Reticent Romantic Ramblings
"There are some dames you never forget. Your first love, your first heartbreak, and the first one to leave in the middle of the night with your wallet."
With each memory Josiah invoked, the rest of us raised our glasses in salute. He was always sayin' stuff like that-Josiah was. And--for the most part, providin' of course you could figure what he meant, he was generally right. Sometimes. Other times. . .
Well, it was one of them "other times" what lead to our current scene. The seven of us gathered around the back table of some smokey, no-name dive, toasting the unforgettable memory of. . .
Aww hell, I know her name--just give me a second, would ya?
Well, whoever she was, she had curves that sent my partner Buck into overdrive. Not that it takes a lot; Buck'll chase most anything in a skirt.I do feel bad about not recollectin' her name, but the doc says with a knock on the head like I took, he's surprised I remember my name.
Lousy quack.
Nate's twice the sawbones he is, degree or no.
Ramblin's somethin' else he told me ta watch for. So where was I?
Oh yeah. Josiah and the skirt. I know he's thinkin' 'bout her while he makes the toast. I think Miz Emma was all three for him.
Lookin' at the others, I can't help but wonder whose face they're seein' when they raise their glass. I'm not even sure Buck can narrow it down that far. An' I think Chris is thinkin' 'bout his family, he's got that look in his eyes. As for the others, I couldn't even begin to guess.
But I sure know who I'm thinkin' on. Casey is everything a fella could want. . . in a friend. Smart, funny, knows where the best fishing holes are. All in all a first rate pal, just one minor hitch in the get-along. She's a girl. A fact that was becoming increasingly apparent in our relationship. A complication, that frankly, scares me worse than any gun battle.
Mattie is another matter all together. I don't s'pose I should really count her as one of life's great loves. But when that shot tore through my gut, it sure felt like she broke my heart. Of course, that could have been the morphine talking. Love hurts.
That just left Emily. Okay, so it was near noon and she left me my wallet. . . But man, what a girl. Hair like spun gold and smile that near curled my toes in their boots. 'Sides, she helped me put one over on Buck. How could I not love a girl like that? I still wonder about her from time to time, how she's getting on and that sort of thing. Hope them fella's in 'Frisco know just how lucky they are.
As I was sittin' there pondering what was--and what could have been, Josiah just kinda trailed off into silence. No one else seemed in a hurry to break it. We sat there, each absorbed in his own memories. Nathan and Vin both looked sad. I couldn't read Ezra or Chris, but I got the feeling they were visitin' some old aches too. Buck had this grin on his face, like a cat that's figured out the canary can't fly.
And Josiah? The man at the heart of our melancholy? He studied the warm amber of his drink, swirling it slowly before continuing in a low voice, "Brothers, there are many mysteries on God's green earth, and I do believe the sweetest one comes with thorns."
The End