Thanks to: Jada91, Mari, Pip3, Natalie, and dreamcatcher33 for all of the great reviews.

Title: Trip to Town
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: See chapters 1, 10 and/or 20

The truck smelled of hay and cigarettes, everyone cramming in, adding the smell of their sweat to the stench. Wyoming could be so hot in the summer. Jack's undershirt was soaked through, and they had barely been outside for 10 minutes. Since Ennis' old green truck didn't have air conditioning, the men, sitting on either side of the girls, furiously rolled down their windows, hopeful of catching a non-existent breeze. Jack put his casted arm out the window and glanced at Junior, who was next to him, attempting to shy away.

"I was gonna go ta the park taday..." Ennis started the car, it sputtered, but finally caught and he pushed on the gas, "But it's too damn hot. I guess we'll go get lunch while the laundry's gettin' done, then we can see a movie after. That sound good?"

Jr. nodded happily, forgetting her anger with her father at the chance to go to the diner. They had the best cherry pie there, almost as good as her mama's.

"So, what moving was it you girls wanted to see?" He pulled the car out of the dirt driveway, tires stirring up dust and tossing it in the open windows. Jack coughed, closed his eyes and rubbed his face. Ennis looked at him, worried, then turned back to his girls when he could tell Jack was fine.

Jr. spoke to him, "It's called King Kong. I've heard A LOT about it. It's kind of expensive though..." She glanced at her white sneakers, shuffling them on the floor, caked in mud.

"How much is expensive?"

"75 cents for each of us..."

"I think, for a treat, that'd be ok." He grinned at her, and she, for the first time since she had arrived, smiled back.

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Lunch went over well. Jack ate his soup without trouble, deftly using his less than dominant hand to slurp it down. Junior talked off and on with Ennis, alternately staring at the window, sipping her lemonade, and talking to him about school. Francine chatted with Jack, asking him about rodeos, what kind of things he did.

"What was the last one that you rode named?"

"Sleepy...he shore wann't though."

"He wasn't what?"

"Sleepy!" Jack guffawed at his own joke, Francine giggled politely before turning to her sister. "Scootch, I need to go to the bathroom."

"Me too." Junior stood and walked to the restroom with her younger sibling.

"What turned Junior around?" Jack stirred his spoon in the last bit of his soup, not looking at Ennis.

"What d'ya mean?" Ennis nursed his coffee, which was cold. They had been in that little diner for at least an hour.

"Well, I mean, she was ignorin' you an' me, 'n' she still won' look it me, but she's talkin' to you, real well."

"I don' know...I don' know at all. Not complainin' though."

"No. Of course not." Jack nodded knowingly and glanced up from his soup. "So, you know what this movie's about?"

"Hell no."

"You care?"

"Not really."

Jack got a mischievous glint in his eyes. He waggled his eyebrows, "You even gonna watch that movie cowboy?"

Ennis swung his head around quickly, eyes wide. He almost growled the words that came out of his mouth. "Jack! Don' talk like that in public! Thought yeh'd be more careful, seein' what happened to yeh. Don' say stuff like that."

Jack was taken aback. "Ok," he looked back at his soup, tried to keep from crying. Men don't cry. "Sorry."

Ennis put his hand on Jack's, under the table, resting on the sticky, vinyl booth. "It's ok, bud. Where are the girls?"