Cry Me A River

Chapter 1 – A Schoolin' We Will Go

My twin daughters had just turned fifteen and started their second to last year of school. Where had the time gone? Just yesterday they were tiny babies that their mother and I had to walk the floor with at night to stop their crying. Now they were beautiful young ladies, Maude and Isabelle, and I was their proud father. My name is Bart Maverick. You might have heard of me and my brother Bret. We used to be gamblers, traveling all over the country playin' poker. For the last few years we've been horse breeders, and we live on the ranch we helped create just outside of Little Bend, Texas, the B Bar M.

We've been pretty successful cross-breeding both Criollo and Mustang horses with Arabian, and Blue-Roans with the cross-breeds. But you don't wanna hear about a horse ranch. You wanna hear about Maudie and Belle. Ain't that funny, it's always Maudie and Belle, never Belle and Maudie. I guess that's because Maudie's the oldest, the most out-going, hard working and opinionated. Belle is quiet and sweet, always willing to give you a helping hand. She's a book-worm and good grades come easier to her than Maudie; it's easy to tell them apart. Maudie is tanned from being outside with the horses every spare minute, while Belle is kinda pale from spendin' most of her time indoors with her mother. Maudie's blonde hair is usually pulled back into a ponytail, to keep it out of her eyes while she works with the horses. Belle wears hers long and loose, kinda like her mommas. I love them both with every fiber inside of me. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for those girls.

Listen to me go on. You'd think they were the only two we had. Actually, there's four more babies, although I guess I can't call 'em that anymore. There's Beauregard, named for his grandfather, who's thirteen; Breton, after my brother, eleven; Lily Elizabeth, nine; and that last little fella, Timothy, after our adopted brother who was killed by stray gunfire in town years ago. Tim is all of five, and he wants nothin' more than to hang around his older sisters whenever he can.

Lookin' at their momma, Doralice, I can't believe that much time has passed. She looks every bit as beautiful as the day I married her, some eighteen years ago. Not a single thing about her would indicate even a day has passed since then. Me? I've got some silver in my hair and some lines on my face, but this old boy has held up pretty good, too. Us Mavericks seem to age well.

Anyway, the girls were just startin' school again, much to Maudie's chagrin. Belle, of course, couldn't wait to go back. There ain't no doubt in my mind that Belle will want to go to college; Maude, on the other hand, can't wait for school to be over. Just like her old man, I'm afraid. I've made it a habit of takin' them all to school on the first day, no matter how old they are, so we piled all six kids in the wagon, and me and Doralice set off amongst much moanin' and groanin'. All except for Tim, who was excited about startin' school and gettin' to spend all day with his grown-up sisters.

Maudie, of course, was mortified that I didn't think she was old enough to go to school by herself. That wasn't the case, of course, I just wanted to see them off on their first day and wish them all well. Their Momma and me kissed every one that would let us and watched them go into their schools. The group was divided into two; the littlest ones, age ten and under, went to Miss Mortimer's classroom; eleven and over were schooled by Ellie Maverick, Uncle Ben's wife. They didn't realize just how lucky they were; Ellie was a wonderful teacher.

When everyone had gone in, Doralice and me sat in the wagon in silence for a few minutes before anyone said anything. Finally, my blue-eyes smiled at me and asked, "What are you thinkin', gamblin' man?"

"I was just thinkin' I'd like to go back and start all over again. It went by too fast."

"I know it did. I can't believe how grown up they are. Even our baby is a little man."

I sighed, not for the first time that morning. "I guess we just have to learn to live with it. One of these days we'll be old people talkin' about grandbabies."

"Dear Lord, I hope not yet. How about we stop in town and have a late breakfast at Sawyer's?"

My stomach growled in answer. As usual, I'd only had coffee. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe we can stop at Maude's for a few minutes when we're done?"

"Sure. Works for me."

Sawyer herself was there and seated us. "All the kids in school now?"

"How could you tell?" I asked.

"That forlorn look on your faces. How about I bring you both coffee and today's special?"'

I nodded and the coffee soon appeared. "Well, love, what do we do with all our spare time now?"

Doralice laughed, that delicious laugh she had. That was one of the many things I loved about her. "You watch, there won't be any spare time."

"Ain't that the truth."

We made small talk about nothin' in general until breakfast came, blueberry pancakes and bacon. "Wouldn't Timmy be in hog heaven?" his momma asked. Blueberry pancakes were Timmy's favorite, and my heart skipped a beat that he wasn't here with us. When we were finished, Sawyer came back to pick up the dishes and asked, "You two headed home now?"

"Nope," I told her. "Thought we'd see how Billy's doin' down at Maude's." Maude's was the biggest saloon west of the Rockies, and while I was still the General Manager, Billy Sunday had been the day-to-day manager for quite a while. Matter of fact, he had a little one in school now, too. "Come on, blue-eyes. It's a beautiful mornin'. Why don't we walk?"

So I paid the bill and we walked down to Maude's. "Hey, boss," Willie called. "Everything okay?"

After all this time, Willie was still workin' as head bartender. "Fine, fine, Willie. It's the first day of school."

"That's right, I forgot. Mrs. Maverick, what would you like. Coffee, tea, somethin' stronger?"

"No thanks, Willie, we just finished breakfast. I'm goin' back with Bart to see Billy."

We walked through the saloon, somethin' we hadn't done for quite a while. It was clean and tidy and looked like Billy had just had her painted. I had hold of Doralice's hand as I knocked on Billy's door.

"Come in," a familiar voice called out, and I pushed the door open. Billy stood up instantly. "Boss, what are you doin' here? I mean, I don't mean it like that."

I laughed and ushered blue-eyes inside, then closed the door behind me. "Sit down, Billy. Nothin' special. We took the kids to the first day of school, had breakfast at Sawyers, then decided to come down here and say hello. Didn't you have a little one startin' school today?"

"I did, little Jessie. Evan and me already deposited her with Miss Mortimer. That is after we pried her off of Evan's skirt. I didn't know a child could wail that loud; it took us a while to get her calmed down. How did Tim do? Any cryin' for mama?"

"Not a bit. He was excited to start school. None of ours have ever raised a fuss about it."

"Lucky man. I hope every day ain't like this morning."

"How's everything goin' here?"

"Can't complain. Everything seems to be runnin' as smooth as a top."

I was glad to hear that. "Good, keep it up. Maude and me are real pleased with your profits. You've got a bonus comin' at the end of the fiscal year, and it could be a big one if profits stay the way they are. By the way, see to it that Willie gets a fifty dollar a month raise, effective immediately. He deserves it as much as you do. And Billy? We're havin' a big family dinner this Sunday, at noon. We expect you and Evan and the children to be there."

"What if I can't get anybody to cover for me, Bart?"

"Then close the place down and bring Willie with you. But we want you two there, no matter what. Understand?"

"Got it."

Doralice stood up. "Be sure and give our regards to Evan."

"Will do. She'll be happy to see you both on Sunday."

"Me, too," Doralice answered. "I miss her."

"See you on Sunday, Billy," I said as we shook hands.

"Yes, sir. See you Sunday."

Doralice and me left the saloon after saying our farewells to Willie and walked back up to the wagon.

"Things are really changin' here in town," my blue-eyes commented as she looked around.

"Oh, you mean the four new shops and the expansion of the Emporium?"

"Not fair. You get into town more often than I do."

"I think we can rectify that, now that everybody's in school, don't you?"

"I do too," she nodded. "I look forward to long lunches at least once a week at Mamacitas."

"I think I can accommodate you, Mrs. Maverick."

She giggled. "You better. I'd hate to have to go to lunch with James because my favorite gamblin' man stood me up."

"No chance, fair lady. Especially if my substitute is Dandy."

"He could never be a substitute for you, sweetheart."

I nodded. "Good to hear." I picked up the reins and we headed home.