NOVEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
41 Henderson loses ground as Ashley prepares for date night When we left off last month,
Kenneth was finding little sympathy after his painful altercation with one of the steer calves. His mood wasn’t improving either. Rural Redemption, part 92, continues.
Woodshed Chronicles by BOB COLLINS
Deborah arrived home early in the afternoon and was greeted by a litany of complaints from Kenneth. “Where have you been so
long? When are you going to make some lunch? My ankle is killing me.” “I told you where I was going this morning. I’ll fix you some soup and a sandwich for lunch. If your ankle is bothering you, take some of the pills the doctor prescribed.” Kenneth grumbled his way
through another glass of Scotch while Deborah made lunch.
She set it beside him on a
tray and sat down on the office chair at his desk. “We need to talk,” said Deborah. “About what?” asked Kenneth tersely. Deborah drew a deep
breath. He seemed angry already. “About Ashley.” “What about Ashley?” “She wants to start dating.” “Hah! No bloody way. She’s
still a kid. “ “Really? When was the last
time you took a good look at Ashley or sat down and had a real conversation with her? She’s going to be 17 in a few more months and if you took the time to talk with her once in a while, you’d realize she’s become a thoughtful and confident young woman and it’s no surprise someone has asked her out.” “I talk to Ashley all the
time.” “I know you talk to her, Kenneth. The trouble is, you never listen to her. You don’t really listen to any of us.” “I don’t need this lecture,
thank you.” A keen anger welled up in Deborah. “Why does everything have to be confrontational? This is a discussion about our daughter. An important one, I think. If you don’t need me to discuss this, what do you need me for?”
Kenneth retreated wisely. “I don’t get it, that’s all.
From what you’re saying, it sounds like someone has already asked her out.” “Someone has.” “I can just imagine; some dopey video game hero with an earring in his lip.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” said Deborah. “Just listen to yourself. How would you feel if Lisa’s parents felt that way about Chris before they met him? I happen to know for a fact the boy who’s asked Ashley out is nothing at all like you’re imagining.” “You’ve met him
already?” “Yes, and so have
you. He gave her a ride home yesterday.”
It took a few seconds to
soak in. “You mean that cowboy?” “I mean Clayton Garrison.” Kenneth launched into a tirade that lasted three minutes. When he finally came up for air, Deborah was shaking her head. “What’s the point? You’ve got this all wrong. Ashley is going to be 17 in another four months, Clay isn’t 20 yet so they’re closer in age than we were when we started dating. Do you remember that? Do you remember asking me out ten minutes after we met? Give Ashley a little credit. It took me a little by surprise, too, but after I thought about it, I realized we need to trust her and let her spread her wings.” “There’s no way I’m going
to allow this,” said Kenneth. “I don’t know that you have
a choice. I’ve already said she could go.” “We’ll see about that. We’ve
been through all this before, haven’t we?” Deborah rolled her eyes
and started for the kitchen. “I’m making lasagna for
supper. You’ll have to get one of the kids to serve you some; I’m going to be away at rehearsal at Jade and Tyler’s.” As an afterthought, she
added, “Oh, and the last time we went through this and you said she couldn’t see the Sutherland boy? Well, she dated him every Saturday for six months.”
uuu Ashley took the school bus
to Fitzpatrick’s where she did afternoon chores in the horse barn. There was no sign of Clay Garrison. When she finished feeding and watering, she slipped into Ripley’s stall with a curry comb and brush. The rain was still drumming on the roof when Edna came into the barn half an hour later.
“Hello! Are you here, Ashley? “I’m brushing Ripley.” “Oh, good. There you are. I was a bit worried. You’re usually done before now.” “Sorry. I just wanted to spend a bit of time with him.” “If you’re all done, I can give
you ride home.” “Is Clay here?” Edna smiled. “Not yet. It’s his first day at
the college and we’re not sure what time he’ll be home.” Ashley put the brush away
and grabbed her pack sack. Just as she reached for the door, it swung open and Clay bustled in.
“Holey cats, how much rain does this country get anyhow? It’s rained here more in the last two days than it does in six months back home.” “Well, speak of the devil!” said Edna. “You’re just in time to give Ashley a ride home. Unless you want to put supper on while I take her?” “Truth is, I’m a better driver than cook so if Ashley’s agreeable, I could give her a lift,” said Clay, grinning mischievously. “Miss Henderson, what’s your pleasure?” Ashley gave him a sardonic
look. “If it wasn’t raining, I’d
probably walk.” Edna looked from one to the other and chuckled to herself as they climbed into Clay’s truck. “Mom said I can go out on
Saturday,” said Ashley. “Okay then. Something to eat and a movie suit you?” “Uh-huh. What’s this
music?” “It’s Ian Tyson. Cowboy
music. Real cowboy music. Do you like it?” “Yeah, it’s like a story or poem he’s singing,” said Ashley. “Yup, it’s just like that. I
grew up listening to this stuff. You heard of Ian Tyson before?”
“I think my dad tried to give some tickets to him to Mr. Pullman one time so he wouldn’t come to our barbecue or something.” “Sounds like a song all on
its own,” said Clay. “My folks are both big fans. You can check him out on YouTube.” Clay pulled up to the back of the Henderson’s house. “So, is seven, Saturday
alright? That’ll give us time for something to eat before the nine oclock show.” “Perfect,” said Ashley and
before Clay realized what was happening, she leaned across the seat and kissed his cheek. “See you Saturday,” she said as the door closed behind her. “Sassy,” said Clay to himself
as she skipped into the house. As soon as she came
through the door, she heard her father call. “Ashley? I want to talk to
you.” Ashley headed up the stairs
to her room. “I’ll be there in a few
minutes, Daddy.”
She could guess what Kenneth wanted to talk about and she wanted to marshal her forces for the interrogational battle that was looming. She entered Ian
Tyson to the YouTube search on her phone. She clicked on the Judy Collins version of Someday Soon and listened to the full four minutes. When it was over, she headed for her father’s office. “Your mother tells me that
you’ve been asked out on a date?” “Yes.” “With this cowboy person
you met yesterday?” “His name isn’t Cowboy
Person. It’s Clay Garrison and we’re going out Saturday night. Mom already said it was okay.” “Well, I can’t for the life of
me imagine what your mother was thinking when she told you that but it’s not okay and it’s not going to happen. We don’t know the first thing about him. How can we trust someone we don’t know? And how can we trust someone who is 20 trying to date a 16- year-old. You don’t know anything about boys, Ashley. You have no idea what could happen.” “Oh, let me try to guess,
Daddy. Like I might marry him and have kids and 20 years later find out he’s in love with someone else but can’t even bother to do anything about it, so I end up stuck in some loveless marriage while he drinks too much and drives
me crazy with his constant complaining?” Ashley knew she was
marching into dangerous territory, but Kenneth just threw his hands up “What in gawd’s name are
you talking about? I work with people all the time and I know who can be trusted or not. I don’t trust him, I don’t think he’s dependable, I think he’s a phoney, and I think he’s trying to take advantage of you.” “Oh my God! It’s exactly like
Mrs. Shelly said: sometimes life imitates art.” “Who the hell is Mrs.
Shelly?” “My English teacher. You are totally the guy in that song.” “What guy? What song?
You’re not making any sense.” Ashley scrolled through her phone while she stared at Kenneth. “Here. Listen to this.” She set the phone on his desk just as Judy Collins sang the third verse: When he comes to call, my Pa ain’t got a good word to say. Guess it’s ‘cause he was just like him, in his younger days. “All those things you said
were about you. Clay isn’t anything like you, Daddy, and next Saturday I’m going out with him.”
To be continued ...
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