Riding the River (8 page)

Matt chewed and swallowed. “Nothing
gives…”

“I’ve known you a lot of years, Matt,
something gives… with that girl.”

“I’m not interested in any girl, Richie. Cut
it out.”

Richie had seen Matt in various states of
sad, mad and glad, but he’d never seen him not interested in women.
He looked at him as his mouth dropped.

“Are you going to sit there and tell me
you’re not interested in Sarah?”

“Yes…”

“Why not for Heaven’s sake?”

“… Aren’t
you
interested in her?” Matt
looked over at him as Richie started to smile.

“I’ve been with her all morning. Trust me
when I tell you, I might have been interested in her, but she sure
as shootin’ is not interested in me. Not even a little bit…”

“Okay, then. This conversation is over.”

“… Not even… You like her, Matt. Admit it… I
saw you dancing with her last night.”

Matt looked sharply at him. “So? I’ve danced
with women before.”

Richie started laughing. “Not from ninety
miles away. I thought she might have cooties until I saw you caress
her ponytail and smile at her.”

“Caress? That’s a fancy word… And you’re way
off the mark.” Matt lowered his head and ate faster.

“Well, you know what ‘caress’ means, right?
To lovingly embrace.”

“Am I going to get a vocabulary lesson with
my lunch?” growled Matt. Then he looked away and mumbled, “Besides,
she’s only here for a week and that’s not enough time to...”

“To what? Fall for someone?” He laughed.
“It’s plenty of time…”

“Richie, it just complicates things… She’s
going back to Baltimore…”

“… Maybe…”

“There’s no maybe here…”

“What if there was?” Richie let that thought
dangle out there.

Matt frowned. “…Um…”

Richie laughed and ate another big mouthful.
After he swallowed, he chuckled. “You can fight it all you want,
but she’s under your skin already… Isn’t she?”

“…Ah…”

“And… I think she likes you too. When we came
in and I was talking to her, she was looking past me. She was
looking at you, wasn’t she?”

Richie’s smiled widened and Matt was ready to
leave.

“Richie, knock it off or I’m going to get the
hell out of here.”

“Are you fighting this because of what
happened in your past?”

“That could be a damn fine reason, don’t you
agree?”

“… No, I don’t. Just because Betsy burned
you, it doesn’t mean someone else will. She was just the wrong girl
for you…”

Matt looked up at him astonished. “I thought
we’d agreed not to say that name out loud.”

“You’ve got to get past this, man…” Matt gave
him a look. “Okay, okay, I’m shutting up. But you’re making a
mistake if you let Sarah go by without even trying. She’s seems
really nice.”

Matt sighed. “I know. That’s what I’m afraid
of…”

####

After lunch, Sarah and Tess headed down to
the gun range on the side of the property to learn gun safety.
Sarah figured she might as well learn how to handle a pistol or
rifle while she was in the West. Why not?

Cowboys, Frank and Aaron, were instructing
this time. Targets had been set up some thirty yards away. They
were starting off with rifles – How to hold them, how to load and
use the sights. It was more complicated than Sarah thought, but
that was all right. She was there to learn and she took it
seriously. She couldn’t even imagine what her father would think of
her out on a shooting range. She glanced at Tess sizing up yet
another cowboy and grinned.

There were ten guests who had signed up for a
lesson and Frank had them all spaced out. He and Aaron went down
the line working individually with each guest on holding the rifle,
the proper stance and how to fire. It was interesting stuff and
when they were allowed to shoot, Sarah started hitting the target
pretty regularly. They would each fire ten rounds and then the
cowboys would come along to give each some advice. Frank was
becoming impressed with Sarah’s shooting. She seemed to have
natural ability and wasn’t afraid to try anything. They changed to
different targets and she could hit those too. Many women guests
didn’t even sign up for gun safety and here was a woman who could
be Annie Oakley with a little practice. Well, maybe not Annie
Oakley, but close.

Matt had ridden by with a couple of guests,
showing them the range as he was giving a riding lesson. He set his
Appaloosa as comfortably as if it were the easy chair in his living
room. The horse was a natural extension.

He and his guests were a ways back, so as not
to spook the horses. But he could see Sarah just fine from where
they stood. At first, he wasn’t sure who it was – Then she turned
to lift her protective earmuffs to speak to Frank and he recognized
her. He couldn’t believe it as she started firing. She hit the
target consistently again and again around the center for all ten
shots that he watched. He was stunned… She was an unbelievably good
shot… Maybe she had practiced in Baltimore…

He thought again – That seemed unlikely. Dan
had mentioned to him, although he hadn’t asked, that she was a
computer consultant, whatever that meant. It probably didn’t have
much to do with shooting a gun, however. Matt grudgingly rode away
with his guest, but continued thinking about Sarah. He was thinking
of her far too much, for his liking.

Sarah and Tess congratulated themselves on
the way back to the ranch house for the good scores they posted on
the gun range. Tess wasn’t half bad either. She kidded Sarah about
starting a new profession – gunslinger…

It was a few hours before dinner. Tess wanted
to go find Tyler, and Sarah wanted to ride alone for a while. She
went back to the barn to see if she could get a horse. She bumped
into the trail boss, looking over the horses and checking how many
there were.

“Hello…”

“Hi. I hope I’m not bothering you.”

“… Not even close. Just checking the horses
for the drive, day after tomorrow. You a guest here?”

“…Sarah…” She extended her hand, which he
shook.

“Cooper…”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Same here.”

“Did you sign up for the horse drive?”

“… I did.”

“Good. I think you’ll enjoy it.” She tilted
her head at him.

“What exactly is a horse drive, Mr. Cooper?”
He laughed.

“... No, just Cooper.”

“Sorry.”

“… Anyway, we drive a herd of fifty or so
horses from one seasonal pasture to another.”

“What does that mean?” Sarah knit her
brows.

“We’ll move the herd from a pasture west of
here to one farther north. There’s better grass for grazing up near
the Jarbidge Wilderness and so we’ll put them up there for a few
months. It’ll take two days to drive them up and get them settled,
but only a day to return. It’s quicker without the herd.” He winked
at her and she smiled.

“And you don’t mind taking us city slickers
along with you?”

“Absolutely not. You’re quite welcome.” He
looked at her. She was stroking a horse’s flank and seemed easy
around horses. She noticed that he was looking at her and raised an
eyebrow.

“…um…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. You just look
so much like my daughter. How old are you? Twenty-four?
Twenty-five?”

“Wow…asking a woman her age. You’re pretty
brave and yes, I’m twenty-five.”

“Okay, sorry again… Why did you come in the
barn? Do you need a horse saddled?”

“I do indeed. I wanted to get in a quick ride
before dinner.”

He began saddling a horse for her.

“How’s your day been?”

“Great.” Sarah’s eyes lit up.
She was
pretty.
“I had a riding lesson this morning and a shooting
lesson after lunch.”

“Wow… You’re taking in the Old West for all
its worth, aren’t you?”

She smiled. “I plan to fill every minute with
learning something new. It’s all been extraordinary so far.”

“Really? Well, good for you. I’m glad you’re
enjoying yourself.” He walked the horse up to her. “You’ve had just
one lesson. Are you all right on your own?”

“I don’t plan to lose sight of the ranch
house. I just want to practice some more.”

“All right. I’ll watch you for a while and
then I’ve got to get busy.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Cooper held the horse for her to mount. “Now
this is Thunder.” Her eyes widened hearing the horse’s name. Cooper
laughed. “Don’t worry. The only thing tough about this horse is his
name. He’s a real sweetie.”

Sarah let out a breath. “Thanks, Cooper.” And
she took off walking her horse until she went past the corrals.
Then she let him go and Thunder galloped up towards the hills.
Cooper watched for a bit and decided she’d do just fine on the
horse drive. She was definitely comfortable in the saddle.

She galloped out past the ranch house up into
the low hills. Sarah had purchased a cowboy hat – And with jeans
and a Western shirt, she fit right into the landscape. The wind
picked up the hat and blew it off her head, so it hung down her
back. Sarah smiled… Just a cowgirl out for a ride… It was a
delicious thought.

She rode through the hills and onto the back
part of the property where Richie had taken them this morning.
Seeing the wildflower meadow and stream, she headed right for that
area. Sarah breathed in the moist air from the cold stream, stopped
Thunder and dismounted. She let him drink while she looked around
at the gorgeous meadow. Sitting down in the yellow, blue and white
wildflowers, she picked a few and then lay back to look at that
big, blue sky. She laid her cowboy hat on the ground beside her.
The flowers were soft on her back as was the ground by the
stream.

Lying there, she watched the puffy clouds
roll lazily by. She had never seen a sky that immense… It seemed to
go on and on and on… Thinking about the difference of life here in
Nevada with the hustle and bustle of life in Baltimore… There was
just no comparison. It was ‘
Big Country’
come to life
and

she loved it. Sure, there were a few problems
– communication being one and distance between towns being another.
Somehow, that didn’t faze her. She got up and took a bottle of
water out of her saddlebag, thought again and got out the horseshoe
too. Sarah took a swig of her water and lay down again in the
wildflowers looking at her horseshoe.
Life doesn’t get any
better, does it?

Thunder was happily munching some grass.
Sarah picked up her cowboy hat and put it over her face. She’d
decided to snooze out here in the meadow, nestled in the
wildflowers. Listening to a few birds. The gurgling stream… Eyes
that drooped lower and lower until she was asleep.

In a little while, around the hill came Matt
riding with another guest. He saw a rider down in the meadow and
told the guest to head back to the barn. He needed to check on
something. Concerned, Matt rode up to the stream, checked the horse
and looked at the downed rider, expecting some kind of trouble.
Instead, he saw a girl lying in the flowers with her cowboy hat
over her face, arms comfortably at her sides. He started to smile
as he heard soft, snoring sounds. When he glanced at the horseshoe
on the ground beside her, he knew who it was.

He debated what to do – Matt could ride his
horse quietly away and let her sleep, which he was very tempted to
do. He’d made kind of a half vow or something to stay away from
her. And he really didn’t want to bother her… But it wasn’t long
until dinner, and Mr. Walker probably didn’t want a guest out here
by herself. So he dismounted, let his horse get a drink and sat
down to wait until she woke up. He was impressed she could fall
asleep out here in the open so easily. She was obviously
comfortable in her new surroundings. An unexpected pleasure…

As he watched and listened, she made funny
little noises in her sleep – bubbles and pops. A purring sound… It
was hard not to laugh. Suddenly, she reached under her hat to
scratch her nose, and the hat fell off her face. Matt held his
breath, thinking she’d wake up. He didn’t want to scare her, but he
didn’t want to leave either. He glanced at her pretty face, so calm
in sleep, smiled at her light snoring and wished he could remember
the color of her eyes. Blue? Gray? With the blonde hair in a spray
around her head, it resembled a halo. Her pale blue Western shirt
fit her well and her jeans hugged in the right places. It wasn’t an
altogether unpleasant job, just sitting and gazing at her. She’d
picked up cowboy boots too. The city gal he’d seen at the hotel was
gone and a country gal had taken her place. It set well with
him…

Finally, an eye opened --- Blue, they were
deep blue… He’d thought so. Another eye opened and she looked up at
the sky. She must have seen him sitting there, but didn’t comment
at first.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” she said at last. Matt
thought her voice, just roused from sleep, was as nice as the rest
of her.

“Very…”

“How long have you been sitting there?” Her
eyes slid over to focus on his smiling ones.

“Long enough…”

“How long is that?” she insisted.

“… You make cute little noises in your sleep,
you know.”

She scrunched her eyebrows. “No, I didn’t
know.”

“Your boyfriend’s never told you?” He was
still smiling at her.

“Whether or not I have a boyfriend is no
concern of yours.” She sat up and grabbed her hat.

Matt laughed. “Well, there’s no need to get
upset. I was just…”

“… Just what? Spying on me?”

“No, ma’am. I thought you might be in some
trouble, so I rode over.”

“And seeing that I was in no immediate
danger…”

“Sorry,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Then I
couldn’t resist watching you sleep. You’re kinda cute when you
snore...”

Sarah huffed at him, got to her feet and
snatched up her horseshoe.