Chapter 3
“This week has been like that roll of toilet paper folks compare to old age,” Sharlene told Joelle as they packed all their belongings into the trailer.
“What?” Joelle asked.
“Haven’t you ever heard that old saying?” Nita asked. “‘Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.’ I got to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to a dude ranch, but we all got to pick the first thing on our bucket list, and this was Billy Joe’s.”
“And we’ve had such a good time that I wouldn’t mind coming back again next summer,” Sharlene said with a nod, “but I suppose we’d better not waste another place on each of our lists.”
Joelle glanced over at Ford and, without a word, knew that they were thinking the same thing—would they be driving the VW bus again next summer?
“And what other things are on your bucket list, Grandpa?” Ford asked.
“Well, Grandson, the second thing is that I want to eat a Maine lobster, and I want to be sittin’ in a little café right by the beach when I do it, so next summer, this”—he patted the back fender of the bus—“old girl is going to take us from Texas to Maine.”
“Oh. My. Goodness!” Joelle muttered under her breath.
“Amen,” Ford said out the side of his mouth.
“What about you, Aunt Sharlene? What’s the second thing on your list?” Joelle asked.
“I want to ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” Sharlene told her.
“And before you ask,” Nita said as she slid the panel door of the van open, “I want to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, so before next year we’re all getting our passports ready so we can cross over the border.”
Joelle ran down such a trip in her mind.
From Texas to Maine to upstate New York to northern Arizona.
She wouldn’t mind visiting Maine and having lobster on the shore or seeing Niagara Falls, but riding a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon was another thing.
What-ifs began to flash through her head.
All three of the folks would be past eighty by then.
What if one of them fell off their mule and broke a hip, or what if they wanted to do something dangerous and drowned at Niagara Falls?
Ford closed the door to the little trailer. “Are you picturing what I am?”
“Oh, yeah,” she answered.
“My VA therapist told me not to borrow trouble from tomorrow, so I’m going to lean on that this morning, but if they’re all still alive and healthy by next summer, there’s no way I’ll let them make that trip alone,” he said.
“Me either, but I’m sure not looking forward to riding a mule,” Joelle said with a sigh.
“Or trying to keep them in the boat if they decide to do that tour that takes them under the falls,” Ford said and opened the passenger door for her.
“What are you two whispering about?” Billy Joe asked.
“You can answer that one,” Ford said with a wink as he closed the door.
“We were thinking about next summer. I’m not sure I’m up for riding a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” Joelle admitted.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Nita asked.
“It died when she decided to become a teacher,” Sharlene answered.
“She would be a crackerjack rancher, but she won’t give in and accept the family farm that is her inheritance.
I’m not so sure I’m ready to sell the place.
If I hang on to it a while, she might come to her senses and step up to do what she knows is right. ”
“I’m sitting right here,” Joelle said with another sigh.
“Yes, you are,” Nita said. “And you know the conditions I’ve set forth for my place. You two are all we have, and I’ve always considered you as much my own kids as you are the grandkids of these two old renegades I’ve run with my whole life.”
“What’s going on?” Ford asked as he slid in behind the wheel.
“We’re talking about you kids taking over the ranches,” Billy Joe answered.
“But I know you’re going to do what’s right.
Right now, I’m thinking that we can do two trips a year.
One in the summer and one at Christmas, so y’all don’t plan anything for December of this year.
That one will have to be short since Joelle will only have two weeks. ”
“But it could be longer if she moves to the ranch,” Sharlene piped up from her place in the back.
“Maybe we’ll take turns with the next thing on our bucket list for the December trip,” Nita suggested, “and just go to one place.”
“I’m thinking warmer places that don’t have snow,” Billy Joe said. “If I can be first in line, since I am the oldest by six weeks, I would suggest that we go to Disneyland in California for the Christmas trip. Sharlene, can we take the bus every time?”
“Of course. She’s got lots and lots of miles left on her before I put her out to pasture,” Sharlene replied.
Ford started up the engine and pulled out onto the road leading out of the dude ranch. “This keeps getting better and better.”
“It sure does,” Joelle muttered.
Billy Joe popped the tab off a can of root beer.
“I’m glad y’all think so. When we get home, we’ll start planning the trip to Disneyland.
I figure three days out, five days in the park, and maybe four or five days coming home.
We might want to stop and play at a few tourist sites on the way back, or stop in Las Vegas to play the slots and watch a show or two. ”
“But for now, we’re going to talk about Nashville and the next leg of the journey we’re on now.
I’ve got us reservations at a sweet little RV park in Salina, Kansas, for tonight,” Nita said.
“We’ll need to stop right before we get there to buy food.
Ford, I hear that you are good at grilling, so I’m thinking steaks for supper tonight. ”
“I can do that,” Ford said. “I’ll pick up some fresh vegetables to grill to go along with them.”
He can cook and probably sleep through mortar fire, but snoring wakes him? Joelle wondered about that as they drove down the highway toward the Kansas border.
Like a worm in hot ashes. That’s what Sharlene used to tell Joelle when she couldn’t sit still, and it’s what the folks in the back of the VW bus reminded her of that morning.
Joelle was surprised that not a one of them had teased her about Ford spending his nights in her room on the spare bed. Surely, Billy Joe hadn’t slept through the entire night all week, but then he had mentioned taking a sleeping pill.
Think about it, the pesky voice in her head reminded her, Ford was the first one up all week. Remember when everyone thanked him for having the coffee already made?
“You’ve been awfully quiet this morning,” Ford said.
“Just thinking,” she answered.
“I did, too, lasso that calf faster than you did.” Billy Joe raised his voice slightly.
“The children are getting fussy,” Joelle said with a smile.
“Well, if you did it was by seconds,” Nita told him.
“And I beat you both at the shootout,” Sharlene told them. “I put three right smack in the bull’s-eye.”
“They’ll be talking about all the fun they’ve had for months, and planning their December trip at the same time,” Ford whispered. “What’s the top thing on your bucket list?”
“To find Prince Charming and live happily ever after,” Joelle admitted. “I’m an only child and the last living survivor of the Cheadle family. I wouldn’t want the line to die with me.”
“Your folks are both gone?” Ford asked.
Joelle nodded. “They went down in a freak plane crash when I was in college. They had decided to stay in the military for thirty years before they retired, but they didn’t make it that far. Aunt Sharlene is all I’ve got.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ford said. “I guess we’re paddling the same canoe. I’m an only child of an only child. My mother didn’t have siblings, and she and my dad died within a year of each other, both of cancer, and neither of them made it to age fifty.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Joelle said. “Were you close to them?”
Ford nodded. “Especially to my mama. Dad was a long-distance truck driver and gone from home a lot. He couldn’t believe that I loved the farm like I did. He often told me that he couldn’t wait to get away from a place where you had to watch where you stepped.”
Billy Joe leaned up and patted Ford on the shoulder.
“My son hated the farm, but I was glad that he settled down close to Whitewright and that your mama let you come stay with us a lot when you were little. He used to tell me that the Travis Tritt song ‘Where Corn Don’t Grow’ was written special for him, even if it didn’t come out until long after he’d left the farm. ”
Joelle glanced over her shoulder at her aunt.
“Same story.” Sharlene answered the unasked question.
“Your grandpa left as soon as he could, leaving me behind to take care of the ranch and then to be there to help with our parents when they got old. Then one day, I woke up and realized I was too old to have a family of my own, but I don’t have regrets.
Your folks were good enough to let me keep you, and you’ve been a good daughter all these years. ”
“Well, thank you,” Joelle said with a big smile. “You’ve been a great aunt, and I mean that as in awesome, not just a title.”
“See there, I’m great!” Sharlene told the other two.
“And I’m great at lassoing calves,” Billy Joe countered.
“And I’m great at riding a mechanical bull. I stayed on for eight seconds. Both of y’all got bucked off in half that time,” Nita added.
Joelle went back to thinking about that first item on her bucket list. She really did not want to reach the age that those three in the back of the bus were and not have a family. She stole a long sideways look over at Ford and remembered the vibes when their hands brushed against each other.
No! She fought the urge to stomp her foot on the floorboard. That old crush has been buried for years, and there’s no digging it up even if the chemistry is strong, and that’s probably just on my side.
But, her mother’s voice popped into her head, you could start all over and see if there’s something still there to build on.