Riding the River (The Westerners, Book One)

by Jeanne Harrell

Traveling up that gravel road, Sarah continued to marvel at the landscape around her. The big sky was overcast now with dark clouds slowly pushing out the white ones. Rain was coming… She rolled down her window to breathe in the air. It actually smelled damp.

  Cattle loitered on one side of the road, up a ways on a low hill. Maybe forty head of brown mixed with black cows chewed and swallowed, as they looked around lazily and at one another. A cowboy on a gray and white spotted horse trotted towards them to encourage movement. After a while, they paid some attention to him and the lead cattle began to move up and over the hill. The rest began to follow… Sarah rested her chin on one hand and smiled in reverence at the pastoral sight.

  The ranch house came into view. It looked massive, especially since it was the only building around for miles. The house backed up against a low hill that probably looked lovely with snow on it. Sarah saw a decorative, wooden fence on the front perimeter. As Dan drove closer, she could see that it was built of a light kind of wood – cedar maybe -- with a dark green roof. Beautiful…

  Dan pulled up the van to a front parking area, stopped and stepped out to unload baggage. Sarah and her fellow travelers got out, stretched and began just looking all around them. There was much to see…

  She was gawking at the countryside and the ranch house when Dan came up behind and nudged her.

  “Sorry, ma’am. Did I bump into you?” he drawled.

  “Yes, sir. You did…” smiled Sarah.

  “Let me take your bags in for you.”

  “Thanks, Dan. I can do it.” He wouldn’t give up the bags.

  “No, I’ve got it. Follow me.”

  After registering inside, Dan showed her a few rooms. The bar and sitting area had a huge stone fireplace and antler chandeliers. She walked on wooden

  floors throughout that shined with new varnish. The dining room had windows all along one wall with huge wooden tables and sideboards filled with drinks. They were preparing for the evening meal, and Sarah could smell mouth-watering aromas. Her stomach made hungry noises…

  Dan finally showed her to her room. It had a beautiful, double bed with a bay window that looked out to the surrounding mountains. The décor was Western, of course, with horse paintings and a pine four-poster bed. The night table on one side of her bed had a little lamp with a metal horse on it. Dan put her bags down and Sarah tried to tip him.

  “Oh, no. Thank you, ma’am, but no.”

  “Dan, you’ve been a wonderful driver and therapist,” she smiled at him. “The least I can do for you is give you a nice tip.”

  He smiled at her then. “Would you like to know what you can do for me?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “…Just enjoy yourself. Let go and find yourself here. Many people do…”

  Sarah gasped. “Why would you think that I need to find myself?”

  “No particular reason. I’ll go now. Freshen up and dinner’s in an hour. Nice to meet you, miss.” He tipped his hat and left.

  Sarah wasn’t too sure if she should have called him Yoda or Obi Wan Kenobi. Crap… That’s ‘Star Wars’, isn’t it? Abby would be proud. And speaking of Abby, she tried to send her a text. Unfortunately, cell phone or Internet service wasn’t as good as it might be and her text just hung there – in Cyberspace, or wherever it went. The same for her father… Then Sarah smiled. They can’t reach me… Oh, boy and I can’t reach them.

  She exhaled a deep breath. It was getting easier to do just that. They can’t reach me… She thought it again. It was a truly delicious feeling and one she let flow over her for a minute or two. Then she dug jeans and a casual shirt out of one suitcase, put them on and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Sarah took down her French twist and brushed her hair back into a ponytail. Taking another quick look at her wonderful room, she left to see the rest of the ranch house. Sarah was happy and feeling playful – Probably for the first time in years.

  Talk about new! Absolutely everywhere she looked was a new experience. The ranch house, the people, the food, the country. She was so out of her element that she felt she might be on Mars. But everyone was so nice and friendly. They were happy to see her and it showed. She found the owner of the ranch house and went up to him.

  “Mr. Walker, thank you so much for accepting my reservation on such short notice.”

  “Well, miss, we’re very pleased to have you. Don’t worry about a thing.” Don’t worry about a thing? When was the last time anyone had said that to her.

  “You’re really too kind.”

  “No, no… Head on over to the community room. We’re going to introduce ourselves to all you new guests in a few minutes. Then we’ve got a great welcome dinner starting soon.”

  Sarah wandered into the huge gathering room and spoke to some of the people she’d met in the van on the way here. She missed Dan, but he apparently had other duties to perform tonight. Mr. Walker came in and started welcoming the guests.

  “Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for coming out to visit us. We promise to make your stay fun and comfortable. If you have any problems, please come to me personally and let me know how we can accommodate you.” He looked around the room and continued.

  “I wanted to introduce the staff to you tonight. Most of us are here. Laurie and Kate, stand up. They take care of our bookkeeping details.” Small applause.

  “Then there’s Dale, our cook, and Cooper, our trail boss, for the cattle and horse drives.” More applause.

  “You already met Dan, our driver,” Sarah looked for him, “but he’s off on another errand right now and not with us. But here are our cowboys. Guys, please step up as I announce your names.”

  Sarah looked around expectantly to see real live cowboys.

  “Kyle…” A nice looking young man with a huge white cowboy hat stepped forward to smile at everyone.

  “Aaron…” He joined Kyle and also wore a huge white cowboy hat.

  “Dave and Nick…” Nice young men with smiles and light beards.

  “Frank and Tyler…” Mustaches and big grins.

  “Richie and Kenny…” Great Western shirts and chaps.

  “And last, but not least, Matt…” Pause.

  She hadn’t seen him behind the other cowboys, but when he stepped forward, she recognized him immediately. He was the dark-haired cowboy who tamed the wild situation at her hotel last night. He worked here? Here? What were the odds? She stepped back and dropped her face. For some unidentifiable reason, she didn’t want him to recognize her.

  People milled around and then dinner was announced. The guests mingled with the staff and everyone ate in the huge dining room laughing and talking. Night was coming and it got dark fast in this part of the country. After the homey meal, Mr. Walker announced that some of the cowboys would be playing on the outside yard, and anyone who felt like dancing should come outside. Sarah was shy and not sure what she felt like doing. She followed other guests outside to enjoy the night air, but didn’t plan on dancing.

  “Sarah, want to dance?” Dan had sneaked up behind her.

  “Where did you come from?” She laughed at him.

  “Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m good… so far.”

  “Come on. Let me show you the two-step.”

  “Um …No, thanks.”

  “Oh, come on… one dance won’t kill you,” he coaxed.

  “…Well.”

  He wouldn’t take stalling for an answer and dragged her out to the dance area. The music was lively and everyone seemed so friendly. Dan had her dancing in no time, and she started to forget everything but the dance steps. He swung her around the dance floor and she was so graceful. The cowboy with the black wavy hair noticed her… Isn’t that the woman from the restaurant last night? What’s she doing here? Here? What were the odds?

  Dan noticed that Matt noticed. Hmm… What should be made of that?

  When the music ended, Dan dropped Sarah o
ff by Matt. The band started playing a slow song about finding love when you least expect it.

  “Whew, Sarah. I’m bushed. Let a younger man take over for me.”

  Slightly winded and laughing, Sarah turned to Matt. He blinked and dark eyes met pretty blue ones. Her face was flushed and she looked happy.

  “…Oh.”

  “Ah…”

  “Okay,” said Dan. “That’s settled. See ya later.” And he was gone, leaving Matt and Sarah staring at one another. Without speaking, he held out one hand to her. She took it and hesitantly walked closer to him, putting her other hand on his shoulder. Matt nervously smiled and put a tentative hand on her waist. They were a respectable distance from one another, but it didn’t seem satisfying – to either of them.

  They glided slowly to the country music, moving this way and that, trying to avoid bumping into other dancers.

  “Didn’t I see you at the Best Western last night?” He spoke to the top of her head, since she didn’t look up.

  “Yes, that was me. I…I… saw you too.” She was obviously nervous and spoke to the front of his shirt.

  “Your hair’s different.”

  “…Um… Yes…”

  “Weren’t you wearing a lacy blouse and long blue skirt?”

  She looked up at him and blinked. “You noticed my clothes?”

  He cleared his throat and looked away. “Well, I’m pretty good with details.” An answer that left her confused. But his deep voice was so nice.

  “Wasn’t that man awful to his wife?”

  “Yeah, he seemed nuts to me.”

  She continued to study his hand, instead of his face, as they swayed to the music.

  “That was brave of you to do what you did.”

  “… Nah…”

  “Not many would have gotten involved.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  She finally met his eyes. “I know so. Not where I come from anyway. ”

  He was so surprised that he stopped dancing. She bumped into him. “Where do you come from? Some other planet?”

  “Nearly,” she laughed. “Baltimore.”

  He laughed. “Well, I was hoping you weren’t a Martian. And coming from the East coast explains the clothes.” She smiled. “What do you call your hairdo?”

  “…A ponytail.”

  He laughed again. “No, I mean from yesterday.”

  “Oh, that was a French twist…” Her lips suddenly went dry.

  “It was pretty, but I like this better.” He pulled her ponytail around to her shoulder. Her eyes widened as he smiled at her.

  The music stopped and he had to release her. And for some unfathomable reason, he didn’t want to. Matt just stood there, looking at the pretty girl still in his arms. I want to dance with her again… She stood there looking at him… I hope he doesn’t leave… Another cowboy came up then and tapped him on the shoulder. Matt thanked her for the dance, tipped his cowboy hat and left the dance area.

  Sarah began dancing with Kyle, but watched Matt leave. Long after he had left, she stole glances towards the door to see if he’d come back. Dale, the cook, watched the whole scene and thought he might say hi to Sarah tomorrow during the activities. Matt hadn’t danced with a guest, or shown any interest in any woman, in the two years he’d been with the guest ranch. He wanted to know why she was special… Matt obviously thought so, which made Dale very curious.

  * * *

  CHAPTER NINE