some paintings to show them?” Marisa thought her neighbor a wonderful artist. She hadn’t appreciated how much true beauty existed in Agua Dulce’s desert landscape until seeing Tanya’s paintings,
“I’m almost afraid to. They’ve got work from some big-name artists and I’m nobody. Jake says my paintings look as good as theirs, but what does he know? He’s a cowboy.”
Marisa glanced at Tanya’s profile, her eyes landing on the tiny diamond stud she wore in the side of her nose. Tanya had a number of body piercings in places Marisa had heard about, but hadn’t seen. The last thing she appeared to be was a cowboy’s wife. She was taller than Marisa, but wore high heels every day, the higher, the better. At some point she’d had a boob job and on her rail thin frame her breasts appeared globe-like. She had huge distinctly green eyes, usually made up with a kaleidoscope of eye shadow and a pound of black mascara. Her straight brown hair hung to her waist and she wore it cut in layers, with a center part. The top layer was streaked in stripes of half a dozen colors ranging from near-white to burgundy. Marisa thought she looked “arty.” Ben Seagrave said she looked like a confused zebra.
“Count on Jake to be supportive,” Marisa said.
Tanya swallowed a sip from her mug, a frown creasing her brow. “You know, if push comes to shove and I have to move my shops to Pecos or somewhere, I guess Jake and I can live in one of those old ranch hand’s houses out at Lanny’s and I can commute.”
Her attention settled on the wall in front of her where Marisa had pinned Pepsi Cola’s newest oversized poster. Alongside a large paper cup showing a red-white-and-blue Pepsi Cola logo, sat a hamburger with ruffly pastel green lettuce poking out the sides and a sleeve of French fries. “Hey, you got new posters,” she said and took another drag off her cigarette.
Marisa glanced at the wall. “The Pepsi delivery guy gave them to me.”
Tanya giggled. “He’d probably give you his whole truck if you pumped him up a little.”
“Hunh. Not interested.”
“You know, it’d be easier on Jake living out there at that ranch,” Tanya said. “He only stays here in town because of me and my business.”
Marisa gave her neighbor another look. She had said “in town” as if there were a difference in living here in Agua Dulce and living in the country. Though Lanny had offered living quarters to Jake and Tanya many times, the hairdresser refused to live at the XO Ranch. She and Jake lived in the largest double-wide mobile home in Sweet Water RV & Mobile Home Village and paid no-telling-what in rent to Clyde Campbell’s estate. Every day except Sunday Jake made the twenty-mile drive to his job cowboying for the XO.
The mention of the Pepsi truck driver and his blatant attraction to Marisa reminded her of Woody and she couldn’t hold back any longer. Her former lover and Tanya had gone to school together in Pecos. Marisa told Tanya about him and some woman in Wink named Nikki Warner.
“I know her,” Tanya said without registering surprise. “She’s a hair stylist....And she’s a kid. I think she’s only, like twenty or twenty-one.”
A pain of deep origin began to press under Marisa’s ribs. “Don’t BS me.”
“I mean it. She’s a kid.”
A picture of Woody mushroomed in Marisa’s mind. At forty, he was starting to lose his hair on top. “Good grief,” Marisa mumbled. “I wonder how he got mixed up with someone half his age?”
Tanya shot a glance toward the far end of the lunch counter where Gordon Tubbs sat, not quite within earshot. As he often did, the manager of Sweet Water RV & Mobile Home Village had come in to have a salad for lunch.
Tanya tamped out her smoke, then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level. “I hate to tell you this, Marisa, but Woody was like that when we were teenagers. Even then he went after younger girls.” She pushed a sheaf of long hair behind her ear,
“I’m almost afraid to. They’ve got work from some big-name artists and I’m nobody. Jake says my paintings look as good as theirs, but what does he know? He’s a cowboy.”
Marisa glanced at Tanya’s profile, her eyes landing on the tiny diamond stud she wore in the side of her nose. Tanya had a number of body piercings in places Marisa had heard about, but hadn’t seen. The last thing she appeared to be was a cowboy’s wife. She was taller than Marisa, but wore high heels every day, the higher, the better. At some point she’d had a boob job and on her rail thin frame her breasts appeared globe-like. She had huge distinctly green eyes, usually made up with a kaleidoscope of eye shadow and a pound of black mascara. Her straight brown hair hung to her waist and she wore it cut in layers, with a center part. The top layer was streaked in stripes of half a dozen colors ranging from near-white to burgundy. Marisa thought she looked “arty.” Ben Seagrave said she looked like a confused zebra.
“Count on Jake to be supportive,” Marisa said.
Tanya swallowed a sip from her mug, a frown creasing her brow. “You know, if push comes to shove and I have to move my shops to Pecos or somewhere, I guess Jake and I can live in one of those old ranch hand’s houses out at Lanny’s and I can commute.”
Her attention settled on the wall in front of her where Marisa had pinned Pepsi Cola’s newest oversized poster. Alongside a large paper cup showing a red-white-and-blue Pepsi Cola logo, sat a hamburger with ruffly pastel green lettuce poking out the sides and a sleeve of French fries. “Hey, you got new posters,” she said and took another drag off her cigarette.
Marisa glanced at the wall. “The Pepsi delivery guy gave them to me.”
Tanya giggled. “He’d probably give you his whole truck if you pumped him up a little.”
“Hunh. Not interested.”
“You know, it’d be easier on Jake living out there at that ranch,” Tanya said. “He only stays here in town because of me and my business.”
Marisa gave her neighbor another look. She had said “in town” as if there were a difference in living here in Agua Dulce and living in the country. Though Lanny had offered living quarters to Jake and Tanya many times, the hairdresser refused to live at the XO Ranch. She and Jake lived in the largest double-wide mobile home in Sweet Water RV & Mobile Home Village and paid no-telling-what in rent to Clyde Campbell’s estate. Every day except Sunday Jake made the twenty-mile drive to his job cowboying for the XO.
The mention of the Pepsi truck driver and his blatant attraction to Marisa reminded her of Woody and she couldn’t hold back any longer. Her former lover and Tanya had gone to school together in Pecos. Marisa told Tanya about him and some woman in Wink named Nikki Warner.
“I know her,” Tanya said without registering surprise. “She’s a hair stylist....And she’s a kid. I think she’s only, like twenty or twenty-one.”
A pain of deep origin began to press under Marisa’s ribs. “Don’t BS me.”
“I mean it. She’s a kid.”
A picture of Woody mushroomed in Marisa’s mind. At forty, he was starting to lose his hair on top. “Good grief,” Marisa mumbled. “I wonder how he got mixed up with someone half his age?”
Tanya shot a glance toward the far end of the lunch counter where Gordon Tubbs sat, not quite within earshot. As he often did, the manager of Sweet Water RV & Mobile Home Village had come in to have a salad for lunch.
Tanya tamped out her smoke, then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level. “I hate to tell you this, Marisa, but Woody was like that when we were teenagers. Even then he went after younger girls.” She pushed a sheaf of long hair behind her ear,
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