“I better unpack, and then pack again.” Tristan went upstairs without hearing the conversation that took place between her father and grandfather after she left the room.
“She’s gonna be mad.”
“I know, Dad, but she needs some time off. If I left it up to her, she’d get something else in the works before I could stop her. This was the only way I could get her to take a break.”
“Mighty nice of Liv Rice to suggest it.”
“She did more than suggest it; she arranged it. Tristan will have a cabin all to herself for the week. If she wants to hibernate and work on her designs, she can. If she wants to go on a trail ride, or hike, or sit in the sunshine, she can do that too.”
“Has she shown you any of them yet?”
“No, and until she does, not a word that we know about it. Understood, Dad?”
Tristan’s grandfather chuckled. “Hasn’t been me, peekin’ at ’em when she wasn’t lookin’.”
Bill warned Bullet the ranch was a long way off the main road. “I remember the first time Clancy took me there. It felt as though we were on that old dirt road for hours.”
“It was a long, bumpy ride,” smiled Dottie. “I still remember it, although it’s been years and years since I’ve been out there. Who knows, maybe they paved the road by now.”
“Can’t say what they’ve done with the old place. It’s changed hands a number of times since Clive finally passed away. His kids didn’t want anything to do with the place.”
“In fact, when we heard Renie was workin’ a dude ranch, a couple years back, we didn’t put two and two together until we heard where it was. Neither Bill or I knew it by the name Black Mountain Ranch,” added Dottie.
Bill turned to Bullet. “Take some pictures for me, will ya?”
“Of course. And thank you again.”
The smile left Bill’s face. He stepped closer and poked his finger into Bullet’s chest. “You’ve got everything you need to be a champion bull rider. Take this week, and get the hell out of your head for a while. Focus on the buck, not the bull.”
Bullet could’ve finished Bill’s sentence for him, he’d heard it so often. This week would be different, though. He wouldn’t be checking the time to make sure he wasn’t late to pick up Grey. He wouldn’t be worried about the broncs fighting, or anything else to do with the rough stock. This week would be all about bull riding, and nothing else.
“I’ll say it again. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Dottie pulled Bullet into a hug. “You thank us every day, sweetheart, with how hard you work.”
“Well, I best head over to the house, say goodbye to my family, and get on the road. What time am I meeting the flight in Edwards?”
“You need to be there by 3:30. If you leave in the next half hour, you should have time to stop for lunch on the way.”
Bill told him the folks at the ranch had asked if Bullet would mind picking up another guest from the local airport. Since there were few guests visiting this early in the year, their staff was short-handed. Bullet didn’t mind. The fewer people there this week, the better. Now that he’d accepted he was going on vacation, the peace and quiet appealed to him.
“Uh, how will I know who I’m picking up?”
Dottie went back into the house. “I almost forgot. She’ll be looking for this sign.” She handed him a sign that said Black Mountain Ranch. “She’ll find you.”
She? Now, this was an interesting development. There would only be one other guest, and he was meeting her at the airport. The week was looking more and more promising. Bullet could use a romp with a pretty cowgirl. Maybe then he’d be able to get his mind off Tristan McCullough.
Tristan’s father told her to look for someone holding a sign saying Black Mountain Ranch. She was the only person they were meeting, and the airport was small, he’d told her. She shouldn’t have any trouble finding her ride.
“Daddy, when I get home, there’s something important I want to discuss with you. So please, don’t make any other travel arrangements for me until we’ve had time to sit down and talk.”
“No problem, little girl. You have a safe flight, and a good time.”
A good time? That was odd. She had business to conduct. He’d walked away before she could ask him about it. Must have just been a slip. Usually, he told her to come home with a pad full of orders.
Tristan breathed a sigh of relief when the flight attendant closed the cabin door and no one had claimed either of the empty seats in her row. It was bad enough that she was on an airplane again so soon. It would have been much worse if she’d been stuck with another boorish passenger who wanted to talk the entire flight.
Yesterday had been a nightmare. Harris had spent most of the flight trying to chat with her. When she put on her headphones, snuggled under her cashmere pashmina, and closed her eyes, he moved into the center seat and offered his shoulder for her to rest her head. She didn’t answer, just turned her back on him.