Cowboy Valentine

When he was finished, he got up and, to her surprise, took his dish to the sink in the back room. Then he came back out with the mop.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Helping you out.” He began to swab the sticky tile floor, leaving it shining and clean. “Seems like a raw deal to be here on Valentine’s Day. At least you’ll get out of here sooner if I help.”

Surprised, but not one to argue about extra help, she refilled all the napkin dispensers, then straightened up the candy counter.

“Who was she?” she asked after a while, feeling shaky and overbold at the same time.

“Who?” asked Caleb, rinsing out the mop.

“Your date.”

“Oh.” He hung the mop up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “A mistake is what she was.”

He straightened all the chairs and then sat back down at the counter, facing her. “I’ve been working down at the Hughes place. She’s the foreman’s daughter. I finally got the courage to ask her out. I’m not sure if her old man had anything to do with it, but she stood me up. I waited for a couple of hours and then just gave up. And here I am.”

“She pretty?” Cora asked, her heart pounding like a jackhammer.

He shrugged. “To be honest, she’s nowhere near as pretty as you.” He leaned his elbows back on the counter, his posture lazy, like that of a wolf that hasn’t decided if it’s going to start chasing something. “Can I ask you a question?”

She turned off the light in the back room and started to put on her jacket. “What?”

“Do you wanna go for a ride with me?”

“Where?”

He shrugged again, his mouth a line of perfect insouciance. “Anywhere. Back roads. I do it all the time.”

She said nothing for a little while, but he held her fast with his eyes just the same.

“If you’re planning on compromising my honor,” she said, trying to make a joke even though her body felt like horses at the starting gates, “my grandma will come after you with her machete.”

“I’ll only compromise your honor if you want me to. Come on.”