Chapter 28 – Cody Hollingsworth
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cody Hollingsworth
They called me Indian ever since I was a kid because my skin got darker than most redheads they knew.
I spent most of my time outside with the Indians, anyway.
They taught me what I needed to know about horses, not like I have any time to spend with my horses anymore, now that I own two ranches.
I’m stuck doing business stuff, running the ranches with hiring, firing, buying horses, dealing with other stupid issues and helping the club.
Like every Hollingsworth in my family, I got caught up with all the money coming in and forgot myself.
Last club meeting, a fine lady caught my eye and ever since I saw her, something stirred in me that I can’t control.
Oske might be able to help me. I’m sure she helped Deacon to get the sexy woman on his arm.
I want one just like her. The type of chicks you find slumming it on the ranches are all the same and I’ve had my fill of them in my twenties and thirties.
I’m ready to get married and I know just the woman who can help me get that done.
Oske comes over to my place the day after she gets back from Canada.
I live on the edge of the Indian reservation, so even if she wants to avoid me, she can’t really.
I appreciate her coming down to handle such a personal matter for me, although by the time she takes her helmet off and starts rolling up a joint on my kitchen table, I begin to wonder if she’s just here to fleece money out of me rather than help.
“I need a wife.”
“I’m a lesbian, Cody.”
“I wasn’t asking you to marry me.”
Oske smirks, like she knew that all along.
I take great offense at the idea that I might be attracted to her.
There’s something about that woman and her shifty eyes that I don’t quite like.
It might be racist for me to think so, but I also don’t like the way she never fully smiles or laughs unless there’s something bad happening to me.
“Then what do you want, because I’m not a matchmaker or the founder of Tinder.”
“No wife of mine would be caught dead on a dating app.”
“You’ve had a wife before?” Oske asks, with that attitude on her voice that sends me over the edge into outrage faster than I care to admit.
“Are you going to help me, or not?”
“Do I sound like I want to help you?” Oske asks, staring at me with some odd mixture of hatred and confusion. There’s something about her that I find frustrating, I’ll say that.
“No. You do not. But I know you found Keyshawn for Deacon Hollingsworth and I want a woman like that.”
Oske looks up at me with her rattlesnake eyes. I can’t wait for her to get that perfect blend of weed and tobacco lit so we can smoke and I can forget how uneasy she makes me with her shifty eyes and smirking.
“You have no idea what you’re asking for.”
“I know what I want. An arranged marriage with an obedient woman.”
“Is that the relationship you think Deacon and Keyshawn have?” Oske asks calmly, rolling the tip of her little cigarillo into something nice and tight.
“Let’s smoke outside. I’ll pay double what he did if you bring me a girl.”
“What if I’m out of the business of finding desperate girls?”
“I could ask your brothers to do it for half the price. Wyatt said I could order them around if I liked, but I keep them on the ranch out of trouble instead of sending them down to Belize or Jamaica.”
“Where would I find a Jamaican or a Belizean for you?”
“Those are just examples.” I flick my lighter twice and Oske follows my cue, shaking her head as we walk outside to sit on the ranch house steps together. I never liked smoking in the house. Didn’t ever feel right.
She has an uncomfortable face. No expressions on it, very strict. I can’t tell what she’s thinking, I just know that she always asks for money if she does a job for you.
“I said that I was getting out of this business, Cody. Why should I risk getting into trouble with Wyatt for you?”
“Can’t you ethically source a nice woman for me?”
“You want me to ethically source a woman who will sign a contract to allow you to sexually degrade her?”
“I’m willing to get married if that makes it sound better.”
She pauses and smiles for the first time since we started interacting this evening. I like the looks of a smile on Oske, because I must be closer to getting what I want.
“Marriage might be easier for me to work out,” Oske says, nodding and smiling even wider, like she really did solve my problem for me.
I can’t begin to wonder what she might have in mind for looking after the marriage issue, but if it doesn’t cost me too much and I can have a woman warming my bed at night without having to do all that messy work…
“Good. Dating these days is hard.”
“Have you ever tried not smelling like a cattle ranch? Or going anywhere women are present?”
“Doesn’t work,” I tell her. “I don’t have Deacon or Tanner’s charm.”
“Neither of them have charm,” she says, giving me an equally derisive look. “I’ll help, but I can’t solve your problems until Brinley and I get back from Canada.”
“Seriously?” I ask her, happy enough that I’m willing to take out a box of my cigarettes and offer her one. Oske has never turned down a smoke. We both light up and she nods. Yes, she’s serious.
“How long will that take?” I follow up, letting the ash fall next to the toes of my old Ariat boots. Oske looks under the brim of my hat with a little bit of impatience. I guess she doesn’t want me to rush this arranged marriage.
“Six weeks. You can wait six weeks for the right woman.”
“I don’t need her to be perfect.”
“Perfection never entered my thoughts,” Oske says, puffing an O-ring and then giving me a pointed side-eye.
I wish she knew baseball or football or something.
Everything about her and her lesbian ways makes me a little uncomfortable.
She should be more like a dude – but she’s not.
I suppose it doesn’t matter as long as she does what I ask her to, right?
I want a woman to marry without putting in all the fuss and work.
Arranged marriages have been around for a hell of a lot longer because they just make more sense.
The taboo arrangement to the situation means I’ll have to pay Oske a little extra to keep quiet but…
I won’t apologize for wanting something traditional.
For wanting something real in a world full of dating with no intentions.
If I want to get married, why not start there?
We’ll figure out the rest later.