Dirty Cowboy

by Alycia Taylor

  “Pancakes and waffles? This is like a dream come true.”

  “I wanted you to have something special. But if you’d prefer bacon and eggs I can do that too.”

  I looked at Terra and smiled. “This is amazing. I’m more than happy with this. Thank you. You’re going to make a great wife one day.”

  “Ha! That’s if anybody wants me to be their wife.”

  “Actually, if I don’t meet anyone by the time I’m thirty, I might just marry you.”

  She beamed. “That’s a great idea. That gives us about four years to meet the man of our dreams. If not, at least we’ll have each other.”

  “You know, only you could make me feel better after losing my house to a fire. You’ve actually made me smile.”

  People always said that you learned more about someone when you suffered a tragedy than when you were celebrating something. I was starting to see how true that was.

  “I feel awful for you, Em. Also, I happen to know that food is the best way to help you forget about your problems. It’s why the two of us are such good friends.”

  “I appreciate this, Terra.”

  After eating far too much for breakfast, I made my way to what remained of my house. I thought I’d be okay but the closer I got, the more nervous I found myself getting. I could smell the smoke all the way down the road, and when I got to the house, I gasped. I hadn’t realized how bad it was last night as it had been dark. But now, in the clear light of day, I saw how much was ruined. A small part of me had hoped that the house would be salvageable, but now I could see that there was no way it would ever be like it was before. It was ruined. Completely ruined. I sat in the car for a long time, not daring to go out, and wondering if I would ever discover what had happened. How could a house be standing one minute and then burned to the ground the next? How could this happen to me?

  When I eventually got out of the car, my legs were unsteady, and I had to take a few deep breaths before finally allowing myself to go inside. I walked in and put my scarf over my mouth. The smell of smoke was still strong, and it was already burning my lungs. I slowly made my way around the ruins, looking to see if there was anything I could find. In my bedroom, I pulled out a box where I’d stored all my old photos. I said a silent prayer before looking inside and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that most of the photos were still intact. Somehow the box had gotten wedged under the bed, and under a pile of blankets, and was saved. Those photos now seemed even dearer to me than before. I’d been meaning to get them all scanned and saved onto a computer, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I was now determined to get that done as soon as possible. I couldn’t believe how close I had come to losing them all. I sat there for several minutes, just looking through the photos. I held onto the box and made my way through the house, picking up anything that I thought I could save. A few things had somehow made it through the fire, but many things were completely unrecognizable. Things that I’d once thought so important, now no longer existed.

  Suddenly I heard footsteps, and I froze in place. Who on earth would be in the house with me? Perhaps looters had come to see what they could take. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was just Grant from next door. And then my heart rate increased again when I realized how nervous he made me feel.

  “You scared me. I thought someone was coming to attack me or something.”

  “I’m so sorry. I saw your car and figured you were inside. How are you doing today?” he said gently.

  For a man that was so big, he sure seemed lovely. His dark green eyes shone with compassion. I had been so overwhelmed the night before that I hadn’t really taken note of how good looking he was. But up close, he was gorgeous.

  “I’m okay. I guess. I don’t know. This is all so weird,” I said and looked around. “It’s not like you can ever truly prepare for something like this. It takes you by surprise.”

  “I’m sure. I can’t even begin to imagine how this must feel. Did you salvage anything?”

  I held up the box. “A box of photos. This means more to me than a lot of things here. I mean, so many of these things are replaceable, or just unnecessary. It’s actually weird looking at everything and thinking about how important they were to me only a day before this. Now they’re just burned away to a crisp, and I don’t care about them. People are strange creatures don’t you think? Sorry, I’m talking nonsense. Ignore me. I’m not myself at the moment.” I couldn’t believe how nervous this man was making me. There was something about the intensity of his eyes that made me battle to breathe.

  “Of course you’re not. And don’t apologize. I’m glad you found your photos. You should scan them and get them saved onto a computer somewhere. And back up those files too. Just in case.”

  I smiled. Was this man reading my mind? “Yeah, I was just thinking that, actually.”

  “So,” he said, looking around. “Is there anything that I can help you with? Are you looking for anything in particular?”

  “Oh, no. You really don’t have to worry. I’m just going to take a look around,” I said. It wasn’t true. I had been looking for something in particular, but I felt bad asking him to help me. I barely knew the man.

  He shook his head. “No way, I want to help you. Tell me what it is. Honestly, I don’t have anything to do today, and I came in here to help you.”

  “Thank you. That’s very nice of you. I’m looking for my gran’s diary. It’s the only thing I have of hers. It’s the most beautiful book you’ll ever see. And not just the book itself, but the things she wrote inside. She could’ve been a writer. But I can’t find it anywhere.”

  “What does it look like?”

  “It’s leather bound, about the size of a normal diary, but really thick. The pages looked like they were brushed in gold when you closed the book. And on the front the name ‘Emily’ was etched.”

  “Emily? She had the same name as you?”

  I smiled. “Well, I had the same name as her. Yeah.”

  “We’re going to find it,” he said and started searching. Despite being daytime, some parts of the house were dark, and I watched in fascination as he got out his flashlight and looked around. He didn’t even hesitate; he just went right in to help me. I wasn’t used to men like that. It was nice.

  We searched for about half an hour, and I was just about to give up when he shouted with excitement. “I found it!”

  “What? You did?” I said and ran up to meet him.

  He held out the book, which didn’t look damaged at all. In fact, it was one of the only items in the whole place that didn’t seem to be all that affected. “This it?” he asked.

  The tears came streaming down my face, and without thinking, I went over and hugged him. His big arms wrapped around me, and I could literally feel his muscles through his shirt. It felt good to have someone so solid to hold onto, and I almost didn’t let go. But, then I realized that I was hugging a man I barely knew, and I quickly pulled away.

  “Thank you so much, Grant. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.”

  He seemed taken aback by the hug. “Oh, uh . . . it’s a pleasure. Can I help you with anything else?”

  I shook my head. “I think I have what I need. The rest is just stuff.”

  We walked out of the house, and I put everything that I’d taken into the car. It wasn’t much considering it was once a house filled to the brim with things. But at least I had my photos and my gran’s diary. From that, I was already feeling better about the situation. If those things had gone, I was sure I’d have been a mess.

  “You’re a very positive person; you know that?” Grant said to me.

  I chuckled. “I’m not really. But my best friend is. It must be rubbing off.”

  “No, you are. And you’re taking this so well.”

  I laughed. “I haven’t. I’m just not too good at showing my emotions to other people. But thank you for saying that. I think I’m starting to realize more and
more what is important in life and what isn’t. It sucks that it took something like this to show me, though.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, but don’t let that get you down. We take things for granted because we don’t suffer on a daily basis. We’re lucky that we get the chance to take things for granted. I’m just sorry that you had to go through this. I’m just glad you’re okay at least.”

  “Thank you. Me too. So, how are you enjoying small town life? Is it driving you crazy yet?” I only asked because I’d seen a lot of city cats come to this small farming community, and before I could blink, they’d be gone. It was a great life, but it wasn’t for everyone.

  He smiled. “Surprisingly, I’m loving it. I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much. It’s weird to go from city life and working in an office all day to being outdoors all day long. But it’s a good sort of weird, for sure. It’s just the type of break that I needed. But there’s something about this place. It’s doing me a world of good. But, other than working on the farm, I haven’t been out much.”

  “Brady is not really one for going out as far as I know,” I said, and Grant laughed.

  “Tell me about it. Clearly you guys all know what he’s like. I wish he’d go out more, but I guess you can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to. He’s more of a homebody than I ever remembered him to be. But he seems happy, so I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it. And even though I’m enjoying myself, I wouldn’t mind a night out.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I love what I do, but it’s good to disconnect sometimes.”

  “On that note,” he said and grinned at me. “Any chance you’re free on Saturday?”

  “Oh, I think I’ll be free for a while,” I said and looked at the house.

  “Sorry, goodness, I’m such an idiot!”

  “No, no! I didn’t mean that. I was just joking. Which I realize now didn’t sound like a joke at all.”

  “Then dinner is on me. I’d love to take you out.”

  I grinned. “Thank you. I’d invite you over to my house, but . . .”

  He laughed. “I can’t believe we’re laughing at that.”

  “Hey, if we don’t laugh we’ll cry. Saturday sounds lovely.”

  We exchanged a few details, and I made my way back to the car. I was feeling a mixture of emotions, ranging from complete devastation to elation. It was strange. But I was glad that Grant had come to my rescue. When I got back to Terra’s house, I called her to tell her what had happened and she burst out laughing.

  “Why are you laughing?” I said.

  “Because it only took your entire house burning down for the two of you to finally start talking to each other.”

  Chapter Nine

  Grant

  “I still can’t believe that Emily’s house burned down. I feel so bad for her,” Brady was saying at breakfast that morning. “That’s just not the sort of thing you ever think is really going to happen to you.”

  “Tell me about it,” I said. “Imagine your whole life coming down in flames like that.”

  “You must’ve seen a few of those, though.”

  “Not so much. In fact, this was my first time helping out the guys. So far they’ve only been showing me the ropes. This was my first mission with them. It was pretty surreal.”

  “Weren’t you freaking out?”

  “It’s weird. I thought I would be. But when you’re in the middle of the chaos, you sort of just go with the flow. It’s like your mind blanks out the danger, and you just concentrate on getting the job done. It’s only afterward when you realized how close you were to death yourself. It’s really something.”

  “I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Those guys are amazing, though. I’m surprised they let me help out so quickly. But I’m glad I did.”

  “They obviously know they can trust you. And they probably see that you’re good at the job. Some people just have a knack for these things. You know, if it wasn’t for you the fire might have spread to my house. So thanks, man. I was actually thinking of that last night and realized I never thanked you.”

  “Ah, it’s not me. I’m sure you would’ve called the fire department yourself if I hadn’t been here. But I’m glad it didn’t spread. Sometimes those things get out of control. That’s probably the worst part of it.”

  “Do you think anything in that house is salvageable? It doesn’t look like it from the outside. I took a quick peek in it when I got back, and it looks terrible in there.”

  “Yeah, it’s bad in there. Emily thankfully managed to get a few things that she really wanted. She got a box of photos and a diary of her gran’s, and I think she was happier about that than anything else. Like she said, the rest is just stuff. Although, if you ask me, I’m amazed at how calm she was throughout the whole thing. It’s quite impressive. She’s got a very logical side to her that I’m not sure most people would have at a time like that.”

  “Yeah, I’d be a mess. Although maybe when it happens to you, it’s different. You’ll probably find she cried when nobody was watching or something,” Brady said. He was just about to take a bite of his toast when he suddenly looked up at me in confusion. “Hang on, how do you know all that about Emily? About the photos and the diary?”

  “Oh, I helped her the other morning. She came back the next day to see if she could get anything, and I went to help her. I actually found the diary for her. She’s a nice girl.”

  “Yeah, she seems sweet.”

  “Actually, I’ve asked her out on Saturday.” I tried to downplay it, but I was actually a lot more excited about the date then I cared to admit. I hadn’t stopped thinking about it since I’d asked her. I was surprised that she’d even said yes considering she’d hid behind her car the first day she saw me.

  “What? On a date?”

  I laughed. “I don’t know why that’s such a shock to you. Can’t a guy like me go on a date? You do realize that I’m only twenty-nine years old. You’re twenty-six. We should we going out more. Hard work is good, but it’s also good to get out and meet people.”

  Brady pulled a face. “No, it’s not that. It’s good that you’re going out. But, just be careful with the women from this town.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? I thought everyone in this community was nice and helpful.”

  “They are. But some of the women have a bit of a reputation. That’s all. I think they get bored sometimes because there’s not all that much to do around here. Some of them are involved in some things that they shouldn’t be involved in. And there was some story about two girls running around naked the one time. The descriptions seemed to fit Emily and her friend, Terra. Although I couldn’t be too sure.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the image of Emily running around naked. I was almost sure that it wasn’t her, but even if it was, it was pretty funny.

  “It sounds a bit like small-town gossip if you ask me,” I said.

  He sighed. “Maybe. But you haven’t been around here that long. Trust me; sometimes it’s better not to meddle with some of these people.”

  “Emily seems nice, though,” I said.

  “That’s also true. She’s been nothing but nice to me, and she does seem like one of the more innocent ones around here. Anyway, that’s just me being me. I don’t want to see my brother getting hurt.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. Not much can hurt me.”

  We dropped the subject, finished breakfast and then headed out to work for the day. We had a busy schedule, and at the end of the day we were meeting with the owner for a beer. It would be my first time meeting with him, and I wanted to make sure I was presentable. So after work, I rushed back to Brady’s house to shower and then quickly met back up with him.

  Harold Frank was an old man, with white hair and even whiter teeth. He oozed money despite his relaxed demeanor. He was very friendly, and I took an immediate liking to him.

  “It’s good to have more help at the ranch. I’m too old to help out now, and
I’ve been wanting to get someone else in for a long time. But I could never find anyone as good as Brady. I wanted someone that would come in and help him and not hinder him with a million questions on how to do what. When he told me that his own brother wanted to do some work on the ranch, I had to say yes. And from the sounds of it, you’re doing very well there. Seems like you fit right in.”

  “Thank you, Sir. I’m enjoying it. It’s a great place.”

  “Sir? Nonsense, call me Harold. And yes, it is a great place. There’s nothing quite like the cowboy life isn’t there?”

  I wanted to laugh. With his sparkling white teeth and expensive boots, he was the richest-looking cowboy I’d ever seen.

  “My brother here used to be a Navy SEAL. That’s where he gets his work ethic from.”

  I wanted to kick Brady under the table for bringing that up. That was another lifetime ago, and not something I liked to talk about too often. But I couldn’t be angry. Brady had no idea that it was a conversation I didn’t like having. Whenever he’d mentioned it in the past, I’d simply brushed it off or moved the conversation somewhere else. Thankfully, Harold didn’t seem to want to talk about it either. Either that, or he sensed that I was desperate for a change in topic. He simply lifted his hat toward me and thanked me for my service. And after that, he went straight back into talk about the ranch.

  After the beer, I decided to visit the fire station to hang out with the boys for a little while. I didn’t get much of a chance during the day, and after the beer, I wasn’t in the mood to sit around at home with Brady. I enjoyed his company, but I was a bit tired of doing the same thing every night after work.

  The boys seemed happy to see me and invited me to join them for pizza. They’d all ordered takeout, and they had plenty to spare. I called Brady to tell him that I wouldn’t be home for dinner and then sat down to join them.

  “Thanks for all the help the other day, Grant,” they said to me.

  “Thanks for letting me join you. It’s really something being out there.”

  “You’re made for this sort of work. I tell you what, most people think they want to be a fireman, but then they freak out when the time comes to actually go in there and do the job. It’s not easy, and I don’t blame them for freaking out. But I always say that it takes a certain person to do a job like this. And you’ve got what it takes. Come on, when are you going to join us full time?”