The Rancher Ch. 05 - A New Complication

I rode up to Dewey's place as the sun began to set over the hills in the distance. It had been another long hot day, and I was tired. I had done my usual work, but somehow that seemed to be getting easier. At first I had hated working what had once been my own land, but now I didn't mind so much. Maybe it was because I knew I was getting paid a hell of a lot more than Mr. Howard thought I was. Or maybe it was because somewhere in the back of my mind, I actually thought it could be my land again someday. Mr. Howard was never here, and Amy clearly didn't like it here. It was obvious enough to me that Mr. Howard had bought this place for Casey. So maybe one day it could all be hers, and mine, together.

But that was far off, and there was no point thinking about it. All that mattered was I was enjoying working the land again. I never minded the actual work. That was what I had been raised to do. Hell, it was what I had been born to do. I was working the same land that my daddy and granddaddy had worked before me. Selling that land to a rich city slicker was what had irked me. But if he had stolen my land, then I had stolen his wife and daughter. Either way, I had come to terms with the way things were, at least as far as the land went. I still wanted more from Casey though. She knew it, and everyone else was slowly getting wise to it as well. It was certainly no longer a secret that I was running around with Ms. Casey Howard.

I tied my horse to a post, and walked up the rickety steps of Dewey's porch. I knocked twice, and waited. There was no answer, but I could hear a TV on inside. I knocked again, louder, but there was still no answer.

"Hey, Dewey!" I shouted at the house. "You in there?" I heard the TV shut off, and then a bit of a racket coming from inside.

"Who's there?" I heard Dewey's voice call out.

"It's me, Jim," I called back. "Open up." I heard a loud crash, and then footsteps, and a moment later the door opened. Dewey had a big dumb grin on his face, and he happily beckoned me in.

"Hey there Jim," Dewey said cheerfully as he led me through his disheveled house and into his rather filthy living room. He had the Cubs game on the TV, and he went to fetch two beers as I sat down on the dirty brown couch. I had to wipe a good deal of crumbs off before I sat. Dewey returned a second later, and handed me a nice cold beer. "What brings you out here?" He said as he sat down, taking a big sip of his own beer.

"Well, I was sort of wondering if you could help me with something," I said, sipping my beer as well.

"Sure thing," Dewey said happily, "What do you need?" I knew he would be eager to help. Dewey was something of a town basket case, slash mascot. His granddad had once owned even more land than my granddad. But Dewey's father had always been a mean drunk, and his mom had been addicted to the crank. They had sold off their land one parcel at a time, and what they didn't drink, they shot up. By the time Dewey was born, his dad was in and out of prison, and his mom was a junkie mess.

He had gone to live with an aunt down in Georgia as a kid, and then moved back home when he was eighteen. He still owned about thirty of the once thousands of acres, and there was still the house, with no one left to live in it but him. Now Dewey was twenty-six, and everyone in town liked him. We all knew his story, and thought he was doing just fine considering what his parents had been. Some people thought he was a bit sad and lonely, though he never really seemed that way to me. Dewey was already balding, had a full beer gut, and had a cockeye that he had been born with, on account of his mother's negligence during her pregnancy. I guess I understand why some people thought he was sad, but he always seemed happy as a pig in shit to me. He reminded me of a big golden lab retriever. Dumb and happy, and always looking to be with people.

"Well," I began, sipping my beer again and watching the Pirates ground into a double play. "I was hoping you could help me find someone. You know the Gaines family? They're one of them rich city families that moved to town."

"Walter Gaines?" Dewey asked, "the lawyer from Chicago?"

"I think so," I nodded, thinking it unlikely that there were more than one Gaines family that had moved here. "I don't know about any Walter. I'm lookin' for his kids. A guy named Derrick, and a girl named Amanda."

"Sure," Dewey nodded, already finishing off his beer. "I've seen that guy Derrick in town a few times. He's always wearing those fancy shirts that rich folk like. You know, the golf lookin' ones."

"Ya, that's him," I nodded, remembering the bright collared shirt Derrick had been wearing the only time I had seen him.

"I tried to talk to him at the bar, but he weren't too friendly," Dewey said with a frown. I could tell that Derrick had said something mean to Dewey, but he didn't want to tell me about it. "He seemed pretty mean," Dewey added sullenly. "What do you want with him?"

"Well, actually its more his sister I'm lookin' for right now," I said, and Dewey's frown quickly turned into a big dumb grin again.

"Oh, well I haven't talked to her myself," Dewey's face turned bright red as he spoke about Amanda, "but she seems mighty fine. Real perty," he added excitedly. "A bit like that Casey girl you've been carryin' on with."

"I aint been carryin' on with her," I said, shaking my head. Even Dewey knew I wanted Casey. My secrecy really was for shit.

"That aint what Jasper told me," Dewey said with an even bigger grin, and then broke into a loud burst of guffawing laughter at the frown I gave him.

"Alright you big dumby," I said after letting him bellow for a minute. "Quit talkin' about me and Casey. And tell Jasper to quit talkin' about us too."

"I thought there weren't nothin' to talk about," Dewey teased. "I aint been carryin' on with that girl." Dewey's voice went low and he cocked his head back and forth as he mocked me.

"Get me another beer Dewey," I said, finishing off the one I had. Dewey jumped up, and came back a moment later with two more beers. He popped them open, and handed me one. "Now what do you know about this Amanda Gaines?"

"She's real perty, like I said," Dewey said seriously. "She likes to go to the bar most nights. And ol' Alan lets her in even though she aint twenty one, on account'a how perty she is. He says he figures havin' ladies like that around'll make fellas buy more beer, on account'a it'll lower their inhibitions, and maybe they'll go and talk to her."

"Ya, I bet ol' Alan's right about that," I said, and Dewey nodded his head as he drank his beer. "So when you've seen her there, does she ever leave with anybody, or does she blow everybody off?"

"She blows most of the fellas off," Dewey said. "I've seen her do it. But one night she left with Chuckie."

"Chuckie," I said, wondering if it was who I was thinking of. "Chuckie Winston? John Winston's boy?"

"Yep," Dewey nodded. "I doubt Chuckie ever had a girl like that before." That made me feel a little more confident. Chuckie Winston was a tall skinny nerd with freckles and glasses. If Amanda had gone home with him, I could probably get her myself. It still felt weird plotting on how to win over a girl when I felt like I already had a girl. But this was all Casey's idea in the first place.

"Amanda's really that hot huh?" I asked, and Dewey nodded eagerly, smiling his big dumb grin again.

"Uh huh," Dewey nodded. "If it weren't for your Casey, I'd say that Amanda Gaines was the perttiest girl in town."

"Casey aint mine Dewey," I frowned at him, and he began guffawing again.

"Does that mean she's up for grabs?" Dewey asked. I gave him a look that made him shut right up. "I'm just kiddin' Jim."

"Alright, you know what Dewey, I'll tell you what. Can you keep a secret?" I asked him, knowing full well that he could not. Dewey was the biggest blabber mouth I knew, which was exactly why I had come to him for answers.

"Sure Jim, what's up," he said, looking both flattered and excited at the idea of being given a secret.

"Casey is mine," I said. "But don't go tellin' nobody that, understand," I added as his face broke into that big grin again. "If her dad finds out he'll fire me, and he'll fire my sister, and ruin my father. If he finds out then my whole family will lose our land, understand Dewey?" Dewey nodded, looking intensely serious. I knew he cared about people losing there land.

"I wont tell nobody Jim," Dewey said, "I promise."

"Good," I nodded, and sipped my beer. "You better not Dewey, I mean it, its important." Dewey nodded again, and I could tell he understood. I only hoped that would be enough to keep his mouth shut. "Now I'm gonna tell you something else nobody can ever know about, ever, got it?"

"Sure thing Jim," Dewey said, looking rather overwhelmed at being given so much seemingly important and secretive information.

"That guy Derrick," I said, "Amanda's older brother. He hit my Casey. He hit her in the face Dewey. She's got a big ol' black eye." Dewey's smile fell off his face like a weight. He looked much more serious than I had seen him in a long time. I knew Dewey still remembered seeing his father beat his mother up when he was little. I didn't want to bring up tough old memories for him, but it wasn't like it was a lie. Derrick really had hit Casey, and Dewey having his own personal feelings about that just happened to work in my favor.

"Why'd he do that?" Dewey asked, frowning deeply as he watched a foul ball soar into the Wrigley crowd.

"Why does any guy do something like that," I said. "Cause he's a piece of shit Dewey. Any man that's hits a woman is a piece of shit. You know that."

"Ya," Dewey nodded, still frowning and staring dejectedly at the game.

"Well, I mean to get him back for that," I said, and Dewey turned back to me, looking curious. "Me and Casey formed a plan. I cant just hit him," I explained, hoping Dewey would get it. "His dad's a hot shot lawyer from Chicago, you know that." Dewey nodded. "And you know as well as anyone what'll happen to me if I just go and kick the shit out of him."

"Ya," Dewey said, still frowning. I knew he knew I was talking about his dad, and I felt bad for bringing all this shit up to him, but I needed his help.

"Well, I'm gonna sleep with his little sister Amanda," I said, and Dewey's eyes went wide. "And then we're going to tell him, in front of people. He'll hit me first. And then I can hit him back. Probably just once, but I doubt a city slicker like him knows how to take a punch."

"But, what about Casey," Dewey said, frowning in puzzlement now. "Wont she be mad if you run off with Amanda?" I wished like hell that that was the case, but it wasn't. I wanted Casey to feel that way. I wanted her to just want me, and to want me to just want her. But it was her idea for me to sleep with Amanda. Even Dewey could tell that something about that was just off.

"I aint gonna run off with her Dewey," I chuckled. "I'm just gonna fuck her." Dewey couldn't keep the smile from returning to his face at that. "And I already told you, Casey ain't mine, not really. Hopefully she will be someday. But for now we're just friends. But we need to do something about Derrick hitting her, right?"

"Right," Dewey nodded fervently, and I could tell I had him on board.

"So I need to sleep with his little sister," I said. Even as I said it I could hear how weird it wounded. It was like hitting the wrong key while playing the piano. Something about it was just off. "You want to help me do it?"

"Hell ya," Dewey said, actually spilling his beer he was nodding so vigorously. "How we gonna do it?"

"Well, you said she likes to go to the bar, right?" I said, and he nodded. "So we'll go there. If I can't pick her up at the bar, then I'll guess I'll have to try something else. But if Chuckie got her I bet I can too."

"You sure are one lucky bastard Jim," Dewey smiled. "First Ms. Casey Howard, and now Ms. Amanda Gaines? You must really love these new city folk."

"I don't love 'em," I said, with a slight tone of exasperation. "I just love lovin' their daughters is all," I added with a smile. Dewey burst into another loud bout of laughter at that.

We drank a few more beers, and watched the end of the ballgame. When I left an hour later, Dewey agreed to meet me at the bar in town on Friday night. As I rode away from Dewey's house, I had to wonder if this really was a good idea or not. I wanted to get revenge on Derrick, but I didn't want to sleep with some other hot city girl. I had my own hot city girl, the only one I could ever need. I just needed her to want me the way I wanted her.

When Friday night came around, I felt more nervous than I had expected. I hadn't had to try to pick a girl up in a while. For the last few months I had just been with Casey and Amy, and I hadn't really done anything to get either of them. The whole thing had sort of just happened, and I went with the flow. Now I would have to be the one to pick up the hot girl. And it had to be a specific hot girl, which made it even more intimidating. But I also felt a hell of a lot more confident in my own sexual prowess. I had always known I was big, but my time with Casey and Amy had turned me into a bit of a pro. I knew that if I could get Amanda to leave with me, she would like what I had to give her.

I was finishing up my work for the day, and planning on heading home to take a shower, and then head off to the bar. I was riding past the corral, when I saw Casey ride out on her big black stallion. She saw me, smiled, and waved, and I felt my mind go blank. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her cheek wasn't discolored anymore, but she did still have a slight blackish half-ring under her eye. I rode over to her, feeling guilty about doing something I hadn't even done yet, and was her idea in the first place.

"What's got you lookin' so blue," Casey laughed as she rode up to me.

"Nothin'," I shrugged. "I just, well, hell. I'm goin' into town tonight to try and pick up that Amanda girl."

"Really," Casey said, looking much more excited than I felt. "How do you know she'll be there?"

"My buddy Dewey told me," I said. "He always knows what everybody's up to. He says she goes to the bar most nights, and occasionally leaves with a guy she meets."

"So how do you plan on being that guy?" Casey asked.

"Uh, I don't know," I shrugged, already feeling stupid about the whole thing. "I guess I'm just gonna talk to her, and hope she likes me."

"Let me come," Casey said. "I'll help. We can have a little pretend fight. If she thinks you're with me, she'll definitely want you."

"Uh, are you sure," I said slowly. "She isn't going to be the only person there. People are already talking about us being together you know?"

"So," Casey said, as if it weren't any kind of big deal at all. "We are together. I mean, sort of. You know what I mean," she said, giving me a soft kind look.

"Actually I don't," I frowned. "I'm not sure what we are Casey."

"We're friends," she said, smiling softly at me. "And lovers. And someday we can be more than that. But not today."

"Fine," I sighed, "then in that case why don't you come and help me win over Amanda Gaines?"

"Great," Casey said, flashing her big beautiful smile again. "I need to put on some makeup though. I don't want anyone to see my face like this." She brought her hand up to her face, and winced slightly as she touched her cheek. I felt my blood boil again, and wished I could go knock all of Derrick's teeth out. But that had to wait. First I needed to fuck his sister. This was all getting a lot more complicated than I had ever expected.

"Ok, I'm gonna go home and take a shower," I said. "Unless you think Amanda will like me smelling like horses and dirt."

"It never bothers me," Casey smiled. "But you should probably clean up just to be safe." She leaned over on her horse, and I leaned over on mine. Our mouths met over the fence, and we kissed for a moment, and then we both rode off to get ready for the big night.

I met Casey on the road later that night, and we rode into town together. She had dressed up again, and it made me want to call the whole thing off. She wasn't wearing the daisy duke outfit from the other day, but what she was wearing looked great. Her long brown hair was done up in a curly bouncy sort of way that made it fall around her beautiful face in a way I had never seen before. She had indeed put on a lot of makeup. I preferred her without it, but it still looked good. She had on lots of eyeshadow, and her cheeks were red in the sort of way that they got when we were making love. She was wearing a frilly black top that made her boobs look bigger than they were, and showed off her tight stomach just a bit. And then she had on a pair of jeans that hugged her ass so tight it looked like they might burst at the seams.

I had also tried to dress up, for my own part. I had on a brown buttoned collar shirt, and my own pair of tight jeans. It felt like my dick was being squished inside them, and I knew that it was slightly visible, but Casey said that was a good thing. I had also put on my nice cowboy hat and boots that I kept for special occasions. I felt like I looked a little silly, but Casey said it was perfect, and I trusted her.

We rode into town together, and I was surprised to see the bar looked as packed as I had ever seen it. We tied our horses up, and walked in together. As we walked in, I looked around at all the people. I recognized quite a few, some my age, some older, but all friends of my family. There were also a lot of new people I didn't recognize. I could tell they were part of the new crowd that was moving into town. Then I saw Dewey and Jasper sitting at the bar with a few other people I knew. I gave them a wave, and Jasper waved me over.

"Uh, I'm gonna go say hey to Dewey and Jasper," I told Casey.

"Ok, I'm gonna go say hi to some friends of mine," she said, pointing at a group of people that were very clearly not from around here. I nodded, and we both headed off to our respective parties.

"Hey there Jim," Jasper said as I reached them. "That girl of yours is lookin' mighty fine tonight. Not as fine as she did in them dukes though." Jasper chuckled as he drank a beer.

"Casey and I are just friends Jasper," I said, and he just kept on chuckling.

"Amanda's over there Jim," Dewey said, and pointed toward the dance floor. I looked over, and saw a number of good looking women dancing, and wasn't sure which one was Amanda.

"What, one city girl aint enough for you?" Jasper teased. "I do believe you're gettin' a little too big for your britches there boy."

"Worry about your own britches Jasper," I said, and Dewey laughed. "I know what I'm doin'."

"If you say so," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"I say so," I said. "Now which one is she Dewey?"

"The one in the red shirt," Dewey said, unable to contain his smile as he stared at the girls dancing. "With the little shorts on."

I looked over again, and could immediately tell which one she was. Casey and Dewey had both been right. Amanda was indeed very hot. Even hotter than I had been prepared for. She was dancing very sexily, with her arms over her head, and her legs and torso bending and moving with the music. Her tiny shorts barely covered her ass, and I could tell right away it was a great ass. Her ass looked even bigger and rounder than Casey's, and she didn't look like she had an ounce of fat on her. She was shorter than Casey, and her legs weren't nearly as long or toned, but they were tan, and they were tight. And her ass really was a work of art. The red shirt she was wearing was definitely too small, but in a good way. I could see her stomach, and it looked very tight, though not fit like Casey's was. Her tits looked awesome. I thought they might be a bit bigger than Casey's, and they were bouncing around in a very sexy way as she danced. It was hard to get a good look at her face as she danced, but I could see enough to know she was gorgeous.