The Weston Front

by Gray Gardner

  Picking up my pace, I actually thought I’d beaten him to our cabin when I felt his hand grab my shoulder again. When I just paused, nose to the wooden door, he gently spun me around and peered down at me. He looked less frowny and more confused. I could only assume he was accustomed to girls chasing after him, not the other way around.

  “No more solo outings, okay?” he stated, waiting for a reply.

  “Okay,” I nodded, feeling a little trapped as his body and glare pinned me to the door. I reminded myself to breathe and exhaled through my mouth, a real way to catch a man, I know, but he was still staring at me.

  He suddenly took a step backwards, off of the porch, and then gave that sly, corner-of-his-mouth-up grin. Then he was gone. No goodbye or any variation. He just turned and disappeared into the night.

  “How comeyou can walk alone at night?” I muttered, pressing the touch pad by the door with my thumb. I heard the lock disengage and had just walked inside the western style decorated cabin when the touch screen on the wall by our kitchen blinked and chimed.

  Waving my fingers over it I jumped back as Kelly’s frantic face suddenly appeared.

  “Blake? Oh good, there you are. Jeez, Sweetie, I’m sorry I didn’t escort you back to your cabin! I thought you were coming to the campfire! I…”

  “Kelly,” I interrupted, trying not to laugh at her. She looked pretty funny with her serious face so close to the camera, though. “It’s fine, really. I was just a little tired. I’ll keep you abreast of my plans from now on, okay?”

  I could actual see her relax and peered back over my shoulder. Had that guy called her so quickly to say that I’d been unattended? The thought unnerved me more than getting carried off into the night by a moose.

  “I hope…I mean, you’re not in trouble, right?” I cautiously asked. If that guy, whatever his name was, had gotten her in trouble with the boss he would get an earful from me, that was for sure. “Did someone…”

  “No! No!” She quickly grinned, though it looked forced. “Is there anything I can get you tonight before you go to bed?”

  She sounded like a servant. I uncomfortably shook my head and signed off with her after she promised to never leave me alone again. That didn’t sound as great as she thought it did, unfortunately.

  Chapter Two

  My sleep was restless but I still managed to get six hours in. Shuffling out into our little kitchen as the sun pierced the high angular windows in the trusses, I was surprised to find Caroline making coffee.

  “Am I going to have to make myself a little more decent?” I leadingly asked, pulling my navy tank top around my body and adjusting my navy pajama pants with little hearts on them.

  “Nah,” she grinned, pouring two cups and handing me one. “Rowdy dropped me off last night because today is our first day! We gotta get a good start. And by the way, you caused a little concern last night by skipping the campfire.”

  “So I was told.”

  “By whom?” she asked, following me as I pushed open a glass sliding door and walked out into the cool morning air on the wooden deck.

  Caroline came around me and sat on the white brick ledge of our little fire pit.

  “One of the hosts escorted me back here with a scolding to remind me not to walk alone,” I smirked, sipping my coffee as the smell of grass and pine and plain fresh air swept around us.

  “Which one?” she grinned, loving that I’d gotten into trouble, I’m sure. She’d been the bad one growing up.

  “The angry one who knows he’s so damned good looking,” I sighed, rolling my eyes as I thought about the way he could stare right through me. I shrugged my shoulders up to my ears and exhaled heavily as goose bumps spread across my skin.

  “Wha…wait a minute,” she said, dropping her white mug on the ledge, almost breaking it as she held out her hands. “You like a guy?”

  “No!” I quickly replied, frowning. “I don’t even know who he is…”

  “Who the fuck cares?” she squealed, now smiling. “God, Blake, I haven’t heard you talk about a guy since that Ass Face! Do you realize that?”

  I opened my mouth to dispute, but couldn’t find anything to say. She was right. I didn’t think I’d ever look at a guy again the way I had with Dan. I gulped my hot coffee and stared out at the pine trees and devastatingly blue sky.

  “Come on,” Caroline suggested quietly, noting the pensive look on my face. “Let’s go get a muffin and check out the stables. I bet the trail rides are breathtaking.”

  Nodding, we quickly changed and I met her out in the front of the cabin. From head to toe she looked like the quintessential rodeo queen. Detailed pockets on tight dark jeans, skin-hugging western style tan and pink shirt, and pointy black boots. She grinned and shoved her phone into her pocket when I joined her and we began walking.

  “Ah, the ranch outfit.”

  “Well, we’re at a ranch, right?” I asked, pulling my hat a little lower over my eyes. I knew what she meant, though. We were on vacation at a very exclusive, ritzy guest ranch and I was wearing what I always wore when we went out to my ranch back in Texas.

  Old baseball hat; I have pale skin so I need it. Hair in low pigtails; it’s the only way to keep it out of my way when I wear my hat. Faded t-shirt; today I was wearing a worn green one with a white four leaf clover and the name of some pub that had half washed off. Designer jeans; I may not act like I care, but I am a girl and I do have a million pairs of jeans and this particular pair make my ass look hot. Worn brown boots; I think I bought those things during the Clinton administration.

  We grabbed a complimentary muffin in the little coffee shop in its own cabin next to the main buildings, and then walked towards the large, dark red stables trimmed in white. A pasture spreading beyond the stables held a number of horses grazing lazily, while in front of the stables a huge arena was penned in by a large fence. People were gathering around it when we approached.

  “What’s going on?” Caroline asked, tossing half of her cranberry muffin into a hidden trashcan by some wooden bleachers.

  I quickly stuffed the remainder of my blueberry muffin into my mouth as we tried to see beyond the guests and into the arena.

  “One of the hosts is going to do a quick bull riding demonstration,” a woman with blond curly hair replied, following the crowd and grabbing onto the sturdy horizontal metal poles that fenced in the ring. She, like everyone else, was sporting ritzy ranch attire. I thought about reconsidering my wardrobe for half a second, and then decided I just wanted to wear what I felt like.

  Caroline and I quickly followed the others and gripped the rail, climbing up to the top, which was about six feet in the air. We straddled and sat with about ten others, getting a birds’ eye view of a few of the cowboys wrangling a bull into a tight pen. One of them straddled the fence like us, waving his hat as we cheered. This was exciting.

  As the host settled himself onto the hunching back of the angry red bull, I suddenly felt two hands wrap around my waist and pull me off of the top rail of the fence. I let out a short squeal as I was startled and then a grunt as I was set on the second row of bench seats in the bleachers. Looking up and squinting in the sunlight I found none other than the scolding smoldering cowboy. I immediately pressed my thighs together as my skin prickled.

  Today it was a starched white pearl snap shirt, snug but not too tight worn jeans, and that old cowboy hat. His hands were on his hips as he peered down at me, lips pressed tightly together. What could I have possibly done before 10:00 am?

  “Good morning,” I said in a small voice, watching the man bounce around on the bull in the arena. Caroline looked over her shoulder at us, but was quickly distracted as Rowdy jumped up and leaned on the rail next to her.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” A cheery, heartfelt greeting.

  I pulled my eyes away from the bull rider and looked up at him curiously. “Well, I was watching the bull riding…”

  “On top of the railing?” he asked, gesturing at s
aid rail where I’d committed the heinous offense.

  I frowned and looked at the now fifteen or so guests perched on top of the rail, clapping and cheering on the cowboy as he brushed sand off of his chaps and jumped out of the way of the bucking bull. It didn’t seem like rule breaking if everyone was doing it and their hosts were in attendance.

  “Best seat in the house,” I grinned, trying not to sound as intimidated as I felt by his glare. The sun cast a shadow under the brim of his hat, but I could still see the intensity in his eyes.

  “Where’s Kelly?” he abruptly asked, seemingly unable to say anything if it wasn’t in the form of a question.

  I half shrugged as I folded my hands in my lap, replying, “I dunno.”

  He stopped looking around and turned his head back down to me. “Don’t sit up there anymore. It’s really dangerous,” he ordered, waiting for me to protest with his arms folded over his broad chest.

  “But everyone else is…”

  “You could get hurt if you fell off. Trampled or a head injury or even worse,” he snapped. “If you want to watch, you sit here.”

  I wanted to argue but I couldn’t really find a valid point to make. He was right, of course, and my only argument was that everyone else was doing it. Was he going to scold all of them, too?

  “D’you hear me?”

  Nodding, I turned my head back to the arena, view obstructed by the horizontal railing and everyone’s backs, and leaned over to rest my chin on my hands, elbows on my knees.

  “Good girl,” he smirked, turning and walking away. What was I, a dog? I scowled as I watched him walk towards what I could only assume was the barn, then turned back to the bull riding going on again in the arena.

  “Hey Blake, get up here!” Caroline called, waving me over as Rowdy smiled briefly at me, his eyes quickly turning back to her.

  My eyes guiltily turned towards the empty dirt path that led to the large barn behind the stables, then to my friend. I sprung off of the bleachers to the hard packed dirt and walked back over to the railing. The familiar smell of sand, grass, and manure wafted over me as the bull raced past us and everyone gasped and then cheered.

  “There you are!” Kelly breathlessly greeted, stopping next to me and catching her breath. She brushed a wisp of blonde hair under her hat and I caught a whiff of stale alcohol. Ah, Kelly had been partying the night before, totally understandable. “You weren’t in the Dining Cabin…”

  “We went to the café and just grabbed a little something,” I said, trying to watch the action through the railings. I turned and put my hand up on the top rail when she took my arm in her hand and pulled it back.

  “This is almost over. What would you like to do the rest of the day?”

  I frowned in confusion at her preventative, but subtle arm grab and wondered if that guy had actually told her to not let me climb the rail. Sighing and adjusting my hat, I smiled as Caroline jumped down next me, Rowdy not far behind.

  “We thought we’d go riding,” Caroline said, nodding at the stables.

  “Great!” Kelly said, leading the way with a smile pasted onto her face. Whatever. We approached the barn’s large, open shotgun passage between the small stalls and shuffled over scattered hay as we watched the cowboys cheerfully saddle the horses.

  “Y’all marked that you’re experienced riders?” Rowdy leadingly said, nodding towards the horses at the end of the stables.

  “We both grew up riding,” Caroline shrugged, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her tight skinny jeans, drawing attention to her ass. “We’re not experts or anything.”

  “It’s more experience than the box that says, ‘never even seen a horse’ on the questionnaire and we have the release forms y’all signed,” Rowdy grinned, opening the gate on the last stall and leading out a beautiful chestnut brown quarter horse. “This here is Lady Frances.”

  “Aren’t you beautiful?” Caroline asked, running her hand over the large cheek of the horse.

  Kelly pulled an equally stunning chocolate brown horse with white legs out of the next pen.

  “And this is Maverick,” she offered, as I reached forward and ran my hand down the shiny coat of the gelding. I smiled as I looked over at Caroline. This horse reminded me of my own, but he’d died of old age pretty recently.

  “I think they need to ride the horses everyone else is riding.”

  I jerked forward and sucked in my breath. Turning my head, I foundhim standing there in the doorway, the sunlight behind him making it difficult to see any of his facial features in the darker stables.

  “Of course,” Kelly nodded abruptly, leading Maverick back into his stall. I frowned as Rowdy did the same with Lady Frances.

  “But, we’re experienced with horses. We even know how to saddle them,” Caroline began, releasing a huff of laughter letting the bossy cowboy know he was being ridiculous.

  “It’s alright,” Rowdy soothed, holding his hand out towards the other end of the stable where the fat old horses awaited their nervous riders. “We can get y’all on Chubs and Sparkles.”

  “Chubs and Sparkles?” I repeated, glaring over at that cowboy who always seemed to sneak up on me like a ninja. He simply glared back and folded his arms across his chest again; ready to argue if that’s what I wanted.

  Instead I chickened out and swung my leg up and over Chubs, the fattest gray and white spotted horse I’d ever seen. We started out at a slow crawl, Caroline and Rowdy talking animatedly ahead as they wove through the tall pines and out into knee high swaying grass every now and then. Kelly rode her Palomino next to me, comfortable with the silence as she stared out into the distance.

  This wasboring. I yawned as we slowly approached the top of a rolling hill, then pulled on the reins and took in the view. The hills rolled into flat plains on my left, and were flanked by pine trees and taller rocky hills on my right. I saw a trail leading up the rocky hill and smiled at Kelly.

  “That trail is for the advanced riders,” she said apologetically.

  “Screw that,” Caroline called, kicking her horse into a slow trot. “We’re going because we know what the hell we’re doing!”

  Rowdy was on her tail as I gripped the reins on my horse and tried to kick him into gear. Kelly was quickly at my side grabbing the cracked leather reins into her hand. She shook her head at me.

  “Sorry. We can’t.”

  “But, wait,” I sputtered, pointing at Caroline and Rowdy disappearing into the trees. This wasn’t fair. I frowned at Kelly but she was looking pretty uncomfortable. I sighed and relaxed in the saddle. It wasn’t her fault that the smoldering cowboy was so unreasonable about safety. I wondered if he would scold Caroline and Rowdy when they returned.

  The horses slowly clopped back towards the stable at an agonizing pace. My ass vibrated halfway there so I quickly dropped the reins and pulled out my phone. This fat horse wasn’t going anywhere.

  Hey where did u go?

  Sorry. Kelly said we had to go back.

  I thought u were right behind us.

  Nope. See you after lunch? I want to try the 4 wheelers.

  Totally! And BTW was that bossy guy the one u think is so hot?

  I don’t think he’s hot!

  Sure, and I’m not going to screw Rowdy until he can’t walk straight.

  Shaking my head, I pushed my phone back into my pocket and picked up the reins, smiling at Kelly. We handed the horses over to the cowboys at the stable and began walking to the Dining Cabin. I had nothing to say but she didn’t seem to mind the silence. What I really wanted was to be alone, but I somehow didn’t think she was supposed to just leave me.

  “I’m just going to grab a sandwich and eat it back at my cabin. You know, put my feet up before the afternoon.”

  “Great,” she replied, standing in the food line with me and grabbing a paper wrapped sandwich like I had. “I’ll walk you back.”

  “It’s not necessary,” I began, pushing out of the glass door and heading down the path. I’
d thought my tone had exhibited at least a hint of finality, but apparently that wasn’t my strong suit.

  “It’s no trouble, really,” she grinned, opening her chicken salad on wheat toast and taking a big bite.

  I inwardly rolled my eyes and peeled the wrapper off of my steak and veggie on a French roll. Taking a bite, I chewed as I thought about how weird it was that the hosts not only had to shadow you the whole time but also had to forcefully commit themselves to your safety.

  “Rowdy and Caroline won’t be in trouble, will they?” I asked, taking another bite.

  “Nah,” she replied, wiping the corner of her mouth with her fingertip and not looking at me.

  “But…we would have?” I asked incredulously.

  “Oh yeah,” she nodded, swallowing harder than I thought she needed to.

  I chewed and swallowed thoughtfully before I spoke again. “It doesn’t seem like the other groups here have one host per person.”

  “Yeah, the boss wants some guests to each have their own unique experience so sometimes that means a pair or group get more than one host,” she answered, concentrating on her sandwich.

  I frowned and added, “We only had one host when we got here.”

  “The boss saw the two of you and figured you’d need your own keepers,” she said, eyeing me and quickly adding, “I mean, Caroline seems to be having a fantastic time with Rowdy, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded, sighing. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”

  “Exactly,” Kelly laughed, taking another bite.

  I thought about the large Santa Claus man who had given us the welcome speech when we’d arrived. So he thought, upon seeing us, that Caroline needed Rowdy all to herself and that I needed a blonde cowgirl to be at my beck and call? I guess I should have felt offended but I didn’t. The only thing I felt was a little sad. Caroline always seemed to get her way and have everything just fall into her lap so effortlessly. And then there was me, left in her wake and totally bored. It was just the way things had always been, so why did I ever think it would be any different?