Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 16
“You’re not putting on the sun block I bought you.”
Sassy stretched her long, tired legs out in front of her on the sofa and looked over at Freda, who was tucked into an oversized chair. Fresh from the shower, they both sat in shorts and tee shirts, watching the sun set out the window of the bungalow.
It was Friday night, and they were both starving and exhausted—almost too tired to lift their tacos and glasses of milk.
Freda, Sassy noted, had a bright red nose and cheeks. She wasn’t as tall or as lean as Sassy, but seemed happy and comfortable in her own tawny skin. Sassy admired her sense of humor, and easy way with all the “fellers” on the ranch. Sassy knew that she herself came off as aloof to some, but learned to be overly cautious with boys and men, lest they think she was flirting with them.
“Mixed messages,” is what some accused her of relaying, when she refused, politely, a date. Almost always, she had just been acting friendly—just like Freda did so naturally.
Better to be thought a snob, she decided at a young age, than a flirt.
“I know, I know,” Freda shook her head. “I was just trying to get a little sunshine; a little tan, before I go home tomorrow. Why don’t you come with me? We’ll get James Timothy Freemont to take us both to dinner.”
“Jim Tim is going to take one look at you, and think you are dinner; a lobster dinner from New England,” Sassy said, causing Freda to laugh at the nickname she’d given her boyfriend. That Freda never stopped to realize this possible name herself confirmed to Sassy that the girl was definitely in love.
“Jim…,” Freda had to pause and laugh again, “Jim Tim is going to owe me a lobster dinner after not answering his phone this week, or returning my calls.” At that, the girl’s smile faded just a bit, and Sassy felt her pain.
“Freda, that boy is studying to take his law school finals,” Sassy said with all the positive energy she could muster, “so he can be a big shot lawyer in Lander, Wyoming, and build you a ranch, where your eighteen babies can run and play, and herd cattle when they’re four.”
Freda’s face broke into a smile again.
“Where have you been all my life, Sassy?” She said, and then added, “I’d like that life with Jim Tim. Come to think of it, maybe I’d better not take you home to Lander. He’ll take one look at you and…”
“Stop. That’s not how it will ever be, so don’t say that.”
Freda looked sheepish.
“Sorry Sassy, you can’t help how you look.”
“Sure I can,” Sassy broke into a wicked grin. “I can skip the sunblock, just like you do.”
“All right all right,” Freda laughed. “Touché.”
To Sassy’s ears, her friends word sounded like a long drawl, like “too shayyy,” and she joined the laughter. It was easy to be with Freda. She wanted to be her friend and visit Lander, just like any normal girl. She wanted to see what the Lang family was like—did they bicker over the hot water in the shower, or the last donut in the box? Sassy hoped so. As an only child, she longed to experience the lovely loving chaos of larger families. She wanted some drama, and laughter.
And Sassy fervently hoped that Jim Tim would barely notice her, same with Freda’s father or brothers. She merely wanted to be Freda’s new, anonymous, forgettable friend.
Good old what’s her name.
“I’m sorry, what?” Sassy realized Freda had been talking.
“I was saying that I used to think Ash West was cute, but he never paid me any notice these past few years—but he sure does look good this summer.”
“Well I’ve never seen him before this summer, so I can’t weigh in.”
“Then I’ll weigh in for the both of us,” Freda said. “He looks good. All grown up, and ready for something, and someone.”
“Tell me more about Ash,” Sassy said casually. “But first, promise me and mean it this time, to use that sunblock. Or else your pretty tan is going to turn into a complexion akin to that antique leather saddle the Wests keep in the ranch office. The one that used to belong to some dead guy named Pickford.”
“Akin. Jim Tim. You just crack me up, Sassy pants,” Freda snorted, then sat back to tell her new friend everything she knew about the West family, and Ash.