“Yes, sir.”
“You know how to put out a grass fire?”
“In theory.”
“In theory,” Walter echoed.“Well, that’s comforting.”
Harlan said, “Theory’s better than nothing, which is what we’ve had since the barn fire.”
Gray took his coffee and fled.
Behind him, Ruth’s shrill voice carried through the closing door “At least he’s going to be sticking around for a while, now that he has a girlfriend.Bonnie Watson.I saw them holding hands in the parking lot of the fire station just yesterday.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, unsure if he was more embarrassed or annoyed to have been seen holding Bonnie’s hand.
If he had his druthers, he would do more than hold Bonnie’s hand, and the two of them would do it whenever and wherever they liked, gossips be darned.But until Lucas Shoemacher found out through official channels that the fire investigation had been re-opened, Bonnie was scared to go public with their relationship.
At least she acknowledged that the two of them had a relationship.He hadn’t been sure he was interpreting the situation correctly.Then last night, Bonnie heard about Ruth’s gossip from Rose, who called to tell her.Bonnie hung up the phone and proceeded to rant indignantly about how Ruth Sanger should mind her own business and keep her nose out of other people’s relationships.
He would never do anything to upset Bonnie, let alone endanger her in any way.But he rather liked the idea of the whole town knowing that she was his gal and he was her guy.He would deny it for now, but one day soon, he wanted to shout to the whole world that he was ...
That he was what?The phrase that had almost finished that sentence in his mind stopped him in his mental tracks.Was he in love with Bonnie Watson?
When didthathappen?
Nah.He had to be wrong about that.He was as bad at understanding his own feelings as he was at understanding other peoples’.
Stunned, he got into his truck and drove toward the ranch.The wind buffeted the cab, warm and dry, and bits of dried grass swirled across the road.The hills on either side of the valley were brown and hairy with newly exposed dead grass.In less than a full day, the snowmelt was completely gone at the lower elevations.The grass in the pastures passing his window lay in pale dead mats that rippled like water in the chinook gusts.
He thought about Walter’s story.Six thousand acres.A dozen head of cattle.And that was when Cobbler Cove had a fire department.What would happen when the nearest fire fighters were over a half-hour away?
He made a mental note to check the fire engine’s pump and hoses when he got back to the station.Just in case theory needed to become practice.
Ray Lawton’s green truck was parked outside the bunkhouse again.
This time, Gray didn’t freeze at the sight of it.He parked beside it and got out.His father was sitting on the same porch steps where they’d had their first conversation, his duffel beside him, his jacket zipped against the wind.It might be warm but it carried enough grit to sting.
Ray stood when Gray approached.He looked like he’d finished what he came to do and was getting ready to leave.
“I wanted to say goodbye before I head out,” Ray said.
“Wyoming?”
“Wyoming.Your mother.”A pause.“That’s going to be the hardest one of all.”
Gray could imagine.Shirley Lawton had worked her fingers to the bone and struggled every day for fifteen years to raise three boys alone.She had never said a bad word about Ray, according to Cooper, which meant she’d swallowed enough anger and hurt to fill the Mississippi River.Ray was driving toward a woman who had every right to slam the door in his face and the strength of character not to.
“She’ll hear you out,” Gray said.“Mom’s fair.”
“She always was fair.Lord knows, she’s a better woman than I ever deserved.”
They stood on the porch in the warm wind.The calves were out in the pasture, their pale shapes vivid against the brown grass, butting heads and chasing each other with the uncoordinated enthusiasm of youth.A song sparrow sang from a post on the fence line, heralding the arrival of spring by singing to attract a mate.
“I talked to Tucker again yesterday,” Ray said.“We had coffee.He’s ...”He searched for the word.“He’s further along than I expected.That gal of his, Molly, has been real good for him.”
“Tucker understands what you went through,” Gray said.“He inherited enough of your restlessness to know what it feels like on the inside.”
“That’s what he said.”Ray’s voice was rough.“He said he spent ten years running from the same thing I ran from, and the only reason he stopped was because he found someone worth staying for.”
