"No, she's getting on in years and the northwest trail might be a little too much for her. This is Whiskey."
Grace giggled. "How appropriate. I recall you kind of liked to drink whiskey back in school."
"I was stupid back then and did a lot of things I shouldn't have."
"We both did." She changed the subject before he could respond. "I hope I can get on her. I'm a little sore."
"I'll help you."
Before she could protest, he had his hands on her waist and gave her a lift up, and she mounted the horse. "Thanks."
He got on his horse and they headed off in the opposite direction as yesterday. "Do you know what trail you'll be taking next weekend on the ride with your co-workers?"
"No, but I'm sure it will be an easy one since some of them have never ridden before."
"So, if it will be an easy ride and you've ridden before, I don't understand why you needed to brush up on your skills. From what I could see, you're riding just like your old self."
"I told you. They know I've won riding awards and I didn't want to look like a fool to them."
"Since when have you cared how you look to someone else?"
"I'm not the wild teenage girl that you used to know."
"No ma'am, you are not. You have turned into a beautiful, strong, confident, sexy woman."
She pulled up on the reins to stop her horse. "Let's get one thing straight right now. I let you hold me while we danced last night and I let you walk me back to my hotel, but nothing else. You don't have the right to call me sexy anymore." He would have to earn the right to call her that again.
"Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it except as a compliment," he replied.
"Well, I just want to get that out in the open right now."
"Noted." He gave his horse a little kick and they started up the trail again.
"Is that blonde in the ranch office your girlfriend?" She regretted asking it almost immediately.
This time Andy pulled up his horse and stopped. "And, you think you have the right to ask me that?"
"No. You're right, I don't." She started off ahead of him on the trail.
He kicked his horse and caught up to her. "No, she's not my girlfriend. Why do you ask?"
"She made sure I knew you were not available, as if I wanted you."
"She's the boss' daughter and all the guys have, well, shall I say, dated her."
"Does she know you're a love'em and leave'em kind of guy?"
"What? Wait just a minute. I'm not the one that ran off to Colorado Springs after graduation and never called or wrote. I believe the love'em and leave'em tag should go on you."
"There was no reason to keep in touch. We weren't coming back to Summit, so why keep in contact?"
"I guess I don't understand how you could just forget us and all the great times we spent together.”
"I had my reasons."
"What reasons?"
"You wouldn't understand." They reached an area of the trail that opened up to a view of the mountains to the west. The spring thaw had yet to occur in the high country and the tops of the peaks were still snow-covered. She took out her cell phone and took a picture. "There's no place on earth more beautiful than Colorado."
"I know. That's one reason I don't regret ever leaving here," he said.
"You wanted to go to college and study computer programming so you could get out of here. What happened?"
"A change of heart, I guess. Come on, we have a ways to go before we reach the halfway mark." He turned his horse away from the view, and headed up the trail with Grace following.
Forty-five minutes later, they reached the midway point of the ride. "We need to get off here and let the horses have a break before we start back down," Andy said.
Grace got down off of Rosebud.
"Have you worked out the soreness yet?"
"Yes, I think I have, but the pain pills I took before we left probably has something to do with that."
"You're probably right." Like yesterday, he opened his saddlebag and got out a snack and two bottles of water for them, and an apple for each horse. "Here you go."
"A sandwich today?"
"It's a longer ride and Bobby knew I was taking you today. He said he made something special."
She opened the bag with the sandwich inside and found a ham and cheese with tomato, lettuce, and dressing. Andy did the same. "That was nice of Bobby."
"He makes that dressing himself. It's his secret recipe and really good too."
Grace took a bite. "Oh my gosh, it's delicious and I never thought I would say that about a ham sandwich."
Andy laughed and gave the apples to the horses before he sat down to eat. "Do you ever think about moving back here?" he asked.
"I doubt it. My job's in Denver and I've worked so hard to get to where I am. I can't imagine leaving to move back to the country. Do you ever think about leaving?"
"Nope. I want to raise a family here. I can't think of a better place to do that."
Grace suddenly had a shiver.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I don't know why I did that," she lied.
"My dad gave me twenty acres of his ranch and someday I'll build a big house there to raise a family."
"That sounds nice."
"You're a marketing person, right?" he asked.
"I'm a Marketing Consultant, but I hope to eventually work my way to Director of the Marketing Department."
"I heard the new ski resort that's opening up is looking for a Marketing Director."
"Really? That's interesting." Grace nibbled on her sandwich while pondering the possibility of running her own department in her home town, and being so close to Andy again.
"I know you just got divorced, but don't you want to have a family?" Andy interrupted her thoughts.
Grace had just taken a drink, and nearly spewed water all over Andy. "Don't you think we should be heading back? I bet you have another ride to guide this afternoon." She did not want to talk about having a family, especially with Andy.
He looked at his watch. "I suppose we should." He picked up the sandwich bags and water bottles to stow in his saddlebag. "Do you need help getting on your horse again?"
"No, I think I can do it." She placed her foot in the stirrup, grasped the saddle horn, and pulled herself upon the saddle.
Andy did the same and they started down the trail riding side by side. "Tomorrow, we'll head up into the mountains for a longer ride since it will be your last. I'm booked in the morning, would an afternoon ride around two-o'clock be okay?"
"That actually works really well because I'm having lunch at noon with Cindy."
"When are you heading back to Denver?"
"I'll be driving back after our ride tomorrow and then I'll be back on Friday for my company's retreat."
"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" he asked.
She hadn't expected that. "I…probably should spend the evening getting packed. Maybe another time."
"Come on, Gracie. It'll just be dinner between two old friends."
"It's not a good idea and I've asked you to not call me Gracie anymore."
"What do you mean, not a good idea?"
"It's just not. Can we leave it at that?"
"I suppose we'll have to." He gave his horse a nudge and went ahead of Grace on the trail.
She knew she'd probably made him angry, but spending the evening with Andy, even for just a dinner, would bring back too many memories. Memories that she would like to forget. If she could get through one more day with him, she wouldn't have to see him again, and wouldn't have to worry about him finding out her secret.
Very little conversation occurred for the rest of the ride. If he said anything, it had to do with riding the horse or maneuvering the trail.
Once back at the stable, Andy dismounted. Grace had no problem getting down off this time, and turned to find herself trapped between him and her horse. She could feel Andy's warm breath on her face.
A stable boy came over and took the reins from Grace, then led Rosebud to a stall where he unsaddled her.
Grace could now take a step back away from him. "It's not anything you did or didn't do. I just have a lot on my mind." She turned to leave.
"Two o'clock tomorrow, don't forget."
She waved back at him without turning around. Once in her car and on the road back to the hotel, her face felt flushed, and she fought to hold back her tears. "One more day, I just need to get through one more day."
Grace spent the rest of the afternoon doing work in her hotel room. She had planned on ordering room service for dinner that evening, but when the time came, she couldn't bear to stay in the room one minute longer. She needed to get outside and away from her phone and computer. She decided to take a walk and see if she could find a small café near the hotel.
After changing clothes and putting on a little makeup, she headed out. Once out in front of the hotel, she turned left and walked up the street. It was a cool, but nice evening for a walk. The streets were partially full of people, probably also looking for a place to eat, or a club nearby for dancing.
She soon came upon a small intimate looking restaurant that didn't look too busy. She entered and asked the hostess for a quiet table where she could eat alone, and was seated in a corner booth at the rear of the main room. She ordered iced tea and a salad and did some people-watching as she waited for her food.
One table had an older couple, probably around her parents’ age. She could tell by their facial expressions that they were in a deep discussion about something.
Seated at another table was a younger couple obviously in love. They sat next to each other with their hands constantly touching; star-crossed lovers never taking their eyes off of each other.
Grace remembered being that way once, not with her ex-husband, but with Andy. They were so young back then, teenagers actually, and they did foolish things like all teenagers do. Regrets. She only had one.
The waitress approached and placed Grace's salad in front of her and started to leave. "Could I go ahead and have my bill, please?"
"It's been taken care of," the waitress replied.
"What do you mean?"
"That gentleman at the bar paid your bill." She was pointing to Andy, who sat on a stool at the end of the bar, and raised his beer bottle toward her. He got up and walked over.
"Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
"I suppose I should thank you for paying for my dinner?"
"You don't have to." He still stood.
"You might as well sit down."
He slid on the other side of the booth from her.
"Aren't you going to order something to eat?"
"Bobby fixed a meal for us at the ranch and I already ate. Is that all you're going to have?"
"It's all I need."
"I couldn't function on rabbit food."
"Of course you couldn't. You need more protein to keep your energy up for your rides. I bet Bobby has plenty of meat and vegetables for your meals, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, every meal is like that. Grace, what are we doing talking about food? Something is going on between us and I don't know what it is."
"I don't know what you're talking about. You're imagining things."
"I don't think so, but I can tell you still don't want to talk about it." He got up from the booth. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She wanted to stop him. She wanted to tell him, but she knew he wouldn't understand or forgive her, so she let him go.
After that, she didn't feel much like finishing her meal. She put some money down for her tip and went outside for the walk back to the hotel. The streets were even less crowded now and just as she walked past the entrance to an ally, a man stepped out in front of her.
"Hello there, darling."
He startled her. "Hello." She could smell stale beer on him and she started to step to the right to get around him, but he moved in front of her again.
"Where ya going?" he asked.
"Back to my hotel." She moved to the left and he mirrored her. He could easily drag her into the ally and no one would know. That's when she heard footsteps coming up from behind her.
"Is there a problem?" It was Andy, who now stood next to her.
"I was just offering to walk the lady back to her hotel. A pretty thing like her shouldn't be out on the street alone," the man said.
"She's not alone, so you can go crawl back into your hole."
For just a few seconds, it became a staring contest between the two men with the stranger finally taking a step back, turning, and crossing the street.
She turned to Andy. "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there." She thought for a second. "Wait a minute. Were you waiting for me?"
"That guy was right. It's not safe for you to walk out here alone. I was waiting for you so I could make sure you made it back to your hotel safely and it's a good thing I did."
She didn't say anything.
"Come on, I'll walk you the rest of the way," he said.
"Okay. I guess that's probably a good idea."
They walked the rest of the way to the hotel, with her stopping in front of the lobby door. "I can make it the rest of the way myself."
"Not this time. I'm walking you all the way to your room."
She didn't protest. She knew it wouldn't do any good. He was always a man who honored the women he was with. She had always felt safe when she was with him. Maybe too safe, she recalled.
They stepped off of the elevator and walked down to her room. At her door, she turned to him and found him standing way too close to her. The scent of his cologne nearly put her into a trance. "Thank you again," she said.
"I'm glad I could help. I don't think you'll have any problems now that you're back to your room."
She took her key card out of her purse. She had an urge to kiss him and she was sure he had the same thought. Before either of them could do that, she put her card in the door slot and opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." She stepped into her room and closed the door.
Chapter Three
Grace got up early the next morning and packed so she could checkout of the hotel before meeting Cindy for lunch. Upon doing that, she asked the front desk if she could leave her luggage there while she had lunch, and they obliged.
When she stepped into the hotel's restaurant she spotted Cindy at a table and joined her.
"I'm glad we could have lunch before you left town," Cindy said as Grace sat down.
"Me too. I hope you don't mind, but I ordered the special for both of us. I'm a little pressed for time today, sorry."
"That's fine. I don't mind at all."
"Have you enjoyed your visit home?"
"It was nice seeing you and your dad. I only wish I hadn't run into Andy."
"I know you two ended your relationship when you left town, but that was a long time ago. What happened that was so bad you still don't want to see him? Honestly, I don't think Andy even knows the reason you broke up."
The waitress brought their food and drinks and set it down in front of them.
"I know it was a long time ago, but I really don't want to talk about it. This looks really good." She avoided answering and changed the subject. Luckily, Cindy didn't press for more information as they continued their lunch.
"Will you be returning early on Friday for your corporate retreat?"
"My company is renting a bus to bring all of us up together. I think we leave Denver around one-o'clock. We have one meeting, sort of an orientation right after we arrive and get checked in, then we don't have anything until the next day."
"If you need anything at all while you're here, just let me know. I want to make sure you get VIP treatment."
"Thanks. Andy told me that some company is building a ski resort this summer. What does the town thin
k about that?"
"Mostly everyone thinks it’s great. It will mean more jobs for people and more business for the stores and hotels, but there's always a few that are against it. They don't want more people in town."
"With just the few new places that have sprung up since I left seems to have really made the town grow."
"It has, but a few of the older people in town don't like that. So many smaller businesses have closed, just like where the hardware store used to be. Of course, the owners eventually sold the building and made lots of money."
"And, the Buck Creek Ranch, as I remember that used to just be a horse ranch. Now, they've built a hotel, restaurant, and stables. That's incredible."
"They employ a lot of locals and even more people during the summer. It kept Andy from leaving town."
"What?"
"You remember, he was thinking about going to college to study computer technology."
"I remember."
"A couple months after we graduated, a big company came in and bought the ranch and started converting it into what it is now. They needed people to work with the horses and Andy gave up on college to do that."
"He didn't tell me that. He told me yesterday that he wanted to stay here and raise a family."
"That's probably right. He's really worked his way up at the ranch. He may be your trail guide, but he supervises all the guides and they don't do anything to the horses there unless Andy approves it. If he had gotten his degree, he probably would have ended up like you and worked for a company in Denver. The same thing would have happened to me. I would probably be working in hospitality at a ski resort myself instead of coming back home."
"So, the companies coming into Summit likely have saved the town."
"I think so. Oh goodness, look at the time, I need to get going. I have a meeting to get to." Both ladies stood and hugged. "I'm so glad you came into town early so we could get together."
"I am too. Here's my card and I wrote my home address and personal email on the back. We should really keep in touch," Grace said.
"We will. I've already taken care of the bill. See you on Friday."
"Thanks." Grace sat back down at the table after Cindy left.
Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love Page 3
