Junction City Cowboy

by Jet MacLeod

  “Well, I’ll get Reece to pull this for you,” Nancy told her.

  All I thought was “great.” Now, I would have to go back out to that ranch, again. I would have to deal with her advances and forwardness. I thought that was it, until I heard Nancy tell her that we didn’t have any more deliveries for the day, so once I had everything ready and settled in the buckboard that I could drive it out, today.

  I stared at Nancy, more like glared. Loren looked at her dismayed as well. I guess he didn’t tell her about Miss Rayne’s opportunity for me. I knew I wouldn’t have.

  Rayne turned and looked at me with a smile befitting the Cheshire Cat. I wanted to hide. Loren looked like he was ready to battle for me, but I didn’t want to put him in that position.

  “I couldn’t have that all ready by today,” I told them and Loren smiled. He caught onto my game.

  “That is an awfully large order. We might have the wagon packed today, but I won’t go sending Reece out there any later then four. I doubt he’ll have the wagon ready by then,” Loren added.

  “Nonsense, it shouldn’t take him that long to pack this. It is bulk and we have it. It isn’t like he going to have to create and box it up for her,” Nancy added.

  “That may be true, but after all the lifting, he is not going to be worth anything to drive it out there to her, unload it, and drive it back into town,” Loren said.

  “He’s right,” I added, “It would be really late before I got back and I might miss your supper.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Rayne told them.

  “How’s that?” Loren asked her.

  “Because my men will do the unloading and Reece is more than welcome to share a dinner with me, tonight,” she replied.

  “I wouldn’t want to impose,” I said.

  “It wouldn’t be an imposition. I wouldn’t mind the company of a gentleman over the company of my boys for dinner,” she stated.

  “He would get back too late. I don’t’ want to have to worry about him riding back alone,” Loren added, hoping to end the conversation.

  “Then he could stay with me,” she responded.

  We all looked at each other and then at her. Loren gave me a defeated look. While Nancy was giving me looks of command to do my job. Rayne was giving me a look of wanting. I wasn’t sure what to do.

  Then Loren said, “Do what you want, Reece.”

  He was upset. He had been beaten at his own game, in his own store and by his own wife. I couldn’t blame him. I was exasperated by the entire deal myself. I finally just told them I would do what I could, but that I wouldn’t promise anything.

  Rayne seemed to take this with a grain of salt, promising to be back in a few hours to ride back with me to the ranch. Damn her for being so sure of herself. It was starting to aggravate me. I wanted nothing more than to spank her for being such a brat.

  Nancy just smiled and went back to work. She handed me the list over the counter. She went back into straightening the sellable items behind the counter.

  She watched Rayne walk out the door, but didn’t say a word to either of us, Loren or myself, for putting up such a weak fight. I should have known better. She gave me the “mother” look and I knew then that I would have the wagon packed and ready to go in a couple of hours. All because, I didn’t want to disappoint the woman.

  I pulled the buckboard around the back of the store. I pulled the list out of my pocket and started going through the warehouse of the bulk packaged items. I knew that it wouldn’t take me that long to fill the order. It was a lot of the stuff but most of it was small stuff.

  I finished loading up the wagon. I looked over the list once again and mentally checked off all the items as I looked for them in the wagon. It was till early. If I left right now, I could be back into town before dinner. I knew that she wouldn’t allow me to do that though. Once I was at the ranch, she would try and come up with some reason why I should stay there. I didn’t want to deal with that. I just wanted to do my job.

  She was making it hard for me. She wanted me that much I knew. She wasn’t making it easy for me to keep a normal thought in my head. She wanted me to work for her and I was beginning to think that she wasn’t going to stop until I relented and decided to work for her. It was still a hard decision and it was one that I had to make on my own, without any influences from her. I would have to talk to her about that. Hopefully, she would understand.

  I was lost in thought when she came up behind me. She grabbed me around the waist and squeezed. I turned to find her, so dangerously close, smiling that carnal smile at me, again. I felt my heart begin to melt for her. It was an odd feeling, but I knew that I couldn’t tell this woman “no” for very long without losing my mind eventually.

  “Ready to go,” she said, “I see.”

  “Yes, Miss Rayne, I’ve got the wagon all ready. I am going to get something to eat and then I’ll head out towards your place. I have some other things that I need to do before I leave,” I told her.

  “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to wait then,” she replied, almost pouting.

  “You don’t need to wait, Miss Rayne. I’ll see you at the ranch in a little while with your supplies,” I added.

  “I’d rather wait and ride back with you,” she said.

  “Miss Rayne, I need to think about your offer some more. This pressure that you’re giving me isn’t helping. I am sorry, but I need to do this on my own. I don’t mean to hurt you, but I have to do this my way,” I explained.

  “Fine, then,” she replied, obviously hurt.

  “Now, Miss Rayne, don’t do that. I can’t stand it. Please understand that this is an important decision for me. If I do come and work for you, it will only be for a season and then I am going to move on. I don’t know what you want from me, but I doubt that you’ll get it by then,” I stated.

  “Why don’t you let me decide that?” she asked.

  “Miss Rayne, please. Go on home, I’ll be there soon enough,” I begged.

  “Nope, you need to eat and I am going to make sure that you do. Besides I figured that you’d missed lunch, so I got some sandwiches for you,” she told me.

  “Great,” I replied, sarcastically.

  “Why don’t we go somewhere and eat, then?” she questioned, looking at me with those beautiful jade eyes.

  “I need to freshen up,” I told her.

  “We could go back to your room,” she offered.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I am staying at the saloon, remember? I don’t want anyone to see you going in there with me, alone, but I definitely don’t want them to see you going up to my room,” I said.

  “I don’t care,” she replied, simply.

  I doubt that this woman would ever listen to reason. She stood there, holding that sack of sandwiches, with that smile. I shook my head, knowing that I was fighting a losing battle and that I should count my fingers and toes while I was still ahead.

  “You aren’t going to take no for an answer, are you?” I asked her.

  “Can’t say that I ever have, really,” she stated.

  “Fine then, I guess I really don’t have a choice. Let’s go,” I said, “But, you are going to come in the back door. I am in room twelve. Just knock and I’ll let you in.”

  I walked off before she could answer me. I wasn’t sure I liked the fact that she was going to be in my room, alone with me. I was worried about what I might do or try. I should not be alone with her. I was going crazy and she would never understand the truth about me. She would run. She would yell. She would be hurt and that is something that I didn’t want to do.

  I stood in front of the mirror in my room. I was waiting for her to come. I shook my head.

  “What are you doing, Reece?” I asked myself.

  I had no time to answer. She was already knocking at the back door of the room. I debated whether or not I should open the door, but I knew that if I didn’t I would never hear the end of it. She would say something to Loren and
Nancy. I couldn’t have that. It would be worse than if someone had seen her coming up here to see me.

  I slowly walked over to the door. Each step was like a thunder clap in my ears as I walked across the wooden floor. I watched my hand reach out for the knob. The metal felt cool against my already hot and sweaty.

  Chapter Five

  Rayne, The Shooting Star Saloon

  I had taken my time getting something to eat. I wasn’t sure I didn’t want him to wait. He was making me wait for him, so I figured it was a good way to mess with him, just a little. I mean, a girl is supposed to make a guy wait for her, right, so I decided that I would make him stew a bit before I showed up on his doorstep.

  I smoothed down my dress as I walked up the stairs that led to the rooms above the saloon. I knew he was a little apprehensive about having me there, but I really didn’t care about that. I wanted him to want me. I couldn’t help it. There was just something about him. He made me want him in ways that I have never wanted any other man.

  I thought about his eyes. The way those beautiful, soulful sapphires glowed in the daylight. I remembered how they glinted last night when he dropped me off at the ranch. I dreamt about running my hands through his gorgeous sun bleached blond hair. I wanted to grab a handful and… That was not something that a proper girl wanted. I stopped thinking about things like that.

  I raised my hand to knock on the door. I hesitated for a minute. I wasn’t sure that I was acting appropriately. I, just for a second, began to care what the towns’ folk would think of him. I didn’t care what they thought of me. He was a gentleman and I wanted him to stay that way.

  I knew that any relationship that he had with me, might tarnish his gentlemanly reputation in town, but it couldn’t hurt as bad as the fact that he was living in the saloon. He could do worse. I was offering him a job, a real room, a real place to board his horse and more money. I just couldn’t see why he wouldn’t take it.

  I had to take it in stride. It was the only thing that I could do. So, I knocked on the door.

  I stood outside the door. I was smiling like an idiot. I had him, alone, in his room. I could do whatever I wanted to do with him, I thought. It seemed like an eternity between the time I started knocking and when he opened the door. I was standing there, grinning, when he finally opened it.

  He ushered me in with a sweeping gesture of his arm. Once I was inside, he quickly shut the door. I guess he didn’t want anyone to know that he was entertaining any one and if they did, he didn’t want them to know it was me.

  “Did anyone see you come here?” he asked me.

  “If they did, I didn’t notice,” I replied.

  He was nervous. He was cute. His blond hair was unkempt. He had finally taken his hat off for me. It lay on the bed next to his jacket. His blue eyes were dancing with worry more than joy. I decided that I would have to take care of that for him. I couldn’t understand why he would be so guarded around me. It was like he was waiting for me to jump him on the spot and do terrible, unspeakable things to him. The thought crossed my mind for a fleeting moment, but the better part of honor drowned it in my head. He would have to learn to relax when he was around me or I would never get anything from him.

  “Calm down, Reece, I am not going to jump you. I am just here to make sure that you eat. Then, we are going to go back to my ranch for dinner, with the supplies.”

  “Alright, then, Miss Rayne,” he replied, taking the sandwich that I offered him.

  He looked at me with his sapphire eyes in wonder. I am quite sure that he didn’t know what to make of me. I wasn’t really that sure of what to make of him, either.

  While he sat in his only chair and ate the sandwich, I toured his little room. He kept his bed made. He was tidy. I noticed that there was no trunk, no bag, and no suit case of clothes. I opened the drawers of a little bureau and noticed only a few items in them. He was watching me.

  “It’s not polite to snoop, you know?” he said.

  “I am not snooping. I can’t snoop, if you are in the room, now can I?” I asked him.

  I walked on, leaving the bureau behind me. I saw his immaculate saddle lying on the floor in the corner. It was simple one, but it seemed to fit him. His saddle bags and a bed roll were laid up against the saddle.

  I turned to the table in the other corner. On top of it, it had his pistol belt. It was full of bullets and it carried his Colt Peacemaker. There was some cloth nearby it. He must have been cleaning it earlier.

  He must have been here for a while. It looked like he moved in, almost permanently. He seemed to be at home here, the way things were. He didn’t make any excuses for what he did or didn’t have. He just lived the way he had become accustomed to living. I couldn’t fault him for that.

  “Are you done?” he asked me.

  “Not quite,” I replied, “I haven’t finished my investigation.”

  “I thought I asked you not to do that,” he stated.

  “No, you said you’d prefer it if I didn’t go through your things. I am not going through anything. I am merely looking around,” I answered.

  “Alright, then, how about you sit down, over there on the bed,” he said.

  “Would you like that?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am almost ready to go,” he said, walking to the pitcher and basin. He washed his hands and face with the water there. He dried off with a simple towel and threw it down next to the basin.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, after he finally noticed that I hadn’t eaten anything. Actually, he ate all of the sandwiches that I brought. I wonder if he thought of himself as a pig for eating so much.

  “No, I ate before I came back to Loren’s,” I said.

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me,” I mused.

  “Are you ready to go then?” he questioned me.

  “Only if you are,” I responded.

  “Miss Rayne, I am just taking the wagon out there and depositing the supplies. I am not staying,” he said.

  “If you say so,” I replied, coyly.

  He reached across me and grabbed his jacket and hat. He blushed a little as he stood up straight and put them both on. I think that he was a little flustered by being so close to me, especially in his own room.

  I knew what these rooms were used for. I knew what happened upstairs in the saloon. I wasn’t a naïve as he might think I was. I knew and wanted a lot more than people thought I did.

  I stood up next to him. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted to feel his lips on mine again. That is one of the reasons that I trapped him in his own room. He had nowhere to go. Suddenly, he got the idea. He looked like a scared rabbit. I guess I needed to tame it down a little bit. I didn’t want to scare him off, I wanted him.

  “Calm down,” I told him, “I just want to ride back to the ranch with you.”

  “Why is that? You seem to be a good enough rider. Why do you want me to go with you?” he asked me.

  “Maybe, I’d like the company,” I said.

  “Is that all?” he asked.

  “Maybe, I don’t like riding alone. Maybe, I am a little scared to be riding by myself. Have you ever thought about that?” I asked him.

  I know I surrounded angry. I was a little hurt. I had been hinting but I didn’t like to have it thrown back in my face. It was a little daunting. Maybe, the gentleman in him was just an act and he wanted me, too.

  “Well, no, but that does make sense, Miss Rayne. I’ll be happy to accompany you home, then,” he added with his usual gentlemanly manner.

  “Alright then,” I answered.

  That is when I saw it. It was a small book sitting on the bedside table. It was very worn, but it looked very loved as well. I wanted to pick it up. I wanted to flip thought the pages and see what it was that moved him so much to keep that book above all other books so close to him. I wanted to know what was so special about that book.

  I reached over to the table to pick
it up. He gave me a look when I did so, but I was almost bound and determined not to let that bother me. It was the look in his eyes that made me stop. He looked so wounded.

  “Here,” he said handing me the book.

  “Thank you,” I said. I couldn’t tell if he was happy about sharing this part of himself with me or he was just doing it appease my appetite of curiosity.

  “Read this one,” he said pointing a page out.

  It was a poem. The only title it bore was a simple one called “Sonnet Eighteen.” I read it to myself, once. I read it slower a second time. On the third reading, I looked up from the book to him. He was smiling. It was a sight that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing from him. It was beautiful.

  “It is beautiful. Who wrote these?” I asked him.

  “William Shakespeare, about three hundred sixty years ago, give or take a decade,” he told me.

  I flipped a couple of pages more to another one of the poems. I read it silently to myself. He looked at me with wonder and awe. I decided to read it aloud.

  “Sonnet Twenty-Five:

  “Let those who are in favor with their stars

  Of public honor and proud titles boast,

  Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars

  Unlook’d for joy in that I honor most.

  Great princes’ favorites their fair leaves spread

  But as the marigold at the sun’s eye,

  And in themselves their pride lies buried,

  For a frown they in their glory die.

  The painful warrior famoused for fight,

  After a thousand victories once foiled,

  Is from the book of honor razed quite,

  And all the rest forgot for which he toiled:

  Then happy I, that love and am beloved,

  Where I may not remove nor be removed.[2]”

  “Why do you carry a copy of these?” I asked him.

  “It was a gift from my father,” he said.

  The smile went away. I then knew that his father was a topic that I was not allowed to talk about. I didn’t want sadness to fill him.