Cherished Moments (Cherish Cowboys Book 2)

by Charlene Bright

  “You see this hill off in the distance?” he said, pointing to the sketch. “That’s Barker’s Hill, I believe, and if you imagine looking toward where the calf was from here at the ranch, you can see that hill in the distance. And it seems this was sketched from near the house. It used to have a wraparound porch so perhaps the side that faces that way is where they sat while drawing it.”

  She was impressed with his reasoning. “If you ever want to get out of the ranching thing, you’d make for a good detective, Colton.”

  “I think my brain would explode. If I think my thoughts drive me crazy at times now, I cannot imagine pondering the unknown for a living.”

  “Can we go take a look?” she asked.

  “It’s getting dark out; I think we’d better wait until morning. I don’t know how we could really see anything, anyhow.”

  “Okay,” she said. She stuck out her lip in a playful pout, but it didn’t work.

  “Why don’t you look through some of the photographs while I grill us up two steaks for dinner? Sound good?”

  “I can help if you want,” she offered.

  “You cooked breakfast, my turn to cook dinner.”

  As he got to work preparing the dinner, Olivia began looking through all the pictures again, truly loving each and every one of them. But the one she loved more than all the others was the one she’d just picked up. It was an older man standing in front of a small building with a little metal chimney on top of it and holding up a large bird—a pheasant maybe.

  “Colton,” she said. Her voice was shaking.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Look!”

  He rushed over and she handed him the photograph. “Well, I’ll be. It’s the smokehouse and right behind it, not too far away is that lone oak tree that’s in the pasture. It’s monstrous today, but it was pretty small back then, obviously.”

  “So, we know where that smokehouse is more than we did a minute ago, don’t we?” she asked.

  “Yes …,” he agreed cautiously.

  “Well—”

  He finished her thought. “You want to go there right now, don’t you?”

  “Please,” she said, giving the pouting lip one more attempt.

  He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands on his hips. “Okay, fine, but only after we eat.”

  “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She ran toward him and flung her arms around him, feeling beside herself with excitement that she couldn’t control.

  He smiled. How would he ever be able to turn down an offer like that when she asked the way she did? The pouty lip thing was a nice touch, one he wouldn’t usually fall for, but with Olivia, she was blazing her own set of rules for what he would—or would not—accept. She truly was one of a kind.

  Chapter Eleven

  There had never been so excitement out in the pasture in the dark of the night as there was that night. Well, that wasn’t completely true, because both Colton and Olivia had certainly enjoyed the night before, making love underneath the stars and creating this bond that seemed to grow tighter with each passing second after that.

  To Olivia, it was surreal that she may finally be on the cusp of finding her great-grandmother’s ring. That would mean so much to her and be a huge relief to both her and Amelia; however, she could not ignore the other thought that was floating through her mind—that it would mean her time in Cherish would be coming to an end. That was not a welcome thought.

  A shadow came up from behind her and she snapped out of her thoughts and turned around. Colton’s lean physique was silhouetted in the headlights of his truck.

  “Okay, here is a different shovel, might be easier to get through this packed earth and make some progress,” he said.

  “If I had a bit more muscle that would help, too,” she said, plunging the shovel into the earth with all her might. It only went about two inches in. “At this rate, we’ll be here for days.”

  That sounds pretty good to me, Colton thought.

  “You go as best you can and I’ll go as best as I can. We’ll get there together, and then you’ll be set. Sound good?”

  “Everything sounds good when you say it,” she said, laughing and wiping her hand over her forehead. She was getting really warm from all this manual labor. She wasn’t a wimp, but she sure wasn’t used to intense work like what she was doing.

  “I don’t know about that,” he said. He stepped up next to her and rested the tip of the shovel on the soil. His hand reached into his pocket and he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her forehead. “Dirt.”

  “I’m sure I’m a complete disaster,” she said with a laugh and a shrug. “I’d roll around in a pig sty if I had to in order to get this ring.” Then she plunged her shovel in again.

  He had put some music on the radio of the truck and the classic rock station blared in the night, getting a few “moos” of protest and an occasional “whinny” of dismay, but it kept Colton and Olivia energized, and they sang away to great songs that they’d both grown up with—released long before they were alive—like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones.

  “Funny how songs like that seem to be timeless, isn’t it?” she asked, humming along to “Free Bird.”

  “They’re like anthems; at least that’s what I think.”

  “So, what is Colton Tisdale’s anthem?”

  He didn’t pause for even a second as he continued to shovel and think about it. “That’s a tough question, but right now, at this time, I feel a particular connection to AC/DC ‘Dirty Deeds’.”

  The two started laughing loudly. She just loved his sense of humor and ability to be carefree at times, and not so caught up in all the responsibilities of life. Her grandma had always said that type of attitude was what kept you healthy, young at heart, and smiling. Each of those was something that resonated with Olivia—and probably most everyone in the world, she supposed.

  “So, what would your anthem be?” he asked. He set his shovel down and went to get a bottle of water. He opened it up and offered her a drink before taking one himself.

  She looked up to the stars and then back down to the hole. “Strangely, I can’t think of a single one. My mood changes day to day, and I’m one of those people who has a different favorite song depending on what’s happening.”

  “What was your favorite song yesterday?” he asked.

  “‘Perfect’ by One Direction,” she said. “Although I didn’t get to cause any trouble in my hotel room yesterday like One Direction does at times.”

  “Seriously?” he asked. He felt certain she was yanking his chain, but she was someone full of surprises.

  “Actually, yes. I like those guys. My sister says that the manual to understanding women lies within the lyrics of One Direction songs.”

  “You think that’s true? Sounds like someone could make a fortune off it if it is.”

  “Someone already has,” she said, giving him a look.

  When Colton saw the way she was looking at him, he just wanted to drop what he was doing and wrap her up tightly in his arms. “Who?”

  “Well, One Direction, of course,” she said.

  “You’re crazy,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “You may be right,” she replied. “Hey, that’s my song for today—Billy Joel, ‘You May Be Right’.” Then she plunged her shovel into the ground and it stopped short again, but this time, it felt like there was something more solid than packed earth below it. In fact, she felt a tingle travel up her entire arm. “Colton, I think I hit something.”

  “Let’s see,” he said. He walked over to the bed of the truck to grab the flashlight and hurried back over. When he shone it down, he only saw dirt. He knelt down and reached into the hole, which was just about twelve inches deep, and moved the dirt away, revealing a small discolored object.

  “Is that a box?” Olivia asked. She was already jumping up and down. “Sorry,” she added quickly, “no premature celebrating.”

  “Well, celebrate a
way, because it is a box.”

  “Oh my. Grab it out!” she exclaimed.

  “Just hold on, it’s packed in pretty tight,” he said, and began to use his hands to loosen up the earth around it so he could pull it out. His thoughts were almost in shock, just like his eyes were. They had possibly found a needle in a haystack. It was no easy feat, but they’d possibly done it.

  She paced around, talking nervously while he worked on loosening up the box. Please be the ring, he thought. It would be mighty disappointing to see her crestfallen expression after all they’d done to get to this point. Suddenly, reality set in. What if someone had removed the ring, if it had indeed ever been in the box, and what happened next? That was really tough to think about, because Olivia would leave and to Colton, they’d only just begun. Then he thought of the Carpenters and smiled. Was every thought he had that night in a song? Olivia had maybe had a good point earlier about that.

  “I think it’s loosened up,” he said. He leaned back and put his hands on his legs.

  She knelt next to him and looked down. “I am so nervous. Suddenly this all seems overwhelming. What if it’s not there?”

  “You can’t think that way,” he said, despite having had the same thought just minutes before. “Why don’t you pick it up? It’s your box, Olivia, and the contents are yours, regardless of what they are.”

  She looked over to Colton and then down at the hole. Leaning forward, her hands shook as she grabbed the box and lifted it up. It was about twelve inches wide and three inches tall. “Do you think anything else is in there aside from the ring?”

  “I have no idea, but we’re about to find out.”

  She put her fingers on the rusted clasp that held the lid shut. She wiggled it a bit and it extended out, but she paused before trying to lift up the cover. “I’m just so nervous. I feel like I should have videotaped this entire thing.”

  “Well, then you would have had to edit out my singing. It isn’t pretty,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. Then he placed his hand gently on her back and tried to encourage her to just open it to see what was in there.

  “Maybe we should go sit in the truck and do it, if you don’t mind,” she suggested. “In case there’s something small in there, I don’t want to drop it. That would not be the ideal way to end this scavenger hunt.”

  “Indeed not,” he said. He easily got up and offered his hand out to Olivia, who took it while securely placing the box under her other arm.

  Once in the truck, she moved more quickly, breathing in and then announcing, “Here we go.” She lifted up the lid halfway and stared in the box, not saying a word, her face void of expression.

  Colton watched her curiously. She was unreadable. He wanted to give her time, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him and he wanted to see what was in the box.

  She reached in her hand and it was shaking more than it had been even before. She pulled out a piece of cloth that looked like embroidered white linen. It was yellowed from age, but very well preserved from its safe home underneath the pasture.

  With the lid of the box wide open now, she placed the white cloth in her small palm and slowly opened it up, unfolding it at an agonizingly slow pace. Colton didn’t know how she could be so overly patient at that moment.

  “Well,” he finally said. “You feel something in the cloth?”

  Olivia nodded her head and unfolded the last bit of fabric, showing a ring in the center of it. It was tarnished, making it darker, but it was definitely a larger ring than most people could have afforded back in the day—particularly homestead ranchers in Montana.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  He looked over and saw her beautiful green eyes glistening with tears of shock, admiration, and maybe relief, too. She lifted up the ring and held it up to the light in the truck that was just over the rearview mirror.

  The two took it in. The ring was beautiful, despite being so tarnished. The diamond in the center was square cut with ornate metal work around it that looked like small loops. “Just think, this was on my great-grandmother’s hand so long ago. I can’t believe it.”

  And like most women would be inclined to do, she slid it onto her finger and it fit like a glove—just perfectly. She held it out in front of her for a second and then out toward Colton.

  “That’s a beautiful ring,” he said softly. “I’m so happy that you found it.”

  His hand reached over and brushed her leg and when she turned to look at him, the spark in her eye made him hold his breath. He’d never seen such vibrancy and energy in someone’s expression before. It was captivating and at that moment, he believed that Olivia Jaspers could do absolutely whatever she set her mind to. She had the spirit and determination, combined with the tenacity and grit. What a woman!

  “Let’s go back to the house,” he said. “Is there anything else in the box to look through?”

  “Some letters, I think, but what about the pasture? Shouldn’t we fill that hole first?”

  “Don’t worry about that; I can do it in the morning. Heck, I can probably get Mal to do it if we tell her the story of what happened. She’s kind of a wild romantic that way, you know.”

  “And you’re not?” she asked. She looked at him and tried to look for some sign to give away what he was really thinking, but all she was met with was a complacent, friendly look.

  “A guy can’t just go around stating that,” he said. He felt his neck grow warmer.

  “And why not?” she asked.

  “Because …” Colton didn’t say another word, but put the truck into drive and began to make his way back toward the dim lights of the ranch house, which grew brighter the closer they got.

  ***

  That night, Colton and Olivia sat on the couch in the living room as she looked through all the letters in the box, reading parts of them out loud to him, and between each one, she’d gently pick up the ring again and look at it.

  “It’s just so beautiful,” she said for the umpteenth time. “Too bad we have to get rid of it. I know it’s for a good reason, but …” She didn’t finish her sentence, because there was no need.

  Eventually the two drifted off to sleep right there in the living room. Her head was resting against his shoulder and his head was flopped back, using the top part of the cushion for a pillow.

  When Colton woke up, he looked down and smiled. There, resting carefully and precisely, was Olivia’s hand on her thigh. The ring was on her finger and all her fingers were shut ever so slightly, protecting it the best she could in her exhausted state.

  Still dirty and now stiff from the awkward sleeping position, he slowly wiggled out of his spot and she flopped over. He put a blanket over her and snuck back outside. If he worked quickly, he’d be able to fill the hole before she woke up. Chores weren’t a huge concern, because he still had Mal and Wade helping him for one more day. Yes, the only real concern he had was the woman in there who’d gotten what she came to Cherish to find. She’d probably be set to go, but he had a different hope. He’d found something that he’d always wanted to find and he might be forced to watch her just walk away to go live the rest of her life. Her adventure was over, which meant his might be too.

  Chapter Twelve

  Colton and Olivia were on their way to Deer Run to talk with the jewelry appraiser. They were going to clean up the ring and then give a suggested price to it. After that, it was on to the auctioneer to be sold for some amount—hopefully a lot so that Olivia felt a bit better about parting with something that she obviously loved so much.

  “I am so curious about what they’ll say. Is it worth more because it’s so old?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said, smiling and reaching for her hand over his center console to squeeze it.

  “I wonder if the diamond is real,” she commented.

  “The appraiser will surely let us know soon enough,” he said.

  “What if the auctioneer sells it for ten cents or something,” she said, shaking
her head. “That would be horrible.”

  “That won’t happen. You set the minimum reserve.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Auctions are pretty common in these parts and I’ve been to a few myself.”

  “Buying or selling?”

  He glanced at her. She sure was a never-ending source of questions that morning. “Both.”

  “Oh, so you can help me make sure I do everything right then. That’s great!”

  “We’re a good team. We’ll be great, Olivia.”

  She gave a deep sigh and he glanced at her. He could tell that she didn’t want it to be as loud as it was, because she pretended to yawn. But it was definitely a sigh.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “You’ll think I’m silly if I tell you,” she said in a voice that was quavering like she was ready to cry.

  Colton pulled over, wanting to give his full attention to her. He didn’t understand, but thought it might be getting rid of something so sentimental that she’d found just more than twenty-four hours ago. “If you don’t want to get rid of the ring, we’ll think of something else. There has to be another way to help your sister.”

  “It’s not that, although there’s nothing I’d love more than not getting rid of the ring. It’s a bit more … personal.”

  He couldn’t imagine what was more personal than the ring. “You can tell me. I’m here for you, okay?”

  She nodded her head and breathed in again. It was such a deep breath that he would have sworn she had no air in her lungs at all. “It’s a bit embarrassing, but I’ll tell you.”

  He remained quiet until she was ready to speak.

  “I’m just sad, because I’m going to miss you,” she finally blurted.

  Now that was something that he could definitely relate to. “That’s been on my mind too.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, a bit of spunk returning to her face and voice.

  “I just didn’t know how you were feeling. I didn’t know what to say. I know you have great plans for everything you want to do, and my life, well, it’s here and kind of laid out. I’m not complaining, because I love this place and the ranch. It’s where I’m meant to be, but I’m not so sure that it’s for you.”