Only if hes picked, Zoey. You can write an essay. It says they want a compelling story. Remember when Mrs. T. did that lesson in language arts about how certain words show emotion or sympathy or whatever? Just write that your dads lonely and you want him to be happy. It cant hurt to mention that itd be great if your dad makes the cut, if theyll send a woman who knows about ranching...and teenage girls.
Zoey mumbled, I wont officially be a teen till November.
Still, the sooner you put in a request, the more chance your dad has to win. Brandy leaped up. If they dont choose him, well figure out something else.
Okay. Help me write. When I go home Ill start taking pictures.
Lets go up to my room. Ill borrow my moms laptop. If she comes in from her greenhouse, shell probably say this is a bad idea. Moms are fussy like that, Zoey, Im just saying.
* * *
MACK BANNERMAN STOMPED into the barn and began furiously pitching hay into a hay wagon.
Worried about the drought? asked Benny Lopez, who had been Turkey Creeks ranch foreman since Mack was a boy. Youll feel better knowing I rode out to the spring that feeds Turkey Creek yesterday. Theres water bubbling up. Your plan to drive the herd to Monument Draw May 1st should give them a chance to fatten up on sweet grass before we take them to market.
Good. But its not about the drought. Its Zoey. For three days shes been obsessed with taking pictures and its driving me nuts. Every time I turn around she shoves a camera in my face. Today was the last straw. She barged into my bathroom when I was shaving and, bam, a flash blinded me. I cut my chin. We were both damned lucky I had a towel wrapped around my waist.
Benny threw back his head and laughed.
I might laugh, too, if I hadnt had to give her a lecture on privacy. I hate scolding Zoey. Usually I support everything she does, but Ill admit I freaked out when she told me she wants to take photography classes in junior high. Maybe its a passing fancy, but... Mack sighed and leaned on the handle of his pitchfork.
Ah, youre thinking about Jilly. Benny rasped a thumb over his stubbled chin as he eyed Mack, who winced. Bennys remark propelled him back to the time of his fathers death from a massive stroke. Hed been madly in love with a girl from Lubbock, where theyd both attended college. Theyd even been engaged. Jill Walker was a photography major who, instead of supporting him in his hour of need, returned his ring by mail and flew off to Paris to further her career. That much hed learned from her mother, who said he should forget Jill. And hed had to drop out of college to run the ranch.
I rarely think of Jill, he muttered. But since you brought her up, you cant blame me for not wanting Zoey to be a globetrotter? Mack dug his pitchfork into the pile of hay again.
Benny grunted and went back to hosing out stalls.
Mack paused to rub his shoulder. Telling Benny he rarely thought of Jill Walker wasnt true. Hed completed his agriculture degree online, so he received the college alumni newsletterwhich often touted Jills accomplishments. And he kept two of her early photos hanging on his bedroom wall. One was of a sunset over South Padre Island that Jill had shot the weekend they first made loveafter hed asked her to marry him. The other, a picture of their group of friends, shed taken on campus. Shed set up a tripod and snapped the photo via remote. They all wore sappy grins.
He should toss the pictures. For one thing, the members of the group had scattered, or worse. Tom Corbin, a quiet, likable Yankee, had been killed in a motorcycle crash a week after Macks dad died. And there was Faith. Her heartdamaged by childhood rheumatic fevergave out during childbirth. Memories of Faith always came wrapped in sorrow and regret. Her life had never been happy. Theyd dated for a while in high school, in spite of fierce opposition from her controlling, too-pious father. Even after theyd broken up because her parents were such jerks, Faiths father had insisted she attend a religious college. In defiance, the next year she followed Mack to Texas Tech. But by then hed fallen in love with Jilly. Yet, through a quirk of fate he and Faith had ended up married. And ZoeyFaiths gift to him after so many losses in his lifecame as a blessing.
He let his vacant gaze cruise past Benny.
Maybe you should take a day off, boss. Go into town and have some fun.
What? Oh, no, I was just thinking. Have you noticed how fast Zoeys growing up? Macks tone was wistful. I wish I could still pop her in that chest sling I usedremember when the only thing that lulled her to sleep was me riding around the lowing herd at night? He grinned. She was so excited the first day we let her ride Misty.
I dont see her riding as much these days.
No. Erma thinks its a phase because of her age.... She mopes around. I dont know what to do, Benny. And I see Erma slowing down when Zoey most needs a womans guidance.
Thats why Erma nags you to find a wife. If not for your sake, Mackenzie, then for Zoeys.
Shoving a lock of dark hair off his forehead, Mack stared out the open door into the nearby corral. My hearts not in the hunt, Benny. My hearts not in the hunt.
* * *
PHOTOJOURNALIST J.J. WALKER rushed into the weekly planning meeting at the New York high-rise offices of Her Own Woman magazine. She juggled her morning coffee, a bulging camera case and a portfolio from her most recent fashion shoot in Cancun, where shed gone after covering the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was already April. Shed been on location for a month, and if her office assistant hadnt reminded her about this meeting, she would have missed it. Settling into an empty chair, she took a big gulp of coffee, liberally laced with cream and sugar. When she glanced at the hundred-inch wall screen where editors were displaying upcoming layouts, she was bombarded by four up-close photos of a man shed never expected to see againthe only man shed ever pledged to marry.
Choking, she spewed coffee all over her skirt and new Dolce Vita wedge sandals, which even with her deep professional discount had cost a mint. She created a stir in the room as she noisily mopped up. When everything except her racing heart had calmed down, she asked, Wh-whats with the, uh, cowboy? She wanted to deny it, but she knew the pictures staring down at her were of a more mature, but still handsome, Mack Bannerman.
A beaming features editor loudly announced, Hes our Mr. August, J.J.
Yeah, our Mr. Hot August, an art assistant joked as she fanned her face.
Though she didnt intend to give anything away, J.J. blurted, I thought all our featured men had to be single.
I hoped you might know him. Donna Trent, the boss, turned in her seat to focus on the flustered J.J., even as the features editor went on to say, According to the essay, Mackenzie Bannerman, Texas rancher, is very single.
Last year someone on staff had proposed featuring one man a month in the magazine. J.J. had been one of the few dissenters. She continued to shake her head. I must have confused him with someone else.
Donna pounced. Come on, J.J., hes from La Mesa. Your hometown is Lubbock. I know youve been home recently. Didnt you just help your mom move into an apartment in an assisted-living community? On the map, Lubbock and La Mesa arent too far apart.