High-Riding Heroes

by Joey Light

  “I’d love to see a real working ranch.” And she would. But she didn’t know if she wanted to spend time with this man. She sensed she could learn a lot more about him and like him. But did she want to like him even more? She shrugged. She had found herself doing it again. Analyzing everything and making a problem out of it. A simple barbecue on a real working quarter horse ranch. It sounded like fun and it would be an education. Only she was making it a big deal. He had asked her so matter-of-factly that he couldn’t be considering it a date.

  “Then we’ll leave at three.” They walked into the hotel, through the quiet dining room, and, still shoulder to shoulder, up the stairs. At her door he paused. “Bathroom’s free for the rest of the night. You can indulge in one of your frothy baths without worry of being interrupted.”

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” she told him and pushed the door open to her room, not at all sure she wasn’t willing to take the chance of being interrupted. She caught a look at her flushed cheeks in the mirror.

  Inside his room, Wes leaned against the window frame and looked out over the town. Every time he began to feel really good about himself and Victoria, a certain fact made him feel guilty. He remembered Buck coming to him, the talk they had, and what he’d agreed to. And now, despite his resolve to remain seriously uninvolved with any woman for the rest of his life, he was sinking fast. And enjoying it. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his boots off. Shaking his head, he assured himself it would turn out all right. It had to.

  After spending the morning with Buck, arguing and cajoling and trying to be patient and understanding, they had come to a pretty good agreement about which repairs would be started first. At times Victoria felt that Buck was afraid of her. Afraid of the changes she was attempting to make. She tried her very best to allay his fears without coming right out and saying so.

  A trip to the costume trailer had Victoria happy about her outfit for the barbecue.

  Sally, graying hair tied back in a no-nonsense do, clucked and smiled and fitted the new mistress of Glory Town with one of her finest outfits.

  In front of the mirror, Victoria whirled, the full skirt flowing in a wide circle and then swishing to a whisper around her white boots. At the ankle of each boot was a narrow leather band adorned with silver conchoes. The outfit was done in a southwestern pattern of earth colors. Brown, beige, light green. The yellow off-the-shoulder gypsy-style blouse was threaded around the neckline and puffy sleeves with brown ribbon. Her hair was pulled back and up with barrettes. Around her throat lay a turquoise satin ribbon. She looked festive and felt as giddy as a girl on her first date.

  Wes appeared at her door dressed in a white dress shirt with stand-up collar and black jeans with wide black suspenders clipped behind the ever-present leather belt and hubcap-sized rodeo buckle. His belly-cut python boots looked amazingly real. He looked sharp and handsome. Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs. “Perfect,” he raised her hand to his lips. “Just perfect.”

  That made it look like a date…and feel like a date. Her subconscious mind taunted her. So what if it is a date? Is that the end of the world? Does that mean you have to have his children? Good grief. Just go and have fun.

  Joe let out a loud wolf whistle as they walked through the dining room and Victoria blushed.

  Instead of walking to the back lot for the truck, Wes led her to a buckboard that was waiting by the hitch rail. She let out a squeal as he hoisted her onto the seat before he walked around to jump up on the seat beside her.

  A flip of the reins, and they were on their way out of town.

  “This is a wonderful idea,” she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “But won’t we be late?”

  “Dinner’s actually at five.”

  She narrowed her eyes, “So you planned this surprise last night.”

  “It just sort of came to me.” He shrugged. “You’re always interested in seeing the real West. You’ll see it today. And from the same perch they saw it from.”

  He laughed softly. She was beautiful and her eyes were shining. He was glad he had thought of it. And the advertisement on the side would be good for business.

  The wagon rolled over the hill and down onto the macadam road. Wes merely watched as Victoria waved to the carloads of people that passed by. She chatted and he answered when an answer was called for. For the most part he just sat back and enjoyed. Enjoyed as he hadn’t had a chance to in a long, long time. He had long since convinced himself that the sound of a woman’s laugh added nothing to his life. He counted himself wrong.

  Two hours later, they pulled down a narrow lane. Victoria was reminded of some of the Westerns she had seen on TV and expected to hear the theme song from Bonanza any moment. Excitement coiled her stomach. Cars were parked on all sides of the lane, and the closer they got, the more she could smell the aroma of beef sizzling in the air.

  The huge ranch house rambled off to the left, low slung and white to fend off the heat. Four barns and miles of paddocks and green fields unfolded before her. Horses, all sizes and colors, grazed peacefully or ran and jumped.

  She could hardly contain herself. It was exactly like a book or a movie…except it was real.

  Wes tucked her arm through the crook of his elbow as they rode through the final set of wide, black iron gates. Guiding the wagon off to the side, he jumped down and came around to lift her to the ground. For a split second he held her in the air, her hands on his shoulders, her eyes smiling into his eyes. For a few moments, they were isolated and alone, then they were descended upon by the family and guests. Introductions and handshakes and back slaps made the full round. Victoria guessed, breathlessly, that there must have been two hundred people attending.

  It was then Victoria spotted a little girl wiggling through the legs of the grown-ups, dirty white dress flying, a spoon in her hand, eyes bright and excited. As Victoria thought what a beautiful little girl she was, the child ran right smack up to Wes. Her arms stretched into the air.

  “Daddy.”

  Wes reached down and scooped her up, twirling her over his head and settling her on his hip. The child squealed and held on for dear life. “My darlin’ Katie. What have you been doing to get so dirty?” Always amazed at her beauty and humbled by her open and trusting love, Wes held her close. Pride swelled his heart.

  Pleased, she held up her fist to show him the wide spoon. “Digging a hole. Cook says I can find China people if I dig deep. Wanna help me?” Then she turned to Victoria and said sweetly, “I’m four.” She uncurled four fat fingers from around the spoon to show her.

  “And quite a hole, I bet. I’ll help you in a little while. Right now I’d like you to meet a friend of mine.” After soundly kissing her soft little cheek, Wes turned his gaze back to Victoria and completed the introduction. “Victoria, my daughter.”

  Victoria took the little hand in hers and shook it. So this was his Katie. Relief. Victoria felt the floodgates that had been keeping her growing feelings for J. Weston Cooper at bay swing wide.

  She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

  “Nice to meet you, Katie. I’ll help you dig that big hole, too.” Victoria’s childhood flashed before her eyes. She had never been allowed to dig a hole or play in the dirt. If she had gotten a nice white dress like that dirty, she would have been in for a good scolding and a monumental guilt trip.

  Wes’s parents, looking young and fit for their age, made a fuss over Victoria. The guests treated her as if they had known her for years. Victoria thought she had never, even in Glory Town, seen so many Western hats and gingham blouses in one place in her life.

  A band played on a newly constructed stage-dance floor as couples whirled and swayed. Lights were strung waiting for dusk. Food. Food enough to feed an entire city was loaded down on dozens of picnic tables. Meat sizzled on twenty grills. Children ran everywhere, soaring on swings, jumping in and out of small wading pools. Katie stayed close to her father, rejecting the other childr
en when they begged her to come play.

  At dinner, Wes bounced Katie on his knee, trying to cut his steak at the same time. Victoria laughed and took his plate from him. “I’ll cut it. That way we can be sure we won’t end up calling nine-one-one for excessive bleeding.”

  Katie munched on a juicy hamburger, ketchup squeezing out to roll down into the cuff of her white sleeve. All the while her head was pressed back against Wes’s shoulder. She would look back and up from time to time and just smile at him. He would plant a kiss on her nose or the top of her head.

  She could never remember that kind of open affection being showered on her when she was little. First of all it wasn’t proper to be out of one’s chair while eating. Second, her father hadn’t lived long enough for her to know if he would have done that. She couldn’t remember. She didn’t think so.

  Her mother would have objected, saying it wasn’t proper to display affection in public.

  Victoria slid Wes’s plate back in front of him. As a thank you, he scooped up a forkful of salad greens and offered it to her. She wasn’t much for the blue cheese dressing he had poured so lavishly over top but she opened her mouth and took his offering.

  He watched as her mouth closed around his fork and listened closely as she sighed contentedly. He’d had only a brief taste of her the night before but it had rocked him. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to be rocked. The last time he had been, the result had been disastrous. Well, not entirely. Wes pulled Katie close to him and hugged her. He had his little Katie and he couldn’t imagine life without her.

  There was something different about Victoria. Today. Today, he saw it even more. She seemed more relaxed and happy than he’d ever seen her. Even though he knew she loved Glory Town, he had picked up on certain reservations that she held close to her. Right now, she was pulling on an emotion of his that he couldn’t quite name, that he hadn’t quite figured out yet.

  Needing to move around, to divert his thoughts, Wes set Katie’s little feet on the ground and took her hand. “Now, Katie, let’s take Victoria on a tour of the stables.”

  “I’ll show her the debil stallion.”

  “I told you, my sweet girl, that he’s not a ‘debil.’ He just needs special handling.”

  Katie looked up at her father with certainty. “Doc says he’s a debil. Says he’s mean and nasty.”

  Wes winked at Victoria. “Doc’s our foreman. He’s not big on diplomacy.”

  The three of them made the rounds of the stalls with Katie skipping out in front of them. The barns were clean, neat, and organized.

  Wes disturbed a very old, mangy dog when he stopped in front of the stallion’s stall. “This here’s Moe.” He crouched down to scratch the lazy dog’s ears.

  “He’s appointed himself watchdog and company to Skipper’s Cool Cash Two, one of our studs. On down there is the Three Bars stallion. All the horses in this barn are sired by one or the other.”

  And each one was a beauty. Victoria took the time to see them all. “Conformation is beautiful. Strong and sturdy.”

  “They train well for the speed events. Good hindquarters. Not like that sleek thoroughbred of yours.”

  She knew he was teasing and countered, “Only part thoroughbred. Enough quarter horse to make him passable.”

  Katie turned back to them, a half-wild cat squeezed to her chest. The cat wiggled to get away, claws catching Katie’s dress. Concerned, Victoria went to Katie and lifted the cat from her arms and quickly set it down when the claw made contact with her flesh.

  Katie giggled and Wes smiled at the two of them. “Don’t worry. It’s had its rabies shot.”

  Before Victoria could retort, Katie was off down the aisle streaking after the elusive cat.

  “They’re used to her.” Wes patted her shoulder. “Katie is every cat’s nemesis around here. They won’t hurt her.”

  “I like seeing you here in my barn, fretting over my daughter.”

  “Hadn’t we better be getting back to your guests?” They were in the open now and Katie was climbing up on the fence, her dress blowing in the breeze, her impatient feet bouncing up and down.

  “See the babies. See the babies!” she squealed.

  Joining her at the fence, Victoria looked out over the fields. The foals were running and bucking while the mothers grazed in the shade of the trees.

  They leaned arms on the fence. “The buckskin paint, none other like him. I call him Snake. Over there is Bandit, Vegas, and Cheyenne.

  The yellow mare there is Honey, that one Holly.” Pointing to the others, he identified each one.

  Victoria was impressed that the man knew the name of each and every horse in such a large-based stable and breeding operation. She liked a man who cared. And he did.

  Wes turned to Katie and she launched herself off the fence. “Swing me, Daddy. Swing me.”

  Wes obliged. Kicking up dust as he turned in circles, holding Katie under her arms, they laughed and the sound of it carried out across the sweet meadows.

  Victoria felt the yearnings from her own childhood drape over her. If she’d had the untethered love she saw before her, would her life have been different? Would her father have loved her with the freedom Wes loved his daughter? A faraway memory pushed to the front of her mind, but it was hazy, fuzzy, and unclear. It lingered at the edges, challenging her to remember. If her father had lived, would he have let her mother have all that control? In that very instant, Victoria learned that it was no one’s fault but her own. She, and she alone, had allowed her mother to control her. It had been easier. God. It had been easier.

  Katie’s squeals of delight stopped the moment Wes leaned against the fence in mock weakness. She pulled his face toward hers and kissed him on the jaw. “Again, Daddy. Again.”

  “Time we got back.” Still holding Katie on his hip, he extended his hand to Victoria. With only a moment’s hesitation, she took it.

  Later, Victoria had Katie sitting on her lap while they watched Wes pitch horseshoes with his dad and two other men. All four of the men bragged and teased and laughed. What a perfectly happy family. So open. So together. So at ease with each other. So close. Contented, Victoria rubbed her cheek against Katie’s soft hair.

  Wes’s mother joined them on the grass and handed Victoria a glass of tea and Katie a small cup of milk.

  “The men will be at this for hours.” She smiled at Victoria. “Katie doesn’t take to strangers very quickly but she sure seems to like you.”

  “I hope she does, Mrs. Cooper. She’s a delightful child.” Victoria looked around. “You certainly have a beautiful spread here. It’s a wonderful place for her to grow up.”

  “You haven’t seen the house yet, have you? Men don’t think of things like that. Katie, let’s show Victoria Grandma’s big kitchen. I saved a whole plate of gingerbread cookies for you and your daddy and they need the icing put on for the face.”

  Katie jettisoned out of Victoria’s lap, milk sloshing from her cup, to take Grandma’s hand, pulling her to a standing position. Victoria took the cup from her, holding the two glasses between her fingers.

  “Tory can help, too, Grandma?” Katie held hands with both women and swung their arms as she walked with stiff-legged, purposeful strides.

  Grandma laughed. “Of course, Tory can help, too.” She cast Victoria a wink.

  They walked across a huge patio and through one set of the three sliding glass doors.

  “Your turn, Wes.”

  Busy watching his mother, Katie, and Victoria ambling across the lawn, Wes forced his attention back to the game.

  They stepped into a huge, gleaming kitchen. It was almost as large as all of Glory Town. All Victoria could do was gape. “Wow!”

  “Big it is.” Mrs. Cooper looked around proudly. “We started out in a small log cabin on the back forty with one stallion and six mares. That was a long, long time ago. The one thing Tom promised me was that someday I would have the largest kitchen in Oklahoma. I held him to it.”

 
The walls were painted a creamy white, the curtains were a handsome burlap-type material done in yellow, brown, and turquoise stripes. The floor was simply black and white linoleum. Three wagonwheel chandeliers hung over a massively done center island where three ovens and four stoves and acres of countertop sat. Pots and pans, gleaming copper and stainless steel, lined three walls. A huge fireplace took up the other wall.

  Mrs. Cooper folded back four wooden slatted doors that opened into the dining room. Victoria counted fourteen chairs, six down each side of the mahogany table and two unique armchairs at each end. Candles and large paintings decorated the walls done in blue satin paper. “Beautiful.”

  “We entertain quite often now. There are several clients from out of town, buyers from overseas.”

  “It’s magnificent.” And it was. Victoria had always thought her sprawling home in the Virginia foothills was rambling, but it was a guest house compared to this. It was open and airy and not the least bit pretentious.

  A thick gray carpet covered most of the floor but hardwood gleamed from the edges. They moved through another set of doors and into the living room. It was sunken, the backs of the sofas and chairs coming only to the top of the floor they now stood on. Another massive fireplace of fieldstone stood beneath a portrait of the young Coopers. The furniture was dark pine, polished to blind. Huge windows, floor to ceiling, went unadorned with curtains, exposing an expansive view of the rolling, extensive fields and barns below.

  Going down the steps, Victoria stopped to admire the hand-woven Indian blankets that were spread along the tops of the sofas and hung on the walls. A warm room. Very warm. Love was here in every nook and cranny. Pictures in small Victorian frames snugged family members. Knickknacks, expensive and not, sat here and there on end tables and shelves.

  Huge brass lamps with night-lights in the bases sat on shiny cherry tables.

  Katie was getting bored. Victoria could tell because she had quit jabbering and was chewing on the hem of her skirt, which she had pulled into her mouth. Victoria bent down to her and asked, “Where’s Katie’s room?”