Simple Gifts
an excerpt

Cordell Walker awakened slowly, savoring the knowledge that his duties for today at least should be trouble free --- no warrants to serve, no criminals to chase, and hopefully no emergencies. A beam of sunlight, warm on his face, slanted through the blinds and across the bed. The alarm clock ticking at his bedside read just after 6:30 AM.

“And that means,” Walker said, addressing the half grown cat curled at the foot of the bed, “that I’d better grab a quick shower, get dressed, and get out of here. I’m running late!” The cat belonged to Kathy; he’d found it huddled in the barn, soaking wet, during one of the nastier summer thunderstorms and had given it to her. She’d named him Geronimo because of his fierce personality and the little spitfire had kept her company during the early months of her convalescence. Of late, however, the cat had demonstrated an annoying preference for sleeping on Walker’s bed at night. He kicked off the quilts. The orange striped cat stared at him through slanted green eyes and hissed irritably from its nest in the blankets.

“Sorry,” he said, laughing at its offended expression, “but I’m going to make the bed whether you’re in it or not and I have to get ready for work.”

The morning air held a chill and the polished pine floorboards felt cold against Walker’s bare feet as he stood there, clad only in pajama bottoms, and went through his usual stretch routine. He faced the window, eyes half closed, and looked outside. Autumn had been late this year and so the trees, in late November, were just coming into the peak of their fall color. The old cottonwoods outside shone in brilliant gold against a clear blue winter sky. It was a trait he and Kathy shared, this slow daily ritual toward wakefulness, and one of the things he most enjoyed. These few precious moments, before the demands of the day and the pressures of his job claimed him, belonged to him alone.

The scent of fresh coffee drifted up to him. Kathy was awake, then. She usually took it upon herself to fix their breakfast after she had been out to the barn to feed the horses. “Walker!” Kathy called from below, “time for breakfast! Alex is already here, waiting for you.”

“I’ll be down shortly,” he called back to her, grinning, and headed down the hall to the bathroom. He liked it when Alex stopped by before work because he could more freely express his feelings for her here. Walker always felt more comfortable in his own territory without having to worry about the watchful eyes of others or the ribbing he’d take from his fellow Rangers. Bad enough they already sensed something more than friendship between him and Alex, although officially they remained “just friends”.

When he went downstairs, dressed except for his boots and toweling his hair dry, he found Kathy and Alex sitting at the dining room table with some sort of list written on a pad of legal paper between them. “Morning, Walker,” Alex greeted him, a warm smile curving her lips. “Here’s your coffee.”

Walker took the mug from her and, as he sipped it, spared a moment of frank admiration for the pretty assistant district attorney. Today she wore her blond hair loose and falling softly across her shoulders, a style he preferred to the more severe professional look she usually wore around the office. She wasn’t dressed for the office either; normally her tastes ran to conservative business suits but today she wore jeans which fit her like a second skin, a crème colored turtleneck, and a powder blue cardigan --- all of which showed off her trim figure. Walker put down his coffee mug, snaked an arm around Alex, and pulled her into a quick kiss. “Playing hooky today?” he asked, teasing her.

“Oh, you!” Alex punched him playfully in the arm. “For your information, I’m not going in to the office today. All of my cases are current and no one else will be there anyway. What about you, Cowboy?”

Walker made a sour face. “Paperwork,” he uttered as though it were a curse. “Just about anyone who could cleared out for the holiday, but I have some filing and paperwork to catch up on. I ought to be done by noon, though.”

“Alex is going to help me with some last minute arrangements for tomorrow,” Kathy volunteered without looking up.

Walker rolled his eyes at them. “If you two are discussing shopping and seating arrangements, I think that’s my cue to beat it,” he said as he dropped a kiss on Kathy’s head and then pulled on his boots.

“Ah-ah.” Kathy wagged a finger at him. “Not before you’ve eaten some breakfast. There’s oatmeal warming on the stove. You know the drill.”

“I’d have preferred bacon and eggs,” he said but knew better by now than to argue. Since contracting that waterborne infection back in February, he still occasionally had difficulty eating without getting sick. His days of skipped meals had come to an abrupt end as well, since he hadn’t yet regained his normal weight. Technically the Captain still had him on light duty until he’d been cleared by medical. The Captain would have a heart attack if he knew what I consider “light” duty, Walker thought with a grim smile. Either Kathy or Alex made certain he ate regularly and what he was supposed to. Unfortunately, that often meant blander foods such as oatmeal or soups. Walker hated both.

“Yeah, I do,” he sighed but ate the oatmeal she’d fixed for him with good appetite. When he’d finished, Walker rinsed the dishes and dropped them into the sink. “I’ve got to go. You girls have fun.”

Alex giggled. “We’re going shopping. How could we not have fun? Don’t forget to meet us for lunch at CD’s, “she reminded him.

“Well,” he said mock seriously as he put on his hat and jacket, “you’ll have to talk to the bad guys about that. Crime doesn’t take a vacation.”

“Get out of here!” Alex tossed a dish towel at him.

Walker snatched it neatly out of the air and then snapped it at her. “Yes, ma’am!” Laughing and flashing a lopsided grin, he strode out to the truck. A few minutes later the Ram’s engine faded into the distance.