The Cowboy Lawman

“I’m good.” Mia glanced around the crowded diner. She regretted the impulsive decision to come here at noon. People were looking her way. A few whispered.

“Guess you’ll be around, getting better after that fall?”

She smiled and didn’t correct him on the assumption that she’d fallen. For years people thought she worked at an office in Tulsa and sometimes traveled.

“I’ll be around for a while.”

Ben pulled the toothpick from his mouth. “You ever think about doing a barrel-racing clinic? I’ve got a girl who would love to ride. Jackson even has a horse she’s interested in. Trouble is, I ain’t never been much of a hand with horses.”

Barrel-racing clinic?

“Well, I haven’t ever thought about it, Ben.”

“Well, if you do, you let me know. I can’t think of anyone better than a national champion to teach the girls around here.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep you posted.”

The toothpick went back in Ben’s mouth, as the conversation seemed to be over. Mia glanced around the crowded restaurant with the black-and-white-tile floors, old Formica-topped tables and booths with seats covered in black vinyl that always got hot and stuck to the back of a person’s legs. She loved this place. She remembered the first time she came here with the Coopers. It had been on a Sunday after church.

On that Sunday so long ago, for the first time in her life she hadn’t been hungry. That was a memory. She hadn’t been the one in charge of making sure everyone ate. She’d sat at the table between Jackson and Reese. Heather had been across from her, smiling, trying to get her to smile. She’d eaten fried chicken. Vera had given her ice cream.

She remembered being afraid that it would all end, that the state would come looking for her and drag her back to her old house. She remembered worrying that wherever Juan and Breezy were, they might not be getting fed, because she wasn’t there to care for them.

“Sis, over here.” She glanced to the back corner and spotted Jackson and Travis. And Slade McKennon.

Just like old times. But not.

She walked to their booth and Jackson pointed at the seat next to Slade. He scooted and she sat down next to him. His arm brushed hers as he lifted his glass of tea. She reached past him for a menu.

He smelled good. Soap and something like a scent of the Orient tangled up in the mountains of Colorado. She didn’t linger but opened the menu and studied a list she’d seen too many times in her life.

“Ben ask you to teach his girl?” Jackson asked, pushing his glass of tea for the waitress to refill.

Travis moved his glass in the same direction. The waitress, a pretty girl with a big smile and blond hair streaked with pink, smiled at Slade. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Yes. A barrel-racing clinic? I don’t know where he got an idea like that.” Mia happened to look up from her menu and her gaze connected with her brother Travis’s. And he happened to look quickly at Jackson before taking a bite of biscuits and gravy.

Mia shook her head and refocused from the biscuits covered in sausage gravy to Jackson and his obviously guilty look.

“You did this?” She put her menu down and glared at Jackson.

He shrugged. “You might as well.”

“Really? Why is it that I might as well? I do have a job.”

“You’re not going to be working for a while. There’s a need. You’re just about the best.”

She arched her brows at him and smiled. “Just about?”

“You are the best,” he corrected. “Slade, what do you think?”

“I think I don’t have a dog in this fight and it’s a lot safer that way.”

Mia glanced his way, avoiding looking too deep into his gray eyes. She ignored yesterday’s five o’clock shadow on the smooth plane of his cheeks. He looked tired.

“Late night?” She looked back to the menu after asking the question.

“Yeah. And an early morning. My mom hasn’t been feeling too hot and she won’t go to the doctor.”

Mia smiled. “That McKennon family stubbornness.”

“I guess.”

Travis let his fork drop noisily on his plate. “I should get back to the house.”

“How’s Elizabeth.”

“Pregnant?”

“I know that.” Mia smiled up at the waitress. “Pueblo salad with ranch. Water to drink.”

“Okay.” The waitress smiled at Slade again. “You all done with that?”

He passed her his empty plate. Travis held his up and the waitress ignored him and walked off. Mia snorted a laugh and looked at Slade.

“So, is the waitress a friend of yours?” She regretted the question as soon it left her mouth. Talk about testy. She would blame it on lack of sleep.

“No, she isn’t.” Slade shook his head. “Seriously, Mia, she’s barely twenty.”

“Right. It’s none of my business.”

Jackson made a big deal of looking at his watch. “I should go.”

Travis slid out after him. “Me, too. I ordered Elizabeth a salad to go and chocolate pie. She’s been eating chocolate pie like crazy.”

“Tell her to call if she needs anything.” Mia reached her hand up and her brother enclosed it in his for a moment. “I can’t wait to hold that baby girl.”

“I’ll pass on the message and if you want to come out and visit, I’ll pick you up.”

“Thanks, Trav.” She smiled past him to Jackson. “And you, I will deal with you later.”

Jackson shrugged it off. “You’ll thank me later.”

After they were gone, she moved to the other side of the booth. Sitting next to Slade while her brothers were there was not a conversation starter. If she stayed next to Slade, the whole town would be talking and speculating.

The swinging doors that led to the kitchen opened. Vera walked out, her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun that looked severe but the smile on Vera’s face softened things up.

“Mia Cooper. Honey, I have been praying for you and thinking about you. How’d you like that peanut butter pie I made for you?”