A Lonely Coast Summary

Four women live in a small Wyoming town. All four have had trouble with men. The narrator was married and ran a ranch with her husband. However, when the narrator caught her husband having sex with their fifteen year old temporary ranch hand, she left him. The narrator works in a bar as a bartender. The three other women are lonely women who work hard, several of whom have children they car for. These women often look in the personal ads for men they might date. Josanna Skiles, a woman who works as a Japanese chef and reportedly shot her lover years before, has met Elk Nelson through these personal ads.

One night the narrator observes Elk coming into the bar and flirting with another of Josanna's friends, Palma. When Josanna comes into the bar, she is in a...