“It died when she decided to become a teacher,” Sharlene answered. “She would be a crackerjack rancher, but she won’t give in and accept the family farm that is her inheritance. I’m not so sure I’m ready to sell the place. If I hang on to it a while, she might come to her senses and step up to do what she knows is right.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Joelle said with another sigh.
“Yes, you are,” Nita said. “And you know the conditions I’ve set forth for my place. You two are all we have, and I’ve always considered you as much my own kids as you are the grandkids of these two old renegades I’ve run with my whole life.”
“What’s going on?” Ford asked as he slid in behind the wheel.
“We’re talking about you kids taking over the ranches,” Billy Joe answered. “But I know you’re going to do what’s right. Right now, I’m thinking that we can do two trips a year. One in the summer and one at Christmas, so y’all don’t plan anything for December of this year. That one will have to be short since Joelle will only have two weeks.”
“But it could be longer if she moves to the ranch,” Sharlene piped up from her place in the back.
“Maybe we’ll take turns with the next thing on our bucket list for the December trip,” Nita suggested, “and just go to one place.”
“I’m thinking warmer places that don’t have snow,” Billy Joe said. “If I can be first in line, since I am the oldest by six weeks, I would suggest that we go to Disneyland in California for the Christmas trip. Sharlene, can we take the bus every time?”
“Of course. She’s got lots and lots of miles left on her before I put her out to pasture,” Sharlene replied.
Ford started up the engine and pulled out onto the road leading out of the dude ranch. “This keeps getting better and better.”
“It sure does,” Joelle muttered.
Billy Joe popped the tab off a can of root beer. “I’m glad y’all think so. When we get home, we’ll start planning the trip to Disneyland. I figure three days out, five days in the park, and maybe four or five days coming home. We might want to stop and play at a few touristsites on the way back, or stop in Las Vegas to play the slots and watch a show or two.”
“But for now, we’re going to talk about Nashville and the next leg of the journey we’re on now. I’ve got us reservations at a sweet little RV park in Salina, Kansas, for tonight,” Nita said. “We’ll need to stop right before we get there to buy food. Ford, I hear that you are good at grilling, so I’m thinking steaks for supper tonight.”
“I can do that,” Ford said. “I’ll pick up some fresh vegetables to grill to go along with them.”
He can cook and probably sleep through mortar fire, but snoring wakes him?Joelle wondered about that as they drove down the highway toward the Kansas border.
Like a worm in hot ashes.That’s what Sharlene used to tell Joelle when she couldn’t sit still, and it’s what the folks in the back of the VW bus reminded her of that morning.
Joelle was surprised that not a one of them had teased her about Ford spending his nights in her room on the spare bed. Surely, Billy Joe hadn’t slept through the entire night all week, but then he had mentioned taking a sleeping pill.
Think about it,the pesky voice in her head reminded her,Ford was the first one up all week. Remember when everyone thanked him for having the coffee already made?
“You’ve been awfully quiet this morning,” Ford said.
“Just thinking,” she answered.
“I did, too, lasso that calf faster than you did.” Billy Joe raised his voice slightly.
“The children are getting fussy,” Joelle said with a smile.
“Well, if you did it was by seconds,” Nita told him.
“And I beat you both at the shootout,” Sharlene told them. “I put three right smack in the bull’s-eye.”
“They’ll be talking about all the fun they’ve had for months, and planning their December trip at the same time,” Ford whispered. “What’s the top thing on your bucket list?”
“To find Prince Charming and live happily ever after,” Joelle admitted. “I’m an only child and the last living survivor of the Cheadle family. I wouldn’t want the line to die with me.”
“Your folks are both gone?” Ford asked.
Joelle nodded. “They went down in a freak plane crash when I was in college. They had decided to stay in the military for thirty years before they retired, but they didn’t make it that far. Aunt Sharlene is all I’ve got.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ford said. “I guess we’re paddling the same canoe. I’m an only child of an only child. My mother didn’t have siblings, and she and my dad died within a year of each other, both of cancer, and neither of them made it to age fifty.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Joelle said. “Were you close to them?”
