Chapter Thirty Five

They sat comfortably together on the couch, Billie’s legs across Jon’s lap, his hand idly stroking her bare feet. Deke was in front of the couch, having looked at them in slight annoyance when he realised there wasn’t space on the couch for him, slumping disconsolately to the floor.

“Hey - I forgot.” Billie said suddenly. “Did you get a hold of your mom yesterday?”

“Yeah.” Jon grimaced slightly. “She knows I’m still alive.”

Billie looked at him curiously, his tone not entirely happy. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, nothin’, babe. Mom can just be a bit difficult sometimes. She doesn’t understand why I took off, why I had to get away.” He grinned. “She wasn’t impressed to hear I was staying with some rancher, paying my way by helping out.”

“Helping out?” Billie dug a heel down against his thigh. “And I thought we were paying each other in ‘kind’ for the helping and the staying.”

“We are, darlin’.” Jon laughed. “We sure as hell are, but I wasn’t about to tell mom that!”

“Probably a good idea.” Billie replied, not finishing what was in her head. Not saying that Jon’s mom would probably have told Dorothea, and she wouldn’t understand her man sleeping with another woman, regardless of whether or not there were strings attached.

“Yeah.” Jon agreed. “Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I called home and spoke with mom. Spoke with my youngest brother, too - Matt.”

“Does he miss you, too?”

“I guess. He’s joined some art class, because there’s a girl in the class he likes. Crazy the things a guy will do for a woman.”

“Oh, really?!” Billie laughed, digging him with her heel again until he winced. “And, tell me, why exactly did you start a band?”

“For the music.” He said, straight-faced, then cracked into a broad grin. “Well, the music and the…….uh, the……..”

“Pussy?” Billie suggested, and Jon laughed.

“Yeah. That’d be it.” He turned serious. “I just don’t know if I want to go back to that life, though.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Billie advised. “Just let things happen in their own time, Jon.”

“Yeah.” He said again, scratching a hand through his hair as he looked at her. “But what I will need to do - soon - is talk with Richie. I need to see if I can salvage our friendship at least. Sounds stupid, I know, but I miss him being around. He’s been my wingman for the last few years, and I never realised what that meant until it was gone.”

“You don’t know it’s gone.” She said gently, trying to steer him away from the sadness. “There are very few things broken that can’t be fixed, Jon. When you’re ready - when you can do it and mean it - go see him, talk to him about it.”

“Yeah.” He said a third time, then forced his mind away from hurtful things and lightly slapped Billie’s feet. “So what we doin’ tomorrow, then?”

She glanced at the clock and giggled. “You mean today?”

Jon looked, seeing it was just after midnight. “Uh-huh. Today.”

“I was thinking - if you like - we could pack a picnic and take another ride. There’s a really nice mountain ride, off toward Jace’s ranch. Bit further than when we rode to the river, but it’s lovely.”

“Sounds good to me.” He agreed with a grin.

“We will need to head off early, though.” Billie cautioned.

“How early?” Jon asked suspiciously. He had a feeling that ‘rockstar’ early wasn’t the same as ‘cowgirl’ early.

“So long as we’re on the trail by eight thirty we’ll be fine. Otherwise we’ll be riding back in the dark.”

“Eight thirty in the morning?” He asked incredulously, only putting it on a little.

“Yeeaah.” Billie drawled slowly. “Don’t you do mornings?”

“Not unless I’m doing you in the morning.”

“Well, in that case we’d need to be up even earlier.”

Jon groaned, laying his head back on the couch then rolling it to the side, peering at her from one blue eye.

“What time do we need to get up, then?”

“Seven thirty?”

“Seven thirty in the morning.” He muttered, then grinned. “Just for you, okay.”

“In which case, I guess we should think about getting some sleep.” Billie dropped her feet to the floor, just missing Deke, then she looked at Jon curiously. “Does it bother you? That I still leave you to sleep on the couch even though we’ve…….”

“Truly? No, not really.” He’d wondered if either of them would ever raise the subject. “I don’t know why, but it feels……more appropriate, I guess. Doesn’t bother me, Billie.”

“I’m glad. I didn’t want you to think I was just, I dunno, using you for sex.”

“I know you’re not.” He grinned. “You use me as a pack mule, too, to shift hay and feed and……..”

Billie’s laugh cut across his words, and Jon got off the couch, too, needing to flip out the mechanism to get his bed ready.

“G’night, Billie.” He kissed her gently.

“G’night…..cowboy.” She replied. “Deke? You coming?”

The dog lifted his head, looking at Billie, then dropped his chin onto his paws again. Jon looked down and laughed.

“I think that’s a no.”

“Looks that way. Suit yourself. G’night guys.”


When Billie returned to the living room in the morning, already showered and dressed at seven thirty, she found the two boys in the same position as the morning before - Jon asleep with Deke’s chin on his belly. She started coffee then pulled on a pair of shoes and headed out from the kitchen to the barn, feeding the horses so they’d have time to finish before they were saddled. When she returned to the house, the foldout couch was closed, Deke lying on the cushions, and Jon was nowhere to be seen. Taking a couple of steps toward the bathroom, Billie heard the shower and smiled. Seemed like he’d managed to wake up without her help.

She fixed a picnic lunch, packing it into the saddlebags she’d brought from the barn, and she was just pouring coffee when Jon appeared, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and t shirt.

“G’mornin’.” He grinned, walking over to kiss her.

“It is, isn’t it?” Billie smiled. “It’s gorgeous out there. Perfect day for riding.”

“Yeah? Cool. Can I help?”

“Sure. Unless you want anything else, why don’t you make some toast. I’m not very hungry this morning.”

Jon made toast for them both and they didn’t even bother to sit at the table, crunching their way through breakfast while standing at the counter. Brushing away crumbs, they finished getting ready, finding boots and hats, then Jon hefted the saddlebags onto his shoulder and they went out to the corral.

Billie kept half an eye on Jon as he brushed and saddled Copper, only having to help when the wily old mare clenched her teeth shut against the bit, refusing to open her mouth for Jon. Billie’s more expert hand, slipping a thumb into the corner of the mare’s mouth, solved the problem, and Jon scolded Copper good-naturedly as he finished getting her ready.

The saddlebags were on Drummer, since Billie was lighter than Jon and her horse was younger and stronger, and they led the horses out of the corral before checking their cinches and mounting. With Billie leading the way, they rode away from the ranch, heading down the track toward the road, but soon branching off to the side, disappearing into the forest, only their voices betraying their location.