Dolly of Palo Pinto

Dolly Diangelis' best friends were smart, successful, and happy. They had each found their Prince Charmings. Dolly had jumped into the pond, kissed her frog, and ended up with Dopey, nicknamed "Elvis." She was stuck in dead-end jobs, with a man who wasn't too tightly wrapped, and she couldn't get rid of him.

Elvis pushed her over the edge when he left Dolly's cousin with child. Her friend Cazzie found her a job on a ranch in Texas, working with Arlene and Ben, Francisco, Fernando, and Nate. Dolly got to ride horses, chased cows, helped repair windmills, dug trenches, stood night watch over the poultry, learned how to track, to shoot, and to throw steers.

One night she and Nate got into a little discussion in a parking lot with a tough guy and his three equally tough girlfriends. They woke up the next morning with hangovers, bruised all over, naked in a cheap motel, with mildew in the air and a runaway air conditioner.

And they lived happily ever after.