Off the Beaten Path (29 page)

Kristin was sure that no matter what attorney Clarence hired to represent him he would be more than a passive observer. More than
likely, he would be the driving force for his own defense. This reminded Kristin of another old Legal quote,

“The lawyer that defends himself, has a fool for a client.”

With the deathbed confession of Gerard to the Sheriff and the money trail from Clarence's personal account to Gerard's account she was pretty sure Clarence would be going away for a long time. She wasn't worried that Clarence would try and harm himself or became a victim in jail. Clarence was a survivor, he would probably become a sought after celebrity in jail. Dispensing legal advice in trade for cigarettes and the few special privileges that could be acquired inside a prison.

The only thing she felt was pity. After everything Clarence had done to her and the people around her she felt sorry for him.

Kristin was flat out flying across the gravel and rocks that streamed effortlessly underneath her feet. It felt like her Nike running shoes were barely touching the ground as her legs pumped up and down like two pistons in a high performance engine. Kristin’s arms were cocked at a ninety degree angle as they forced her upper body out in front of her hips. She looked like an Olympic runner crossing the finishing line one thousandth of a second in front of a packed field. It appeared as if the slightest tilt forward would knock her body off balance and send her crashing face first in the hard packed earth.

A brilliant red and orange wedge of light was slowly illuminating the eastern sky as Kristin crested the last incline before the gentle slope back down the hill to the front gate. As she came to the crown in the hill she could see pockets of a misty fog rising over the ponds and small streams off in the distance. Her entire body was covered with sweat and the calves of her legs were coated with a thin layer of dust that she had kicked up off the gravel road.

The final stretch of road that unfolded out in front of her was a solid quarter of a mile but it felt calm and relaxed like she was strolling out to get the morning paper. The last hundred feet up the slight incline had pushed her body into a runner’s high and she was almost disappointed that she was in the final stretch of this morning’s run was in sight. She knew without any doubt that when she reached the front gate she could, if she wanted just keep on running, forever.

As Kristin’s eyes constantly scanned the road in front of her she noticed a long fat stick lying in the road that she was sure had not been there and hour ago. When she was less than ten feet away the stick started to move. She instantly knew that it was not a stick, is was a rattlesnake attempting to soak in a little warmth from the gravel road.

She was moving too fast to stop or even change course so she did the only option left to her, she leaped over the snake like a runner over a hurdle. When Kristin was directly over the top of the surprised reptile she heard the unmistakable clatter of the snakes tail rattle. But it was too late, she hit the ground a good five feet past the coiled snake before he could strike at the threat he had not sensed in time.

Kristin heard enthusiastic barking as she approached the end of the fence row that turned into the front gate of the ranch. Sam came blasting out of the barn to greet her with Jack a couple paces behind her. He was dressed for a morning ride and carrying a saddle, her saddle. He threw the saddle over the top rail of the fence as Buck and Sarah hurried over impatiently waiting to be saddled.

“See any wildlife this morning?” He asked.

“Just a nervous Rattlesnake.” She said with a satisfied smile.

Jack gave her a sideways smile as he headed back into the barn to retrieve his saddle, “You’ve dealt with snakes before.” He responded.

She laughed and gave him a playful shove from behind,

“I’ll take a quick shower and be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Take your time, we’ll wait.” Jack said with an easy tone that Sam echoed. Jack subscribed to the famous quote by Winston Churchill,

“Not one hour spent in the saddle is a wasted hour.”

Thirty minutes later Kristin stepped out of the front door and onto porch dressed to kill, literally. In addition to a pair of warn blue jeans and a light tan jean jacket covering a bright pink tank top she was wearing one of Jack’s tattered old cowboy hats. She also had on a new pair of soft brown leather chaps that Jack had given her the morning after they had returned to the ranch. The chaps were the same color as her luminous brown eyes with the exception of the dark brown stitching and the two bright red initials on the left leg of the chaps. The initials were K.A. and were the color of Kristin’s favorite red lipstick. Kristin had immediately recognized the initials as her maiden name. Jack informed her that they really stood for, “Kick Ass.” She smiled and nodded at him, “I like that.” She said, “It will be our little secret.”

Strapped low across her hips was a weathered old leather holster tied with the. The holster looked to be at least one-hundred years old; it was actually seventy-five years old. Jack’s father-in-law, Ben had handed the Holster to her just before Jack had presented her a polished wooden box. Inside the box lying on a red velvet fabric was a nickel plated 22 Magnum Colt with polished walnut grips.

The weapon was now resting comfortably deep inside the leather holster with the safety strap securely fastened over the hilt of the pistol. Jack took one look at the stunning vision standing at the top of the stairs and let out a low whistle.

Kristin came down the front porch steps and across the yard to where Jack was standing like she had been wearing the outfit all of her life. No one would ever guess that three months ago she had been living in a penthouse apartment in the heart of downtown Seattle.

Jack opened the gate to the corral and led the horses out into the front yard. He handed Sarah’s reins to Kristin and asked, “Where to partner?” He didn’t say it in the mocking tone that someone living in a big city would use. He said it in the truest sense of the word; they were well on their way to becoming true partners.

They climbed up into the saddles and headed out the front gate with Sam in tow. Since they had been back at the ranch Kristin had made a valiant attempt to convince Sarah that it would be really fun to allow her four pawed best friend to ride on her back right behind Kristin, neither Sam nor Sarah wanted anything to do with her fun idea. Jack had just stood back and smiled during the whole comical episode, he knew the outcome before Kristin had even started. And being as wise as he was he failed to say a word when the project failed.

They had packed enough supplies in the saddle bags for at least three or four days depending on when they wanted to come back to semi-civilization. Their destination was the old mining cabin about five miles up Elk creek. Kristin had purchased the gold mine operation form the two brothers’ that had owned it for years. The price she paid them was more than they had ever made the entire time that they had owned the modest little operation.

There was just something about the little cabin nestled in the narrow canyon with the gurgling steam running right next to the cabin that had captured her heart from the first time they had rode up to it.

Becca had tried to turn the modeling agency back over to Kristin after Clarence had been ceremoniously dragged off to jail. Since the agency and the people that worked there were no longer in danger there was no reason for Kristin to try and protect everyone from the wrath of Clarence. But Kristin had adamantly refused. When Becca realized that Kristin was not going to budge on this she offered to at least give her a percentage of the profit from the agency. Kristin held up her hand in protest, “Consider it an early wedding present.” She said, with a smirk.

Becca burst out, “How did you know?” she didn’t think that anyone knew that Jake had asked her to marry him. Kristin said sheepishly,

“Becca, you know Jake can’t keep a secret.” Almost as an afterthought she added,

“I know a great place you guys can visit on your honeymoon.” It was an open invitation for the two of them to visit her and Jack at the Ranch.

There would always be a special place in Kristin's heart for the city that she had grown up in, the people and the uniqueness that was Seattle. Despite all of the wonderful memories she had growing up in Seattle there were also some extremely painful ones that she needed to walk away from. Of course she would visit from time to time to visit old friends and drink in the sights, sounds, and smells that made her home town so special. But for now she needed some space between her and the pain, and she knew just the place.

Kristin had sold her last concrete connection to Seattle, the high rise apartment building that her father had left her. When she decided to sell the building she made only one phone call. Kristin called, Carl Turner, the young man that her father had hired the day after the dinner party years ago. Dad had mentored Carl and most importantly he trusted Carl, and if her father had trusted him that was good enough for her. Carl was now the head of a company that purchased rundown buildings and turned them into upscale lease properties. Even though her father's building was not anywhere near a fixer upper Carl had always expressed an unashamed interest in owning the building that was named for the man that had taught him everything he knew about business.

Kristin sold the building to Carl for just over forty seven million dollars which was three million under the market value of the property. When she sat across from Carl at the massive oak conference table and told Carl the asking price he studied her with a look of mild confusion. She saw the look and cleared up his confusion.

“There is one condition.” she said.

Knowing Kristin and her father Carl knew instantly what the condition was. A smile spread across his stoic face as he reached across the table and laid his hand on top of Kristin's. “The name stays,” He said, referring to her father's name on the building. Her father had trusted Carl and she trusted him enough to know that he would never change the name of the building.

As they crested the hill and stopped for a minute to look back over the valley Kristin teased Jack that she was going to start buying up the valley one ranch at a time until they owned the entire valley. Jack leaned down on his saddle horn and asked, “Why do we need this entire valley to ourselves?”

Kristin winked at him and said with a sly smile, “Horseback riding, naked.”

Jack laughed out loud and as they turned the horses away from the vista and headed down the back side of the hill toward the cabin Jack started pulling off his shirt. Kristin watched his blue eyes sparkle as he uttered two words, “Why wait?”

Kristin followed suit as they disappeared over the hill and into the pine trees.

The End