Unaffected by the burst of hostility, Foy’s expression turned to one of gleeful disbelief. “You’re kidding.”
“Never been more serious in my life. Pistols. You and me.”
“You wouldn’t have a prayer, kiddo.”
“Tomorrow. 8 A.M. sharp.”
A crooked smile oozed across Foy’s face. “All right. Challenge accepted.”
Anna, who had been silently observing the exchange between the two men, suddenly spoke up. “Ooh, gosh, y’know, tomorrow’s bad for me, and I really wanna be there. How about one week from today? That work for you, Albert?”
There was a pointed weight to the way she said his name that sliced a tiny notch into his tenacity. “Yeah, sure,” he said.
“One week,” Foy affirmed. “Come on, Louise. I’ll buy you some sugared butter shavings.” He planted a kiss on her lips—that was clearly more of a theatrical flaunt for Albert’s benefit than an expression of affection for Louise—then took her hand and led her off into the crowd.
Albert let out an exhale that could have inflated a rubber boat.
“Oh, fuck,” he exclaimed, throwing his head back and covering his face with his palms.
“Wow,” Anna said with raised eyebrows and a hint of a smile.
“What… the hell… did I just do?!”
“You challenged Foy to a gunfight.”
The old Albert had returned. Whatever impassioned forces had taken control of his body and mind a few moments before were now long gone.
“Oh, Jesus,” he said, panic creeping into his voice. “I fuckin’ snapped! I didn’t even know what I was saying!”
“It’s interesting,” said Anna. “Did you see the look on Louise’s face?”
“No, what do you mean?”
“She was alert. Aroused. She was impressed.”
“She was?” He sounded a shred calmer.
“Yeah, she was. You had a fire in your belly for a second there, pal. And I bet you never showed her that side of you before.”
He grew flustered again. “I don’t have that side! I honestly don’t know what the fuck just happened!”
“Well, you definitely got her attention. You beat that guy in a gunfight, and I bet she thinks twice about dumping you.”
“You… you think so?”
“Yup.”
“Wait a second, no! Anna, this is insane! I can’t be in a gunfight! What am I, Clinch Leatherwood here? I’ll get killed—”
She whirled to face Albert with a look of intensity that he had never seen from her. “Why would you say that?”
For a moment he was at a loss for words. Her entire aura of serene self-possession had blown away in an instant, and he had no idea why. For lack of an explanation, he chose to simply answer her question. “Because he’s the most vicious gunfighter in the territory. Which I am not!”
“No, you’re definitely not Clinch Leatherwood.” The flash of tension vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and she was all Anna once more. “And don’t worry. That week I bought you is enough time for me to teach you how to shoot.”
Albert suddenly realized that the biggest question of the day remained unasked. “Yeah, and that’s another thing—how the hell can you shoot like that? Who the hell are you?”
She fixed him with a sincere gaze. “My father was a gunmaker. I’ve been firing guns since I could walk.” It was a plausible enough explanation. But before he could inquire further, she took him by the arm and led him back toward the hitching posts. “Come on, sheepboy, we’ve got work to do.”
The sun beat down on them with ruthless oppression as they rode toward Albert’s farm.
Albert stared down at the pinkish burned skin on his arms and thought, What a terrible thing it is to be outdoors. If you covered yourself, you baked in the heat. If you uncovered yourself, you fried in the sun. It didn’t seem to bother Anna, however.
Nothing ever seemed to bother Anna.
Albert regarded his new friend with a fresh curiosity. Who was this unflappable, nerveless woman who possessed a wisdom far beyond her years and could shoot like Wyatt Earp? He had developed a quick, comfortable bond with her over the last few days—enough to share all the private details of his fragile emotional state—but, in reality, he knew very little about her… and he had the distinct sense that there was more to tell than he had been privy to.
As they approached the farm, the sheep began to baa excitedly. As usual, they were everywhere but inside the corral. One was even sitting on the front porch as if it owned the place and was waiting for somebody to serve it a mint julep. Albert sighed and ignored the problem for the moment. As Anna had requested, he went inside the barn and fetched an armload of rusty tin cans.
She gave him a reassuring wink and arranged them equidistant from one another along the top of the fence. She handed the pistol to Albert. “Okay, go ahead.”
He grimaced. “I don’t know what you’re expecting, but I’m—”
“I’m not expecting anything, I’m just observing. Go ahead. Don’t be nervous, there’s nobody watching but me.”
Albert reluctantly raised the pistol and closed one eye, aiming it as best he knew how. He emptied every bullet in the chamber but did not hit a single can. Even the fence itself was undamaged.
Ten reloads and ten more attempts did not change a thing. Finally he slumped to the ground in despair. “This is never gonna work,” he groaned.
“Yes, it is. Will you just trust me? It’ll work, and Louise is gonna come running back to you.”
Albert turned to her and stared. Never in his life had he met such an enigma. “Hey,” he said, “why are you being so nice to me?”
She laughed. “What’s wrong with being nice?”
“Nothing, nothing, but, I mean, you show up outta nowhere, you’re this complete anomaly in my world of terribleness out here—Anna, you must have a million better things to do.”
“What, I can’t make a new friend? When I met you, you looked like you could use one.” Her expression was almost coy. She really is quite beautiful, Albert observed. But he still wanted answers.
“Look, I just—I really don’t know anything about you,” he said.
“I promise I’m not a crazy psycho chick.” She smiled.
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
“Can I ask you something about you?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you love Louise?”
An interesting thing happened then. Albert suddenly realized that the past two minutes were the very first since the breakup that Louise had not been in his thoughts. But, of course, the mention of her name brought her luminous image rushing right back to the forefront of his brain: her long, flowing blond locks, her velvety-soft skin, the big blue pools on either side of her petite nose… pools that a man could drown in…
He had never been asked to quantify his love for Louise, nor had he ever thought to do so. It was something that needed no explanation. It was true love, pure and simple, and he’d always accepted it at face value with eagerness and gratitude.
Thus, it took him a moment to assemble his answer. “My God, I couldn’t even count all the reasons,” he said. “I feel great when I’m with her. And I feel great about myself. I’m proud when I’m with her, y’know? I mean, she’s the picture of class, but she’s also got this fun, playful side, and of course she’s insanely gorgeous.… ”
“Well, she’s quite stunning, yes,” said Anna, “but honestly—and I’m sorry to say this—I really don’t see what else she’s got going for her.”
“Oh, you just don’t know her; she’s got a lot more to her than that,” Albert said with a trace of defensiveness.
“Look, I could be dead wrong, and it’s only a first impression, but my sense was that she’s kinda sour and self-absorbed.”
“No, not at all. Trust me, I’ve—”
“Yes, I know, you’ve known her a lot longer than I have, but keep in mind you’re not exactly the most objective analyst here. And also—big news—I’m a woman. Women can read other women a hell of a lot better than men can. Like I said, I could be way off base, but it’s a pretty strong vibe. And for a guy like you, with so much going for him, I would think—”
“Well, let’s not get hysterical. I’m not sure exactly what you think I have going for me.”
“See, there you go, cutting yourself down again. You act like this girl was performing a charitable act by dating you. It’s really frustrating. Albert, you’re sweet, you’re funny, you’re smart. And you’ve made something of yourself. You know, a lot of people out here can’t say that. You’re a good sheep farmer.”
“Oh, please, that’s a bunch of bullshit. I suck at sheep. Look around you. Louise is right, I can’t keep track of them at all. There was a sheep in the whorehouse last week.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it wandered in there, and when I went to pick it up, somehow it had made twenty dollars.”
Anna laughed loudly. It was a sweet, satisfying sound. In fact, Albert was struck by just how quenching it was to hear. Why is that? he wondered. Had he ever felt that way when Louise laughed at one of his jokes? And then it occurred to him: Louise had never laughed at his jokes. She had smiled, yes. But she’d never actually laughed. Albert mulled this realization. But doesn’t that make those smiles that much more meaningful? Sure, we didn’t necessarily share the same sense of humor, but she never failed with that smile after every joke. She made the effort. Still, Anna’s laughter was welcome.
“Thanks,” Albert said to her. “For saying those things about me. I guess I’m not used to much positivity in my life.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Look, the West sucks,” she said, “but your problem isn’t just the frontier. It’s you. You need a little confidence boost.” She tightened her grip and raised his arm, helping him aim the pistol back toward the cans. “Now try again, sheepboy,” she said.
He gave her a cringing smile. “Yeah, that sheepboy thing isn’t helping the ol’ confidence.”
“I like sheepboy.”
“You’re basically calling me a pussy.”
“Point your gun that way, pussy.”
The first five bullets missed the cans by as wide a margin as before. But on the sixth shot, one of the cans went down.
“Yes!” she shouted gleefully, jumping like a schoolgirl. “There ya go, pussy!”
Albert stared, legitimately astonished despite himself. “Holy shit,” he exclaimed, wide-eyed. “So, all I gotta do is get Foy to let me shoot seventy-one times before he shoots, and I win!”
Anna laughed again. “You’ll get there, I promise.”