowboy for the night. But I was strictly on a catch-and-release program. No way would I risk getting attached again.
Chapter 2
Dawson
The Bear Den was my stomping ground.
And I was a Friday night regular.
When I was younger, I’d go there on a mission to pick up a woman. But these days it was more about seeing my friends and celebrating the end of another work week. Almost like a ritual.
Max, the owner of the Bear Den, was behind the bar tonight.
“Let me grab the usual,” I told him as I slid up to the bar.
I was a cheap fucker, so every Friday I’d order myself a Budweiser. One early in the evening, and another around the midway point. It was the cheapest beer on the menu, and I could get in and out for under ten bucks once I included a tip. Not bad for a night’s entertainment.
Tonight looked like it was starting off just like any other Friday night.
It was cold outside, still winter. But inside these walls, you’d never know.
Some of the younger local girls giggled and looked my way as I sauntered over to my buddy, Wade.
He’d been kicked out of this place for destroying one of the booths a while back. But Max had recently lifted his ban, so now we could be drinking buddies again.
But before I could sit down with my brew at his booth, one of those young girls got bold and tugged on the hem of my flannel.
I turned around to a flutter of eyelashes and a hopeful look. “You want to hit the dance floor with me, cowboy?”
“Naw. I’m too old for you, little girl. And I’m not a cowboy. I’m a mountain man. Go find one of those young punks over there. They’ve been checking you and your friends out since I walked in the door.”
Sometimes this place got inundated with women who’d just recently reached the legal drinking age. And my appetite for that had shifted as I’d gotten older. I wasn’t into the young ones like that.
These days, a sweet ass didn’t catch my eye. I wasn’t exactly sure whatwould. But I imagined it would be a woman who was as responsible as me. One who didn’t get caught up in silly things.
And that was surprisingly hard to find.
I was too old for drama. And too cheap for most women.
That was fine, because I didn’t feel like picking up someone’s tab through life. I could make a dollar stretch, and women, at least a lot of them, seemed to know how to spend my money faster than I could make it.
Which was why Wade made such good company. Nowhe’dpicked a sensible wife for himself. Aster was from Red Oak Mountain, born and raised, and she was as solid as they came.
