 The air was sweet like wine, warm and flowing over his body. The
calves out on the Diamond W were healthy and frolicking all over the
place, and there had been only three difficult births where he'd had
to pull the calves, and those were from first-calf heifers, so it
was to be expected.And he decided what he needed was to see how
the rest of the world was waking up to spring, so he drove in from
the ranch for the evening.
Sarah was just locking up and visited with Bob for a few minutes
before heading home for supper.
Bob leaned against the wall and kept his eye on the square across
the street. Two kids were playing with the cannon, shooting
invisible invaders and making the world safe for suppertime in a
small American town.
Dud and Anita Campbell were walking across the square, not
talking, but just being with each other. Their hands were touching,
but there was more there. They were touching each other in a silent
way, sharing love and promises. Across the way, Doc and Mrs. Doc
stood together, looking in the window of the now-closed hardware
store. They looked tired tonight, Bob thought. Neither was that
young any more.
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column] |
Seeing these two couples made Bob a little sorry he wasn't
married, but he'd tried that once and it hadn't worked out too well.
She lived in the city now and was married to another fellow and had
three kids.
Oh, he knew it had all happened for the best. He knew it.
So he patted the cow dog in the back of his pickup and headed
back down the road to the Mule Barn. He would order the special
tonight. Maybe some pie, too.
Just the right thing for a warm spring evening.
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
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www.pearsonranch.com/oranges.html, where, unlike episodic
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