I nodded and smiled and gave it to him. He was obviously the more generous one. He wheeled off and Cricket stood beside me.
“He’s a very nice man.”
I watched him struggle with the chair and it broke my heart. “Extraordinarily.”
Around five o’clock, the auctioneer began the auction and things took off at an entertaining pace. I found a chair at a table near the back and sat.
“Can I roll in here?” I heard Amos McAllen ask me.
“Of course,” I said, sliding out the chair next to me so he could wheel himself in.
“Faye tells me you liked her cooking.”
I laughed. “Yes, I did. I miss her daily baskets, but I think my love handles are thanking me they’re no longer around.”
Amos chuckled.
“So how long have you been a rancher?” I asked him.
“I’ve lived on that property since I was born.”
“No kidding. What a life you’ve had.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said.
It turns out he was not seventy but seventy-nine and he’d fought in Korea when he was seventeen. He said he saw things no human should ever witness and to this day detests communism with every fiber of his being. He told me when he first got home, the slightest noise would send him back to Korea and that Faye was the only one who could bring him back to the present.
He told me that when he’d left for Korea, Faye was just a wispy fifteen-year-old with curly red hair and buck teeth, but when he came home, she was a steamy eighteen-year-old redhead with curves for days and the prettiest face he’d ever seen. He said he knew he had to have her five minutes after seeing her in town for the first time since he’d left. “I was smitten,” he said simply.
He talked about marrying Faye. He put me in stitches when he said he thought he’d died and gone to heaven their very first time and how they didn’t leave their bedroom for practically a year straight. He also told me it was how they got their first son. I was almost rolling on the floor by that point.
He talked about how he lost that first son in Vietnam, but that’s all he mentioned of that. It was obviously too painful to talk about, so I didn’t press. He spoke of hard times and good times, of feasts and famines, of disease and health. And before I knew it, two hours had passed and I had heard his life story.
I’d discovered that Amos McAllen was the kind of man whose name would never make the history books or national headlines, but there was something so extraordinary about him. It pained me that America would not know him personally. I imagined there were many people as incredible as Amos, but I would never get to know them. They would pass and their memories of people before them would die with them.
That seemingly short conversation with Amos told me that life is more than what the media wants you to think it is. He taught me that your world shouldn’t be any bigger than the people around you, that you should serve those around you with fierceness, but we still had an obligation to care for those who needed our caring, even if they were half a world away.
It seems such a contradiction, but the way he explained it made perfect sense to me. Basically, care nothing for celebrity, love only your God, your friends and your family, and be generous with your neighbors, even if they’re very far away.
When Amos McAllen rolled away from that table, I felt my entire world shift and tilt and I knew I would struggle to find its balance for a very long time.
When Amos left, I went out to my truck, grabbed an envelope I kept in the glove box for emergencies and came back into the schoolhouse. Inside, I made sure everyone was good and distracted before I stuck one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven dollars in the donation jar, wishing I had a whole hell of a lot more with me.
I began to walk away when that voice startled me again, making my heart pound in so many different ways.
“Spencer Blackwell,” Cricket teased, “aren’t you one big, giant softie.”
I pursed my lips. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“I know.” She winked. “That’s what makes it all the more fun.”
I shook my head and smiled.
“The auction’s almost over, and they’re about to serve dinner. Would you like to sit with me?”
I turned around and searched the crowd behind me before facing her once more. “Are you talking to me?” I joshed.
She smirked. “Yes, you.”
“Where’s Ethan?”
Her brow creased. “I’m not sure,” she said, searching the crowd.
“I don’t think he’d be pleased if he saw us sitting together.”
“Well, that’s his problem, not ours,” she cheekily replied. “I’m tired of tiptoeing around him,” she said, surprising me. “I can be friends with whomever I wish to be friends with.”
At one time, this would have pleased me to no end, but that day of all days, I could not, would not, be her alternate.
“Cricket,” I said, narrowing my brow. “I won’t be your backup.”
“What?”
“I refuse to be a backup,” I told her. “I don’t deserve it, and we both know we could never be just friends.”
She looked wounded but I couldn’t feel sorry for her. She made her choice, and I wasn’t it.
“I-what are you saying, Spencer?”
“I’m saying that I don’t just want to be friendly with you, Cricket. I want all of you. I want to be able to taste your lips whenever I feel like it, feel your skin, wrap my arms around your waist. I want to be with you utterly, and I won’t take anything else but your entirety.”
I turned and walked out the schoolhouse doors, got in my truck and headed back to Bitteroot.
“There,” I told the steering wheel. “I made the declaration. It’s up to her now.”
Two months had passed.
It was mid-April, Bridge was huge, but she and Jonah were going strong. It helped to see her so happy when I was suffering so completely. Those words at the schoolhouse were the last I had said to Cricket, and she had yet to respond. I lost hope in getting one after the first week and was living day in and day out in a zombie-like state. The only relief I could get from how badly my heart ached was when Eugie would come stay with me.
He was my new best friend since Jonah and Bridge got together, and he was my little old stone. I noticed Cricket would let him stay with me often and that surprised me. I don’t know why she did it but I didn’t question it. I needed him. Dogs are funny little animals. They’re such a curious thing. They give and give and give and expect nothing in return.
Calving season had come to an end, and the ranch had planted the hayfields in preparation for next winter. Branding season came and went, and we were exceptionally busy for almost two weeks. Apparently, the ranches helped one another out there. Each set of hands would pitch into each ranch’s branding day, and we got all the ranches done in eleven days. I got to know a lot of the locals a little better and came to respect each one tremendously with how generous they all were with their time and opinion.
The people of Montana were some of the hardest working, genuine and charitable people I’d ever met.
Apparently, at the end of every calving season, all the young adults of the nearby ranches got together and camped in the mountains for two days. If you’d have asked me six months prior what I thought of the concept of camping, I’d have told you it was ludicrous. Now? Not so much. In fact, I was really looking forward to the fresh air, the burn in my legs from the hikes and just relaxing.
We left early on a Friday morning.
“Am I riding with you?” Jonah asked as I tossed my pack into the back of my truck.
“Hell yeah, dude. Load it up!”
I picked up his tent and launched it in with my own pack. I got in the driver’s seat and Jonah opened his door.
“Hey, give me a second, I’m gonna say goodbye to Bridget.”
I nodded.
He bounded up the trailer stairs and ducked inside. A minu
te later, he emerged and got in.
“I wish she was coming,” he said.
“Yeah, pretty sure a heavy-with-child Bridge would annihilate us within the first hour.”
Jonah laughed but he didn’t disagree.
“You guys seem pretty happy,” I observed.
Jonah grinned like a little kid. “Yeah, she’s a fascinating girl.”
“That’s refreshing,” I told him.
He looked at me. “Why?”
I shook my head at the memories. “All my friends back home couldn’t describe Bridge as anything other than hot. I beat more than my fair share of asses.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little bit pleased to hear that.”
I nodded.
“So, uh, how have you been doing lately?” he asked with pity in his voice.
“Come on, Jonah, don’t do that.”
“What!? We’re just worried about you is all.” When Jonah used the word “we,” it drove me nuts. Not because it was him and Bridge. Well, maybe it was a little bit because of that, but mostly it was because “we’s” meant two people, and I very much felt like one person. “You’re not acting yourself and it’s starting to freak us out.”
I exhaled through my nose. “At the McAllen auction I told her I didn’t want to be her backup. I told her I wanted all of her or nothing.”
Jonah swallowed. “And she didn’t…”
“Are we together?” I shouted.
“Right, well, I’m sorry.”
I tapped the steering wheel in frustration. “Yeah, me too.”
The truth is, Bridge and I could have left Hunt Ranch if we’d wanted to, but she liked being there, and then there was the whole Jonah thing. Plus, the Hunts, well, all the Hunts except for Cricket, thought we didn’t have money, and even then, Cricket didn’t know exactly how much we really did have. I could have left almost immediately after my dad found out we were there, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave a life where I could see Cricket every day. Even if it did mean it was torture.
The campsite was at Hungry Horse Reservoir and was teeming with people; some had already pitched their tents and had fires going. I pulled in next to a few trucks and we unloaded the bed, deciding to set up our tents nearest to the water. When we were done, we gazed out into the reservoir.
“Jonah!” someone yelled from behind us making us twist around.
“Hi, Finley,” he said, cheerfully.
Finley was a pretty girl, tall, around five foot eight. She had a sort of bronze complexion, even her hair was a rusty color. She gave Jonah a side hug.
“Fin, this is Spencer. Spencer, Finley.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand.
“A pleasure,” she said, with a sweet smile, taking my hand.
That’s when I noticed someone was playing some old school Our Lady Peace. I loved Our Lady Peace. My gaze traveled around the campsite to find the source. Cricket was rocking out to “Automatic Flowers,” one foot perched on the bench of a picnic table and she was nerdily playing air guitar while singing at the top of her lungs. Four other girls about her age were singing along with her. Oh my God, why do you have to be so freaking amazing?
She was wearing worn cutoffs mid-thigh and shin-length combats with the tops unlaced and a baggy t-shirt. Her hair was bone straight and the edges looked razor fringed. She was so unbelievably sexy and obviously not trying at all.
“...around here?” I heard to my left.
My head whipped Finley’s direction. “I’m sorry?”
“I was asking why I hadn’t seen you around here before.”
“Oh,” I said, trying not to focus on Cricket. “I’ve been busy on the Hunt Ranch.”
“Are you one of their hands?” she asked.
“You could say that,” I said, feeling sort of proud to wear the badge.
“Cool.”
“Um, are you from this area?”
“Yup, born and raised,” she answered.
“Finley and I were classmates,” Jonah added. “She was in Cricket and Ethan’s class.”
The mention of their names together made me want to jump in the reservoir and sink to the bottom. “Nifty.”
Finley laughed. “Yeah, nifty.”
I eyed her sarcastically.
“Ethan and I got along great,” she said, “but Cricket hated my guts.”
“Not this again,” Jonah laughed, sitting down on a nearby rock.
“What?” I asked.
“Finley had, uh, well…”
“I had a crush on Ethan in high school,” she admitted.
“Oh,” I caught on.
“Anyway, so Cricket considered me her arch nemesis.”
“She really didn’t, Fin,” Jonah corrected her.
“I know when a girl doesn’t like me,” she said, tucking her hands in the front pockets of her jeans.
Jonah shook his head.
“I know Cricket pretty well,” I said, “and I seriously doubt she’s ever hated anyone ever.”
She nodded. “You’re right. ‘Hate’ is a strong word. Let’s just say, she wasn’t a fan,” she laughed.
We all looked over at Cricket and the group of girls. “Who are they?” I asked.
“Those are a couple girls from our class,” Finley answered.
“Those five girls were the biggest troublemakers in our high school,” Jonah said, shifting a foot onto the rock and resting his arm on his knee.
“Like how?” I asked, curious.
“Besides the random times they broke the law, they broke so many hearts in the halls of our school, I was surprised the walls didn’t melt.”
“That’s hilarious,” I said.
“Fin used to hang with them a lot too.”
“Sometimes,” she said.
“Come now, Fin, you’ve broken more than your fair share of hearts.”
“Not really,” she said, staring at Ethan.
Huh.
Finley brightened all of a sudden. “You guys going swimming later?” she asked.
“Swimming?” I asked, aghast. “In this weather?”
Jonah laughed. “There are a few hot springs nearby. We like to chill in there and throw back a few.”
“Wow, hadn’t expected that little bonus. The only shorts I brought are cargo shorts.”
“You’ll be fine,” Finley said. “Trust me.”
After dinner, everyone got their suits on and I put on my cargo shorts and we headed up to the springs with a cooler and a radio. I couldn’t believe how rad it was that they had hot springs in Montana. I joined everyone a little late, and most were already in the springs, which made it all the more embarrassing because when I came strolling up with my towel, all the girls came to the edge of the pool to say hello.
“Spencer! Over here!” Finley said, leaning over the edge a little and waving me over.
My eyes searched the pools for Cricket, but I couldn’t find her in the crowd of thirty or so. I walked over to where Finley was and set my stuff down on the rocky edge of the spring pool.
“These are some friends of mine,” she said, gesturing to the gaggle of girls lining the pool with her. “They’ve expressed a desire to meet you,” she said, winking and smiling.
I shook my head a little. “Nice to meet you all,” I said, waving.
“This is Sarah,” Finley began at the far left.
I bent down and shook Sarah’s hand.
“Ava, Grace, Faith, Clementine, and Eliza.”
I shook each hand in turn.
“Very nice to meet you all.”
They all floated in silence as if waiting on something when it dawned on me that they were waiting for me to get in. I pulled off my shirt and tossed it with my towel. When I turned around their mouths were agape.
“What?” I asked.
“N-nothing,” Finley said, her eyes wide.
I got in with them and they situated me in the center of their line, then fanned around me. They asked me
question after question about life in L.A., if I was going to stay in Montana, etc.
“I can’t stay,” I told them.
“Why not?” Finley said.
“I just-I can’t stay.”
“Oh,” Finley said, “you hate us,” she teased.
“No!” I insisted. “I think Montana is one of the best places on Earth and I’ve been all around the world. The people here are so amazing. It’s just that I, uh, need to finish school,” I lied.
“Maybe you could come back afterward,” Ava offered.
“Probably not,” I said.
“You got a girl back home or something?” Faith asked.
“No, not at all. I could never date any other type of girl than a Montana girl,” I charmed. “They will leave a lasting impression on me,” I laid on thickly.
They all aww’ed which made me laugh.
“So it’s settled then,” Eliza ribbed. “Spencer will have to come back to Montana.”
“Yes,” they all chimed in, clapping their hands and being very girly.
God, I’ve missed girls, I thought. Maybe that’s all you need is a little feminine attention to help you get over Cricket.
Just then Cricket walked toward our pool and I almost sank completely into the hot spring muttering “hummina-hummina-hummina.”
“Here comes Cricket,” Faith said, waving her over.
Cricket smiled and made her way straight for our pool. She wore a vintage forties cherry red one-piece that tied in a bow at the breasts. Her hair was up in a scarf and tied jauntily just below the crown. I wanted to die. How in the hell can this girl rock a one-piece better than any string I’ve ever seen in L.A.? When she saw me, her face fell and there was a slight hitch in her step but no one but myself noticed. Her smile picked back up and she stood at the outline of the pool.
“Hello, ladies!”
They all blasted her with cheery hellos while I could only stare at her.
“Come in!” Faith said to her.
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” she said, looking at me. “It looks like you guys got a good thing going here. I’m just running back to the site for a few more drinks.”
She turned and waved goodbye before they even had a chance to reply.
“See what I mean?” Finley asked, startling me.
“Huh?”
GREED (The Seven Deadly Series) Page 22
