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head.
    â€œYou got too much venom in you, son. You need to do some horizontal two-steppin’. A man can’t live on floggin’ yer mutton alone.”
    â€œI’ve been around for more than half a century…and I’ll tell you what. I don’t believe I’ve ever been in love. Not really. No, sir. And you know what? I don’t believe I’d know it if it bit me in the ass.” He uncovered his face, sat up, and squinted off at the changing light. With the flamboyant paintbrush of sunset came a sudden brief downpour to rinse the day.

17
Holly Marie Bassett
    L arry was out of the tepee pissing before the sun came up.
    â€œGoddamn, son. You gonna sleep all day?”
    Jesse knotted up in his bedroll. “Hell, man, it’s dark out there.”
    Under a marbled sky in a chilled morning mist, they gathered a mixed herd of Herefords and Brahmas and drove them into the pole-fenced arena that looked like it’d been there since 1896. Roxanne rode down from the barn trailing a string of horses to be worked and some for the guests who wanted to ride
    Larry was a warm and generous host, just not long on formality. He’d ride over to the fence and shake hands, then go back to cuttin’ or turning back cattle for Jesse as they worked several horses.
    Bowls of pasta, salads, beans, bread loaves, and rolls covered the big wooden table in the house. Out on the porch, a home-welded barbecue spewed plumes of chicken and beef-scented smoke rising to the rafters. Among the porch group scattered around tables, benches, and railings were the CEO of an airline sponsoring theevent and his young son, neighbor ranchers, a veterinarian and his cowgirl wife, a TV star and his actress wife, two more actors, a lady country western star, and Bear and his wife Ruby. Digger and Brantley, unshaven Texas Rangers who’d stopped on their way back to Texas from a hunting trip, were tending the meat.
    A galvanized tub filled with beer, soda pop, and ice stood against the wall. Larry fished out an armload of Coors and passed them around. Jesse and Larry greeted Bear and Ruby who jumped up and gave them each a hug, shining her smile on them.
    Jesse was standing at the barbecue with Digger and Brantley when he heard the screen door behind him open and shut. He made the slightest movement with his head and turned. Then he turned back to the fire. His head snapped back to the door again. She was carrying a plate of food and looking for a place to sit. She wore Wranglers, boots, a good black hat, and a pale blue silk shirt, shy and tentative about the way it contacted her body. With the help of a light breeze it would touch her breasts, cling for a second, then flutter away. She focused on Bear and Ruby and walked toward them. Even in the smallest movement there was something hauntingly familiar about her and yet he knew he’d never seen her before, or anyone remotely like her.
    She squeezed in next to Bear who was in an intense discussion with the airline executive, and balanced the plate on her knees. Bear stopped to introduce her with customary paternal pride. She smiled and nodded politely with genuine interest in whatever he was saying. As she turned toward Ruby to answer a question, she caught Jesse staring at her and smiled at him, then spoke to her mother.
    He felt immediately clumsy but his eyes would not leave her. He took in every point of her. The face, the figure, the honey-colored hair, the way she was dressed. He could smell her from where he stood. He took it all in and stored it as quick and keen as lightning. Under the black brim of her hat, the smoky blue-gray eyes caught him again and for the briefest part of a second she smiled easily while turning from an inquiry by Rosie about the food to somethingBear was saying about the upcoming event.
    â€œJesse!” It was coming from behind him and finally broke through his trance. He turned to see the unshaven, unbreakable jaw of Digger saying,