Chapter Four
After he had left the store, Jacky took his bags to his car then had driven to a hotel and checked in for the next few days. Then he had called his parents to let them know he was doing fine and his mom didn't let him off the phone for a couple of hours. She started asking a bunch of questions. Most of the questions were just about how well he was taking care of himself. He didn't mention that all he had bought so far was an armful of junk food. He assured her he'd call her again sometime then hung up and left the hotel.
It didn't take him long to find the library and half an hour later, he was sitting at a table with a bunch of old newspapers in front of him. He had read over each one for the next hour or so, but didn't find anything about Jack Twist. There were rodeo announcements, but nothing more. He wasn't going to get anywhere with these newspapers. For all he knew, Jack Twist might've gone down to Texas for all his rodeos. He carefully gathered up all of the newspapers and handed them back in.
He needed something new to follow.
Jacky walked over to the computers at the far wall of the library and sat down at one of them. He brought up a search engine and typed in Jack Twist along with his birth year: 1944. What came up was a birth certificate. He searched a little further and found a marriage license. Jack Twist and Lureen Newsome had gotten married in Texas. Part of him was thinking that he should probably head down to Texas if he wanted to learn anything, but he didn't want to come across the Newsome family. After all, they were the side of his family that didn't like Jack Twist. He searched more and found a death certificate. Jack Twist died in 1983 at the age of 39. No cause of death. That was odd.
He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw the librarian, who immediately apologized for scaring him. "Are you finding everything okay?" she asked. "You've been here for quite a while. Is there anything specific you're looking for?"
"Just trying to dig up family history," Jacky said, his heart still pounding against his chest. He looked at the computer then back at her. "I won't need any help."
She nodded her head. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she said then smiled at him and turned and walked off.
Jacky watched her go then turned back to the computer to continue his search. Signal, Wyoming came up and he clicked on that. Jack Twist had worked for Joe Aguirre two years herding sheep up on Brokeback Mountain. This was just a record of it and that second year caught his attention. Jack Twist had worked with Ennis Del Mar. Steve Del Mar had to be a relative. He closed the window, knowing where he needed to go now.
He got to his feet and walked over to the librarian's desk. She looked up when he approached. "On second thought," he started. "There might be something you can help me with. Do you know where I can find Steve Del Mar?"
"At his ranch, naturally," the librarian said. "His partner will be in town this afternoon. You could talk to her. I've lived here a while, but don't know how to get to that place."
"Where will she be?"
"She comes in with a load of stuff for the store," she said. "She'll be at the back of the store around four o'clock. You can catch her then."
Jacky looked at his watch and saw that it was already half past three. He looked back at her. "Thank you," he said. He smiled at her then turned and hurried out of the library.
Steve made it back to the ranch and Emily was there to help him unload everything. He saw that her truck was already out front ready to go even though she wouldn't be leaving for another hour or so. When they had everything inside, they started unpacking everything and storing them in the proper places in the kitchen. The kitchen was stocked full of everything. They barely had enough space for the silverware and plates and stuff.
"Everything already loaded in the truck?" Steve asked, storing the empty store bags in a drawer by the fridge. He closed the drawer then turned to her, seeing her nodding. "Should've waited for me. I could've helped."
Emily gave him that "I'm-Babying-You" look then grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. "We handled it just fine," she said. "Our boys did most of the work anyway. I was just supervising." She smiled then opened the bottle and took a swig.
"You always make me feel so completely helpless around here and I don't like it," Steve said, feeling riled up. He had had such a good morning so far. He was the one practically ruining it. It wasn't Emily's fault. "It's my ranch, after all."
"Our ranch," Emily reminded him. "I'm gonna go ahead and head into town." She walked over to where the phone hung on the wall and grabbed her keys from the hook there. She looked back at him with another smile. "Do what you want while I'm gone. The horses might need brushin' if no one's out there." She waved as she left.
Steve sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. He looked around with slight hopes that he'd have to clean the kitchen just so he could do something, but the place was practically spotless. He pushed away from the counter and headed outside in time to see Emily driving off the ranch. He watched her go then headed over to the barn. Brushed already or not, he was going to do it anyway.
Jacky was sitting on a barrel at the back of the store. He checked his watch again and saw that it was slowly creeping on to four. He had only been sitting here for about ten minutes. He sighed impatiently and looked away from his watch. He jumped to his feet when he saw a truck pulling up. She was early! He didn't care about that. He was just glad he wouldn't have to wait any longer.
He stood by as she pulled up and parked then got out. She didn't look his way as she walked to the back of the truck and opened it. A few men came out of the store and started unloading boxes, taking them back in the store. She stood by in the shade, supervising from what Jacky could see. Once she was satisfied, she just stood by quiet and let the men do the job.
Jacky moved forward, but found that he was frozen in place. He was nervous and excited and didn't know what to say to her. He couldn't let her leave though. And any minute now, the men could finish unloading and his chance would be gone. He reached around behind him and pinched himself, jumping forward and that helped him get walking over there.
She turned her head when she heard him approaching and his step faltered. He stopped before he could trip over himself. He smiled and waved. "Hi," he said.
She gave him a pleasant smile. "Hi," she said. "Somethin' I can help you with?"
Jacky nodded. "I'm looking for Steve Del Mar," he replied. "I met him this morning. The lady at the library said you could help me find him. You being his partner and all."
She turned to him, ignoring the men moving back and forth behind her. "What's your name?"
"Jack Twist II," Jacky replied. "Everyone calls me Jacky." Just his family because he didn't really have friends, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He got embarrassed easily. He had proved that this morning.
"Jack Twist?" she repeated.
"Yeah," Jacky said with a nod. "Why?"
"I came across something the other day with that name," she replied. "My folks were going through some old records of my great-granddad's."
"He wouldn't be Joe Aguirre by any chance, would he?"
"Actually, yes," she said with a nod. "I'm Emily Aguirre. How do you know about my great-granddad?"
"I found those records on the computer," Jacky said. "Which is why I wanna talk to Steve. My great-grandfather worked with Ennis Del Mar, who I think is related to Steve."
"Ennis was Steve's great-uncle," Emily said. She crossed her arms, a slight amused expression on her face. "Do you wanna ride to the ranch?"
"Oh, certainly," Jacky said, nodding his head.
"Well, you cain't really come over right now," Emily said. "Steve would beat me if I brought someone unannounced. How about you come over for dinner tonight? I can have one of the boys come down and pick you up around six?"
Jacky was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be going now, but she had a point. He nodded his head once again. "That sounds fine with me," he said. "I'm staying at the hotel." It was the only hotel in town, so he didn't have to specify which.
Emily smiled more. "See ya later tonight, Jacky," she said.
"You invited him?"
"What else was I supposed to do?" Emily asked. "As you just told me, he's tryin' to find out about his family. You're obviously a key to that."
Steve turned to her, shaking his head. They were standing in the living room. "No, Ennis Del Mar is," he said. "And I don't know a damned thing about the man! You're the one who found out that he worked for Aguirre."
Emily crossed her arms. "There's gotta be somethin' about him that you know," she said. "I believe you do. Even if you don't, Jacky's still comin'. He's a nice kid." She winked at him. "And pretty cute."
Steve gestured to her with both arms outstretched. "Why the look?" he asked. "I know what the kid looks like. I met him first!" He lowered his arms. "And I think he's a nutjob. You should've seen him at the store."
"He's coming to supper and there ain't nothin' you can do to change that," Emily said. "And you're not weaslin' your way outta it. You're gonna sit there and be nice. And answer any question he may have for you. Ya understand?"
"Oh, I understand," Steve said with a nod. "And by that look you're settin' me up!"
"Ain't no harm in that."
"I'm not that kinda guy, Em."
"Gay?" Emily asked. "That's a load of hooey."
"Bisexual," Steve corrected. That wasn't a secret around the ranch and wasn't a big deal. "I'm a loner. I don't settle down."
"You've settled down here with me," Emily reminded him.
"Yeah, but we ain't a thing," Steve said. "And if you try anything tonight-"
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Emily said with a smile. "I have to go start supper." She patted him on the arm then turned and left the room. Steve shook his head with another sigh and sat down on the couch.
to be continued...