“Is the first place to buy gas and use the bathrooms,” Nita told him. “My last two bottles of sweet tea have hit bottom, and I noticed the gas needle is below a quarter of a tank.”
Ford nodded. “That’s exactly what I was about to say, and while we’re in the store, I’m going to buy a big cup of coffee.”
“You don’t like my campfire coffee?” his grandfather asked.
Ford shook his head. “That’s not coffee. That’s road tar mixed with motor oil.”
“I would’ve thought a he-man soldier like you would like a cup of good strong joe,” Billy Joe argued.
“I would,” Ford said as turned off on the next exit, “and I’ll buy one when we stop for gas.”
Joelle covered a yawn with her hand. “And I’m getting one, too.”
“Good Lord!” Sharlene groaned. “We’ve raised a couple of pansies, Billy Joe.”
“Hey, now,” Joelle argued. “I teach school. That’s a tough job.”
“And probably as rough as a war zone in some ways.” Ford took up for her.
“Point taken,” Billy Joe said, “and by the time we’ve been out on this road trip for a while, y’all might even be able to be tough enough to drink my campfire coffee.”
***
Joelle hadn’t been asked to drive a single time since they left Texas. The few times she had mentioned taking over for a while, Ford had told her that six hours a day wasn’t a big chore. She wondered just exactly why she was even on the trip if she wasn’t needed to help out. They made a quick stop for gas and a bathroom break, and then it was off to the dude ranch. Ford slowed the bus down toa crawl on the winding dirt road that lead to the place, and what should have been a short trip turned into a thirty-minute ride.
The three older folks had unfastened their seatbelts and were sliding open the back door as soon as Ford brought the bus to a stop. With Sharlene right behind her, Nita made a dash for the office door to register and get the keys to their cabin.
“Wait for me,” Billy Joe called out as he joined them. “I want to know where the honky-tonk is, and the dining hall where we’re having supper.”
Nita gave him a thumbs-up and kept walking. Joelle thought about getting out of the bus and going with them but figured that her aunt might take that as a sign that she couldn’t take care of her own business.
“You are fighting with yourself,” Ford whispered.
“Yes, I am,” Joelle told him. “Aunt Sharlene is almost eighty. She has run a ranch on her own, but here I am, wondering if I should go into the office with her to make sure she gets everything she needs.”
“I understand,” Ford said. “Those three can probably run circles around us. Yet, we are driving them around and thinking we need to help them. They could easily do their own driving, so why did they insist we go with them?”
“They’ve got high hopes that we will take over the ranches,” Joelle answered. “And they’re out to prove to us that they’re getting so old that they need us.”
“Huh!” Ford almost snorted. “They’ll be pulling calves and hauling hay every day until they drop.”
“Yep, but they want assurance that when that day comes, what they have worked for is going to be in good hands,” Joelle told him. “Do you think you’ll give in and take over for Billy Joe?”
Ford removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. Joelle remembered him doing that same thing when she had the crush on him years ago, and crazy as it seemed, she thought it was downright sexy—both then and now. He put his cap back on and shrugged. “I don’t know. It would be the smart thing to do, and I enjoy ranching. I think I’m rebelling against the idea of someone else making decisions for me. I’ve lived in a world of higher powers for twenty years, and I think maybe that’s long enough. What about you?”
Joelle had nodded in agreement with every word he said. “You are preaching to the choir. I was a military kid, and we lived by strict rules. Neither my granddad, nor my dad ever wanted a thing to do with ranching, but now Daddy is telling me that I should leave my teaching job. He says that it would be a shame for the family land to fall into a stranger’s hands.”
“I’ve heard the same things,” Ford said. “Looks like we’ve got some tough decisions to make before we get home, but on a different note, are you going to this honky-tonk place with them tonight?”
“Are you?” Joelle asked.
“Grandpa will throw a fit if I don’t,” Ford answered.
“Maybe I should take my pistol to protect you from all the women who are going to flock around you,” she teased.
“Maybe if you’ll dance every dance with me all evening, I won’t have that kind of problem. The women will think I’m taken, and all those guys whose jaws will drop when they see you will leave you alone at the same time,” Ford said.
“Now, that sounds like a win-win situation to me,” Joelle agreed and stuck out her hand. “It’s a deal.”
