While the two of them talked it over, I picked up my guitar and played around with a song idea that had been floating around in my head.
“Ruby, where you riding to?
“Ruby, who you riding with?
“There’s never been a horse so wild you couldn’t tame”
The song still needed a lot of work. But, apparently, it was enough to stir some good sense into Grayson—either it was the song that got to him or it was Samuel. I like to think it was my song. When I’d finished singing, Grayson came up to me and said, “Let’s share.”
“You sure you could live with it, live with sharing your girl?”
“I’m sure I couldn’t live without her,” he said. “Makes more sense to have her in my life, sharing, than have her all to myself but only in a fantasy.”
I put the guitar down. “All right. We open on Thursday. Wednesday, we’re having a barbecue to celebrate. If my meeting goes well with the Mayor tomorrow, we’ll get one chance with Ruby at the barbecue to get it right. One chance.”
“That’s all we’ll need,” said Samuel.
“Good,” I said. “Because that’s all we’re going to get.”
27
Ruby
Mom and I baked cookies for Gran. It was a happier occasion than when we baked cookies for her on my first day back. This time, they weren’t ‘get well soon’ cookies but rather ‘we’re happy you got well’ cookies. I suspected they’d taste all the better for that.
Any excuse to bake cookies was a good excuse. Plus, it gave me the premise to go for a long walk to Gran’s. Of course, I took the long way. I just had to pass by the ranch, if only to catch a glimpse of it. To poke at a fresh wound or to stir fond memories, I wasn’t sure which. But I was compelled and couldn’t fight it even if I’d tried.
To my pleasant surprise, there was quite a bit of activity going on at the ranch. It didn’t look like they were shutting it down, though I didn’t trust myself enough to get close enough to be certain. Instead, I took a distant look at the riding ring and the stables. I couldn’t help myself from smiling. I’d lived experiences there even my wildest fantasies hadn’t dared suggest.
I slipped into the woods feeling a tinge of regret. What I had lost was not more than a hundred yards from me, yet I was walking away, too emotionally fragile to risk going back.
I came across a patch of lovely flowers and stopped to pick a few for Gran. I watched the butterflies flit about for a while, listened to the frogs croaking then made it to Gran’s shortly before noon.
Gran greeted me on the front porch. What a joy it was to see her healed and healthy. I ran to her and threw my arms around her. “Gran! I’m so happy to see you.”
“Ruby-Rose Davis,” she said, placing her hands on my cheeks.
I tensed up. Gran only ever used my full name when something lay heavy on her heart. When she did, I always feared the worst.
“Come inside and have a talk with your Gran, won’t you?”
She prepared tea and a plate of cookies while I settled in the living room.
“Is Ryder around?” I called out to her in the kitchen.
She didn’t answer me right away, which only made me more anxious. After she’d set the tea and cookies on the table and prepared her cup, she leaned back in her chair and fixed me with her big inquisitive eyes. “Ryder will be coming by in a few hours. Of course, you can stay as long as you’d like and wait for him. I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.”
I put my teacup to my mouth to hide my frown.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” she asked. “Tomorrow afternoon?”
I had no plans, but I was leary and didn’t answer. Gran was hiding something in her question. “Why do you ask?”
She tilted her head and looked at me sideways. “Because I, as mayor, have been invited to an important function and I would like you to accompany me.”
Now, it was I who looked at her sideways. “An important function?”
She folded her hands on her lap and exhaled slowly. “The rodeo, it’s set to open the day after tomorrow.”
“I thought you ordered the rodeo to be shut down?”
“I did. I had concerns. And now I feel those concerns have been properly addressed.”
“I see.”
“Which brings us to tomorrow,” she said with a knowing smile. “There’s going to be a barbecue at the ranch to celebrate all the work everyone’s put in and to celebrate the opening.”
“The ranch? Wasn’t it you who told me I should avoid the ranch?”
“And for good reason,” she said emphatically. “You saw for yourself what kind of man Wolf is.”