“I don’t know. Why don’t the two of you go for a ride and see what that new guy is doing with the land he bought out by the river. Check it out for me and see if anything crazy is going on out there.”
“I’m not riding with him.”
“Fine, don’t then.”
“Dad! You’re lying to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Honey, I’d like it if you would go out to the river and see what that buyer is doing out there. Is that too much to ask of you?” he asked firmly.
“Do you really want me to go out there?” I questioned.
“Yes, I really do.”
“Fine,” I said as I stormed off back toward the barn.
When my mother saw me, she gave Malcolm one last hug and kissed him on the cheek before turning and leaving.
“Are you two heading out to the river?” she asked.
“How did you know?” I questioned.
“Malcolm said you two were going out there.”
“I’m only going because Dad wants to see what that new guy is doing to ruin the land. That’s it. If Malcolm wants to come with, that’s fine I guess. But I don’t see the purpose of him tagging along.”
“Great, thanks for doing this, Malcolm. When you get back, make sure and peek your head in. I’m baking a pie and I’d love to hear all about how you’ve been.”
“Thanks to Malcolm?” I said almost under my breath.
“Thanks, honey, for going out there. Your father will feel better if he knows what’s been going on with the land.”
She gave me a kiss on the cheek and then left the barn. Something was going on with my parents and when I got back from the ride, I was going to talk to the two of them together. They knew a lot more than they were letting on and I really was getting annoyed by all their secret keeping.
“Do you still remember how to put the saddle on?” I asked Malcolm as I pulled Buckjoy’s saddle off of the shelf.
“Yeah, I think I can manage, thanks,” he said with a big grin.
“I don’t know why you’re smiling. I’m mad at you, in case you didn’t realize that.”
“What? You’re mad at me?” he said mockingly with an over exaggerated face.
It was funny and I tried my hardest not to laugh but a smile slipped through. I missed him. Garrett, or Malcolm, or whoever he was. I missed his jokes and his humor. I missed how I felt when he was around. I wanted to be mad at him, truly I did. I wanted to yell at him and scream at him, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go there.
“All right, all right, you win. Let’s just go out to the river now so we can get back before dark.”
“Wait, did you just say I won?” He laughed as we both went to work saddling up the horses.
“Yes, you win. I won’t be angry or mean to you on the ride out.”
“Yes!” He said with that same over exaggerated enthusiasm.
“You understand that I have no idea what parts of you are the truth and which parts you made up. I don’t trust anything I remember about you.”
“Then it’s a good thing we have a couple hours of riding to get all caught up,” he said with a big smile.
I couldn’t figure out why he was even there or why we were riding out to the river. It was obvious that Malcolm and my parents had talked and were coordinating something. If all they wanted was to get me alone with him for a long ride, well they had accomplished that. I would endure the ride and then come back and figure out why the hell they had such an intense wish for me to spend time with Malcolm.
I really thought my father would have hated the man. Because of Malcolm, we were no longer taking in FBI people and that was even more money that our ranch wasn’t earning. Plus, my father had been force to kill two men because of Malcolm and attend two farmhands’ funerals. I just didn’t understand why my father would have stayed in contact with the man.