Free Never the Twain by Judith B. Glad

behavior that had lasted
for almost ten years. Rock's Pa had pulled his wife's distant cousin out of the gutter and set him back
on his horse, and had ended up with the best damn cowhand in Owyhee Country.
    To Rock's knowledge, Pancho hadn't looked at a woman since Luisa's death. He hoped
Miss Enderby was as much a lady as she looked. She wasn't so apt to hurt the old man.
    "Rock, I have invited Miss Enderby to accompany us to the Daniels' barbecue next
Saturday. Perhaps Miss Forsythe would care to attend, as well."
    Hoo boy! When Pancho fell into the overly formal speech of his youth, he was gettin'
pretty serious. That thought was the only thing keeping Rock from laughing out loud at how thick
the older man's accent had become. Pancho's Mexican ancestry usually could only be inferred from
his name.
    He decided to play along. Cocking an eyebrow at Genny, he asked, "How about it, Miss Forsythe? Care to see how the natives play?"
    Before she could answer, Miss Enderby spoke. "Oh, yes, Genille, you must go. Mr. Ruiz
tells me that there will be real western square dancing..."
    "Not that tame stuff you see in town," Rock interrupted.
    "...And an impromptu rodeo, as well as the barbecue."
    Rock bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud. "Ro-day-oh" indeed!
    "Well, I don't know..." Genny waffled.
    "Come on, little lady. Most everybody in Owyhee Country comes to Daniels' shindigs. It'll
be a good chance for you to meet more of the ranchers with grazing rights on your District."
    "Well...."
    "You did ask me what I wanted to do next weekend, Genille. I choose to go to the
barbecue." Miss Enderby's positive tone closed the subject. Genny just nodded, and busied herself
with picking up the last of the party debris.
    Rock moved to help. His cook and her aunt sure didn't look like they needed any help
gettin' acquainted. He and Genny were superfluous, as far as he could tell.
    * * * *
    "Sophie, why did I let you manipulate me into this?" Genny tried to twist her head around,
but her aunt's grasp on her hair prevented it. "Ouch! That's attached to my head, you know!"
    "Sit still then. I'm almost finished."
    "I don't think I'm going to like this," Genny muttered. "My ordinary French braid was
enough."
    "You are going to look elegant and glamorous when I am through with you, dear. Now
stop complaining." Sophie seemed to be pulling all of Genny's hair up onto the top of her head,
then over to one side. Genny wished she had a mirror, but her aunt had refused. "I want you to be
surprised," she had insisted.
    Genny supposed she shouldn't object. Sophie was always in demand as a hairdresser
among the family. It was an ongoing joke that if she ever got tired of being an executive secretary to
the president of one of Boston's larger corporations, she could always open her own beauty
salon.
    Genny fidgeted, but she held her head still. It was that, or be scalped. "Are you positive
you want to wear that dress?" she asked, for the fourth or fifth time.
    "Of course, dear. It's very comfortable and cool, and not too dressy. I understand
barbecues are fairly informal."
    Stifling a laugh, Genny said, "You might say that." She was planning on wearing her dress
jeans, the new boots she'd bought last week, and a western-tailored shirt. Brenda, at work, had said
that many of the women wore such garb to Daniels' annual party. Those who didn't wear square
dance costume.
    Genny looked again at the boots. Gleaming black, with white inserts and red and blue
stitching, they resembled the worn, unadorned boots Rock and the other cattlemen wore daily about
as much as a patent-leather dancing pump looked like a steel-toed work boot. She knew she would
feel self-conscious all day long.
    "There. That should do it." Sophie gave her hair a final sharp tug, and patted the top of her
head. A hand mirror appeared in front of Genny. She looked and saw a stranger. The mass of braids
and curls atop her head made it look too heavy for her neck, made her neck appear delicate