Riding the River (6 page)

“Anyway,” continued Dan, “that was good
enough for the town and they’ve always claimed that Butch did
indeed rob the bank here, back in 1900.”

“Great story,” smiled Sarah. Dan winked at
her.

After traveling through Battle Mountain and
Elko, it was another hour to Wells and then a bit more out to the
ranch. Bouncing along the gravel road, Sarah knew her point of no
return was when she saw the sign -- Walker Ranch. It was on a huge
metal gate, stretching across the road with a wagon wheel emblem.
She was a very long ways from Baltimore and her destination in the
big country had come at last…

CHAPTER EIGHT

Traveling up that gravel road, Sarah
continued to marvel at the landscape around her. The big sky was
overcast now with dark clouds slowly pushing out the white ones.
Rain was coming… She rolled down her window to breathe in the air.
It actually smelled damp.

Cattle loitered on one side of the road, up a
ways on a low hill. Maybe forty head of brown mixed with black cows
chewed and swallowed, as they looked around lazily and at one
another. A cowboy on a gray and white spotted horse trotted towards
them to encourage movement. After a while, they paid some attention
to him and the lead cattle began to move up and over the hill. The
rest began to follow… Sarah rested her chin on one hand and smiled
in reverence at the pastoral sight.

The ranch house came into view. It looked
massive, especially since it was the only building around for
miles. The house backed up against a low hill that probably looked
lovely with snow on it. Sarah saw a decorative, wooden fence on the
front perimeter. As Dan drove closer, she could see that it was
built of a light kind of wood – cedar maybe -- with a dark green
roof. Beautiful…

Dan pulled up the van to a front parking
area, stopped and stepped out to unload baggage. Sarah and her
fellow travelers got out, stretched and began just looking all
around them. There was much to see…

She was gawking at the countryside and the
ranch house when Dan came up behind and nudged her.

“Sorry, ma’am. Did I bump into you?” he
drawled.

“Yes, sir. You did…” smiled Sarah.

“Let me take your bags in for you.”

“Thanks, Dan. I can do it…” He wouldn’t give
up the bags.

“No, I’ve got it. Follow me.”

After registering inside, Dan showed her a
few rooms. The bar and sitting area had a huge stone fireplace and
antler chandeliers. She walked on wooden

floors throughout that shined with new
varnish. The dining room had windows all along one wall with huge
wooden tables and sideboards filled with drinks. They were
preparing for the evening meal, and Sarah could smell
mouth-watering aromas. Her stomach made hungry noises…

Dan finally showed her to her room. It had a
beautiful, double bed with a bay window that looked out to the
surrounding mountains. The décor was Western, of course, with horse
paintings and a pine four-poster bed. The night table on one side
of her bed had a little lamp with a metal horse on it. Dan put her
bags down and Sarah tried to tip him.

“Oh, no. Thank you, ma’am, but no.”

“Dan, you’ve been a wonderful driver and
therapist,” she smiled at him. “The least I can do for you is give
you a nice tip.”

He smiled at her then. “Would you like to
know what you
can
do for me?”

“Yes, please…”

“…Just enjoy yourself. Let go and find
yourself here. Many people do…”

Sarah gasped. “Why would you think that I
need to
find
myself?”

“No particular reason. I’ll go now. Freshen
up and dinner’s in an hour. Nice to meet you, miss.” He tipped his
hat and left.

Sarah wasn’t too sure if she should have
called him Yoda or Obi Wan Kenobi. Crap… That’s ‘
Star Wars’
,
isn’t it? Abby would be proud. And speaking of Abby, she tried to
send her a text. Unfortunately, cell phone or Internet service
wasn’t as good as it might be and her text just hung there – in
Cyberspace, or wherever it went. The same for her father… Then
Sarah smiled.
They can’t reach me… Oh, boy and I can’t reach
them…

She exhaled a deep breath. It was getting
easier to do just that. They can’t reach me… She thought it again.
It was a truly delicious feeling and one she let flow over her for
a minute or two. Then she dug jeans and a casual shirt out of one
suitcase, put them on and went into the bathroom to freshen up.
Sarah took down her French twist and brushed her hair back into a
ponytail. Taking another quick look at her wonderful room, she left
to see the rest of the ranch house. Sarah was happy and feeling
playful – Probably for the first time in years…

Talk about new
… Absolutely everywhere
she looked was a new experience. The ranch house, the people, the
food, the country… She was so out of her element that she felt she
might be on Mars. But everyone was so nice and friendly. They were
happy to see her and it showed. She found the owner of the ranch
house and went up to him.

“Mr. Walker, thank you so much for accepting
my reservation on such short notice.”

“Well, miss, we’re very pleased to have you.
Don’t worry about a thing.”
Don’t worry about a thing?
When was the last time anyone had said that to her…

“You’re really too kind…”

“No, no… Head on over to the community room…
We’re going to introduce ourselves to all you new guests in a few
minutes. Then we’ve got a great welcome dinner starting soon.”

Sarah wandered into the huge gathering room
and spoke to some of the people she’d met in the van on the way
here. She missed Dan, but he apparently had other duties to perform
tonight. Mr. Walker came in and started welcoming the guests.

“Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for coming out
to visit us. We promise to make your stay fun and comfortable. If
you have any problems, please come to me personally and let me know
how we can accommodate you.” He looked around the room and
continued.

“I wanted to introduce the staff to you
tonight. Most of us are here. Laurie and Kate, stand up. They take
care of our bookkeeping details.” Small applause.

“Then there’s Dale, our cook, and Cooper, our
trail boss, for the cattle and horse drives.” More applause.

“You already met Dan, our driver,” Sarah
looked for him, “but he’s off on another errand right now and not
with us. But here are our cowboys. Guys, please step up as I
announce your names.”

Sarah looked around expectantly to see real
live cowboys.

“Kyle…” A nice looking young man with a huge
white cowboy hat stepped forward to smile at everyone.

“Aaron…” He joined Kyle and also wore a huge
white cowboy hat.

“Dave and Nick…” Nice young men with smiles
and light beards.

“Frank and Tyler…” Mustaches and big
grins.

“Richie and Kenny…” Great Western shirts and
chaps.

“And last, but not least, Matt…” Pause…

She hadn’t seen him behind the other cowboys,
but when he stepped forward, she recognized him immediately. He was
the dark-haired cowboy who tamed the wild situation at her hotel
last night.
He worked here? Here? What were the odds?
She
stepped back and dropped her face. For some unidentifiable reason,
she didn’t want him to recognize her.

People milled around and then dinner was
announced. The guests mingled with the staff and everyone ate in
the huge dining room laughing and talking. Night was coming and it
got dark fast in this part of the country. After the homey meal,
Mr. Walker announced that some of the cowboys would be playing on
the outside yard, and anyone who felt like dancing should come
outside. Sarah was shy and not sure what she felt like doing. She
followed other guests outside to enjoy the night air, but didn’t
plan on dancing.

“Sarah, want to dance?” Dan had sneaked up
behind her.

“Where did you come from?” She laughed at
him.

“Just wanted to make sure you were okay…”

“I’m good… so far.”

“Come on. Let me show you the two-step.”

“…Um …No, thanks.”

“Oh, come on… one dance won’t kill you…” he
coaxed.

“…Well…”

He wouldn’t take stalling for an answer and
dragged her out to the dance area. The music was lively and
everyone seemed so friendly. Dan had her dancing in no time, and
she started to forget everything but the dance steps. He swung her
around the dance floor and she was so graceful. The cowboy with the
black wavy hair noticed her…
Isn’t that the woman from the
restaurant last night? What’s she doing here? Here? What were the
odds?

Dan noticed that Matt noticed.
Hmmm… What
should be made of that?

When the music ended, Dan dropped Sarah off
by Matt. The band started playing a slow song about finding love
when you least expect it.

“Whew, Sarah. I’m bushed. Let a younger man
take over for me.”

Slightly winded and laughing, Sarah turned to
Matt. He blinked and dark eyes met pretty blue ones. Her face was
flushed and she looked happy.

“…Oh…”

“…Ah…”

“Okay,” said Dan. “That’s settled. See ya
later…” And he was gone, leaving Matt and Sarah staring at one
another. Without speaking, he held out one hand to her. She took it
and hesitantly walked closer to him, putting her other hand on his
shoulder. Matt nervously smiled and put a tentative hand on her
waist. They were a respectable distance from one another, but it
didn’t seem satisfying – to either of them.

They glided slowly to the country music,
moving this way and that, trying to avoid bumping into other
dancers.

“Didn’t I see you at the Best Western last
night?” He spoke to the top of her head, since she didn’t look
up.

“Yes, that was me… I…I… saw you too.” She was
obviously nervous and spoke to the front of his shirt.

“Your hair’s different.”

“…Um… Yes…”

“Weren’t you wearing a lacy blouse and long
blue skirt?”

She looked up at him and blinked. “You
noticed my clothes?”

He cleared his throat and looked away. “Well…
I’m pretty good with details.” An answer that left her confused…
But his deep voice was so nice.

“Wasn’t that man awful to his wife?”

“Yeah, he seemed nuts to me.”

She continued to study his hand, instead of
his face, as they swayed to the music.

“That was brave of you to do what you
did.”

“… Nah…”

“Not many would have gotten involved.”

“You don’t think so?”

She finally met his eyes. “I know so. Not
where I come from anyway… ”

He was so surprised that he stopped dancing…
She bumped into him. “Where do you come from? Some other
planet?”

“Nearly,” she laughed. “Baltimore...”

He laughed. “Well, I was hoping you weren’t a
Martian. And coming from the East coast explains the clothes.” She
smiled. “What do you call your hairdo?”

“…a ponytail…”

He laughed again. “No, I mean from
yesterday.”

“Oh, that was a French twist…” Her lips
suddenly went dry.

“It was pretty… but I like this better.” He
pulled her ponytail around to her shoulder. Her eyes widened… He
smiled at her.

The music stopped and he had to release her.
And for some unfathomable reason, he didn’t want to. Matt just
stood there, looking at the pretty girl still in his arms.
I
want to dance with her again
… She stood there looking at him…
I hope he doesn’t leave
… Another cowboy came up then and
tapped him on the shoulder. Matt thanked her for the dance, tipped
his cowboy hat and left the dance area.

Sarah began dancing with Kyle, but watched
Matt leave. Long after he had left, she stole glances towards the
door to see if he’d come back. Dale, the cook, watched the whole
scene and thought he might say hi to Sarah tomorrow during the
activities. Matt hadn’t danced with a guest, or shown any interest
in any woman, in the two years he’d been with the guest ranch. He
wanted to know why she was special… Matt obviously thought so,
which made Dale very curious.

CHAPTER NINE

The next day after breakfast, Mr. Walker had
all the activities posted in the community room for guests to see.
Sarah was reading over the list when another woman joined her,
looking over her shoulder.

“’Horseback riding lesson -- Meet at the
corral’. That sounds good to me, what do you think?”

Sarah looked back and smiled. “Yep. It
does.”

She turned around as the woman stuck out her
hand. She had shoulder length auburn hair and a big smile.

“Tess.”

“Sarah.” They shook hands. “Want to walk over
now, Tess?”

“… I’m game if you are.”

They walked out of the ranch house with other
guests going here and there. It seemed like a busy morning.

“Where are you from?”

“Phoenix, Arizona. How about you, Sarah?”

“Baltimore, Maryland.”

“Wow… You get the prize for coming the
longest distance. Trying to escape, were you?”

Tess’s smile faded as she watched Sarah’s
face fall. She reached out to touch her arm.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Sarah shook her head. “… It’s okay. This is
just all so new to me. I haven’t processed anything yet.”

“…Well, we have all day to goof around and
find our footing. Ready?”

Sarah laughed at her attempts to jolly her.
“You bet…”

They had reached the corral and a few of the
cowboys were there to help with instruction. Sarah didn’t
consciously mean to, but she looked around for Matt – He wasn’t
there. Richie and Tyler were, however, and eagerly walked over to
see if they could be of some help to two lovely ladies.