CLAIRE: When and where did they meet?
SESS: Bar in Denver airport. Then had seats next to each other on the flight to A-B-Q.
CLAIRE: No.
SESS: Right? Four weeks ago yesterday.
CLAIRE: First date?
SESS: A week later. Matinee of Giant at the Plaza, dinner at Rosa's. She drove.
CLAIRE: What does Hunter do?
SESS: Writer.
CLAIRE: Of?
SESS: Two novels and a book of short stories.
CLAIRE: What's his last name?
SESS: Hardyn. With a Y.
CLAIRE: Might his most recent novel be titled Foglost?
Sound of its engine before the Rover comes into view.
SESS: It might.
Jackie waves through window. Sess and Claire rise and walk to the Rover where Hunter parks. The four get out, Tom puts on his hat, Jackie waves.
CLAIRE: That's him. That's H C Hardyn.
SESS: Yep.
CLAIRE: My dad's gonna piss.
SESS: I'm through three of his dozen short stories.
CLAIRE: Who's the cowboy?
SESS: Surprise visitor, end quote.
CLAIRE: Kinda exudes real deal.
SESS: Right?
CLAIRE: Jackie is glowing.
SESS: I noticed.
Jackie leads Hunter, Tom and Chloe to Sess and Claire, opers her arms to Claire, who reciprocates.
JACKIE: What a wonderful surprise.
CLAIRE: Happened to be in the neighborhood.
Jackie and Claire embrace.
JACKIE: But what happened with Farmington?
CLAIRE: Found her a forever home. Beautiful story I'll save for later.
JACKIE: I'm so happy to hear it.
Jackie and Sess embrace and kiss each other on the cheek.
SESS: Been awhile.
JACKIE: Too long. So, introductions. Hunter, Tom and Chloe, it is my pleasure to introduce to my cousin Cecilia and Claire.
Handshakes and good to meet yous.
SESS: And Sess is fine. Tom, I don't know a thing about your horseback experience but I'd bet this isn't your first rodeo.
TOM: No ma'am, it ain 't.
JACKIE: Literally.
SESS: Really?
JACKIE: I'll let Tom elaborate if he wants to, and apologize, Tom, if I you'd rather I had kept that in my pocket.'.
TOM: Oh no, that's alright.. Some barrels when I was a kid and ropin' in my teens.
JACKIE: Sess would never bring it up but she's got a few buckles of her own. Sorry, cuz.
SESS: Aw, shucks.
CLAIRE: Maybe we'll bring the barrels out before the day's over.
SESS: I don't know about that. Speaking of the day, you've probably mentioned what we're doing here with the kids and horses.
JACKIE: Check.
TOM: And it's a wonderful thing.
SESS: We hope so. Work in progress just off the ground. So, speaking of the kids and horses, why don't we go meet them and saddle up.
JACKIE: Let's.
Sess, Claire and Jackie lead Tom, Hunter and Chloe to the horses and kids.
[CUT TO:
EXT. PINEY WOODS - DAY
The six on horseback enter, move through frame fanned out as if a search party, leave frame.]
INT. LAND ROVER - DAY
Hunter driving, Jackie front passenger, Tom behind Hunter, Chloe behind Jackie.
Top of San Augustin Pass, Highway 70, expansive view to Tularosa Basin.
CHLOE: When's the last time you were on a horse?
TOM: Few months ago. We got friends up in Sheridan with land and horses. How 'bout you?
CHLOE: Well, if a mule ride counts, then two summers ago at the Grand Canyon.
TOM: I'd count it. You were on a saddle. Good time?
Chloe nods.
CHLOE: Have you ever been?
TOM: I had an uncle, aunt and two cousins who lived in Flagstaff. We came out one Christmas and drove up one day. Got a little snow. Ruth has pictures.
CHLOE: How old a kid?
TOM: Eleven.
HUNTER: Came out in what?
TOM: Mom's car. Pontiac Ventura.
HUNTER: What year?
TOM: Sixty.
CHLOE: What color?
TOM: Skymist blue with a white hardtop they called ivory. First car I ever drove.
CHLOE: How old were you?
TOM: My thirteenth birthday.
HUNTER: Where and with whom?
TOM: Me and my dad and grandad on highway one-eighteen headed south outta Alpine, Texas. My grandad Randy and gramma Emily retired there.
HUNTER: Your dad's parents.
TOM: Yessir. Jeff, the uncle in Flagstaff, was mom's brother. Ruth's got the family tree goin' back a-ways on an ancestry website, if y'all're interested.
Chloe nods.
HUNTER: Very.
TOM: Remind me to give ya the link before I leave.
CHLOE: We will.
JACKIE: Thirteen seems a little young to be out on the highway.
TOM: Yes ma'am.
JACKIE: What if you'd been pulled over?
TOM: I was. They set me up for it. One a grandad's best friends was a retired state trooper. They called it in. I seen the cruiser parked at a ranch gate just south a Calamity Creek. Got my heart racin' but I was doin' the speed limit and he was lookin' down when I drove by, like maybe doin' paperwork. Dad said whew that was close and grandad said sure as hell was. Close enough for me and to wanna get outta the driver's seat and I was about to suggest that when I seen him in the rearview, comin' up quick. Then the light and siren. I about fainted. Grandad suggested I pull over, like maybe I had some other notion of makin' a run to the border. Course I pulled over. I looked at my dad and grandad, they was just lookin' straight ahead, serious and concerned, like we was off to jail for sure. Trooper killed the siren, got out and came up on me. Even now I can hear the crunch of his boots on the gravel. And he was takin' his time. Finally got to the window, wearin' his aviators. Bent down, leaned in, asked if he could see my license. I looked over at my dad and grandad, seen their shoot-eatin' grins and figured out pretty quick what was up. Looked back at the trooper with the same ear to ear smile. Took off his glasses, told me happy birthday, young man, and handed me an envelope with three tickets to the Houston Oilers home opener against the Oakland Raiders a few weeks away.
HUNTER: Sixty-four season.
TOM: Yessir. At Jeppesen Stadium. It ain't there anymore.
HUNTER: You were an Oilers fan.
TOM: I was. We stayed at what was then the Auditorium Hotel and made a long weekend out of it.
CHLOE: Do you remember who won?
TOM: Oilers, forty-two to twenty-eight. Clem Daniels caught two passes for touchdowns and ran for another. Bobby Jackson ran it in twice from a yard out.
HUNTER: Did you play in high school?
TOM: My freshman and sophomore years. I was a defensive back and receiver.
HUNTER: Why not your junior and senior years.
TOM: Wanted to focus on junior rodeo.
CHLOE: You had a horse?
TOM: I did. Kept him at friend's place outside Vanderpool.
CHLOE: What was his name?
TOM: Butter.
CHLOE: You named him?
TOM: I did.
CHLOE: Why Butter?
TOM: He was a palomino.
CHLOE: Trigger.
TOM: That's right. You ever seen the Roy Rogers show?
CHLOE: A snippet last year in my American popular culture class. What event or events did you do?
TOM: Started out barrel racin', ended up doin' what's called tie down ropin'.
CHLOE: That's the one the calves love so much.
Tom smiles.
TOM: Probly ain't the most fun they have.
CHLOE: I imagine that would be being branded.
Tom's smile grows. Hunter and Chloe meet eyes in the rearview. Chloe winks. Hunter smiles.
TOM: My experience indicates maybe not.
CHLOE: Did the barrel ever win?
Tom's smile grows larger.
TOM: Once. In Fort Worth. A story for another time.
CHLOE: I'll hold you to that.
TOM: I might need remindin'.
CHLOE: Not a problem. Did you win any buckles?
TOM: A few.
HUNTER: Do you still have them?
TOM: In a shoebox at home.
HUNTER: Did you do pro rodeo?
TOM: No. That was the plan but I got drafted and went off to Vietnam.
Silence but for the HUM OF THE RIDE.
HUNTER: Another story for another time?
TOM: Sure. So we'll be comin' up on White Sands here in awhile.
HUNTER: We will. Have you been?
TOM: No sir.
HUNTER: I thought we might stop by for sunset, take a walk out on the dunes, if everyone's okay with that.
CHLOE: Yay.
JACKIE: Seconded.
TOM: Thirded. Which reminds me to ask y'all if ya mind bein' in a few photographs today.
CHLOE: I was going to ask you the same thing.
JACKIE: I brought the selfie stick.
CHLOE: Seconded.
TOM: Thank you. 'Cause I done promised my wife and sister I would.
Chloe gets her phone, puts it in camera and selfie mode, captures herself and Tom, leaning into frame and flashing a peace sign. Chloe takes the picture, checks it, shows Tom.
CHLOE: Thank you.
She SENDS the picture to MOM.
TOM: If I give you my phone number wouldja send that to me?
Chloe preps phone to ADD CONTACT, enters TOM WALKER, hands phone to Tom, watches Tom enter his number. Tom hands phone back, Chloe calls the number. TOM'S PHONE VIBRATES in shirt pocket.
CHLOE: Contact.
She pockets phone. Silence but for HUM OF RIDE.
Silence until:
A RAINBOW TROUT jumps out of the lake, its landing splash wrinkles the lake's glassy surface.
Pause before:
DAISY: Tom and Gil going fishing?
WANDA: Yes. Gil bought a boat.
DAISY: Oh boy.
WANDA: Maria and the boys are up. Everyone’s going out on the lake Thursday.
DAISY: She sent the most wonderful card.
WANDA: She’s a sweetheart.
DAISY: So I’ve decided on the first location for the first of his ashes.
She tells Wanda about the biodegradable urn and where she’ll place it. Wants Tom and Wanda to b e present.
TOM’S RINGTONE, Wanda picks up, re where she Daisy are and Tom calling from ABQ MOTEL ROOM.
Tom calls RUTH, leaves voicemail, starts BATH.
Kinda Big Changes in Form, re where things are now, but Tone clearer and cleaner from such late-stage alterations in course, mostly related to reduction re trimming extraneous. Final will reflect weight loss.
A good assignment in this regard will be yet another edit re beats.
A sense of now that i know Story i can tell it better.
Blah blah, just a note for The Record.
EXT. MIRROR LAKE PICNIC AREA, SNOWY RANGE MOUNTAINS, MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST, WEST OF LARAMIE, WYOMING - SUNSET
Wanda, Daisy re the biodegradable urn. And that's all I'm sure of.
Daisy has recently lost her husband of 50-plus years, Wanda is two days away from Tom's death.
So, what is this scene about?
Setting Suns.
INT. HUNTER'S KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
The window over the sink frames Tom in a chair at the patio table, aimed at the mountains, hat on the table.
HUNTER (O.S.): Tom?
Hunter and Chloe enter from hall, find Tom, stare at him from behind the island.
CHLOE: Yee haw.
Tom turns his attention to the kitchen window as if he heard her.
HUNTER/CHLOE: Hmm.
Hunter goes to door, Chloe follows.
EXT. PATIO
Tom stands, watches Hunter and Chloe come through the door and approach, Chloe shyly behind Hunter.
HUNTER: Hey there.
TOM: Howdy.
HUNTER: Sorry we took so long, there was a crash at the ten twenty-five split.
TOM: I just been enjoyn' the view, and I'm the one oughta be apologizin' for intrudin' on y'all.
HUNTER: You wouldn't be here if I thought you were intruding.
TOM: Yessir.
HUNTER: Tom, this is my daughter Chloe. Chloe, meet mister Tom Walker.
Chloe steps forward, extends hand.
CHLOE: Good to meet you.
Tom extends his hand, they shake.
TOM: Good to meet you too. I'm sorry to be interruptin' your time with your dad.
CHLOE: No worries.
HUNTER: So Tom, do you mind if I ask what in Texas you're traveling to?
TOM: Y'all can ask me anything ya want. I'm on my way to my sister's house in a town called Comfort. Me and my wife and her are goin' in on a house in Kerrville. Just gettin' started with some looky-looin' at a couple open houses. Normally my wife would be along but she stayed back to be with a friend whose husband just passed.
HUNTER: What are their names?
TOM: Ruth's my sister, Wanda's my wife.
HUNTER: Other siblings?
TOM: No sir.
HUNTER: Do I have any?
TOM: Not that I'm aware of.
HUNTER: Your parents?
TOM: Deceased.
HUNTER: What's your middle name?
TOM: Travis.
HUNTER: For whom, if anyone?
TOM: My grandad on my mom's side. Travis Howard Buford. Ruth's got it all goin' back quite a ways on an ancestry website.
HUNTER: Really.
TOM: Yessir.
HUNTER: I'd love the link.
TOM: I can send it to you.
HUNTER: Ruth and Wanda know you're here.
TOM: Yessir. Both pretty surprised. So am I. Plan was to just take a picture of your house. But when ya seen me...well...I didn't wantcha to think ya had a stalker or somethin' like that.
HUNTER: How did you find out about me?
TOM: Found your mother's obituary online.
HUNTER: When?
TOM: Couple months after she passed. Me and Wanda were talkin' about where to go for our tenth anniversary. She suggested Lake Tahoe and asked if I'd ever been. Told her I had and to be honest woulda been fine with keepin' it at that. Ain't like she twisted my arm but her curiosity about the specifics introduced your mother. I told her everything I could remember. We went online and there it was. Looked you up, found your Wiki page, seen your date a birth. Did the math.
HUNTER: The math.
TOM: Carson City?
Hunter nods.
TOM (CONT.): I wrote a letter to ya care of your publisher.
HUNTER: I never got it.
TOM: Never sent it. Didn't know what your mother mighta said about me, if anything.
HUNTER: Tom Walker, cowboy from Texas on his way to Mexico. Taught her to two-step and how to tie a Honda knot.
TOM: Yessir. And your short stories had just been published. Didn't wanna seem like I was comin' outta the woodwork lookin' for somethin'. And I didn't know whether or not there was or had been someone like a father in your life. Figured there was a good chance I'd just be gettin' in the way. And yet...sometimes it seemed like somethin' you oughta know.
HUNTER: What became of this letter?
TOM: It's in a file at home. And I have a copy on my laptop.
HUNTER: Why don't we go inside lout of the heat for some lemonade and further introductions?
Tom nods. Chloe leads the way back to the house. Tom gets his hat, follows Hunter following Chloe, who opens the door for both to enter and walk out of view. She closes door, does same.
EXT. HUNTER'S HOUSE - DAY
Tom's truck in the driveway. The Rover nears from far down the road.
INT. ROVER
Nearing the house as the garage door opens. Chloe eyes the truck all the way into the garage. Hunter parks, the garage door closes. Hunter and Chloe unbuckle, look at each other.
HUNTER: Ready?
CHLOE: Or not.
They open their doors, leave out of frame.
INT./EXT. TBD - PASO ROBLES, CA - DAY
JAN: And we were worried about Brian.
JOHN: And we were wrong, weren't we?
JAN: We were. Seems we'll be meeting his father and son soon.
JOHN: Seems so. Seems we'll be meeting Hunter's father, too.
JAN: Seems so. He'll add to what Chloe knows about Olivia.
JOHN: Hopefully. Maybe a story about the selfie.
JAN: Oh my. I had forgotten that.
JOHN: Hunter might have half-siblings.
JAN: And Chloe cousins.
JOHN: Another limb on her family tree.
JAN: Thus ours.
JOHN: Thus ours. This is a good thing, Jan.
JAN: I know.
He puts arm around her, she reciprocates.
it's because i understand the story enough to realize i am not locked into previous iterations, but that the late changes i will make are the ones i'm committing to, re submitting it.
and besides, after this long, what's a little more time.
fish on, closer to boat.
EXT. ROADSIDE DINER - DAY
Quaint, rustic and alone on the side of a rural tree-shaded two-lane road. A FEW PATRONS at tables in the small outside patio, A FEW MORE PATRONS visible in the window to inside seating. A SERVER, 20, comes outside with two plates for patrons at a table, serves them, goes back inside.
The ASSORTED VEHICLES with California plates in the dirt lot partially cordoned with hay bales, include EIGHT TWO-SEATER TOURING MOTORCCYLES and EIGHT COUPLES in riding gear walking to them from the diner, their collective CONVERSATION A CHORUS OF MURMURED CHATTER. A mid-70s PORSCHE TARGA 911 is the most eye-catching of the cars and trucks.
INT. DINER
Barbara, dressed as she was playing scrabble, at a corner small table under a framed photograph that flatters San Luis Obispo County's Edna Valley, across from BRIAN, 50-something - fashion-friendly work boots, jeans, untucked plaid flannel - and their respective phones and bottles of sparkling water. Their relatively secluded location somewhat minimizes the MURMUR OF CONVERSATION and CLATTER of dish and silverware but they lean into each other to better hear.
BRIAN: How did they meet?
BARBARA: Playing the slots at the Silver Spur Casino in Reno. Tom was passing through on his way from a ranch hand job in northeast Nevada to drop off a truck and horse with someone before flying to Mexico. Olivia was there to audition for a play at the Pioneer Theatre.
BRIAN: An actress.
BARBARA: And singer and dancer. Brand new fresh theatre degree from Fullerton.
BRIAN: Do we know what she was auditioning for?
Barbara smiles, Brian winks.
BARBARA: We do. The Music Man. She auditioned that morning.
She turns to look at what Brian is eyeing: the motorcycle riders helmeting and saddling up like a sixteen-part machine. They TURN ON THEIR ENGINES almost as one, REV a throaty chorus, finally RUMBLE to the road and ride away, taking their ROAR with them, out of view and range.
BRIAN: So the slots at the spur.
BARBARA: They won at almost exactly the same time, their backs to each other. Conversation led to Tom's invitation for a drive around Lake Tahoe the next day. Olivia accepted. Tom picked her up the next morning, they did the drive and on the way back to Reno got diverted to taking fifty through Carson City because of a fire in the Spooner Lake area. That diversion became dinner and an overnight stay at what was then called The Pony Express Hotel. That overnight stay resulted in Hunter.
BRIAN: So she's in her early twenties.
BARBARA: They were both twenty-two.
BRIAN: Birth control?
BARBARA: Olivia used a diaphragm. Ninety-four percent success rate. My favorite Hunter story is the one he told about how Olivia laughed then cried when he told her why he wore number six in high school baseball.
Brian laughs, Barbara smiles.
BARBARA: They drove back to Reno the next morning, had breakfast, Tom dropped off Olivia at her hotel and left. No way to find him when she found out she was pregnant. Never saw him again. She moved in with her parents, had Hunter, went back for her graduate degree, and the rest I'll fill in on the drive home.
BRIAN: I bet there were and are probably a few Tom Walkers in Texas.
BARBARA: A few hundred. I'll get a middle name from Chloe.
SERVER, 30, arrives with a soup and salad that goes to Barbara and sandwich and fries that go to Brian.
SERVER: Can I bring you anything else.?
Brian and Barbara look at each other, Barbara shakes her head.
BRIAN: We're good right now.
SERVER: Alright. Well just wave me down if you need anything.
BARBARA: Thank you.
Server leaves.
BRIAN: How are your folks with this?
BARBARA: Stoically freaked as fuck.
____________________
OR I just put them in bed or something way simpler and cut a lot of cost.
AND something here isn't right but to be fixed later, if scene not jettisoned.
