The Key She Gave Back

Eight seasons I cooked for the Cheyenne River Riders out of two coolers and a Dutch oven. Four years I shared a cabin outside Sturgis with the club's Road Captain. Then he started letting a bartender from Rapid City ride his bike to every rally in the Black Hills, and I didn't argue. I baked a pie. I set it on the counter. I took my half of the cabin and drove to the Bighorns. Nine months later, the Riders have lost their contracts, Hale is drinking his way through Rapid City motels, and the club sends their treasurer to my kitchen to ask me to come back. I tell her no. I tell Hale no. Then the lodge owner gets sick and the club offers to buy me the whole building as a gift. I'll take the mortgage myself, thank you. And I'll hire who I want. Hale can start in the dish pit like everyone else.