Riding the River (9 page)

“…You…”

“And what’s with the horseshoe? Dan give it
to you? Is it bringing you luck?” He was laughing at her again.

“Obviously not, since you’re here bothering
me.”

“… Am I bothering you, really?”

Sarah turned to look at him. She folded her
arms across her chest and tried her best to look cross. “You’ve
tried to ignore me ever since I got here, and now you make a pest
of yourself.”

“I’m a pest?”

“And do you have to answer everything I say
with a question? It’s annoying.”

“Is it really?” He couldn’t help himself and
started laughing. He doubled up at her angry face – She looked
darling. When he calmed down, he said, “You just can’t help it, can
you?”

“What?”

“… Never mind. You’re mad at me enough
already. Let’s head back to the house. Can you get on your
horse?”

She gave him another stern look. “Why
wouldn’t I be able to get on my own horse?”

He held out his hands in front of him. “Just
being polite…”

“Well, knock it off…” She put on her cowboy
hat, stuffed the horseshoe back in the saddlebag.

Matt watched Sarah gracefully mount her
horse, pull the reins and gallop off. Richie said she’d had her
first lesson this morning, but he couldn’t tell. He could have
sworn she ridden her whole life. Matt smiled watching her ride
away. He mounted his horse and rode after her. Maybe this week
wouldn’t be so bad after all -- She was beginning to chip away at
him.

Could he really stay away from her? It was
beginning to look like the answer to that question was no. But she
was probably still mad at him. Well, let her sulk… Maybe Richie was
right -- This might be fun after all…

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sarah woke up with sunlight streaming in
through her window. The warmth gave her skin a rosy glow. She
yawned, stretched and curled back under the covers. Not having to
get up for work was nothing short of Heavenly…

Slowly, very slowly, an eye reopened and
glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
Eight o’clock? It’s
eight o’clock?
She’d never slept that late in her life. First
there was school, then college, her first job, Grandfather’s
endless campaign breakfasts, and lastly her job with Joe the
Tyrant. Sleeping in late had never been on the menu in Sarah’s
life. But it was now…

Boy, did this feel good...

She finally roused herself to get into the
shower. She had to share shower facilities with a few women on her
side of the building, but that was all right… Just another part of
the experience… She laughed to see a sleepy Tess walking towards
her in pajamas with a towel and a bar of soap. Sarah laughed just
seeing Tess’s auburn hair sticking up every which way.

“Nice hair. Have it done recently?”

“Oh, ha. Yours doesn’t look spectacular this
a.m. either.”

“… What a grouch. Up for a ride after
breakfast?”

“Yeah, but let’s make it a small breakfast. I
ate so much dinner that I’m not that hungry.”

Sarah laughed. “I hear you. A few months here
and my jeans would never fit.”

Both women showered, got dressed, fastened
ponytails, and were ready to eat. After a quick breakfast and
telling Dale she’d help him at lunch, Sarah and Tess hurried out to
the barn. Walking out, Sarah showed Tess her list.

“Look, Mr. Walker gave me a list of animals
that it might be possible to see around here.”

“Cool. Let me see – Hummingbirds, owls,
hawks… Neat. Let’s go….”

They headed into the barn to get two horses
and bumped into Richie and Matt just coming out. Richie’s smile was
big and kept spreading.

“Mornin’, ladies.” He tipped his hat at them,
as did Matt.

“Mornin’,” said Matt.

“Good morning,” said Tess raising one
eyebrow. “How are you two this fine morning?”

“Morning,” said Sarah looking at Richie. Her
good mood had dissipated.

Richie glanced at Matt.
What’s up?

“Very well, thanks. We’re about to go sort
cattle. A cowboy’s work is never done,” he sighed.

“Would you like to see how sorting is done?”
added Matt looking from Tess to Sarah. His gaze lingered on
Sarah.

“… That sounds interesting…” began Tess.

“… But we already have plans. Thanks all the
same,” finished Sarah heading into the barn.

Richie and Tess both shrugged their
shoulders, while Matt called after her, “Doing what?”

“… We’re going for a ride,” yelled Sarah from
inside the barn.

“Want some company?” he yelled back. Richie
blinked his eyes in surprise.

“That would be great,” said Tess. “We’d love
some.” She’d decided that Tyler really was too shy to talk to
women, so talkative Richie might do after all. She smiled at him
and he smiled back.

“Well, let’s get the horses saddled.”

Richie and Matt headed into the barn with
Tess following. Sarah stood in the center frowning with hands on
her hips.

“I thought you were needed for the sorting,
whatever that is.”

“We can do it later,” said Matt cheerfully as
he got a saddle down for her.

Sarah didn’t want the men to come along,
especially Matt. She’d liked him at first until he embarrassed her
when he caught her sleeping in the meadow. And then his nosy
comment about a boyfriend really set her off. She didn’t want him
along, but she’d been brought up to be polite.

“We want to look for various animals on this
list Mr. Walker gave me.” She tried again. “I’m sure this will
not
be interesting to you guys.”

“Let’s see that list.” Matt walked over and
read the list in her hand. He stood too close –
Was that his
aftershave?
Wow…
She handed him the list and moved away.
Matt noticed.

So did Richie.

So did Tess…

Everyone’s senses were on high alert. It was
obvious that nice Sarah was pissed off… And at Matt ... This could,
indeed, be interesting. Richie wasn’t going to miss this for the
world. Tess either…

“Right… Well, let’s get those horses
saddled.” Richie decided to move things along, so they didn’t fall
apart here in the barn. Sarah didn’t look happy and Richie, nosy
guy that he was, wanted to learn the reason. And fun-loving Tess
had her own reasons for wanting the guys to come along.

“Riding into those low hills, we should
probably see a couple of those animals on your list,” offered Matt.
He took off his hat to run a hand through his wavy hair. Then he
readjusted the hat back on his head.

“That so?” Tess grinned at him. She glanced
at Sarah who’d set her lips in a thin line. Apparently, her mouth
was too tight to talk and she almost laughed at her. Then Tess
thought of something… “Any sage grouse around here?”

Sarah perked up. She really wanted to see a
beautiful sage grouse, more than anything, which Tess knew. She’d
read up about them and they were interesting birds found primarily
in the West.

“Sage grouse?”

Matt picked up on her interest. “They feed on
sagebrush which we have a lot of on several parts of the property.”
He waited for her response.

“Really?”

“I think I have binoculars in my saddlebag as
well.”

That seemed to settle things. Matt saddled
her horse, and gave her the reins.

“Tess,” she said happily. “I’ve got Thunder
again. He’s the nicest horse.”

Richie, as well as Matt, was breathing a
small sigh of relief. Tess almost laughed at their reactions.

“Good. Who have I got, Richie?”

“That’s Strawberry. He’s a good boy too.”

They rode along together in comfortable
silence for a spell. Richie glanced at Matt who nodded, so Richie
walked his horse a little faster to catch up with Tess. Matt slowed
his horse to ride with Sarah -- Then they were riding in pairs.
Richie began explaining what sorting cattle meant to a beaming
Tess. She was all ears… Sarah looked out into the hills as she and
Matt rode along together.

“Are you going to forgive me? Ever?”

Pause…

“Do you really care if I do or not?”

“… Yes.”

“Why?”

“Can I tell you later?”

“Okay…”

Her eyes slid over to meet his questioning
ones.

“You’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“Answering my question with another question.
What gives with you anyway?”

Matt laughed. He wasn’t too sure how to
respond.

“I’m not sure how to answer that without
asking another question.”

“You need to give out more information
then.”

“What would you like to know, Sarah?”

“Were you really just concerned when you saw
me in the meadow?”

“… Absolutely. I wasn’t stalking you.”

“Your attitude or something has changed since
I first saw you at the hotel.”

“How so?”

“… You seemed curious about me then.”

“Maybe that’s because you’re interesting…”
Matt looked over at her but she didn’t meet his eyes.

“When we danced, you were nice. But the next
day, you wouldn’t speak to me. You seem full of
contradictions.”

He smiled. “Observant… I am, but so are
you.”

“My turn,” she smiled. “… How so?”

“You arrive an Easterner and in two days
become a Westerner. I might throw the ‘What gives’ question back at
you.”

Another pause…

“I think we’d need a much longer ride for
that conversation.”

“It’s a few hours until lunch. We have the
time…”

“Can I tell you later?”

“Sure.” He reached over his hand.
“Friends?”

She laughed while reaching to shake his.
“Yes…”

His eyes held hers and slight smiles appeared
on their faces. “It’s good to have friends, you know.”

“… I’ve heard that.”

Richie’s voice shook them out of their
gazes.

“Look lively, folks. Coming into sagebrush
territory. Let’s tie our horses over by that bush and proceed on
foot.”

They approached the area that Richie pointed
out, got down and tied up their horses. Matt took the binoculars
from his saddlebag.

“We don’t want to get too close. This is
mating season and we shouldn’t bother them,” said Matt.

“Mating season?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s an interesting sight to
see.”

“I’ll bet,” murmured Tess.

They crept up on a hill that overlooked an
immense plains area. Peering down, the area was alive with sage
grouse strutting around. Richie had reached for Tess’ hand to show
her a good place from which to watch the birds. She smiled and went
where he beckoned. They lay down on the hill to watch the sage
grouse activity.

Matt had taken Sarah a little further down
the hill, closer to the birds. “Here,” he said handing her the
binoculars, “take a look.” They lay down on their stomachs in the
grass and Sarah propped up on her elbows to use the binoculars. It
was quite a sight.

“Look at them! They’re so beautiful!” Sarah
gushed quietly.

“The ones with their tail feathers all pointy
in the back and huge white breasts are the males. The ones with no
white on them are the females.”

“Of course, they are.” Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Why is it, in the animal kingdom, that the males are always
prettier than the females?”

“To attract a mate, of course,” smiled Matt.
“But you know that’s not true with humans… Take you, for
instance.”

Sarah put down her binoculars, gaping at him.
“What about me?”

“You’re much more attractive than I am.”

“Says who?”

“Me…”

“That’s not true from where I sit…” countered
Sarah. She put the binoculars to her eyes again. Matt grinned at
her.

“Does that mean you think I’m
attractive?”

She exhaled audibly.

“… I can’t believe we’re having this
conversation. We’re supposed to be looking at birds.”

“… You started it.” She put the binoculars
down.

“No, I didn’t…”

“Yes, you did when you remarked about…”

Richie spoke quietly from where he and Tess
were situated.

“Would you two pipe down over there?”

“Yes,” smirked Tess. “You’re missing all the
action.”

Sarah refrained from rolling her eyes again,
but she blushed looking at Matt. His eyes held hers for a moment
and then she quickly looked in the binoculars again.

“There’s so many strutting around. They seem
like chickens, in a way.”

“Cousins…”

“Why are there more males than females?”

“… Just the way it is. Since there’s
competition, they’re trying to look their best to attract the
female. Listen to the warbling sounds they make.”

Silence then and lots of warbling noises…

“Look how the male walks and rolls his chest
forward. Why does he do that?”

“He’s putting on a show for her.”

“… Beautiful... Look at the black feathers
down the back of his head. And the dotted feathers behind his
tail.”

Matt wasn’t watching the sage grouse anymore.
He was watching how engrossed Sarah was. He couldn’t believe how
mesmerized she was by these birds… How she was adapting so
incredibly fast to everything Western.
What was her story? Why
was she really here?
Suddenly, Matt was full of questions, but
this wasn’t the place for them.

Glancing over at Richie, he and Tess had
gotten pretty friendly and weren’t watching the birds much either.
Apparently, only Sarah was really interested. He looked up at the
sun.

“It’s probably getting close to noon. We’d
better head back.” He asked around. “Everyone seen enough?” He got
“No” from Richie and Tess, and then a “No” from Sarah, hunkered
down with the binoculars.

He laughed. “Sorry, folks. We need to get
going.”

They quietly backed down the hill toward the
horses. When everyone was astride, they started back to the ranch
house. All of a sudden, going by some rocks, there was a rattling
noise and Tess’ horse reared back, knocking her off into the
grass.