by Joanna Sims
“I was thinking you could get into the trailer and bray while I tried to move his feet.”
His suggestion made Bonita laugh again. “Wow. That’s quite an offer. I suppose I should find out how much it pays before I turn you down. How much does it pay?”
“Not much.”
Their eyes met and held as he continued.
“Now that our business is done for the day, I’d like to talk about that date you promised me.”
“A meal between two friends, if I recall the offer.” She said with a playful smile.
“I’d still like to take you to dinner. But, I was thinking I would take you out on my boat first.”
Bonita wanted to spend time with Gabe, and she knew that her mother would want her to go out and have a good time with him, too.
Evelyn would take joy in Bonita living her life. It was making her mom unhappy that the people she loved had put their lives on hold. As difficult as it was, making some attempt to fill her life with something other than her mother’s medical care would contribute to her mom’s happiness. But now, with her positive genetic test, Bonita was faced with an odd feeling of obligation to any man who seemed interested in her on a romantic level. When was it appropriate to share that kind of news with someone? After her experience with her longtime boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, Bonita believed that it was better to scare them off right away rather than allow her heart to get attached to them. Better to be sad now rather than devastated later.
“You never asked, but my mom has ALS,” Bonita said. “That’s why she’s in a wheelchair.” Gabe didn’t respond, so she clarified, “You may have heard it called Lou Gehrig’s disease.”
Gabe gave her a nod of understanding. She could see by his expression that he was trying to figure out where she was going with the conversation.
“She has a rare form of ALS. Familial ALS, which means, what’s happening to her...” Bonita stopped only because she was having difficulty saying the words out loud to someone she didn’t really want to scare away “...could happen to me.”
She watched his face very closely, trying to decipher every nuance of his reaction. The truth was, there wasn’t much there. He just looked at her like he always did—like he thought she was pretty.
“Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“I understood you,” he said with a bit of impatience for the question. “You could get sick down the road.”
She nodded.
“I suppose I’m more like a horse than a human because I like to deal with right now. Today. I’ll deal with the future when it gets here.”
That made her smile.
“So can you help me with the mule?” Gabe asked with a glimmer of humor in his eyes.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass on the mule training,” she told him. “But I will take you up on that boat ride offer.”
Their eyes met and held and Bonita had the strong feeling that Gabe was thinking about kissing her. He didn’t, but she could see it in the way his eyes had drifted, ever so briefly, to her lips.
“I’ll pick you up,” he said, but there was a question for her approval in his eyes.
She nodded. “You’ll pick me up.”
Bonita watched the cowboy drive away, waving her hand in farewell as he disappeared around a curve. Even after he was out of sight, she didn’t move from her spot.
Standing beneath the expansive, blue Montana sky, Bonita felt unburdened and light. It had been a truly magical day, from her mother’s success with Jasmine to Gabe not running away from her because of her possible medical future. He was a strong, stable, kindhearted, talented man and he made her want to push aside all of her preconceived notions about Montana men and just look forward to her first real date with a cowboy.
* * *
It took Gabe two days to plan for his day trip with Bonita to Canyon Ferry Lake. Now that he was actually going through with a date, something he really hadn’t done in a while, he was beginning to understand just how out of practice he was at that sort of thing. He had worked hard to earn the respect he now saw in her eyes when she looked at him and he didn’t want to lose the ground he had gained with her. He liked her. He genuinely liked her.
Beyond the occasional casual hookup when he was out of town, Gabe had kept his love life on lockdown in his own backyard. It was bad enough that he had to see his ex, Mandy, in town with her three kids that could have been his and he didn’t want to compound that discomfort by adding more women to the list. But there was something about Bonita that had made him break his rule. He hoped he didn’t live to regret it.
“I didn’t know what I should bring.” Bonita had been sitting on top of one of the pasture fences awaiting his arrival. He wanted to leave before sunrise and he expected her to at least lodge a complaint for the early departure.
Wearing a pair of jean shorts and an oversize, long-sleeve T-shirt over her bathing suit with a striped beach bag slung over her shoulder, Bonita hopped down from the fence and walked toward him. He loved how curvy her hips were—she wasn’t too skinny. She was toned from years of riding and she had a womanly figure he appreciated.
“Just yourself. I took care of everything else.” He opened the passenger door for her.
“Tater!” his date exclaimed when she saw the Chihuahua in her seat. She scooped up the dog, hugged her and kissed her. “I was hoping you were going to bring her.”
Maybe Tater was a bit of a crutch for him. The dog had been a valuable buffer during the awkward first day of the trip home from Virginia. Gabe didn’t know if this first date would be awkward between them, but just in case, he’d brought an insurance policy in the form of Tater.
Bonita was still fawning over Tater when he started the truck. “We’ve got about an hour and half trip to the lake.”
“I’m excited,” she told him. “I haven’t been boating in a long time. I love it, though. I looked up Canyon Ferry and it looks incredible.”
“I try to get up there at least a couple of times a month to fish.”
He didn’t tell her that he usually went to the lake alone. Sometimes one of his brothers or a friend would join him, but for the most part, just like hauling horses, going to the lake was something that he typically liked to do alone. And yet, he’d asked Bonita to come with him without giving it a second thought.
“I like your boat. Of course, I’ll be able to see it better when the sun comes up.”
Gabe looked over at his date and smiled. There it was, pretty much right on schedule—the complaint about the early-morning departure time. “You could close your eyes and catch a quick nap.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to miss the trip.”
In that moment, it occurred to Gabe that he felt truly happy to have Bonita beside him. He’d missed her company on the road. Even when they weren’t talking—when they were just watching the world go by in the quiet—having this woman with him made sense in reality even though they sure as heck didn’t make much sense on paper.
* * *
Gabe got the boat off the trailer and, using one of the public boat slips at the lake, into the water without much fanfare. While Bonita waited with Tater, Gabe found a place to park his truck and then they were ready to spend the day on the water. From all the weather forecasts she had seen the night before, they were going to have a sunny day ahead.
The boat had three seats at the control cockpit. Bonita sat in the seat on the far end, leaving a space between them. Holding on to Tater, she breathed in the fresh morning air and smiled as Gabe slowly drove the boat away from the shoreline. The first morning light was creating a golden ribbon of light that followed the ridges of the tree-lined hills surrounding the lake and taller mountains far off in the distance. It was early on a Monday morning and they had the lake to themselves. This was the one day they could find when they were both free
. After he took them a ways offshore, Gabe shut off the engines in the middle of the lake and dropped anchor.
“This is what I wanted you to see.”
Together, in silence, they watched the sun rise. Yes, she had seen a sunrise before, but in this setting, with no other humans in sight and the yellow glow of the sun casting strands of gold and amber and crimson across the green of the trees, it was unlike any she had experienced before. It was magnificent. In Bonita’s mind, she had never felt closer to God. Her hand instinctively went to the gold cross that she always wore around her neck and she said a small prayer for her mother and her father.
“I have traveled all over the world,” she told Gabe quietly. “Africa, New Zealand, Europe, Egypt. But, in my whole entire life, I have never seen any place more beautiful than right here, right now.”
“I don’t know why,” he said, “but I believed you would understand.”
Bonita nodded, not wanting to fill nature’s church with too much unnecessary talking. She did understand. This was Gabe’s sanctuary and he had wanted to share it with her. It was a moment that they had shared that she would not soon forget.
After the show was over and the sun had settled in the sky, Gabe pulled anchor and took her on a tour of the entire lake.
Her sunglasses on, her hair back in a high ponytail and her favorite three-legged dog in her lap, Bonita felt as light as the wind brushing over her face. She found herself laughing for no reason at all, other than the fact that she felt happy in the moment. Gabe found a tranquil, picturesque spot to drop anchor and he set up the food that he had brought for breakfast. He had gotten freshly baked, giant cinnamon buns, a thermos full of hot coffee, with cream for her, and a couple of dog treats so Tater wouldn’t feel left out. Gabe had also thought to bring some fresh fruit to round out the meal.
They sat on the forward deck of the boat on soft cushions, flocks of birds serenading them as they flew overhead. The water on the lake was calm, so the rocking of the boat was gentle and soothing.
It was in these moments that Bonita missed her mom the most. Evelyn had grown up on the water—her father had been a captain in the navy. Boating was in her blood. The fact that she was out here on this incredible lake in Montana, where her mother had always dreamed of living, and Evelyn was stuck back at the ranch confined to a failing body, infused the happiness Bonita was feeling in the moment with a large dose of sadness.
“Where did you go?” Gabe’s question interrupted her inward reflection.
She forced a small smile for his benefit but decided to be honest with him. “I was thinking about my mom. She would love this.”
“You feel guilty.”
She took a sip of warm coffee and then said, “Yes. I suppose I do. This is her dream, not mine. And here I am enjoying it.”
He looked off into the distance in thought. “I think we could find a way to get her onto my boat. I’d be happy to take her out on the lake. Anytime.”
Bonita put her hand on his arm and squeezed it for the briefest of moments. “Thank you for the offer, Gabe. But I’m afraid my mom has lost her will for adventure. She used to venture farther away from the ranch, even six months ago, but...” her voice trailed off “...the whole reason I’m here today—not just in Montana but here with you—is because of my mom. She wants me to take some time for myself.” She caught Gabe’s eye. “I think she’s preparing me. Weaning me off of her one excursion at a time.”
A well of emotion broke through at the thought of the day when her mom would no longer be with her. Bonita turned her head away and rubbed her fingers over her eyes hard to stop the tears from forming.
When she turned back to Gabe, she forced another small laugh and a smile. “I really know how to tank the mood, don’t I?”
“You’re fine.”
“I suppose I don’t really have too many people to talk to about it. You don’t want to burden your friends every time you speak with them.”
Gabe finished off his cup of coffee, seeming unfazed by the topic of her mother’s illness. “You can talk to me anytime.” He leaned back and stretched out his legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. “About anything you want.”
“I believe you mean that.”
“I do mean it. Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” He patted the spot next to him. “Why don’t you come over here and join me? Stretch out your legs, drink some more coffee. Enjoy the view.”
Mirroring her date, Bonita leaned back as well, their shoulders touching. She studied his profile—the prominent nose that looked like it had been broken at least once, the strong chin and jawline covered with a day’s worth of stubble. This was a man a person could lean on.
Other than her father, she wasn’t sure she’d ever met a man who made her feel secure in the knowledge that he could handle anything that came his way. Even her father, whom she had always believed to be invincible, was cracking a bit under the pressure of his wife’s terminal illness. She had never thought to see any weakness in her father—he had always seemed like the strongest man in the world. Now she knew, even the strongest of men had fault lines. It made her wonder...what were Gabe’s?
They spent the better part of the morning on the lake and had the boat back on the trailer and were heading home before the bulk of the visitors to the lake arrived for the day. She still hated getting up before dawn, but she did understand why Gabe planned it that way. The sunrise had been well worth the pain of getting out of bed, dressed and on the road while it was still dark.
“I appreciate you going with me,” Gabe said as he opened her door to let her out.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man made her feel so feminine and appreciated. Maybe never. The way he spoke to her, the kindness of his words and his actions, and the solidness of his character, were qualities she hadn’t expected to find in a cowboy. Her image of a cowboy came from the movies, not from real life, and Gabe had shown her how wrong her judgment had been.
“I hope you enjoyed yourself,” he added.
Her stomach was fluttering with the thought that he might try to kiss her. The entire date had been low-pressure. He hadn’t tried to invade her space or force physical contact. He just seemed to want her company with no strings attached. Would that change now? And did she want it to change? It wasn’t cut-and-dried for her.
“I had the best day I’ve ever had in Montana.” It was the truth and she wanted him to know it.
Gabe set Tater down on the ground and then he fell in beside Bonita as she walked toward the house. At the front door of her family home, he seemed like he wanted to linger with her a moment or two longer. Their eyes met and Bonita was struck by the clearness of his bright blue eyes. Her mother believe that the eyes were the window to the soul—based on what she saw in this man’s steady, unwavering gaze, Gabe Brand’s soul was filled with goodness.
“Bonita.” He said her name with a slight Western twang that made her smile. “I want to spend more time with you.”
His words made her smile. But she said, “I never know what my schedule is going to be with Mom. Things can change so suddenly around here.”
He didn’t move a muscle, but it felt as if he had pulled away from her, so she was quick to add, “But I want to spend more time with you, too, Gabe. As long as you can accept how things are in my life right now...”
In response, he took her hand in his, kissed it and then tipped his hat to her.
“I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
Gabe had put Val on his regular schedule and planned on working with the Oldenburg every week for the next month.
“See you then.”
Gabe whistled for Tater. The Chihuahua raced up to him and he scooped her up.
“Hey!” Bonita called out to him.
He turned to face her.
“How did it go with the mule?”
He smiled. “May Be
lle the mule. I heard from the owner yesterday. May Belle is loaded and is off to fulfill her mule dressage dreams.”
“Good job, cowboy.”
He tipped his hat to her once more. With a final wave, she opened the door to the house, dropped her beach bag off at her bedroom and then headed for the great room to find her mom.
“Huh.” Bonita didn’t find her mother in the great room. Evelyn had developed a schedule for herself, one that seemed to give her some stability, comfort and control over her own destiny. During this time of day, she was in the great room.
“Oh! Bonita! I was just getting ready to call you.” Kim was walking quickly through the great room but stopped when she spotted Bonita.
Bonita’s mood plummeted and that horrible knot, the one that felt like it was tearing at her gut, formed in her stomach.
“What’s wrong with mom?”
They had an agreement that if an emergency occurred, the nurses would take care of Evelyn first and then inform the family. In her mother’s case, those seconds could mean the difference between life and death.
“The pneumonia’s back. We’ve worked the protocol and she hasn’t responded. I’ve called the ambulance. She’s going to the hospital.”
Chapter Ten
Bonita had to cancel on Gabe for that Wednesday, and as it turned out with their schedules, he didn’t get to see her for nearly two weeks. He’d been half expecting to get a text from her today saying that she had to reschedule once again; he didn’t.
As Gabe parked his truck in a spot near the Delafuentes’ stable, he had to admit that he was anxious, and a little nervous, to see Bonita again. Perhaps it was old-fashioned to think in these terms, but he had a serious crush on the heiress. The worst part of it all was that he couldn’t be sure his feelings were returned. Of course he could tell that she liked him—yet it was difficult to know if he was just a casual distraction. For him, it went deeper than that.
Gabe grabbed his equipment out of his truck and walked into the stable. He spotted Bonita coming out of Jasmine’s stall. She was dressed in the same fawn-colored riding breeches and knee-high riding boots as the day when they first met. She seemed lost in thought and didn’t seem to notice him.
