“Mom!” I exclaimed. “We aren’t sleeping together. Oh, my God.”
“I’m teasing you. Just be safe and go get some beautiful pictures. I don’t want to have to sell the land for less than it’s worth.”
“Thanks, mom; I’ll see you in the morning,” I said as I hugged her and jogged out to meet Garrett and Forest who were standing by the horses.
Chapter Seven
Garrett
“I think my father likes you,” Sarah said as we rode out toward the river.
“Why do you say that?”
“He wouldn’t have let me take any other man out to the river. I honestly didn’t think he was going to say yes.”
“Maybe he just knows that I’ll be able to keep you safe,” I responded, not even believing my own statement. “Or maybe you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger?” I laughed.
The truth was, Sarah was probably much tougher than I ever could be in the wilderness. Although I had started to really enjoy working outdoors and being at the Miller ranch, it had been Sarah’s home growing up. She knew more about horses and the wilderness than I could have hoped for. I constantly felt like I was fumbling around and doing everything horribly.
“I’ve got my gun, don’t worry I’ll keep you safe,” she said without turning to look at me.
She seemed to have softened up to me and I wasn’t going to complain at all. I wasn’t exactly sure why Sid and Meredith were agreeable to me going out to the river with Sarah, but I wasn’t going to refuse the offer. Except for one quick trip into the city, I had been stuck at that ranch for months. I just needed a different view.
My body had adjusted to the long hours and difficult work, but I was excited to get the rest of the day and the next morning away from physical labor. Gone were the days of spending a Sunday morning curled up on my couch with the newspaper. I hadn’t spent a single morning sleeping in since I had arrived at the ranch.
“How far away is the river?”
“It’s about a two-hour ride, we basically need to go up over that mountain right there.”
“What? We are going over that? Oh, shit.”
It was an actual mountain. Not a small hill or even a large hill; the land structure that Sarah pointed out was an actual mountain. It was starting to make sense why only the two youngest and strongest horses could make the trek and why Forest had gone over with me the importance of staying in control of Buckjoy while I rode. The path looked extremely dangerous and I felt very undereducated in my riding skills to be taking on such a big and dangerous path.
“We couldn’t drive there?”
“Not to get to the part of the land where the river is the most beautiful. It’s actually easier to ride than drive since there’s no roads.”
“I feel like I’m being punk’d right now. You’re not messing with me, are you? One time Forest told me the only way to bale the hay was for me to physically roll it. I spent three hours trying to roll that son of a bitch before Forest came over with the baler and did it in two minutes.”
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe I missed that,” she laughed. “So you’re telling me you’re gullible?”
“Well, I’m glad you did miss it. It wasn’t a very masculine moment.”
“You seriously thought you had to hand bale the hay? Oh, man, you really have never worked on a ranch before, have you? I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long.”
“I’m more of an office job guy,” I said mistakenly. “But I need the money and I need the job, so I’m more than willing to learn what has to be done,” I said as I tried to cover up my mistaken comment.
For a brief moment, I had forgotten that I was on Sarah’s ranch for protection and I wasn’t the man she thought I was. My FBI back-story never had me working in an office. Instead, I was a farmer’s son who lost his parents and was heading to a new job in the northwest. I quietly hoped that Sarah wouldn’t catch my mistake.
We rode in silence as we followed a winding path up and over the mountain. I wasn’t deliberately being quiet, but I felt like it took all my concentration to work with the horse and stay on the path. Luckily, Forest had been showing me the tips and tricks to riding and occasionally Sarah would tell me to pull my feet in tighter or hold the reigns tighter. When we finally reached the peak of the mountain, Sarah stopped the horses and we let them take a break.
She grabbed her camera and took a few pictures while I stood and held onto the horses. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing, but I knew enough to hold the horses and prevent them from getting away from us.
“Grab that pop up bowl in my satchel and I’ll fill it with water for the horses,” she said.
“Sure thing,” I said, just happy to feel like I was being of some use.
“You’re doing a pretty good job riding; I can see you’re a quick study.”