convicted, which had stripped them of the right to hunt for five years. Needless to say, Andy, Aaron and Albert Jones hated her mother.
“Talk’s cheap,” Clifford said. “What about action?”
She accepted the full wineglass from Joe. “I trust Gannon. He and the rest of his department will get the job done.”
Heavy hands landed on her shoulders. Instead of whirling and punching whoever had touched her as she wanted to, Rane willed herself to remain still.
“Hey Rane, good to see you.”
For a moment, she couldn’t put a name to the voice, but the pleased look on Clifford’s face helped. Little more than a year apart in age, Clifford and his younger brother had always been best friends, more like twins than siblings.
“Hello, Chip,” she said. She noticed that Joe’s lips had thinned a little. “You startled me.”
“Sorry.” Chip squeezed her shoulders. “I just didn’t expect to run into you in here. Still staying at your mom’s place, are you?”
Everyone around here knew what she was up to. There was no reason to read anything into what Chip had just said. Of course there was the memory of when Chip had tried to maul her behind the school gym when they were both in high school. She’d been shocked, but not so shocked she couldn’t ram a knee between his legs. He’d later apologized.
After school, he’d spent a couple of years in the army and came back much more mature. To her way of thinking, Chip should have stayed away. There was no future here for either him or his brother.
To her relief, Chip let go of her. That done, he squeezed in between her and Harry.
“Harry, old man, how about you let me talk to my friend?” Chip didn’t wait for Harry’s response but hip-bumped the thin man off his stool. Grumbling, Harry backed away still holding on to his beer.
“Say Rane,” Harry said. “If you’ve got no use for your ma’s rifle, give me a call.”
“What? That’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Of course, of course. I’m just offering to take it off your hands.”
“You heard her,” Chip said. “Bug off.”
“That was rude,” Rane said after Harry was out of earshot. Just what she didn’t need, being sandwiched between the Jones brothers.
“Was it? Sorry.”
“No you’re not.” Glaring, Joe leaned across the bar. “I thought you were going to be at the logging site all week.”
“I wish.” Chip frowned and pointed at a refrigerator behind Joe. “The usual. Damn transmission on the loader’s shot. I’ve got to go into the city for a replacement.”
“It’s shot?” Clifford asked from her other side. “I thought you said it could be repaired.”
“I said I hoped it could. One damn thing after another.”
As the brothers and Joe agreed that everything seemed to be against them when it came to the small Jones logging company fulfilling their contract with the Forest Service, Rane decided to cut Chip some slack. He and Clifford weren’t as crude and uneducated as their cousins.
For generations men from the Jones and other local families had filled their freezers without governmental rules and regulations. In recent years, short hunting seasons and limits on how much game they could harvest had meant an end to a way of life they’d long taken for granted. In addition, Jones Logging was part of a dying industry thanks to more bureaucracy and decreased need for timber products. Chip, Clifford and their cousins knew how to fell timber and hunt. Unfortunately, that was basically the limit to their skills.
“I feel sorry for them,” her mother had said more than once. “They represent what our pioneers were about. They should have been born decades ago. At least most are telling their children not to follow in their footsteps.”
That, Rane had tried to tell her mother when Jacki asked why she was so dead set on building a life far from the Chinook Mountains, was why. There was an exciting world out there, new places to explore. No way was
“Talk’s cheap,” Clifford said. “What about action?”
She accepted the full wineglass from Joe. “I trust Gannon. He and the rest of his department will get the job done.”
Heavy hands landed on her shoulders. Instead of whirling and punching whoever had touched her as she wanted to, Rane willed herself to remain still.
“Hey Rane, good to see you.”
For a moment, she couldn’t put a name to the voice, but the pleased look on Clifford’s face helped. Little more than a year apart in age, Clifford and his younger brother had always been best friends, more like twins than siblings.
“Hello, Chip,” she said. She noticed that Joe’s lips had thinned a little. “You startled me.”
“Sorry.” Chip squeezed her shoulders. “I just didn’t expect to run into you in here. Still staying at your mom’s place, are you?”
Everyone around here knew what she was up to. There was no reason to read anything into what Chip had just said. Of course there was the memory of when Chip had tried to maul her behind the school gym when they were both in high school. She’d been shocked, but not so shocked she couldn’t ram a knee between his legs. He’d later apologized.
After school, he’d spent a couple of years in the army and came back much more mature. To her way of thinking, Chip should have stayed away. There was no future here for either him or his brother.
To her relief, Chip let go of her. That done, he squeezed in between her and Harry.
“Harry, old man, how about you let me talk to my friend?” Chip didn’t wait for Harry’s response but hip-bumped the thin man off his stool. Grumbling, Harry backed away still holding on to his beer.
“Say Rane,” Harry said. “If you’ve got no use for your ma’s rifle, give me a call.”
“What? That’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Of course, of course. I’m just offering to take it off your hands.”
“You heard her,” Chip said. “Bug off.”
“That was rude,” Rane said after Harry was out of earshot. Just what she didn’t need, being sandwiched between the Jones brothers.
“Was it? Sorry.”
“No you’re not.” Glaring, Joe leaned across the bar. “I thought you were going to be at the logging site all week.”
“I wish.” Chip frowned and pointed at a refrigerator behind Joe. “The usual. Damn transmission on the loader’s shot. I’ve got to go into the city for a replacement.”
“It’s shot?” Clifford asked from her other side. “I thought you said it could be repaired.”
“I said I hoped it could. One damn thing after another.”
As the brothers and Joe agreed that everything seemed to be against them when it came to the small Jones logging company fulfilling their contract with the Forest Service, Rane decided to cut Chip some slack. He and Clifford weren’t as crude and uneducated as their cousins.
For generations men from the Jones and other local families had filled their freezers without governmental rules and regulations. In recent years, short hunting seasons and limits on how much game they could harvest had meant an end to a way of life they’d long taken for granted. In addition, Jones Logging was part of a dying industry thanks to more bureaucracy and decreased need for timber products. Chip, Clifford and their cousins knew how to fell timber and hunt. Unfortunately, that was basically the limit to their skills.
“I feel sorry for them,” her mother had said more than once. “They represent what our pioneers were about. They should have been born decades ago. At least most are telling their children not to follow in their footsteps.”
That, Rane had tried to tell her mother when Jacki asked why she was so dead set on building a life far from the Chinook Mountains, was why. There was an exciting world out there, new places to explore. No way was
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