A LITTLE COW CALF OPERATION

by Donna McIntosh

What might have happened had Jack and Ennis taken off together after their reunion.

39

Title: A LITTLE COW AND CALF OPERATION

Author: Donna McIntosh

Email:

Fandom: Brokeback Mountain

Genre: Slash

Rating: R

Summary: What if Jack and Ennis took off together after their reunion?

A LITTLE COW AND CALF OPERATION

"What if you and me had a little ranch together; a little cow and calf operation? It's be a sweet life; the two of us runnin the place."

"It's a beautiful dream, Jack, but we couldn't do somethin like that. We get caught – we're dead."

"What the hell you talkin about – dead?"

"I tell you, there were these two old guys ranched up together down home. They was the joke a town even though they was a couple a tough old birds. Somebody took a tire iron to one of 'em, beat him to death, tore his dick clean off – left him dead in a ditch for his buddy to find." Ennis shuddered at the long ago memory.

"This some story you heard?"

"Nope. I seen it myself when I was nine year old. Pa took me and K.E. and showed us. Said that was what happened to perverts."

"Shit!" Jack said. "They ever catch the guys who done it?"

"Don't know. I just know I don't wanna end up in no ditch with my dick torn off – you neither."

"How old?"

"Huh?"

"You said they was old. How old?"

"Hell, I don't know – old. White hair."

"Well that is old. Must a been at least sixty or so then."

"What difference does it make how old they were? Dead is dead."

"Don't you see, Ennis? That guy was killed cause he was old. They'd a never had the guts to go after 'em if he was young and strong like we are."

"You ain't fixin to get old some day, Jack?"

"Well sure but I plan on takin good care a myself in the mean time; stayin out a people's way, not makin any enemies, and not botherin no body."

"I didn't say he was botherin no body or had any enemies."

"Well did he?"

"Hell, I don't know. I was just a kid."

"Old folks are getting killed all the time and that's cause they make an easy target. We'd be more careful. We know shit like that can happen. We could look out for each other."

"But Pa said …"

"I don't give a shit what your Pa said. He should a never took you to see somethin like that. He must a been drunk."

"Pa did drink a lot." Ennis said.

"I figured. So did mine. I think it was probably the war thing. That's what my Momma always said. She said Pa was a real fine gentleman until he came home from the war. Your Pa in the war?"

"Nah. He had three kids."

"I heard tell it was just as hard on the guys who didn't go cause they felt guilty that their friends and kinfolk were goin so they stayed home and took to drink." Jack said.

"I remember they talked about the war a lot. Momma's two brothers were in it. One got blowed up over in France and the other lost his leg to frost bite in Germany."

"Those were tough times; the 40s and 50s."

"Ain't much better now in the 60s with that shit goin on over in Viet Nam."

"Uh huh," Jack agreed. "We're lucky neither a us got called up."

"Yep. Guess we won't be now with us each havin kids and all."

"Probably not. They mostly want the younger ones, 18 and 19 year olds so they ain't had time to have a bunch a kids the government will have to end up supporting."

"Uh huh." Ennis agreed.

Jack tossed a few branches on the fire and watched as it sparkled back to life. They sat in silence for a while then Jack spoke. "I really think we should do this, Ennis."

"What?"

"You and me. This ain't no little fuck session we got goin here. You and me … we belong together. Don't you feel it?"

"It sure would be nice, Jack, but we got our babies to think about. We can't just up and leave 'em."

"Course not. We'd still support 'em, send money for 'em every month, send 'em presents and stuff. I ain't sayin we should just run off and leave 'em."

"It surely would be nice." Ennis kept his eyes on the fire but his mind was drifting back to the night before and sleeping beside Jack. He kept comparing it to sleeping next to Alma and knew he'd much rather be sleeping on the ground in a tent with Jack than in a soft bed next to Alma. "Yes sir, it surely would be nice."

"Well, why don't we do it then?" Jack grinned at him.

"Huh?" Ennis was brought back to the present.

"You and me – get us a place together? I know a way we could come up with money for a down payment."

"Jack, a place costs lots a money."

"I know. I'm talkin a down payment here. Lureen's old man – he pulled me aside a couple a times now and said he'd make it worth my while if I was to get lost. How much you think a down payment on a place would be?"

"No, Jack! That ain't right. If we was to do this, we got a do it right. We, each a us, got to get a divorce and pay child support. You got a think a these things. Otherwise you spend the rest a your life feelin guilty and your kids grow up hatin you."

"You're right. I don't want Bobby endin up hatin me. I don't see nothin wrong with us takin the old man's money though. It ain't like we're stealin it – he offered!"

"That don't make it right. I don't want a place your wife's father paid for! I want a place you and me saved up for and earned ourselves."

"That could take a long time, Cowboy."

"Uh huh. We'd need to get us town jobs. Jobs that pay better than ranch work. With the both of us workin and savin up we might could swing it."

"You mean it, Ennis? You'd set up some place with me?"

"I always thought that gettin married was the best thing that could happen to me. I'd have a home, good cookin, a warm bed, and pussy any time I wanted it."

"And?" Jack prompted when Ennis stopped long enough to light a cigarette.

"It ain't nothin like I thought it'd be. I tell you, Jack. First ranch I worked at after we was married, Ranch manager give us a fine line cabin to live in for free and she whined about wantin to live in town. I get us a place in town and she whines about gettin a house. She whines about not havin enough money to buy her pretty clothes, she whines about the babies, she whines about me comin home dirty. I mean, it ain't like she's spending her days cleanin the place up. It's a pig sty most a the time."

"She's got two babies to look after."

" My Momma had three kids and our place was nothin fancy but it was always clean. Always."

"How about her cookin?" Jack grinned. He could tell Ennis was reasoning things out and it was looking good.

"She opens cans mostly. Only real cookin I do on week ends."

"And the sex? You like doin it with her when ever you want?"

Ennis waited a while before he answered. "It don't work that way. Most I ever get from her is two or three times a week."

"Worth the wait though? Is it better than with me?"

Ennis gave a little grunt. "It's like I'm a starving man and what she gives me is a crust of stale bread and muddy water. You, Jack, you're a T-Bone steak, fried potatoes, stone biscuits and apple pie with ice cream for dessert." He grinned at Jack out from under his hat.

Jack pounced on him then, knocking him flat on his back, his hat rolling off to one side. "We're gonna do it; aren't we?" Jack said between breathless kisses.

"Might as well." Ennis grinned. "A guy can get killed just as easy carryin a gun and wearin a uniform, or crossin a street in city traffic, or turn his wife over one too many times. Might as well get killed doin somethin he really wants to do." He rolled Jack over and reached for his jeans and unsnapped them.

"She let you roll her over? I tried that with Lureen and she threw a fit. I slept on the couch that night." Jack chuckled.

"She didn't like it none, that's for sure, but I took her that way now and then anyway. I told her it was because I didn't wanna make her pregnant but it was really so I didn't have to look at her face and I could close my eyes and pretend it was you I was fuckin."

He had Jack's jeans down around his knees now and his hand slid down beneath the white cotton briefs.

"Oh damn, that feels good." Jack sighed. "You know, I don't think Lureen never touch it – not once."

"Alma didn't neither. Acted like she couldn't hardly stand to look at it. She always turned away if she ever saw me naked."

"Shit! You bein naked is one of the finest sights on God's green earth." Jack hissed out as Ennis lowered his mouth to join his hand.

"We need to talk about things." Ennis said as he licked around the moist tip.

"Later," Jack begged.

"Uh huh. Later." Ennis agreed.

"Damn it's cold tonight." Jack complained as they huddled together in their sleeping bags in the tent.

"Yeah. But I'd still rather be here with you than in that apartment over the Laundromat with Alma."

"Yeah. Cold as it is, it's nicer than bein in that fancy bed next to Lureen in all her silky nightgowns and ribbons and night creams and girly stuff."

"Shit!" Ennis commiserated.

"So when you figure we can do this, Ennis. I mean, can we do it right away?"

"You wanna do it tonight?" Ennis asked as he ran his hands up and down Jack's bare chest.

"No. I wouldn't want to get up out of this bed roll for anythin right now. How about in the mornin? Could we do it then?"

"Don't see why not. I'll tell Alma I'm leavin and throw my stuff together. I ain't got much. Where do you figure we do this?"

"Not in Riverton, that's for sure. If we're gonna be workin town jobs we better find us a place in a big town. Some place where there's lots a jobs available. How about Casper? It's centrally located so you can get back and forth to Riverton to see your kids and I can get up to Lightning Flat to see the folks."

"I ain't never lived in a town that big before." Ennis shook his head.

"Me neither but I been through there a lot. It's big enough to get lost in. No one will know us or care about our living arrangements."

"What about where we live?"

"We'll stay at a motel first until we can both find jobs. Then we'll get us a little apartment somewhere in between so neither a us has to drive too far to work."

"You got money to be stayin in motels, Jack? Maybe we could find a place to camp while we're lookin?"

"That's a good idea. I got a couple thousand in the bank but we'd best hold on to that in case it takes some time to find work. There ought to be some camp grounds around there and it's May so it shouldn't get too cold."

"You need to go back to Texas to get your divorce?"

"I don't know. I guess I probably should. I wanna get the rest of my stuff and get my money out a the bank. She's not expecting me for at least another week though. Why don't we get ourselves on over to Casper and see about jobs first and find us a place to live. Once we do that, I can scoot on down to Childress, grab my stuff and head on back up here."

"Ok. Sounds good." Ennis nestled closer against Jack and wrapped his arms around him.

"Ohhh That's good!" Jack snuggled back against the warmth and the two of them fell asleep.

They awoke the next morning, fixed coffee over the open fire while they stowed everything in the back of Jack's truck. "I'm starvin. You know a good place around here to eat?" Jack asked as they loaded the last bits of equipment into the truck and doused the fire.

"Yep. Bus Depot on Main Street. Good coffee, good bacon and eggs and good prices."

"Can't hardly wait!" Jack said with a grin as he peeled out of there and headed back to Riverton.

"You sure about all this?" Ennis asked later as they finished up their breakfast. "I don't wanna burn any bridges with Alma if you're gonna go change your mind on me."

"Oh hell no! All I been thinkin about these last four years is I never should a left Wyomin and never should a let you out a my sight. I knew when we come down off a that mountain that I wanted you but I knew you was all set on gettin married and all."

"I figured it was what I was supposed to do. I figured it would make me forget all about you. I was wrong. It only made me want you more. I was scared I'd never see you again. When I got that postcard I nearly filled my drawers I was so excited. I had to leave the room so Alma wouldn't see how hard I got just lookin at your writin."

"Well maybe it just took those four years for both a us to realize how much we really do belong together."

"We're gonna have to be real careful, Jack. We can't let people know."

"We'll be careful, I promise. You ready to go see Alma now and get your stuff?"

"You bet!" Ennis wiped his mouth on the paper napkin and tossed it in his dish. Jack paid the bill and they hopped into Jack's truck.

"How you wanna play this? You want me to come with you or do you want to meet me somewhere?"

"I got a do this alone, Jack. There's a little park over on the east side a town. Why don't you go hang out there a while. I'll finish up with Alma, grab my stuff and meet you there. Shouldn't take but maybe an hour. Depends on how much screamin and hollerin she wants to do."

"She gonna give you a hard time?" Jack headed the car on down the road and turned in behind the Laundromat.

"She don't miss many opportunities to do that. I'll hit her with it soon as I get in the door and I'll pack my stuff while she's hollerin and then leave and let her holler all she wants."

"What about your job?"

"I'll have to drive out there anyway to pick up my horses. That's where I board 'em. He takes a little out a my salary each month but it's worth it havin 'em right there where I can see to 'em."

"Ok. So where is this park then?"

"Turn right out front and head on down till you get to the Texaco gas station. Turn left and go a couple blocks. It's right across from the church. Look for the steeple. You can't miss it."

"Ok. See you there in about an hour?" Jack asked as Ennis climbed out of the cab.

"I'll be there." He closed the truck door and headed on up the steps to the apartment.

Alma was sitting at the table in her old bathrobe sipping on a cup of coffee. Her eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been up all night.

"Hey, Alma. Glad you're up. We need to talk." He pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Yes, we do. I don't like what you done, Ennis, takin off with your friend like that. I wanted to take him out to dinner or somethin or I could a cooked dinner for him here and he could a met the girls. It ain't right you goin out and drinkin all night – a married man with kids. What will people think?"

"I don't care what people think, Alma. You know that. What I wanna talk about is you and me. You know it ain't never been right with us, not the way it's supposed to be."

"What are you talkin about? I know we always been poor and that ain't right. Your friend offer you a job? Somethin that pays good?" She got a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"No, nothin like that. What he did offer me is a chance for a new life. Me and him are gonna go in on a ranch together." He didn't know why he started out like that; those were just the words that came out.

"Now how are you gonna do that? That takes a lot a money and we ain't got enough to pay the bills we already got?"

"What I'm tryin to say is …" He lit a cigarette. "Jack and me are takin off, leavin Riverton. We'll find us jobs somewhere and save up until we get enough for a down payment. It's goin to be a lot of hard work. Probably be workin seven days a week. Won't be nothin but hard work for some years but in the end we'll have that ranch we always wanted."

"I don't wanna live on no ranch, Ennis!" She stood and went over to the stove and poured herself another cup of coffee.

"I know. But it's always been my dream. I'm gonna do it, Alma."

"And if I say no we're not!" She challenged him.

"What I'm tryin to say here, Alma, is it's time for you to go see a lawyer."

She stared at him in shock. "You don't mean that! You wouldn't leave the girls."

Ennis stood and made his way into the bedroom. He pulled out his bag he always carried his camping stuff in and started shoving his clothes in it. "I mean it, Alma. I'll send you money for the girls. Whatever the judge says I need to pay, I'll pay."

She followed him around as he gathered his things and placed them in a pile by the door.

"You're askin me for a divorce?" She nearly screamed at him. "Just for some stupid ranch?"

"It ain't stupid to me, Alma. It's always been my dream and you know that." He gathered his fishing equipment and set it by the door.

"You can't do this!" Her voice was shrill now. "You can't leave me!"

"It's better for both of us, Alma. You know I never did make you happy."

"All you need to do was get a better job so we could pay our bills and live like nice people, Ennis. You didn't have to keep workin those dirty old ranches all the time."

"I like ranch work. It's all I ever wanted to do." Ennis took his few items out of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and stuffed them in his bag.

"I hate you, Ennis del Mar! I hate you! And the girls will hate you too! I'll tell them you abandoned them."

"They'll know better. I aim to keep in touch with them. I'll be visitin them, seein to them. They know I love them."

"Ennis, you can't do this to me! You promised to love me for ever and ever."

"Alma, it's over. I'm leavin. The bills are paid for this month. I'll send you money next month." He stepped into the girl's room and quietly placed a kiss on each baby's head.

"They'll hate you! I'll see to it!" She threatened as he grabbed up his stuff. "Do whatever the hell you want, Alma. I'm out a here." Ennis thundered down the steps and slung all his stuff in the back of his truck. He jumped in and backed out, throwing dirt and stones as he peeled out of there.

Jack was sitting on the back of his truck watching a bunch of kids play soccer. He hopped down with a big grin when he saw Ennis pull up.

Ennis got out of his truck with a grin.

"Was it rough?"

"Easier than I thought it would be. You wanna wait here while I go out to the ranch or you wanna come with me."

"Up to you. It's a nice day. I can sit here and watch the kids play or tag along with you."

"The ranch is north a here, about half way 'tween Riverton and Shoshoni. If you come along, we can grab highway 26 right out a there and head straight to Casper."

"Sounds good to me." Jack opened his truck door.

"You can wait at the ranch gate for me. I'll go in and get squared away, pick up my horses and we can be on our way."

"Ok. I'm right behind you." He smiled as they both thought of the double meaning of those words.

"Mind on our business, Jack." Ennis climbed back into his truck. "Mind on our business." He grinned as he remembered last time he said that to Jack, Jack had said "I'd really like to be laying my mind down on your business right now." That was when they were at the campgrounds the night before and Ennis was trying to get a fire started and Jack was trying to get something else started.

Ennis was in and out of the ranch in thirty minutes with his horses loaded up in the old trailer behind. He gave Jack a wave and Jack led them on over to the highway and in little over an hour they were pulling into a gas station in Casper.

"This place is big, Jack. I been here a couple a time with Stoutamire on buyin trips but we never stayed the night. You reckon these places are pretty expensive?"

"Lets fill up and I'll see about gettin us a street map. Maybe we can find us a campground." Jack stuck the nuzzle of the gas hose into his tank and took off for the shopping inside.

Ennis filled his tank and went in to pay just as Jack was coming out.

"I got us a map and there are a couple of camp grounds close by." Jack hurried out to unhook the gas hose from his truck and back into the store again he caught Ennis.

"Let's grab an ice chest and some food." Jack paid for the gas then the two of them gathered up some food, enough to last a couple days, and they headed out after grabbing up a newspaper and deciding which camp grounds to head for.

An hour later they were set up in a nice secluded camp site, got the horses staked out and had a fire going. "This is really nice." Ennis said as they ate their sandwiches and washed them down with some beer.

"Yeah, it sure is! Where's that newspaper we got? Let's see if they have anything in the way of jobs around here. If not, we can always head on down to Cheyenne.

"Yeah, we could but let's try here first. It's a lot closer to my girls."

"Yeah, that's right. I'm sure we'll find something." Jack folded the paper back to the jobs section. "Looks like they have a lot available."

"Hopefully something we can handle." Ennis added as he scooted over closer to Jack and they read the ads. "Where's the ranch work section?"

"Now I thought we were going to look for city jobs. They'll pay a lot better and the more money we make doin 'em the quicker we'll be able to save up for that ranch."

"That's right. Ok. Let's find city jobs."

"Here's some salesmen jobs. You know, I did pretty good with sellin the past couple a years. You get paid a regular wage and then you get a commission on everything you sell."

"I couldn't do nothin like that." Ennis shook his head.

"Just keep lookin. You'll find somethin."

"Hey, what's that? Lumber yard. I could do that. It'd be outside work."

"There are a couple ads for salesmen. What do you say we get cleaned up and go see if we can find us some work?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll put some water on to heat so we can shave." They scurried around and got themselves presentable. They each put on clean shirts, shaved and brushed their teeth.

"Ready?" Jack asked.

"Looks like the lumber yard is on this side a town. You wanna drop me off there first?"

"Ok. We go to the lumber yard first but I'll wait for you out front. While you're inside, I'll take a look at the map and see which salesman's job is closest."

Thirty minutes later Ennis came walking out of the lumber yard with a big grin on his face.

"You got the job?" Jack asked.

"I got the job. I start tomorrow. Pay is twice what I was makin out at Stoutamire's." Ennis climbed in the truck.

"That's great! Now if I can come up with the same good luck, I'll find work close by."

"Which place you goin for?"

"The GMC dealership if five miles in that direction and the Ford dealership is four miles in this direction. I'll try the Ford place first."

"Ok. Makes sense. You come drivin up in this Ford truck a yours might help some."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinkin. I do like my Ford trucks."

In moments they were out front of the Ford dealership and Jack got out and went inside. He came back out 45 minutes later.

"You get it?" Ennis asked.

"Don't know yet. I talked with one of the partners and he liked me all right but his brother is out a town and won't be back until Monday and he's the one that's doin the hirin."

"So you'll go back on Monday and get the job then." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"It's nice to know you have such confidence in me." Jack reached over and squeezed Ennis's arm.

"I do, Jack, all the confidence in the world. It was me I was worried about finding work.

Can we look for a place to stay now?"

"Sure, why not. You think the horses will be Ok for another couple hours?"

"Don't see why not. They're in a nice area and they got plenty a food and water."

Jack pulled the truck over into a shopping center parking lot and they got the newspaper out again and looked for apartments for rent.

"Get that map out so we can see where these places are." Jack said and Ennis pulled it out of the glove compartment and folded it out to the area they were in.

"What about Harrison Avenue?" Jack asked.

"Clear on the other side of town." Ennis said after locating it on the map.

"What about Birmingham?"

"North side."

"Hell, let's just drive around a little. Maybe we can spot somethin." Jack folded the paper back and started the truck.

"We might have to drive a little more to find a cheaper place but it would be a savings." Ennis said.

"Yeah, that's true. But I'd still like to see if we can find anything we can afford right here in this neighborhood."

"Sure enough." Ennis agreed and they started driving. They drove around for about an hour, up one street and down another until they found a nice little complex.

"How about this one? It's big and old but it looks pretty clean." Jack said and pulled into the driveway.

"Yeah, I like it. It's big. The bigger the place is the less likely we are to stand out."

"That's what I was thinkin. You wanna come in or you wanna wait out here?"

"I'll come in." Ennis said as he got out of the truck and joined Jack. "We got a see what the rates are first before we agree to anythin."

Jack pushed through the doorway and they walked in. Two women were standing at the counter and the manager was saying, "I'm sorry but two-bedroom units are all I have left." The women shook their heads no and turned and left.

"May I help you?" The manager asked. "I hope you're lookin for a two-bedroom cause that's all I got vacant." She smiled at them, clearly tired out from her last customers.

"How much?" Jack asked and she pointed to the rates on the sign on the wall.

"You don't have nothin furnished?" Ennis asked.

"No, honey, I'm sorry. We don't rent furnished." She started to roll her chair back to her desk and Jack and Ennis had a whispered conference.

"Ennis, we can make that rent. I got enough in the bank to cover it for at least four months and we'll both have money comin in long before then. I say we take it."

"You don't wanna look for somethin cheaper? Somethin furnished?"

"Furnished is gonna be more expensive. I say we take it. The sign says month to month only so it's not like we got a sign no lease or nothin. We get in a bind we can always move out."

"Ok. Let's go look at it."

"We'd like to take a look please." Jack said to the manager.

"Ok, sure. I got three available. One right by the pool, one upstairs over on the east side and the other one is 112 around back, ground floor."

"The one around back; ground floor." Jack and Ennis both shook heads.

"Ok. Here's the key. Go take a look." She tossed them a key and answered the phone. "I'll join you in a few minutes."

They walked around to the back side of the place and made their way to room 112. It was the end unit with parking right in front. Two spots were marked "Reserved for 112".

Jack unlocked the door and they went in. They entered a living room, followed by a small kitchen. Down a hallway was a bathroom at the end and a bedroom on either side.

"It's not much." Jack said, a little disappointed.

"The key thing is we can afford it." Ennis reminded him. It wasn't that much more than he'd been paying for that apartment over the Laundromat. "We can always come up with a bit a furniture here and there."

"Yeah, you're right. We got our sleeping bags for right now and we can always get some stuff at garage sales or used furniture stores. I'm sure there are some of those around."

"We take it then?" Ennis asked.

"We take it," Jack answered just as the manager came in.

"You want it? Great! Come on back to the office and we'll do up the paperwork." She led the way and they followed her silently.

There was nothing to the paperwork and she showed no signs of anything unusual about two men signing up for a place together. Jack wrote her out a check for the first month's rent plus a small deposit and they were handed the keys.

"Now we got a find a place to stable the horses," Ennis said.

"Yeah. I noticed a phone book in the kitchen. We can look and see if we can find someplace."

"Maybe I can find a place where they will let me work off the cost. That way we won't be out any money boardin them."

"That would be great. See if we can leave the trailer there too. We got two parking spaces here for our trucks but we'll need a place for the trailer."

"Uh huh. I'll be sure and ask."

It was late afternoon by the time they found a place to board the horses and got them settled in. "I just hope I don't have to work at the lumber yard on weekends." Ennis worried.

"Between the two of us, we'll manage to get out there and get those stalls cleaned out. That guy seemed reasonable and I don't think he'd care if it was done on the weekend or on a week day occasionally should we both have to work on a weekend." Jack reasoned.

"You're probably right. He just wants the stalls cleaned for all the horses and I can't fault him for that. I'll see to it they're cleaned if I have to come out here after work at the lumber yard to do it."

They unloaded their pickups into their apartment, glad to be out of the early evening cool breezes. Jack stuck their food into the refrigerator. "This is a nice sized refrigerator. Plenty a room for beer."

"Yep. Stove looks good too. All the burners work." Ennis said as he fiddled with each knob.

"Great. I hope the heater works." Jack said and tried the thermostat. It came right on and they smiled at one another.

They laid their sleeping bags out on the floor and dumped their other stuff in a corner.

"I'm thinkin maybe I should take off for Childress tomorrow." Jack said.

"What?" Ennis asked as he was hanging his few shirts up on the wire hangers in the closet. "You leavin me already?"

"I'd really like the job at the Ford place and I think I got it unless for some reason this guy's brother takes an instant dislike to me."

"That ain't likely."

"I want to get things settled with Lureen. I want that done and over with. I can take off first thing in the morning, get my shit taken care of and be back here day after tomorrow. That'll be Friday evening. We'll have the weekend to scout around and see what furniture and stuff we can come up with. What do you think?"

"I hate to have you leave but it's best to get it done and over with. I'll be workin anyways so I won't have much change to be out lookin around for stuff till the weekend."

"You got enough cash to last a few days until I get back?" Jack asked.

"Sure enough. Mr. Stoutamire give me my last week's pay check. I saw a bank over by the Ford place. I can cash it there."

"You need to send Alma anythin?"

"Nah. Bills are paid for this month. I told her I'd send her somethin next month."

"She Ok with that?"

"She ain't Ok with nothin but it ain't up to her. The deal we made when we moved into that place was I'd pay the rent and the bills and she'd buy the food. The bills are paid for the month and she's got money for food. She'll do fine."

"Ok. I think that's the plan then. I'll head out first thing in the mornin."

"Jack, don't bother me now, I'm busy."

"Lureen, I said we need to talk. It's important!"

"I *asked* you not to bother me! I'm meditatin! Can't this wait? What are you doin home so early for anyway? You're not supposed to be back till the weekend."

"Lureen, I've made an important decision and I need to discuss it with you. If you're too busy, I'll just call the lawyer and tell him what I want."

"What? Lawyer? What the hell are you talking about?" She finally got up from her meditation mat and stalked over to him.

"Now that I have your attention, could we go into the kitchen? I made a pot of coffee. I'm really tired and I'd like to get this over with."

"Jack, you're scarin me. What's this all about?" She followed him downstairs to the kitchen.

Jack poured two steaming cups of coffee and sat down at the table. Lureen slid into the chair opposite him.

"Lureen, we both know that this marriage of ours isn't working."

"What are you talkin about? It's as good as any other marriages around."

"We got married because Bobby was on the way. He's here now and you don't need me hangin around."

"Jack, you're not makin any sense. Is this because I told you I wanted to go off to Europe with Madeline? I know you didn't like that but it's only for a few weeks and I need a break from the job and takin care of Bobby and all."

"You have the nanny to look after Bobby and you're free to go where ever you want with who ever you want. I don't care. That's not what this is about."

"Well what is it then?"

"It's time we ended things. I'm lookin for work up in Wyomin and I got a good lead on a job. It might come to pass and it might not but I'm movin back up there."

"Why on earth would you want to do that? You have everything you could possibly need right here."

"Wyomin is my home, Lureen. I would think you could understand that; knowing how much you love Texas."

"Yes, but Texas is wonderful and Wyomin – I mean – there's *nothin* in Wyomin."

"It's my home, Lureen. My folks are up there."

"Is that what this is all about? You're homesick? Well you can go up there more often if you want. How about once a month?"

"No, Lureen. I'm goin and it's permanent."

"Jack, please. Don't make any decisions right now. We need to take everything into consideration here. You'd lose a lot in a divorce."

"Lureen, I don't want nothin. Just my own stuff. My truck, my campin gear and my own junk."

"Well you are at least takin your furniture; aren't you?"

"My furniture?"

"Yes. That horrible bedroom set you've got in your room. You know I hate that. You leave it behind and it's goin out to the curb for the garbage man. And you'll want your furniture from your study."

"I hadn't planned on takin any furniture."

"Well take it. I don't want it. That room has wonderful windows on the west side. I'll make it into a sun room. I saw the most wonderful furniture in a magazine last week that would look perfect in there."

"Ok. I'll have to see about rentin a trailer." Jack pondered the thought.

"You can take that old blue thing over on the lot if you want it. That should hold everything and you know your truck can pull it. You hauled enough stuff around with it."

"Don't you want to keep it for the business?"

"No. Cody used it a few times and he hates it. I told him he could get a new one."

"All right then. Are you sure you're all right with this?"

"Jack, honey, if you're wantin a divorce and all you're askin for is your own stuff; I'll be gettin off easy. I'll talk with our attorney tomorrow and get the paperwork drawn up. Will you be here long enough to sign papers?"

"No, I'm leavin first thing in the mornin. I'll get a P.O. Box as soon as I get settled in somewhere and send you the address."

"That'll work. That'll give me some time to work things out with the attorney. You sure this is what you want to do? I thought you hated livin up there with your folks."

"I won't be livin with them but I will be close enough in case I'm needed in an emergency. And you know that if you need me, for Bobby or anything, I'll come back."

"I know you will, Jack, you're just so sweet. I really do hate that things didn't work out for us. I actually thought they were."

"I know, honey. You just got so caught up with Bobby and the job and the house and all but this just never was the life I was meant to live. I need to be in Wyomin, where I belong."

"Well if that's what you want, then that's what you should have. I'll always be grateful to you for marryin me when I needed you to. You were there for me and I will never forget it."

"You're a sweet girl, Lureen." Jack got up and gave her a hug. "I'm going to pack my stuff now and get to bed. I want to get an early start in the mornin."

"Ok. Night." She smiled sweetly up at him.

He gave her a little smile and left the room. He couldn't help but compare the way she took the news to the way that Ennis had said Alma acted. Poor Ennis, he thought. He'd have to make sure that he made it all up to him.

The next morning he went over to the dealership and got the old blue trailer hooked up to his pickup. He got the few things out of his desk drawer and headed back to the house – that's how he had always thought of the place he lived – the house. Never 'home'.

He loaded his study furniture in first; a couch, coffee table and end tables, recliner, desk, credenza, TV set, two book cases, and a chair. Then he went upstairs and took his bed apart. Piece by piece he carried it all down and stacked it in the trailer. The chest was the biggest problem but he solved that by taking all six drawers out and carrying them down first, then he laid it on its back and pulled it carefully down the carpeted stairs. He then 'walked it' through the foyer out the back door and into the trailer.

Then he put in all his personal belongings – all the clothes that he wanted to take, his toiletries, and his fishing gear. Everything fit just fine and he closed and secured the door with a pad lock.

He drove first to the bank and closed out his account, then hit a convenience store for some sandwiches, snacks, and drinks for the trip and headed north.

It was close to midnight when he arrived in Casper and he slid his key quietly into the lock. The apartment was dark. He slipped into the bedroom and saw Ennis lying there sound asleep. He pulled off his clothes and crawled into bedroll beside him. A wave of happiness washed over him as he thought that Ennis and he were together now and nothing was ever going to separate them again. He leaned his head over against Ennis's and fell asleep.

Ennis came awake with a jerk when he realized he was no longer alone in the bed roll. It was just beginning to get light outside so there was enough light coming in through the blinds to see. Jack was back! He leaned over and nuzzled a kiss on the whiskery face then got up and into the shower. He was about to get out and dry off when the shower curtain opened and Jack stepped inside.

"Mornin." Ennis said and stepped aside so Jack could get the full force of the steaming hot water.

"Mornin." Jack said and reached for the soap.

Ennis washed his back for him and then took care of his front as well as Jack groaned his appreciation then traded places with Ennis and did the same for him.

"I got a go. I don't wanna be late for work." Ennis kissed him repeatedly.

"So how's it goin? You like the work?" Jack asked while Ennis was dressing.

"Yep. Learned how to use the fork lift yesterday. Today we're re-organizing stuff."

"Good."

"How about you? Things go all right in Texas?"

"Yep. All taken care of. What time you gettin home?"

"We close at six. I should be here by six – fifteen."

"I'll be waitin. Jack said with a good bye kiss.

"Good. Missed you." Ennis said as he pulled his Levi jacket on.

"Me too. Glad to have it done though."

"Yep. It needed doin." One last kiss and Ennis was out the door with the four peanut butter sandwiches he had packed in a paper bag the night before.

Jack gave a good stretch and got busy.

At six ten, Ennis put his key in the lock and opened the door. At first he thought he was in the wrong apartment and then Jack came in with a smile.

"Hi!"

"Jack! Where'd all the furniture come from?" Ennis was stunned as he walked in and looked around. There was a fine couch sitting against one wall, the other wall had a credenza against it with a TV sitting on top of it and there was a recliner sitting by the front window. Glass top coffee and end tables with lamps finished off the room.

"It's mine. I had it in my study and Lureen told me to take it. She hated it and said if I didn't take it she was going to put it out with the garbage." Jack grinned.

"Shit! This is some really nice stuff! Looks expensive."

"It was but I didn't have anything else to spend my money on so I shopped at the same store where she got all her fancy stuff. This was the only furniture in that store that I liked. The cheapest too."

"And she didn't want it?" He sat down on the couch and tried it out.

"Nope. Come on in here." Jack led him into the bedroom where the queen sized bed was set up with a night stand on both sides with lamps on top and the chest facing it.

"Oh my God! She didn't want her bedroom furniture neither?"

"This wasn't hers; it was mine. I had my own bed room."

"Jack, I don't know about this. I mean a couch is one thing but a bed … do we really wanna be sleepin on a bed you slept with her on?"

"She was never in this bed. Not one single time. Nobody else's been in this bed neither except for me. Just me alone and dreamin of you; of what you and me could be doin in it."

"You didn't sleep with her?"

"Not after the first few months. She was pregnant and uncomfortable and wanted to sleep alone. That was fine with me. That was about the time we moved into the bigger house and I got my own room then."

"And you ain't slept with her since?"

"A couple a times after Bobby was born, that's about it and that was in her bedroom. I hated her bedroom as much as she hated mine."

Ennis sat on the edge of the bed and bounced a little. "Feels good to me."

"It's comfortable." Jack grinned.

"What's that I smell?" Ennis sniffed.

"Dinner. I shopped, got us a bunch of groceries. I saw you took peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. You'll need a good dinner so I got a roast." They walked into the kitchen and Jack began filling their camping plates with dinner. Ennis stared wide-eyed as he gazed at the food stashed around everywhere.

"I had more in my account than I thought, closer to six, than two." Jack said. "And I had fifteen hundred in cash in my desk. So I went out and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of groceries. It's all stuff we need. I was careful and stocked us up real good. The rest I opened us up a bank account. You need to sign the signature cards and we'll both have access to the money."

"That's your money, Jack."

"Oh come on now. We're not goin to argue about money now; are we?"

"We ain't arguing. We're just …"

"Talkin." Jack grinned as he lifted the lid off the Dutch oven. "We still don't have a table and chairs but we'll look for some this weekend. Are you hungry?"

"Starvin. That sure smells good."

"There's onion and potatoes and carrots. And I got a roast big enough so there will be left-overs for sandwiches tomorrow." He handed Ennis a plate.

They loaded their plates and took a seat in the living room.

"This is really nice furniture. I can't believe she didn't want it." Ennis said as he sat his plate on the glass top coffee table and started eating."

"It's not to her tastes. She likes all this fancy European stuff with lots of curly-cues and purple velvet upholstery."

"Ugh." Ennis grimaced.

"You have no idea. She has a designer working with her but the whole place looks like something out of a bad movie."

"Well, you don't have to live like that no more." Ennis leaned back and rested a hand on Jack's thigh.

"About this bank thing." Jack put his fork down and turned to Ennis.

"Jack that's your money."

"I hate this … my money – my furniture … thing. Can't it just be 'our' money – 'our' furniture?"

"You'll be makin a lot more money than me, Jack. You got a lot more goin in on this than me. I only got a couple hundred to my name."

"A couple hundred and two fine horses; aren't they worth something?"

"Yeah, but not as much as you got."

"You've got years and years of experience working on a ranches. I only worked on one until I was old enough to leave. Your experience is going to be invaluable once we get our place. The way I see it, we're comin into this about even. Yeah, I got a little more cash than you have right now but you've got the know-how that's going to make our place work. Without that, it wouldn't make a difference how much money I had; I could never make a go of a place without you."

"Ok. I guess." Ennis agreed reluctantly and picked up his fork and began eating again.

"We're gonna make this work, Ennis. You know why?"

"Why?" Ennis said around a mouthful of roast beef.

"Because we *want* it to work. We want it to work badly enough to compromise. And it won't be always you havin to do the compromisin. I promise you. This will all equal out in the long run."

"Ok, Ok. Eat. I wanna finish up here and take a shower. I got dessert in mind here."

"Oh … I didn't get any dessert." Jack apologized.

"The kind a dessert I got in mind you don't buy in any store." Ennis grinned at him.

Jack hurried and finished his meal.

The next morning was Saturday and they spent it shopping. They went first to a used furniture store and found a table and three chairs for $45. It was in good shape but marked down because there were only three matching chairs. They stuck it in the back of Jack's pickup and took off for some Garage Sales they saw advertised in the newspaper.

They found a toaster, dishes, flatware, pots and pans, an old clock radio and some other household items. They got everything they needed and spent less than a hundred dollars. They went to K-Mart and bought some towels. That was the only thing that they needed that they hadn't found. Now they were all set.

Monday evening when Ennis got home from work he found Jack cooking dinner but depressed.

"What happened? You didn't get the job?"

"I can have it if I want it but its commission only. They're going through some financial difficulties right now and that's all they can pay. I told 'em I'd have to think about it. Then I went over to see about that GMC position and it's already been filled."

"That's tough, Jack. Don't look so worried. You'll find something. With the money I'm makin, I can pay the rent on this place and still send some to Alma. We got enough groceries in here to last a month at least and you … we … still got some money in the bank."

Jack grinned up at him. "We?" He was coming out of his pout a little bit as he put dinner on the table.

"Yeah. We." Ennis washed his hands and gave Jack a reassuring hug before he sat down. "Don't matter if I'm the only one workin right now. We'll get by."

"That money in the bank won't last forever and I was hopin to keep that for a little nest egg in case either of us got laid off."

"Did you look in the paper for somethin else?"

"I did. There wasn't anything I was qualified for." Jack served his plate but just pushed he food around with his fork.

"Does this mean I ain't gettin any dessert?" Ennis teased.

"You can have dessert any time you want it, any way you want it." Jack promised.

"Ok. You'd better eat then cause I plan on wearin you out tonight. You're gonna need your strength."

"I'll go out again tomorrow and see if I can find something." Jack offered and began eating.

"After you look around you might as well go back to Ford. You might could sell something – show them people what you're worth. They might just decide they'd rather have you workin for them instead of for one of their competitors." Ennis reached over, squeezed Jack's shoulder and massaged the back of his neck a little bit.

"Yeah, I was thinkin I'd do that. There's an employment agency in town I plan on tryin too. I didn't go there today because I was hopin to find somethin on this side a town. They could send me anywhere for work."

"We could always move if we need to." Ennis offered.

"I thought you loved this place." Jack was a little surprised that Ennis had offered to move.

"I do, Jack, but it's just a place. What I love is livin with you. Hell, I don't care where it is."

Jack picked up his plate and took it to the sink. Ennis followed with his. "You Ok, Bud?"

"Uh huh." He turned around and flung his arms around Ennis. "And I thought it was gonna be me always proppin you up, convincing you our livin together was the thing to do."

"If I remember correctly, my arm didn't need all that much twisting. All it took was one little post card." Ennis held him close.

"I never should a let you go when we come down off that mountain." Jack whispered against Ennis's shoulder.

"I know. I been thinkin about that too. But I give Alma my word that I'd marry her and I had to go through with it."

"Well you did it. You married her and give her a couple a kids."

"I probably shouldn't a done that but I can't say I'm sorry we had 'em. I love those girls."

"Well, we'll see to it you get to see them as often as you can. You got any idea how much the child support is gonna be?"

"Probably couple hundred a month. This other guy who worked out at Stoutamire's, he had to pay two and a half a month and he had two kids. I figured it'd be about that much."

"I think they'd figure it on how much you make. You're makin more now so it might be higher."

"Jeeze; I hadn't thought a that."

"I got us a Post Office box today. I needed to send Lureen an address for the divorce lawyer. You should probably send it to Alma too."

"How much you figure you'll have to pay for Bobby?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is, I'll find a way to pay it."

"I'll help." Ennis offered. "What ever the law says our kids need, I wanna make sure they get it. That's most important. Whatever is left between us, we can find a way to live on and start savin for us a place."

"I never figured you'd be supportin me." Jack hugged him extra close.

"Only till you find work, Jack. I'm sure you'll find something soon."

Jack didn't find work for three full weeks and then it was at the Western Auto store. He was making less than Ennis was but at least he was working now and able to contribute to the bills.

Ennis's divorce hadn't come in yet but he figured he'd need to be sending Alma about $250 so that's what he sent on the first of the month. He gave Alma his P.O. Box so she could send him the divorce papers and she blessed him with a nasty letter instead.

"Ennis, What the hell you doing in Casper? You got some whore over there you're laying up with? My attorney says we can take you for all you got but you ain't got nothin I'd want! Nothin!

I already got me a boy friend and he's ten times the man you ever was! The girls love him and I got them calling him Daddy already. So you see, we don't miss you at all!

I don't know as that $250 you sent will be enough. I'll talk with my lawyer and let you know.

Hope you're as miserable as you deserve to be!

Alma"

Ennis wadded the note up and tossed it into the trash.

"What'd she have to say?" Jack asked as he wolfed down his dinner.

"She got herself a boyfriend and got the girls callin him Daddy."

Jack stared at the stricken look in Ennis's eyes and said, "Bitch!"

"She is that all right and you only met her one time."

"In her case; once is enough." Jack took another bite of stew.

"She said she hoped I was miserable." Ennis sipped his beer.

"Are you?" Jack asked; his spoon stopping half way to his mouth.

Ennis grinned. "Whyn't you finish up your dinner and I'll take you in the other room and show you just how miserable I am."

Jack sopped up the rest of his stew with his bread and carried his bowl to the sink. Ennis stood behind him with a hug. "Bein with you, Jack, is the best thing I ever done. If they come drag me out a here and kill me tonight with those tire irons; it will be worth it."

Jack turned around in his arms. "Nobody's gonna take you away from me, Ennis. Nobody! They'd have to take the both a us on and I don't think we'd go down easy."

"You got that right, Bud. Now I got a taste a this livin together, I ain't never gonna give it up. Never!"

They lay together in the bed later and talked. "So how's the job at Western Auto? You hate it?"

"Nah, not really. I'm glad to have the work and be able to bring some money in. I'd rather be sellin cars and trucks and stuff where I'd get commissions but this is fine for now. Ford said to try back in the fall when the new models come out. Business usually picks up then and they should have their money problems straightened out by then."

"You still haven't heard from Lureen and her lawyer?"

"Nope. I sent her the address weeks ago too. I hope nothin's wrong."

"Nothin's wrong. Or you would a heard for sure. Lawyers like to take their sweet time with things cause they charge by the hour. He's probably just rackin up a big bill so's he can charge her more."

"You're probably right about that. She's got money so he'll try and get as much of it as he can."

"I'll be glad when it's over with. I guess when my court date gets set, I'll have to take the day off and drive to Riverton." Ennis said.

"Yeah. I already mentioned the comin divorce to my boss and told him I'd probably need to drive down to Childress and he said it wouldn't be a problem just to let him know as far in advance as possible so he can find someone to fill in for me. You best be tellin your boss so's he can make arrangements for you to be gone when the time comes."

"Good idea. I'll tell him in the mornin."

"Good. C'mere." Jack nestled up behind Ennis and rested his head against Ennis's and they drifted off to sleep.

Ennis's court date came up first and he made the trip to Riverton both dreading it and happy that it was about to all be over with. He sat in the lawyer's office next to Alma and nodded at every paragraph that was read to him. The property division was simple, Alma got all household goods, Ennis got his truck, camping and fishing gear and horses.

The child support was exactly what Ennis thought it would be, $125 per child, and he was allowed visiting one weekend per month with the girls. He only asked one thing to be added to the paperwork and that was that the girls were to retain the name of del Mar until such time as they married.

Alma screwed up her face at that and started to object but the attorney said that was certainly understandable under the circumstances and advised Alma that if she objected, the divorce would take a lot longer to go through. She finally agreed and the attorney had his secretary add the amendment and they both initialed it. Once the paperwork was all signed, they headed for the courthouse across the street.

They waited out in the hall with the attorney sitting in between them while three other couples got their cases heard before them. Once their turn came, it was over with in five minutes and they were free to go.

Ennis asked to see the girls before he headed back to Casper but Alma snapped that it was not his weekend and he'd just have to wait another two weeks like the papers said.

He wasted not another minute in Riverton. He thanked the attorney, got in his truck and left.

He returned home, mid afternoon, collected their mail and went inside. There was a letter for Jack. Not a business sized letter with a printed return address but a personal letter. 'Lureen Twist' was in the upper left hand corner. She wrote him a letter! He stared at it a bit, the fancy penmanship, and tossed it on the kitchen table where Jack would see it first thing. He hoped it wasn't as nasty a letter as he had gotten from Alma. Then he grinned. Jack probably wouldn't care if it was. He was happy now that he had a job and no letter from Texas was gonna cause them any trouble.

He fixed spaghetti for supper. He cooked the noodles and opened cans of Ragu spaghetti sauce; set out the Parmesan cheese and started working on the garlic toast when Jack came in.

"Ohhh Something smells good!" He grabbed Ennis in a bear hug as he stuck the garlic toast in the oven.

"Dinner in five minute. You just got time to wash up." He poured the noodles into the strainer and stirred the sauce. He dished up two plates, spooned sauce over them and sat them on the table. He pulled the toast out of the oven just as Jack came back in from the bathroom and sat down.

"What's this?" He asked and picked up the letter from Lureen.

"Letter from Lureen." Ennis said as he un-capped two beers and sat down.

"It's about time!" Jack tossed the letter aside and took a drink of beer. "So tell me – what happened with your divorce?" He shook Parmesan cheese over his plate and picked up a slice of garlic toast.

"It's all done. I'm divorced." Ennis began twirling a big bite of spaghetti.

"She didn't give you no trouble?"

"Nope. I had to add one thing to the papers though. I didn't want her changin the girl's names so I had 'em add in that I wanted their names to stay del Mar until they got married."

"She agree to it?"

"Yeah but not because she wanted to. The attorney told her if she contested anything then it would take a lot longer for the divorce to go through. She give me a hateful face but she agreed."

"What about child support?"

"Exactly the amount I thought it'd be. $250 a month. Judge commented on he liked that I was already sendin her that much."

"Good. Did you get to see the girls?"

"Nope. Papers say it starts in two weeks and Alma said I had to come back in two weeks."

"Bitch" Jack said around a bite of toast.

"Looks like it's goin a be first weekend of each month so I might as well just take her the money as go through the trouble a writing out a check each time."

"Whatever's easiest for you." Jack said and reached for his letter. He tore the end off, slid the paper out and opened it.

Ennis watched as he read and Jack's expression hardened as he finished reading it.

"Everythin Ok?" Ennis asked.

"Old man Newsome's a real prick! He's tryin to get all kinds a stuff put into the papers but Lureen said she's holdin him off and she's assurin me that everything will turn out the way we want 'em to but it's going to take a little more time."

"What could the old man want? You ain't askin for nothin but your truck and stuff. He got objections to that?"

"Nah. He's tryin to talk Lureen into makin me sign away all rights to Bobby so's I can't have nothin to do with him – no visitation, no nothin."

"Can he do that?"

"Not if Lureen don't let him and she says every day it's a new battle about Bobby. He says if I get to visit I should have to pay at least twelve or fifteen hundred a month child support."

"Jeeese, Jack! That's more'n you make!"

"I know. Lureen knows that too. She says not to worry that she's holdin her own against him and she won't sign nothin that takes my rights to Bobby away."

"You believe her?"

"Yeah. She used to bow to whatever the old man wanted but since Bobby was born, she's been standin up to him more."

"Any idea when your court date is yet?"

"Nope. She said they won't set it until all the paper work is done and agreed on. I ain't agreein to nothin that takes Bobby completely away from me. I'm glad you did that thing about the name. I'm gonna write Lureen and tell her I want Bobby to keep my name – at least until he's an adult. Then if he wants to change it, it's up to him."

"I thought the old man was happy to have you out of the picture?"

"Oh I'm sure he is but he won't be happy until he makes my life miserable. I tell you, Ennis, I've had people who didn't like me before but I never had anyone really hate me like he does."

"You think he's dangerous?" Ennis came to full alert.

"Hell, I don't know. Not really. I guess when he got a look at the papers and they mentioned visitation he thought he could pull some strings and keep that from happening."

"He can't do that!"

"When you got the kind a money L.D. Newsome has, you can do most anythin you want."

"Lureen won't let him."

"I hope she can stand up to him."

"Maybe you should get a lawyer."

"No! They cost thousands of dollars! Lureen can handle this. It ain't like I'm askin for none a their money. I just want my stuff and I want to visit my son. That ain't that much to ask for."

"No it's not. You need to go down there?" Ennis asked.

"Not yet. I'll write Lureen tonight though."

"That's a good idea."

Ten days later a large brown envelope arrived in their P.O. Box addressed to Jack. They hurried on home and opened it.

"Divorce papers." Jack said as he pulled them out.

"Read 'em over real careful, Bud. Lawyers can be tricky." Ennis said as he set about fixing lunch. They finally got a Saturday off together and it looks like they were going to spend it going over legal papers.

Ennis sat their lunch on the kitchen table and Jack passed the pages over to Ennis as he finished reading each one. Ennis struggled through all the legalese but managed to get through it. He had just recently had his own divorce papers read and explained to him so he wasn't totally lost.

"What do you think?" Jack asked as Ennis finished reading the last page.

"I think Lureen Twist is quite a gal." He pushed the papers aside and started in on his soup.

Jack ate his soup as well before saying, "She did it, Ennis! She stood up to the old man and got away with it."

"Any way he can change this?"

"Don't see how. He demanded the attorney add in the fifteen hundred a month child support and she did it; then she turned around and added in fifteen hundred a month spousal support for me, zeroin it out."

"You think he's seen the final draft a these papers yet?"

"I doubt it. Knowin Lureen, she probably just told the old man that he was right and that she would make sure the child support was in as he suggested. That would satisfy him enough to get him to lighten up on the visitation thing."

"So you get to see Bobby only in her presence. You Ok with that?"

"Sure enough. I know Lureen. She won't hold me to that."

"Everything else sounded about right to me. You sign it, you give up all claims on any a her money."

"I never wanted any a her money, Cowboy, and she knows that. She set up bank accounts for me before and I never touched 'em. I didn't want her money then and I don't want it now."

"You're a good man, Jack."

Jack reached across the table and covered Ennis's hand with his and smiled.

"I think I'm gonna sign these and take 'em right back to the Post Office." He grinned.

"Don't sign 'em yet, Bud. Finish your lunch and let's read them over again – make sure there ain't somethin in there that we missed."

"Good idea. I'm starvin." Jack took a huge bite of his sandwich.

"I see they put in there about Bobby keepin your name. That's good." Ennis said.

"Yeah. That was a good idea you had. I'd a never thought a that and I wouldn't a put it past the old man to try and get Lureen to change it to Newsome."

"He gonna hit the ceilin when he sees the final papers?"

"Probably but by then it will be too late. Lureen already signed 'em. Now all I got a do is sign 'em and send 'em back. Lureen gets her attorney to file 'em with the court and we get us a court date and it'll all be over with."

"Once they're filed the old man can't change 'em?"

"Nope. Lureen says once we get 'em to the court; that's it."

"Good. Let's re-read 'em and send 'em off." Ennis took his dishes to the sink and rinsed them. Jack did the same with his.

They took the papers into the living room and sat down and made a thorough read of each page and discussed anything they felt necessary; watching the wording carefully in each and every paragraph.

"I can't see anythin wrong with 'em; do you?" Jack asked as he reached for a pen on the coffee table.

"They look good to me, Jack." Ennis handed the pages back to Jack.

Jack signed on all the places indicated and placed the papers in the self-addressed envelope the attorney had included. He licked the flap and gave a satisfied smile.

"I'm glad they're goin to the attorney and not to Lureen's house or out to the dealership."

"Lureen must a thought about that. She's pretty smart." Ennis added.

"Yeah, she is, Ennis. She's really Ok. I like her a lot. I didn't never love her and I never said I did, but I always did like her."

"I'm glad she was nice to you. She don't sound nothin like Alma."

"She's not. I guess she kind a felt like she owed me cause I married her when she got pregnant. I didn't do it cause I felt like it was a favor to her. I did it cause it was the right thing to do for Bobby."

"Like I said, Jack, you're a good man." Ennis smiled a smile that turned Jack to mush.

"Quit lookin at me like that!" Jack said and got up and pulled his jacket on. "C'mon. Let's get this to the Post Office so we can get back home and enjoy our day off."

It was a cold day in October when Jack had to drive down to Childress for the divorce.

He got a room at a motel and called Lureen the next morning. She drove over and brought Bobby with her.

They sat at the small table and talked while Bobby played on the floor.

"I can't believe how big he's gotten." Jack said as he watched Bobby play.

"Oh he's growin like a weed!" Lureen said. "Every time I turn around I got to buy him new clothes."

They were silent a few minutes and Lureen asked, "You sure this is what you want to do, Jack? It's not too late to change your mind."

"I'm sure, honey. I can't tell you how good it feels to be back home in Wyomin." Jack smiled back at her.

"You're happy then?"

"Uh huh," Jack tried not to look as happy as he felt. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Well then this is right for you. I have to admit that you really do look good – healthy and happy." She shook her head in agreement. "I want you to know that whenever you want to see Bobby, all you gotta do is call me and I'll make arrangements."

"You been awful good about this, Lureen, and I want you to know I appreciate it."

"Jack, honey, you were never anything but good to me all the time we were together. You took me everywhere I wanted to go, let me do whatever I wanted and never pestered me for constant sex like some of my friends husbands do. You gave me the courage to stand up to Daddy and you never let me down or disappointed me in any way. I really thought we had a good marriage but I guess I was just lookin at it from my point of view. I never did give what you might want any thought. I'm sorry about that. I really am."

"No need to apologize, honey." Jack reached across the table and patted her arm.

"And you're sure this is what you want?

"It's what I want for now. Just bein back in Wyomin feels like a blessin. I'm puttin money in the bank each month and after a few years I'll find me a little place I can afford and that'll be my dream. It's what I've always wanted, Lureen, just a little cow-calf operation."

"I'm all for chasin your dreams, Jack. I just always thought that our dreams were the same thing and we'd be chasin them together. I can see now that I was wrong. I could never live on a ranch."

"Some people are cut out for it and some ain't."

"Well I'm not. I need all the things a city has to offer. I need to be close to the malls and an airport so I can do some travelin." She smiled at him. "Soon as spring comes, I'm takin off for an extended tour of Europe."

"Good for you. I know you always talked about doin that. You made arrangements for Bobby?"

"Uh huh. He's gonna stay with Momma and Daddy. It'll only be six weeks. If you want to see Bobby durin that time, call Momma. I already told her I wanted you to see Bobby as much as you wanted. She didn't agree for sure but you might could talk her into lettin you see him for a few hours while Daddy's at work."

"I always did like your Momma." Jack smiled.

"She likes you too, Jack. She's still hopeful that you'll come back. She thinks you left because of Daddy. That's not true; is it?"

"A course not! Your Daddy has been an all-mighty trial, that's for sure, but I left for exactly the reason I told you. I'd been gone from Wyomin long enough. I wanted to go home and see if I couldn't make my dreams come true. I want that ranch, honey, I always have and now I'm actually workin towards it."

"So you're happy with your decision then? No regrets?"

"Absolutely no regrets!" Jack assured her. "My only regret would be if I hurt you. I am really sorry about that part of it and I do miss watchin Bobby grow up."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Lureen said and opened up her purse. "I got pictures. Lots and lots of pictures." She handed Jack a large envelope. "I got this new camera and it takes the best photos ever!"

Jack flipped through the photos of Bobby. "These are wonderful, Lureen. You're a very good photographer."

"I do like takin pictures. I got a couple different lenses and I plan on takin lots of pictures all over Europe. There's no reason why I can't take lots a pictures of Bobby and send 'em to you. That way you won't miss out on him so much."

"You're an angel, Lureen." Jack got up and gave her a little hug. "Can I keep these?"

"Certainly! I brought them for you." She hugged her husband back. "We best be goin. We need to be at the court house in little over an hour and I need to get Bobby over to the sitter."

"Thank you so much for bringin him over to see me." Jack picked Bobby up and cuddled him and nuzzled a few kissed against the soft cheek.

"I got a warn you though, Daddy is goin to be in court. I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted."

"He can't cause any trouble now; can he?" Jack asked as he walked Lureen and Bobby out to her car and helped her get the baby strapped into his little car seat.

"Well, he don't know everythin that's in those papers, Jack. I told him I agreed to ask for child support but he don't know nothin about the spousal support that's going to cancel it all out. He's gonna scream bloody murder when he hears that."

"It won't change nothin though will it?"

"No. You and I both signed the papers and agreed to everythin in them. He's got no say in the matter."

"So what you're sayin is I should be prepared for him makin a scene?"

"That's about it. No tellin how he'll take it. He might just sit there and steam or he might just explode. With Daddy, there's no way of knowin."

"Ok. Thanks for the warnin. As long as it don't change the things we agreed on, I don't care what he does or says. You think he'll give you any trouble?"

"Oh, I'm used to Daddy tryin to run my life. He'll stomp around and curse and swear a lot but he'll forgive me. He always does." She smiled sweetly at him as she climbed in behind the wheel of her Jaguar. "See you soon, sugar." She said and drove off.

Jack shivered and went back inside. He wondered what the old man would do but decided it didn't really matter. He was sure Lureen could handle herself now and as soon as the court appearance was finished, he'd hop in his truck and head back towards home. The thought of Ennis waiting there for him warmed him and he kept that in the back of his mind as he cleaned up, packed his stuff in the back of his truck and checked out of the motel.

He had never been in the courthouse in Childress before and the big building seemed large and mysterious as his footsteps echoed in the halls as he made his way to court room 3C. He pushed the door open and went in.

Lureen and her mother were sitting in the front row, Mr. Newsome was standing and chatting with the attorney and the rest of the room was empty. Jack took a seat in the back row and waited.

Soon the court clerk came in and in a matter of minutes the judge came in and took his seat and the proceedings began. The clerk stated the reason for the hearing, and that terms had been agreed upon by both parties. The judge shuffled through the paperwork and asked, "Are both parties present?"

Lureen and Jack both said "yes".

The judge lifted his glasses and stared at Jack. "Come up here a little closer, son. I don't bite." He motioned for Jack to move to the front row and Jack did but stayed on the opposite side of the aisle from the Newsomes.

"You read all this paperwork and agreed to everything?" The judge asked Jack.

"I have and I do." Jack said with a nod of his head.

"Let's see here now," The judge shuffled through the papers. "You agreed to this here $1500 a month child support?" He asked Jack.

"I do." Jack gulped and looked across the aisle. L.D. Newsome was grinnin ear to ear and sat with his arms crossed across his chest.

"And do you … Miss Lureen … agree to … Well let's see here now." The judge snickered. "$1500 a month spousal support?"

"I do!" Lureen said quickly.

Jack watched at the reality sank in to old L.D. and he began to fume. "Wait just a damn minute here!" He stood up. "There's no way in hell we're gonna pay that son of a bitch no spousal support!"

"Lureen Twist, will you stand up please." The judge ordered and Lureen did as she was told.

"Are you legally in the custody and care of this man?" The judge asked her as he pointed to her father.

"No sir."

"Then I'm afraid that you have no say in this matter, Mr. Newsome." The judge said.

"But Horace, there ain't no way in hell …" Mr. Newsome sputtered.

"Have the two parties both willingly, and without duress from any other parties, consented to the terms listed here?" The judge asked.

"Jack and Lureen both said, "We have."

"Divorce granted." The judge said and got up and left the bench.

Mr. Newsome let out a string of expletives but Jack only heard the first few. He blew Lureen a kiss good-bye and was out the door.

It was a long drive back to Casper but he made it shortly after midnight. He climbed into bed and rubbed a cold nose up against Ennis's bare back, snuggled in and went to sleep.

The week before Christmas the final divorce papers showed up in the mail. When Jack pulled them out he was stunned to find a check made out to him for $50,000 and a note from Lureen saying that she knew he didn't want any money from her so he should just consider it a Christmas gift from Bobby. She said that if he had gotten a lawyer and taken her to court, he could have gotten ten times that amount plus actual spousal support as well. She said that she hoped they could always stay good friends for Bobby's sake and that she'd never forget how good he was to her. She wished him luck on his new venture and promised more photos of Bobby after the holidays.

"Well, what do you think about that?" Jack looked at all the zeros on the check and handed it over to Ennis.

Ennis took the check, looked at it and read the "Merry Christmas Daddy" at the bottom and said, "I kind a wish we'd gotten him the boots to go along with that cowboy outfit we sent him for Christmas."

Jack tackled him with a giggle and they snuggled together on the couch for a while.

"You think this would be enough for a down payment on a place for us?" Jack asked.

"Don't know, Jack. Guess we could start lookin around come spring. There might be somethin out there we could pick up for back taxes or somethin." Ennis rubbed Jack's back affectionately.

"We got both our trucks in good workin order now and I'm makin more money now over at the Ford dealership. Maybe we could find a place close enough that we could keep our in-town jobs for a while." Jack said.

"Yep. That'd be a good idea."

"This is my dream come true, Ennis. Just you and me and a little cow-calf operation." Jack sighed contentedly.

"Mine too, Bud. Mine too." Ennis agreed.

THE END