Hot little sparks danced around the cab of the VW bus when he clasped her hand in his and shook it. Seemed like the infatuation she had had with him back when she was a teenager wasn’t as far in the past as she had thought it was.
Sharlene came out of the office with a map of the ranch and handed it to Ford. “It’s only about a city block from right here, so I’m going to walk. I need to stretch my legs.”
Billy Joe fell in beside Sharlene and pointed to a building across the gravel road. “Me, too, and right there is the honky-tonk, which means that it’s close to our cabin.”
“And what does that mean?” Nita asked as she joined them.
“That we won’t need a designated driver,” Billy Joe answered with a chuckle. “We can all three get sloshed if we want to, and so can these kids.”
“We’re a little old to be called kids,” Joelle objected.
“Honey, all three of us are more than twice your age, so you are kids to us,” Sharlene told her. “Just drive straight ahead. We’re in cabin number three on the left side of the road. We’ll meet you there.”
As they drove from the office to the cabin, Joelle noticed several older folks milling about. Some were all decked out in western gear complete with chaps, six-guns on their hips, and fancy boots with designs stitched into the uppers. She picked up the brochure with the map on the back and giggled when she read that this week was senior citizens’ week.
“What’s so funny?” Ford asked.
“You don’t have to outrun a bunch of beautiful, young women chasing after you at the honky-tonk tonight, but you might have to worry about the cougars,” Joelle answered. “This is senior citizens’ week. Except for the folks that are assistants, you have to be at least sixty-five to be here.”
Ford eased the vehicle into the parking space beside the cabin. “Then I guess we aren’t drivers anymore, but assistants from this point on? I wonder if that job pays more.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Joelle joked. “How much are you getting paid?”
“Same as you,” Ford answered. “All the food we can eat, a place to sleep, and the promise of a huge ranch when we get home.”
“You got it,” she told him as she opened the door and headed across the small yard. The cabin was the same as all the other buildings on the dude ranch—rustic-looking and made of split logs. A breeze had set the rocking chairs on the front porch in motion, and a wreath made of barbed wire and bright silk flowers graced the door.
“I’ve got the keys to the trailer,” Sharlene yelled from the edge of the yard and tossed them across the distance toward Ford.
He caught them in midair and set about getting things unloaded and onto the porch while the three older folks made their way out of the bus and to the cabin.
“We’ve got about an hour to explore this place, and then it’s suppertime, and after that is a meet-and-greet dance at the honky-tonk,” Billy Joe said as he stepped up onto the porch and sat down in a rocking chair. “You two young’uns are on your own for a little while. But part of your job is to go eat with us and go dancing with us tonight.”
“You don’t need to bring the tents inside,” Sharlene told them.
“Do assistants get paid more than drivers?” Ford teased.
“Nope, the pay is the same,” Sharlene answered for him. “Room and board and a lovely vacation. I’ll unlock the door, and we’ll go pick out our rooms. Y’all can just put all the luggage in the living room, and we’ll sort it out from there.”
“A real bed sounds pretty good,” Joelle said as she picked up a suitcase in each hand.
Ford stacked three suitcases up and carried them all at once. “Yep, but I might be sleeping on the porch if my grandpa keeps snoring once he’s in a bed and not out on the ground in a tent. I’ve kind of enjoyed sleeping with you. I’m surprised you haven’t asked me to make an honest woman of you.”
“Hey, now,” Joelle scolded. “We were sleeping in the same area, not together, and you haven’t asked me to make an honest man of you, either.”
“Touché,” he said with a grin.
The old folks claimed their luggage as quickly as it was brought inside. In just a few minutes, they had hauled it all into their rooms and had left the cabin to go explore.
“We’ll see y’all at supper,” Nita had said over her shoulder.
Joelle plopped down on a buttery-soft leather sofa set in front of a stone fireplace. “We might need that later, but right now, the air-conditioning feels pretty dang good. I worked up a sweat bringing all that stuff in.”
Ford opened up a cooler and took out two longneck bottles of beer, twisted the caps off both, and handed one to her. “We deserve a cold beer after these past three days.”
“They are cute, though, aren’t they?” she said and then took a long drink. “This is so good, but I got toadmit, even with all the hippie music and riding in a vehicle that looks like it sprang up in a bougainvillea forest, it’s good to see them all having such a good time. I was afraid they’d get bored or homesick.”
“Trip ain’t over yet.” Ford grinned.
