Jasper’s wife and the heart and soul of Lodge’s store.
After a report on Jeff, an update on Mary, a blunt assessment that folks were playing wait-and-see with the rodeo and an account of her youngest’s progress in college, she listened to Kalli’s modest list, then set the attack.
“You looking for basic ropers? Tube shaft or scallop? Leather? Suede? Fringe? Fancy stitch? Walking heel or dress?”
Kalli sorted out her preferences and Esther quickly had her seated in the back corner of the narrow store. As she tried on boots, Kalli was aware of Walker picking up and putting down samples with uncharacteristic restlessness.
“Boots first so I can help you, because I’m leaving to go by the Carmodys’ pretty soon here,” Esther said. “Lolly’s laid up with a bad back and she called to say those boys of hers have grown right out of their clothes, so I’m taking things by their place.”
“Going by” the Carmodys’ ranch involved a thirty-mile trip one way—the last seventeen miles on dirt. Oh, yes, she was a long, long way from New York.
“Don’t like those?” Esther whisked away a pair of lizard boots with six-row stitching of a stylized flame. “With Lolly laid up and the doctor bills, I don’t know what they’d have done if you hadn’t sent those cowboys, Walker.”
Kalli’s gaze jerked to Walker, who frowned.
“What—”
But Esther had caught the signal, and talked over Kalli. “So I’ll be leaving soon. And that old rascal Jasper’s not back from the bank. Left an hour ago, but I don’t doubt for a second he’s sittin’ in the barbershop, talkin’ away. So I’ll finish with your boots, then roust Jasper on my way to Lolly’s. You and Walker look after the store while you pick out your other things.”
Kalli shot Walker a look. He used to hate shopping. Eventually she’d realized that one reason was he couldn’t afford much. She’d assumed he would drop her at Lodge’s, then disappear. Looking after the store, he’d be stuck.
“I can trust you, Kalli,” Esther added.
Trust her to choose clothes, Esther meant. Her highest compliment. When people talked about going to Lodge’s to see what they could find, they meant they’d see what Esther would decide was right for them. Tom Nathan, who was on the road most of the year and divorced nearly two decades, had gotten in the habit of calling Esther from time to time to tell her he was running low on shirts, or needed a belt or jeans. She’d make a choice and send it off. Sometimes, when he got busy, packages arrived without a prompting phone call.
He wasn’t the only one.
“Thank you, Esther,” Kalli said, suitably modest.
“Nothing to thank me for. You got taste. Simple as that.” She set aside the black high-shafted boots with a dress heel they’d concurred on. “Now, this pair with the slouch shaft is nice.
“Yes, I’ll try those on.”
“‘Course, you don’t want to use these for kickin’ ’round the pens or chutes, not like a pair of ropers.”
“Kalli’s clear of the pens and chutes, so that’s no worry,” said Walker. “Long as they’ll do for the office.”
Kalli might have dismissed the raw note buried under his usual slow delivery as her imagination if Esther hadn’t cleared her throat and muttered, “Well, well.”
Kalli yanked the boots on and stood to check the fit. The man made no sense. They’d divided the rodeo—her with the business operations from the office, him with the competition from the pens and chutes. An arrangement that included a tacit agreement to limit contact that could only be uncomfortable for both. Did he want her nosing around?
Kalli went to the only mirror. Walker stood next to it, holding a man’s dress boot worth several hundred dollars. From the corner of her eye, she watched his strong, battered hand caress the leather.
Fighting an urge to swallow, she hitched her skirt for a better look at the boots and concentrated on the mirror.
Walker put down
After a report on Jeff, an update on Mary, a blunt assessment that folks were playing wait-and-see with the rodeo and an account of her youngest’s progress in college, she listened to Kalli’s modest list, then set the attack.
“You looking for basic ropers? Tube shaft or scallop? Leather? Suede? Fringe? Fancy stitch? Walking heel or dress?”
Kalli sorted out her preferences and Esther quickly had her seated in the back corner of the narrow store. As she tried on boots, Kalli was aware of Walker picking up and putting down samples with uncharacteristic restlessness.
“Boots first so I can help you, because I’m leaving to go by the Carmodys’ pretty soon here,” Esther said. “Lolly’s laid up with a bad back and she called to say those boys of hers have grown right out of their clothes, so I’m taking things by their place.”
“Going by” the Carmodys’ ranch involved a thirty-mile trip one way—the last seventeen miles on dirt. Oh, yes, she was a long, long way from New York.
“Don’t like those?” Esther whisked away a pair of lizard boots with six-row stitching of a stylized flame. “With Lolly laid up and the doctor bills, I don’t know what they’d have done if you hadn’t sent those cowboys, Walker.”
Kalli’s gaze jerked to Walker, who frowned.
“What—”
But Esther had caught the signal, and talked over Kalli. “So I’ll be leaving soon. And that old rascal Jasper’s not back from the bank. Left an hour ago, but I don’t doubt for a second he’s sittin’ in the barbershop, talkin’ away. So I’ll finish with your boots, then roust Jasper on my way to Lolly’s. You and Walker look after the store while you pick out your other things.”
Kalli shot Walker a look. He used to hate shopping. Eventually she’d realized that one reason was he couldn’t afford much. She’d assumed he would drop her at Lodge’s, then disappear. Looking after the store, he’d be stuck.
“I can trust you, Kalli,” Esther added.
Trust her to choose clothes, Esther meant. Her highest compliment. When people talked about going to Lodge’s to see what they could find, they meant they’d see what Esther would decide was right for them. Tom Nathan, who was on the road most of the year and divorced nearly two decades, had gotten in the habit of calling Esther from time to time to tell her he was running low on shirts, or needed a belt or jeans. She’d make a choice and send it off. Sometimes, when he got busy, packages arrived without a prompting phone call.
He wasn’t the only one.
“Thank you, Esther,” Kalli said, suitably modest.
“Nothing to thank me for. You got taste. Simple as that.” She set aside the black high-shafted boots with a dress heel they’d concurred on. “Now, this pair with the slouch shaft is nice.
“Yes, I’ll try those on.”
“‘Course, you don’t want to use these for kickin’ ’round the pens or chutes, not like a pair of ropers.”
“Kalli’s clear of the pens and chutes, so that’s no worry,” said Walker. “Long as they’ll do for the office.”
Kalli might have dismissed the raw note buried under his usual slow delivery as her imagination if Esther hadn’t cleared her throat and muttered, “Well, well.”
Kalli yanked the boots on and stood to check the fit. The man made no sense. They’d divided the rodeo—her with the business operations from the office, him with the competition from the pens and chutes. An arrangement that included a tacit agreement to limit contact that could only be uncomfortable for both. Did he want her nosing around?
Kalli went to the only mirror. Walker stood next to it, holding a man’s dress boot worth several hundred dollars. From the corner of her eye, she watched his strong, battered hand caress the leather.
Fighting an urge to swallow, she hitched her skirt for a better look at the boots and concentrated on the mirror.
Walker put down
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