Excitement filled the Oakview van that Monday morning as the Fab Five found seats behind Emily, who was serving as the driver. Derek, the orderly who often assisted Emily, had loaded their luggage, and Emily had given him a few final pointers for the next week’s activities. So now the trip was a reality, and Emily was the only one who had reservations about spending a whole week on a ranch.
“Wagons, ho!” Otis shouted from the middle of the van.
“Wagons, my royal butt,” Patsy said. “We’re on tour and this is our tour bus. We’re off to do shows.”
“And what are you going to do?” Bess poked her sister in the arm. “You never could carry a tune, so it can’t be anything musical.”
“Oh, but, honey, I can dance, and I’ve been practicing my striptease dance. I bet Larry can figure out a way to fix me a pole so I can do my best work,” Patsy shot back.
Larry’s grin deepened the wrinkles. “I’ll get my dollar bills ready to stuff inside your under britches, darlin’.”
“Everyone buckled up?” Emily called out as she started the engine.
“Yep!” they all said in unison.
Emily put the van in reverse, popped the clutch, and spun out, leaving a skid mark on the concrete parking lot. “Then get ready for a ride. If you see flashing red lights, yell at me and I’ll go faster.”
“This ain’t a tour van, it’s a race car. When we get to the ranch, we should do some street racin’ in the pasture,” Sarah yelled from the back. “I love to drive fast.”
“You love anything fast. Did you take your heart pills this mornin’?” Patsy said.
“Did you?” Sarah shot back. “I just have to take one to keep my ticker goin’. You have to take three, so don’t be fussin’ at me.”
“Both of you hush and enjoy the fast ride,” Bess demanded.
“You got it, darlin’.” Sarah’s blue eyes glittered. “I’m like fast food. Hot, cheap, and ready in a minute.”
“That’s like Patsy in college,” Bess said.
“Oh, the sweet memories.” Patsy sighed.
“Turn on the radio,” Larry called out. “When I was workin’ in construction, I’d play it even louder than the teenagers did. Only they liked rock music and I like country.”
“That’s probably why you have to wear hearin’ aids,” Sarah told him.
“Worth every minute of it.” Larry chuckled.
“I wish we could roll down the windows and pretend we’re in a convertible,” Patsy said.
Emily intended to give them the best time she could. She found a country music station and turned up the volume. Then she opened the window next to her, so some of the brisk morning air could flow into the van. Maybe when it blew Sarah’s gray hair around in her face, it would make her happy.
The DJ on the radio said, “And now it’s time for our five-in-a-row contest. After I play the songs, the fifth caller who has the song and the artists of all five will win two tickets to see Blake Shelton at the Win Star Casino next month.”
“Remember When” started to play.
The whole bunch of them yelled out the name of the song plus, “Alan Jackson.”
“If one of you win, who are you takin’ with you to the concert?” Emily asked.
“Ah, honey, we won’t win because we ain’t goin’ to call in. If we all can’t go, then ain’t none of us interested,” Otis said.
“Besides if we want to go see a concert, then we’ll play a game of poker and the one with the most money at the end will have to pay for all five tickets,” Patsy said.
That song ended and “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett started. They yelled out the artist and title before the first words were sung.
“I know this one by heart. Y’all sing with me,” Larry said.
They sang off-key and out of tune at the top of their lungs, not only with that one but also with every song that was played. By the time the five songs ended they were in Sunset, and a few minutes later she turned down the lane onto the ranch.
Otis unbuckled his seat belt and made his way to the seat right behind Emily. He stuck his face as close to the open window as possible and inhaled deeply. “I’m going home, darlin’. For a whole week, I’m going to be on a ranch. Thank you so much for gettin’ this all arranged for us.”
“Are we there yet?” Patsy hollered.
“Three minutes and I’ll be parked in front of the bunkhouses,” Emily yelled over the top of Conway Twitty singing “Lay Me Down.”
“If I was thirty years younger, I’d get one of the cowboys on this ranch to lay me down.” Patsy giggled.
“Honey, you’d still be old if you was forty years younger,” Bess told her.
“What about you, Emily? Would you let a ranchin’ cowboy whisper pretty love words to you like Conway is sayin’?” Patsy asked.
“Never,” Emily answered as she brought the van to a stop in front of the bunkhouse with GIRLS written on a swinging sign between two porch posts. Strange that she hadn’t noticed that before. “We’ll unload the ladies here and then move on down to get the boys’ stuff out of the vehicle.”
When Justin had called to tell her that the family had decided to let her residents have the bunkhouses for the week, she’d asked several questions. Bedding and towels were provided. There would be an assortment of snacks and drinks ready for the guests, but their meals would be shared with the family in the big ranch house. And it had been decided that there would be no charge, which was very generous of the Maguires.
Justin had said that he’d leave the bunkhouses open, so she wasn’t expecting him to be there when they arrived. Yet there he was, leaning on the porch post like a cowboy in a whiskey commercial—dark cowboy hat settled just right on his head, tight jeans hugging his butt and thighs, and work boots that showed enough wear to prove he was a real cowboy and not one of those Saturday night wannabes. He swaggered from the porch to the van, opened the door, and poked his head inside.
“Welcome to the Longhorn Canyon ranch. I’m Justin Maguire and you’ll meet the rest of the family at dinner. That’s the noon meal here on the ranch. Supper is in the evening.” He smiled. “We hope y’all have a good time while you are here and enjoy the week.”
Suddenly Emily’s jacket was too warm. She wished she had one of those church fans with a funeral home advertisement on one side and a picture of Jesus on the other. But right then she couldn’t even get a cool breeze to flow through the open window.
“Proud to meet you, son,” Otis said. “I’m an old rancher who is right happy to get to feel like he’s going home for a week. And if you need an extra set of hands for anything, you just say the word, and I’ll be more’n happy to help out. I got a bum knee but that don’t mean I can’t throw hay out to the cattle.”
“Thank you,” Justin said. “I might just do that.”
Emily brushed against his side when she stood up and that heated up the van even more. “Let me introduce the rest of the Fab Five.” She pointed at each one as she called out their names. “Patsy, Bess, Sarah, and Larry.”
Each of them held up a hand or waved at him.
“Whew! Darlin’ are you married?” Patsy smiled as she slid out of her seat with Bess right behind her.
Bess winked at him. “Strong as you are, I bet you can help us get our luggage inside.”
“Yes, ma’am, Bess, I sure will give you lovely ladies a hand. And no, Miz Patsy, I’m not married.” He chuckled.
“Can you two-step?” Sarah followed behind the other two ladies.
“Been known to give it a try a few times,” Justin said.
“We’ll see how good you are some evenin’. Me and Larry is the best at the center. You can dance with Emily and we’ll see if you’re as good as us,” Sarah said.
“A ranch party! I love parties,” Otis said. “Justin can bring the tequila.”
“Wine,” Sarah said.
“Jack Daniel’s,” Larry declared. “But first we better get ourselves settled in, hadn’t we?”
“Nonalcoholic punch. Alcohol does not mix with your meds, and you know it,” Emily said. “And yes, you need to get settled in.”
Justin helped each of the ladies out of the van and they all flirted with him as if they were in their twenties.
Otis reached out toward Justin. “I’ll take a little of that help. This old knee don’t like steps after it’s set a spell.”
Justin gave him a hand and then turned to grab Larry’s arm as he maneuvered the steps down to the ground.
Emily had helped every one of them onto the bus, but it was nice to have a big, strapping cowboy make them feel so much at home.
“Next.” He smiled up at her.
“I’m able to climb stairs all on my own,” she said.
“I’m sure you are, darlin’, but it’s not often a rough old cowboy like me gets to help a lovely lady down the steps.” His grin grew bigger with every word.
After all that, she couldn’t very well refuse him. She eased out of the driver’s seat and put her hand in his.
“There shouldn’t be any fresh cow piles inside the fence,” he said.
When she reached the ground, she let go of his hand. “I hope not, but then again if you turned a few calves loose in this area, you wouldn’t have to mow.”
“A little on the sassy side, aren’t you?”
“My family says so,” she answered.
“I bet they do,” he said and then turned his attention to the new guests. “If y’all will follow me, I’ll show you the bunkhouse.”
“Oh. My. Goodness!” Sarah squealed when she stepped inside. “This is better than a fancy hotel.”
“Is the boys’ place like this?” Otis asked.
“Exactly, except the girls have a big bathtub. We had a really big foreman when the bunkhouse was built and all he asked for was a tub that he could stretch out in. You boys have two bathrooms with walk-in showers. I’ll bring in your things and you can show me where to put it all.” Justin waved a hand to include all five of the rooms. “You ladies pick out which bedroom you want.”
“We want the one with the big tub,” Patsy and Bess said at the same time.
“That’s usually the counselor’s room,” Justin said.
“They can have it. They’re used to sharing a room,” Emily said.
Patsy peeked into the room. “One bed. I can’t sleep with Bess. She kicks and talks in her sleep.”
“We could take the big bed out and put in two of the twins from the other rooms,” Justin said.
“That’s so sweet,” Patsy all but purred.
“Thank you. While you get the baggage in, I’ll strip down the beds and get them ready to change out.”
“That would be great,” Justin said.
“You go help him get our stuff,” Patsy said. “We know how to strip down beds. Between the three of us, we’ll have it all done before y’all get our things in the house.”
Larry poked Otis on the arm. “Let’s go on down to the boys’ bunkhouse and choose our rooms. I ain’t sleepin’ in the same room with you. You snore like a hungry old grizzly bear.”
“Fine by me,” Otis said. “Justin said we got us five rooms over there. I want the one across the house from you. You can outdo me when it comes to snorin’ any day of the week.”
Justin followed Emily out to the van and caught bits and pieces of the argument as Otis and Larry crossed the lawn separating the two cabins.
“What’s the dog’s name? Looks like he’s got some Catahoula in him,” Emily said.
“His name is Beau and you must know your dogs. He’s a Catahoula and bluetick hound mix. Looks like he’s about to make friends with the guys,” Justin answered.
Otis and Larry eased down on the porch steps of the boys’ bunkhouse and had already begun to pet the dog when Justin looked that way again.
Emily shifted some of the luggage around, explaining, “The black ones belong to the guys. All these bright colors are the ladies’. I’ll take in theirs and you can have the guys.” She picked up two heavy bags and started across the lawn.
Justin had hired hands who weren’t that strong. He stacked up several pieces of luggage and hefted them up on his shoulder. “Got a cat named Gussie that’ll probably come around soon as she realizes we have guests,” he called out as he headed down to the boys’ place.
“Sarah will be over the moon,” Emily yelled back. “She had a cat and waited until it died before she would leave her home. And Larry talks about his pets too. So the cat and dog might get spoiled while we’re here.” Emily set her load inside and went back for more.
Justin set his suitcases on the guys’ porch and hurried back to the van. “I’ll help with those. Gussie loves people. We don’t care if she stays in the bunkhouses—as long as the guests are okay with it—so the folks can spend as much time with her as they want.” He took in the last three bags and set them on the living room floor.
Sarah pointed toward the three bright pink bags. “Those are mine and I’m stayin’ in that room.”
Justin tucked the smaller one under his arm and carried the other two into the room Sarah showed him. “There you go, ma’am.”
Sarah patted him on the arm and slid one eyelid shut in a wink. “Thank you, darlin’. I could have got those, but there’s somethin’ about watchin’ a strong cowboy haulin’ something, whether it’s suitcases or bags of feed—well, it does an old gal good.”
“Thank you, I think.” These folks were feistier than he’d expected them to be.
Sarah was almost as tall as Emily, but she was thin as a rail. She could probably use some rocks in the pockets of her baggy jeans to hold her on the ground in a north Texas wind.
“Let’s get these beds changed around before we take Patsy’s and Bess’s stuff to their room,” Emily said.
Justin hoisted the mattress off the bed in one motion and carried it to the living area. He stacked it against the wall and went back for the box springs.
“I’ll help with that.” Emily beat him to the room and was already wrestling with the big item.
“Stand it on the side and grab hold of the end,” he told her.
They moved it to the living room and then worked together to relocate a couple of twin beds from the other bedrooms. “They don’t look like twins,” he whispered.
“It’s the hair. Think of them with no hair and they really are alike,” Emily said out of the side of her mouth.
He squinted, and sure enough, Emily was right. Bess had wound two thick braids of gray hair around her head like a crown. And Patsy’s hair was dyed red and kinked up all over her head, reminding him of steel wool pads used for scrubbing. Both women were short and stocky and had the lightest blue eyes Justin had ever seen, and if it wasn’t for their hair, they would look identical.
“Where were you when I was thirty?” Patsy teased.
“Good God, sister,” Bess scolded. “He wasn’t even born when you were thirty. You’re old enough to be his grandmother.”
Patsy waggled her finger at Bess. “But I’m not too old to wish I was young again, so don’t fuss at me.”
Once the beds were changed out, the sisters took charge, putting sheets on them and then unpacking their things.
“And now, we should go check on the guys, right?” Justin asked.
“Right,” Emily agreed.
She was downright cute in jeans that hugged all those curves and with her dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked more comfortable and more at ease too than when she’d been dressed up on her first visit.
“That’s a lively bunch of ladies back there,” he said as they made their way to the next building.
“That could be the understatement of the century,” Emily said.
“You sure get along with them good. Is there anything else in the van we need to take?” he asked.
“The Fab Five are my favorites at the center. Actually, they’re more like family than residents, and we’ve got everything taken in now. Should I move the van or is it okay to leave it there?”
“It’s fine right where it is,” he answered. “Did you give them that Fab Five name?”
“Not me.” She shook her head. “They were already known as that when I came to work there five years ago. When I asked if my predecessor had tagged them with it, Otis said that they’d come up with it on their own. They’re best friends and are always in and out of each other’s places.”
He set the luggage on the porch and opened the door for her. “I hope they don’t get too bored out here in the country.”
“Those five?” Emily laughed. “Bored is not in their vocabulary. They’re always into something.”
“Hey, did you get the old hens situated?” Otis looked up from the table where he and Larry had a card game already going.
“We did,” Emily said. “Y’all got rooms picked out?”
“Yep, and we hauled the suitcases in from the porch so we get to rest a few minutes,” Larry said. “I hope it’s all right that we let the dog in. He’s curled up beside my bed. I think he’s going to like me the best.”
“It’s fine. His name is Beau,” Justin said.
“I heard you tellin’ Emily that, and it’s a fine name. But he likes me better than Larry. He’s just sleepin’ in there by Larry’s bed for now. Tonight, he’s going to spend the night in my room. I understand ranchin’ dogs more than Larry does.”
Otis and Larry were complete opposites, and reminded Justin of that old cartoon strip “Mutt and Jeff.” One was tall and lanky. The other so stocky that a class five tornado couldn’t budge him.
Larry raised a bushy gray eyebrow. “Beau. Strange name for a dog.”
“Named after a Texas Longhorn football player,” Justin said.
“Well, then, I’d say it’s a fine name to give the feller. I’m glad he gets to come inside with us. I missed my ranchin’ dogs when I had to give up the place,” Otis said.
“I had a dog too. He was a bluetick hound, named George after George Jones,” Larry said. “And my cat was named Dolly after Miz Parton. Are we on our own until time to eat? Me and Otis want to go out to the barn soon as we finish this card game. We need a nice long walk.”
“I’ll drive you out there,” Emily said.
“No, we really want to walk,” Larry told her. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it slow and watch for gopher holes. I ain’t wantin’ no hip surgery at my age, and Otis’s knee ain’t goin’ to let him go too fast.”
“Promise?” Emily asked and went on before they could answer. “Are your cell phones charged in case you need to call me?”
“Yes, mama,” Otis teased.
“You better be careful,” Larry said. “She’s liable to treat you like a son if you call her mama.”
Emily raised both eyebrows. “You might do well to listen to him.”
“Okay, okay, get your coat back on, old man. I saw the barn when we was going from the henhouse to this one.” Otis shifted his gaze over to Justin. “What’s for dinner?”
“Retta’s got a pot roast in the oven. And I think I saw a couple of pecan pies on the cabinet,” Justin answered.
“In that case, I’ll be sure I’m washed up and have my hair all combed pretty by noon. And I’ll see to it that Larry has his half a dozen hairs in place,” Otis teased. “Man, this is wonderful. Thank you for letting us come to your ranch, Mr. Maguire.”
Justin shook his head. “I’m just plain old Justin. Mr. Maguire is my dad. You’ll meet him and my mama at dinner today. They don’t live here permanently, but they’ve come for a long visit.”
“That’ll be real nice,” Larry said and then turned to Otis. “Think we ought to stop by and see if them women want to go with us?”
“Hell, no! They’re still busy lining up all their makeup shit and perfumes on their dressers.” Otis laughed. “Let’s take Beau with us instead.”
“And then we’ll brag about it at dinner.” Larry whistled, and Beau came out of the bedroom, tail wagging and ready to go.
“Sarah’s goin’ to be mad that we got a dog and she didn’t.” Otis chuckled as the two of them donned their coats and left, with Justin and Emily right behind them.
They stopped on the porch and Emily watched the guys for a few minutes. “I’d feel horrible if one of them fell.”
“You can’t put them in a cage,” Justin said.
“I guess not.” She sighed.
Justin was used to barhopping on the weekends, doing some two-steppin’, some beer drinking, and getting lucky most of the time. He hadn’t met many women that he couldn’t charm right into bed with him and talk them into making breakfast for him the next morning. But suddenly, he didn’t have anything to say and the silence was more than a little awkward.
What was the matter with him? He was never without words when it came to talking to a woman.
“So what now?” he finally asked.
“Well, the ladies are unpacking and getting all dolled up for dinner. You know where the guys are. I’m not needed here right now. Think whoever is in the kitchen could use some help?” she asked.
“That would be Retta, my sister-in-law, and my mother, Gloria. They’ve probably got things under control, but I’d like for you to meet them.”
“I’d like that.”
They stepped off the porch at the same time. “So how are the house plans coming along?”
Justin didn’t even have to shorten his stride so that she could keep up with him. “Just about done. The contractor is coming the first of next week, so we need to have everything decided for sure by then.”
He found himself wondering how it would be to hold her hand. As if his brain sent the message to his hand, his fingers brushed against hers. She quickly tucked her thumbs in her hip pockets. He couldn’t tell if she felt that little jolt of heat or not—perhaps she didn’t even realize that he had touched her.
“You should have Larry take a peek at the house plans,” Emily said. “He was a contractor. It’d sure make him feel important to be asked for advice.”
A sudden north wind whipped her ponytail around in her face and sent his hat blowing toward the porch. Hopalong, the cotton-tailed rabbit that came around every spring, hurried from under a dormant rosebush and sat down on the brim.
“Looks like our resident bunny made it through the winter.” Justin chuckled.
“Is that a pet or something?” Emily asked.
Justin bent down and rubbed the rabbit’s ears. “He’s one of Levi’s strays. He came up here a few years ago with a broken foot. Levi nursed him back to health and then turned him loose. He usually brings spring with him when he comes back each year. You can pet him if you want. He don’t bite.”
Emily sat down on the porch step, and Hopalong made his way up to sit beside her. She rubbed the spot between his ears, and the rabbit laid his head over on her leg. “He’s so tame.”
Justin sat down beside her. “Levi has a way with animals. Beau, Gussie, Hopalong, all came to us broken, and he made them whole again. Right along with Little Bit, the donkey, and Hard Times, the turtle.”
“Is Levi another brother?”
“Not by blood, but as you girls say, by the heart. He’s the foreman of the ranch. He and his wife, Claire, are the couple that I’m designing the house for,” Justin explained.
The bunny hopped under the rosebush, and Emily rose to her feet. “It takes me a while to get names straight. I’m better after I meet the folks.”
“Well, it won’t be hard to keep Retta and my mama straight. Retta is tall and Mama is a little short woman.” Justin ushered her into the house, through the foyer and back to the kitchen. “This place sure smells good. I brought Emily to meet y’all. Emily, this is Retta Maguire and this is my mother, Gloria.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Retta smiled.
“Yes, it is,” Gloria said. “Son, we really should be goin’. The Cattlemen’s Association meeting is at ten o’clock.”
“Yes, ma’am. See y’all at dinner.” He smiled at Emily as he and his mother disappeared out the back door, leaving her alone with Retta.
“When is the baby due?” Emily asked when they were gone.
“End of May or first of June, but the doctor says that she’s going to be a big girl. Cade is six four, and I’m sure no petite, fragile little rose,” Retta answered.
As tall as Emily but not nearly as curvy, Retta had pretty brown eyes and hair that probably had a lot of chestnut in it when she was in the sun.
“I hear you on that note,” Emily said. “I never was a tiny girl either. If you’ll tell me what to do, I’ll be glad to lend a hand.”
“Can you make a good batch of hot rolls?”
“I can make them. I’ll let y’all decide if they’re good or not,” Emily said.
“Do any of our new guests have diet restrictions?”
“Their motto is that they’ll eat what they want and die when they’re supposed to. They’ve all got some issues, but hey, they’re all past seventy. Bess is borderline diabetic, but she takes a pill a day and is careful about her sugar. She wouldn’t want anyone to go to special trouble, though,” Emily answered.
“So why are they in a nursing home if they’re in that good of health?” Retta asked.
“They aren’t actually in the nursing home,” Emily explained. “They call the wing they live in independent living. If and when they get to where they need more help they’ll move into the assisted living and then later into the nursing home or hospice wing.”
“Why aren’t they living in homes of their own?” Retta asked.
“Because they don’t have family, and they were lonely. Show me where the pantry is, and I’ll get that bread started.”
“I can relate to that business of not having a lot of family.” Retta opened a door into a huge room lined with shelves and food. “But I sure got adopted into a big, loving bunch when I married Cade, and I love it. How about you? Got siblings?”
“Twin brothers who are a year younger than me, and an older brother who is four years older. Then I have enough cousins to fill a third world country.” Emily picked up the flour bin and a container that was marked YEAST. “When they all come in for Thanksgiving it’s a zoo. My grandmother still has it at her place, and there’s usually over a hundred people there.”
“For real?” Retta gasped. “How do you seat them all?”
“Out in the barn. It’s still set up for the winter cattle sale party so there’s plenty of tables and chairs. Granny does the hams and turkeys and everyone brings the sides and desserts.” Emily opened two cabinet doors before she found a big mixing bowl.
“That sounds amazing.” Retta put the teakettle on a burner. “I’m craving hot chocolate. Want me to make one for you?”
“That’d be wonderful, thank you.”
If Retta had ever had that much family all gathered around her, trying to fix her up with the nearest bachelor or tell her what to pursue in college, or that she should buy a truck instead of a car, she would have changed her comment from amazing to smothering in an instant.