Cole Sutherland wheeled the station wagon out of the Grange Hall side road and began driving back toward the ranch, shielding his eyes against the glare of the rising sun. Jesus, what a night! What an orgy! It hadn't been his first, and it definitely wasn't going to be his last, but it had been the first involving seven turned-on people. He shook his head in silent amazement. Man, oh man, alive! What a night – starting out as a mean drunken bash with everyone slashing at each other like steel-spurred fighting cocks and then turning into something that had changed everyone participating. Mela Meacham, that crazy bitch, had decided to marry Sandy Gayman in order to stick around and see what happened – because in her mind Paris wasn't the swinging scene – it was right here in South Dakota. That meant the Limousin bull partnership was settled. She had some good ideas, the restaurant in Denver, for one! Christ, they'd all be double-millionaires in ten years.
Cole glanced over as the giant sleeping figure of Eric restlessly stirred beside him in the front seat of the station wagon. Good kid, that. A nice clean-cut kid. Kate had said he had no parents. Well, he had a couple now if he wanted them! He was a damned hard worker and likable; practically all the South Dakota people who had met him had liked him… and it might be nice to have it known that Cole Sutherland's adopted son was going to get a piece of the action when he got out of school. He grinned wryly as his mind formed the phrase "a piece of action". Yeh! Really, yeh! Gwen had asked Kate if she could move into the Sutherland ranch for the rest of the summer. That meant first thing this morning after he woke up he'd have to order a helluva lot bigger bed. As a matter of fact, better shove two king-sized beds together.
Cole glanced up in the rear view mirror. The only person awake was the Mexican kid who had Kate asleep on one shoulder, Gwen on the other. Cole caught the kid's eye and winked. The boy grinned back at him – a nice friendly grin with a little bit of something else in it. Hell! He would adopt him, too, but Cole didn't think the boy would be around much longer.
In the back seat Angel Orellio pretended to close his eyes. It wouldn't be right for Mr. Sutherland to see him fighting back tears. The rancher had called him "son" during the orgy, and now winked at him as if they shared some secret. Oh, Jesu Christo! It was such a Goddamn gringo cornball thing. Lousy, shitty, cornball! No one, absolutely no one, had ever called him "son" before in his life – and the word stuck in his throat and made his eyes burn. He felt Gwen tremble once as she slept beside him. He looked down at the top of her head, feeling a great wave of tenderness for her wash over him. He guessed the little white schoolteacher had taught him as much as he had taught her. He would miss her when he stole Mr. Sutherland's beautiful golden guitar and took off for California next week.
That would be the last time he ever stole anything, though, the last time he ran away… And he knew instinctively that this would be the first time he had ever run away toward something only vaguely seen in the future.
Beside him, a soft wondering smile lit up Kate's face as she dreamed… dreamed of the future and all the beautiful things to come…