Linda Lael Miller - Montana Creeds: Tyler (Enriched Edition)

T YLER C REED SUPPRESSED a grin as the old guy in the Wal-Mart parking lot stared, dumbfounded, at the fancy set of keys resting in his work-roughened palm. Blinked a couple of times, like somebody trying to shake off an illusion, then gave the brim of his well-worn baseball cap an anxious tug. According to the bright yellow stitching on the hat, his name was Walt and he was the worlds greatest dad.

Walt looked at his ten-year-old Chevy truck, the sides streaked with dry dirt, the mud flaps coated, and then shifted to stare at Tylers shiny white Escalade.

I thought you was kiddin, mister, he said. You really want to trade that Cadillac, straight across, for my old rig? Its got near a hundred thousand miles on it, this junker, and every once in a while, a part falls off. Last week, it was the muffler

Tyler nodded, weary of Walts prattle but not about to show it. Thats the idea, he replied quietly.

The aging redneck approached the Cadillac, touched the hood with something like reverence. Is this thing stolen? Walt asked, understandably suspicious. After all, Tyler reflected, a man didnt run across a deal like that every day, especially in Crap Creek, Montana, or whatever the hell that wide spot in the road was called.

Tyler chuckled. No, sir, he said. I own it, fair and square. The titles in the glove compartment. You agree, and Ill sign off on it right now, and be on my way.

Wait till Myrtle comes out with the groceries and sees this, the old fella marveled, hooking his thumbs in the straps of his greasy bib overalls, shaking his head once and finally cutting loose with a gap-toothed smile. Walt needed dental work.

Tyler waited.

I still dont understand why any sane man would want to make a swap like this, Walt insisted. Could be, youre not right in the head. He paused, squinted up into Tylers impassive face. You look all right, though.

Involuntarily, Tyler glanced at his watch, an expensive number with a twenty-four-karat-gold rodeo cowboy riding a bronc inlaid in the platinum face. Diamonds glittered at the twelve, three, six and nine spots, and the thing was as incongruous with who he was as the pricey SUV he was virtually giving away, but hed never considered parting with the watch. His late wife, Shawna, had sold her horse trailer and a jeweled saddle shed won in a barrel racing event to buy it for him, the day he took his first championship.

I dont know as Im eager to trade with a man in a hurry, Walt said astutely, narrowing his weary eyes a little. Youre runnin from somethin, and it might be the law. I dont need that kind of trouble, I can tell you. Myrtle and me, we got ourselves a nice lifenothin fancyI worked at the lumber mill for thirty yearsbut the double-wide is paid off and we manage to scrape together ten bucks for each of the grandchildren on their birthdays

Tyler suppressed a sigh.

Thats some watch, Walt observed, in no particular hurry to finalize the bargain. The wise gaze took in Tylers jeans and shirt, newly purchased at rollback prices, lingered on his costly boots, handmade in a specialty shop in Texas. Rose again to his black Western hat, pulled low over his eyes. You win it rodeoin or somethin?

Or something, Tyler confirmed. His own brothers, Logan and Dylan, didnt know about his marriage to Shawna, or the accident that had killed her; he wasnt about to confide in a stranger hed met in the parking lot at Wal-Mart.