TIAG#13July2026

After the grandmother let Tim off in Ruidoso, New Mexico he spent the night on a park bench in a play yard, waiting for the restaurants to open. When one finally did, The Pines Diner, he went inside and had all he could eat. Only trouble he'd lost his money and couldn't pay. The cafe owner turned out to be the cowboy who'd picked him up hitchhiking in West Texas and let him out in the rain. The cowboy put him to work in the kitchen washing dishes. At first resentful, Tim came to like the job.