“Uh, Jimmy?”
Looking up from where he was cleaning Sundance’s back horseshoe, Jimmy squinted from the sun that was obscuring the owner of the voice that was well known to him.
“What now Kid? Can’t you see I’m busy?” he asked, tired of hearing Kid whine about his problems with Lou.
Hands in his pocket, Kid looked uncomfortable. He hadn’t wanted to approach Jimmy on the subject of Lou, but he was a close friend with the female rider and Kid was at his wits end on what to do about their relationship.
“I really need to talk to you Jimmy,” Kid pleaded.
Letting go of the hoof he’d been working on, Jimmy stood up and leaned against Sundance’s flank. He didn’t like getting in the middle of Lou and Kid’s love life but seeing how he was friends with both, he didn’t see how he could stay out of it.
“Out with it then…” Jimmy drawled.
Looking a bit embarrassed, Kid began hesitantly. “You know what’s been going on with Lou and me as of late, right?” he asked.
Jimmy snorted, “Who doesn’t?”
Sighing, Kid grumbled, “That’s what I figured. Kind of hard to have any secrets living in a house with six others.”
Taking a deep breath, Kid got to the heart of the matter.
“I just don’t know what to do anymore Jimmy. Ever since Lou got shot I’ve been going crazy with worry every time she heads out on a run. If I say anything, I’m smothering her, if I don’t say anything, I don’t care enough. What do I do?”
“For starters, you can stop hovering over her shoulder all the time. You know she can handle herself when there’s trouble, Kid. Stop acting like a concerned parent.”
Kid kicked at the dirt with his foot, sending up a small cloud of dust into the air. “I can’t help it, Jimmy. Where I come from, a woman don’t act the way Lou does.”
“Well, you ain’t in good ole’ Virginia anymore Kid. This here is the West and women are different out here. They don’t sit on verandas, sipping lemonade while servants tend to their every need,” he said with a little more spite than he had intended.
Kid took offense at the remark but let it pass since he did ask Jimmy for his advice. “I know they aren’t the same. Life here ain’t the same as back there. But there are some things a woman shouldn’t do”
Leading Sundance into the barn, Jimmy told Kid, “I wouldn’t be telling that to Lou if I were you, Kid.”
Kid followed Jimmy into the barn and stood against the stall watching as Jimmy put Sundance in his stall.
“That’s just it Jimmy. I don’t know what I should and shouldn’t say to her. If I say the wrong thing, she gets mad at me like she is right now. Heck, she won’t even speak to me and I’m not sure what I said to make her mad this time!”
Jimmy just shook his head. Lou had a hair-trigger temper at times and it seemed like Kid was always setting her off.
As Jimmy came to stand beside Kid, Kid asked, “What would you do if you were me? You don’t make her made like I do. What am I doing that’s so wrong?”
“There’s a big difference between you and me Kid,” Jimmy said, wagging a finger between the two of them.
“You two are a couple. Lou and I ain’t. We’re friends.” Jimmy paused, thinking that what he was about to say might cause another fist fight between the two friends, but thought, ‘What the heck, what’s another brawl between us?’
“You might not like hearing this, but you know I’ve got feelings for Lou too. Out of all the women I’ve ever met, Lou’s the one I’d lay my life down for. What I wouldn’t give for her to love me…” his voice trailed off as the hurt he felt at not being the one she chose. Looking over at Kid, he continued, “But she loves you. I know it, you know it, and she knows it.
You just got to trust her to do what is right. Let her make her own decisions. If she wants your opinion, she’ll ask for it. If you don’t want to push her away for good, you have to accept her for who she is. Not who you think she should or could be.”
Kid was silent as he digested the advice that Jimmy had just given him.
Jimmy clapped him on the shoulder as he said, “I’m going to go see if Rachel has any of that lemonade left. Want to come along?”
Smiling, Kid shook his head. “Naw, you go ahead. I think I’ll just sit in here and think about what you said.”
Spotting Cody heading towards the house, Jimmy hastened to the barn door intending to beat the blond rider to the lemonade when Kid spoke.
“Thanks, Jimmy. Lou’s lucky to have you for a friend. So am I,” Kid mentioned, sitting down on a bench near the door.
Waving, Jimmy threw over his shoulder, “Anytime, Kid,” than hollered, “Hey, Cody! Wait up!” and jogged to where the blond rider stopped and was waiting for him.
Kid watched the two disappear into the house, glad that they were all such good friends.