Chapter 3: Back at the Ranch

The next week was a miserable one for Scott. He couldn't get the Hummingbird off his mind. There it was again: "Hummingbird". He didn't even know the girl's name. Every day Scott thought up four or five more things he'd have liked to ask her. Calling her was out of the question first he lived too far out in the boonies to have a phone and even if he had one he still didn't have the girl's number. He guessed he could go into town and call the restaurant, but then what would he say if he called? "Hello. I was eating supper in there last week I need to talk to my waitress. Her name? Oh we called her the hummingbird." Even if they didn't think he was nuts they'd think he was some kind of stalker. For the ten thousandth time he cursed his stupidity for not asking her name. He spent many hours thinking about the girl but he had also discussed the matter thoroughly with Dunnie. Dunnie however had offered no solutions and being a horse was not likely to do so any time in the near future. Daylight hours saw him talking out loud to every animal and inanimate object on the ranch. Night time found him sleeping in a bed that suddenly, after all these years, had become unbearably empty.

By Friday Scott was ready to head to Lubbock, or the nearest nut house. Coming to the conclusion that he could not stand another week, a plan was made. He fed the horses then turned them out into the house pasture. He cleaned and filled up an old pig feeder with dog food. He bathed, shaved, and ran the old flat iron over his shirt and wranglers. It was at this point that he noticed his best wranglers were at best a little ragged and more than a little bit faded. Then it hit him; the M. L. Leddy suit in the closet. The suit he'd bought for his parents' funeral. He got the suit out of the plastic bag and gave it a quick going over with a clothes brush and it was good to go. Scott put on his best white dress shirt and grabbed the tie he'd bought to go with the suit. He'd put the tie on when he got to Lubbock. He packed a small bag with his best shirts and wranglers, reminding himself once again that he needed to buy a new pair or two. With a change of clothes and the rest of his kit in the pickup Scott closed up the house and headed to Sanderson.

As he drove into town he made a mental list of the other things he needed to do. He needed to go by the bank, the school, grab a quick bite to eat at the Café, and then ... Then he was going to find that girl one way or another. When Scott walked into the bank conversations stopped save a whisper or two. The bank manager and head teller were staring open mouthed at him.

The silence was finally broken when Susan Quinterra, known locally as Susie Q, asked, "Who died?" Everyone in the bank knew about the surprise that Stan and Silvia had cooked up for Scott. The whole town knew about the new girl in town who was helping Sam at the Café and giving Silvia a hand with her mother. Rumour had it that she was here to meet Scott. What worried Susan was the thought that someone had spilled the beans.

Scott was in no mood for teasing and bluntly stated, "It's just a suit. Ain't you ever seen a suit?"

"Not on you." Susie commented. Then she remembered seeing that same suit when they had buried his parents. She was really wishing she could take back the "who died" comment.

Scott walked up to the teller; Susie Q made a call to Stan to find out if Scott knew what was going on.

The teller, meanwhile, tried to make polite conversation in order to worm out of Scott what he was up to. Scott, already a little defensive after Susie's earlier comment, stated rather loudly that if they must know he was going back to Lubbock on business.

Susie sitting at her desk had just taken a drink of coffee when Scott made his announcement; she sprayed coffee all over her desk. Still on the phone to Stan she asked in a slightly strangled voice, "Did you hear that?" She then quickly explained to Stan what he'd said. "You better get here quick or he'll be looking for that girl in the wrong town."

Stan was in a panic by that point; a call to Silvia was in order. In the past week Doc Eller had arranged for Silvia's mother to be transferred to Sanderson. The stroke had been minor and Silvia's mom wanted to get away from the humidity of San Antonio. In Sanderson there was no shortage of folks to help look after her and Doc Eller would come by everyday to check on her. You couldn't get that kind of service in San Antonio.

Silvia got Stan calmed down, called the bank and told Susie to stall Scott. Stalling Scott, however, was no easy task. He was starting to walk out the door when Silvia got to the bank.

"Silvia! What are you doing here? " Scott quizzed.

"Nice to see you, too Scott. Did someone die?" Silvia returned.

"For crying out loud can't a guy look nice ever once in while?" Scott complained. He was getting a little touchy about the suit and was wishing he hadn't put the damn thing on.

"No, you look nice. Have you talked to Stan about this weekend?" Silvia asked

"Well I'm not going to be here this weekend. I'm going to Lubbock." Scott replied

"What for?" Silvia was grinning when she asked

"It's none of your damn business what I'm going for." Scott was getting pissed. He had never been one to meddle in other folks business and didn't much appreciate people not giving him the same consideration.

Silvia's smile turned into a frown and she slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry Scott she's not there any more." Still trying to salvage the planned surprise she continued, "I tried calling Tuesday after Stan told me about her; Monday was her last day there."

Scott felt like he'd been kicked. He didn't say a word, just started walking back to his pickup.

Silvia had never seen Scott show that much emotion. Now she was afraid that she might be carrying the joke a bit too far. She called out to him, but it was as though he was in shock. He didn't answer, he didn't stop, he just walked back to his truck, got in and headed back to the ranch.

Silvia was stunned; this wasn't the way it was supposed to turn out. She had no way of knowing what the past week had done to Scott. She never thought about the possibility that Scott had already fallen in love with the girl, Stan talked like he hadn't been interested in her. The full impact of what she had said, combined with how he had reacted hit Silvia like a ton o' bricks. She had just started crying when Stan drove up to the bank.

Scott felt like his heart had been ripped out. He didn't hear Silvia call to him, didn't even hear the car that honked at him when he drove through the stop sign. He was going back to the ranch, by himself, alone just like he'd been for years. All alone. Over the last few days he had convinced himself that she was the one he could love, and she could love him. Now all that was gone. He opened the door of the ranch house and walked in, heading straight to his bedroom. He didn't remember turning off the highway nor did he remember any of the seven push gates that he had gone through to get home. It didn't matter now, he was home.