Olivia
“This is a bad idea, Olivia,” I grumbled to myself as I pulled on my sweatpants. I grabbed a sweater and my Timberland boots and put them on quickly. Never in my life had I wished I had cowboy boots to put on—before now.
I hurried back to the kitchen and smiled nervously when I saw that Beau was standing there waiting for me. He was such a hunky, tall man, the epitome of a cowboy. It was funny because I’d never met any real cowboys before. It wasn’t like there were a lot of them in New York City. In fact, the only one I could think of was the Naked Cowboy who hung out in Times Square, and I didn’t even know if he was a real cowboy.
“You made it back.” Beau’s face lit up when I walked into the kitchen.
“I did.”
“And you put on some clothes.” He chuckled. “Darn it.”
“You did too.” I looked at him in his dark gray sweatshirt. It was too bad that he’d covered up, but it was most probably for the best. His chest looked like it had been chiseled by one of the finest sculptors in Italy. He was gorgeous and way too tempting.
“I guess we both decided it was safer to put on some more clothes,” he said.
“Safer?” I asked him, a little smile on my face. Was he teasing me? Was he flirting with me?
“You know what I mean.”
“Perhaps I do.” I wasn’t the sort of girl to play games, even though this was very dangerous territory we found ourselves in. “So, where are we going?” I asked him before he said something that would have us going back to one of our bedrooms as opposed to outside.
“Well, it’s a beautiful balmy night here in Montana. And I thought, why not show you some of my favorite night spots?”
“Some of your favorite nightspots, huh? I suppose there are many?”
“Not many, but I want you to see this beautiful state through the eyes of someone who loves it.”
“You really do,” I said. “I’m not saying that it’s not beautiful or that New York City is better; it’s just very different.”
“It’s different, yeah. But I am saying that Montana is better than New York City. Much better.”
“Oh, really? And I suppose you can back that up?”
His blue eyes gazed into mine. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
“Okay, cowboy. Let’s go outside, and you can show me.”
“Okay then.” He brushed past me. “I got hot chocolate in a flask and”—he held up another bottle—“some whiskey in case we want to tease ourselves.”
“Tease ourselves?” I laughed. “What does that mean?”
“I mean, just enough whiskey to make us happy. Not enough whiskey to make us drunk.”
“Oh, you’re scared to get drunk with me?”
“Yes, I am, ma’am.” He grinned. “Yes, I am.”
I didn’t ask him what he meant by that; I wasn’t a dumbass. But he was smart, because if he’d brought more whiskey, I had a feeling that neither of us would be able to keep our hands off each other. And while I knew that Lucy wouldn’t care if I hooked up with Beau, it would just make everything far too complicated.
“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“We’re going to see nature in all its glory,” he said as we walked out through the French doors at the back of the kitchen.
It sounded like a tall order, but as we stepped out of the house, I looked up at the night sky. It was dark, but I could see hundreds, maybe thousands, of stars. It was beautiful. I’ve never seen so many stars in the night sky. I truly felt like I was in nature, which was something I never really cared about. I was used to the lights and sounds of a bustling city, homeless people on the corners, and gunshots in the distance.
“What are you thinking about, Olivia? I asked if you saw that constellation.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about the city. While I love it, there’s a lot of crime there.” I made a face. “I mean, not to prove you right or anything, but it certainly doesn’t have this serene, tranquil feeling.”
“Of course not,” he agreed. “This is Montana.”
“Yes, it is.” I laughed.
“Come. I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“A stream.”
“I’ve seen streams before, you know.”
“Not like this.”
“Okay.”
“So”—he turned to me—“we have several options.”
“Oh?”
“We can ride there,” he suggested, and my eyes widened. “Okay, maybe that’s not a good idea, seeing that you’ve never really ridden before. You could ride on the same horse as me.”
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “I mean, it’s not like I’m some princess in a movie and you’re rescuing me.”
“I could rescue you if you wanted.”
“Well, what are our other options?”
“We could walk, but it’s late, and I think you’d be too tired to walk back if we did that. How about we camp out?”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The thought made me a little nervous. I’d never been camping before, and I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for my first experience.
“Then we’ll take one of the trucks.”
I nodded, relieved. “I guess that’s a good compromise.”
“I think so too.” He stared at me for a moment without saying anything.
“What are you thinking?” I asked him.
“I was thinking that you’re beautiful,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. My heart raced, and I just wanted to grab him and kiss him. I wondered if a cowboy would kiss better than a city boy.
“Thank you.” I grinned at him, pleased.
“I was also thinking that I can’t believe you’ve never been to Montana before.”
“Lots of people haven’t been to Montana before.”
“And they’re missing out,” he said. “I haven’t been out here at night in a long time.”
“Oh, really?” I was surprised. “If you love it so much—”
“I do love it. But sometimes other things in life take over, you know? You forget to enjoy the beauty of the small things.”
“I definitely understand that. It can be hard to appreciate the smaller things in life when you’re stressed out.”
“Are you stressed out, Olivia?” he asked me softly as we walked to the side of the house to where the trucks were.
“A little bit,” I admitted. I wasn’t normally this open with people I didn’t know well, but something about Beau made me feel safe.
“What are you stressed out about?”
“I’m a little sad that Lucy’s moving here. She’s been my best friend for years, and I’m going to miss her.”
“That’s understandable.”
“And I guess my job as well. I don’t know what exactly will be waiting for me when I get back.”
“What is it you do again?”
“I work in a little boutique in the city. We sell clothes, and pay is based on commission. I don’t make that much money. I make enough to live, but barely.” I sighed. “Not that I’m complaining or anything,” I said quickly, not wanting him to think I was asking for a handout or something.
“No, I get it. Money is a huge stressor.”
“Not that you have anything to worry about, right?”
“Me?” He chuckled softly. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, aren’t you like the richest cowboy in Montana?”
“No, not really. Our family—yeah, we have some of the most prime real estate in the state, that’s true, and it is very valuable. We have some cash flow issues, though, if I’m completely honest.” He glanced at me. “I can’t believe I just told you that.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve told no one outside of the family that, and I don’t even know if the family understands just how critical things are right now.”
“Is it really bad?” I said, worried and nervous for him but also for Lucy. What was she getting herself into?
“I mean, we’re not going to be out in the streets or anything,” he assured me quickly. “We’re not in dire straits, but I have a lot of important decisions to make that could affect this ranch for generations to come, you know?”
“I understand.”
Though I didn’t really. I certainly didn’t have generational wealth in my family, and I didn’t know anyone else that did. I hadn’t grown up with people who had trust funds and were born with silver spoons in their mouths. My parents were like me, living from paycheck to paycheck. I was positive that the constant stress of “Do I pay the electricity bill or the water bill this month? How many days can I push it before something gets shut off?” was going to shorten all our lives.
It was a lot, but I guess it would be a lot if I had the futures of everyone in my family to worry about as well, as it sounded like Beau did.
“Does your dad still help with the ranch?” I asked.
“Not the business side of things. My dad, he was a great cattleman—business savvy and very by the book. Maybe too by the book.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. We lost a lot of money with a lot of the practices that he continued. He wanted to make sure that we hired real men to do a lot of work that machinery could do, you know? A lot of people in town, they rely on their jobs here at Horseshoe Ranch. People are important, but I don’t know if . . .” He paused. “Sorry, I don’t want to bore you. That’s not why we came out here.”
“You’re not boring me,” I told him. “I understand. I guess it’s like tech jobs, right? And jobs that machines and robots can take over. A lot of companies are hiring machines as opposed to people, and that’s something that’s always struck me as sad and scary for mankind.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “At some point, we can’t rely completely on machines, but people want to pay the bare minimum for products and food and just about everything. And when you pay the bare minimum, you can’t expect that the workmanship is the same.” He sounded glum. “It’s just not possible.”
I was surprised at how serious the conversation had become. We stopped next to an old Chevy truck and he grinned. “Okay, I promise I’m going to stop. I’m going to take you down to the stream. Well, creek.” He laughed. “I call it a stream because when I was young, I always used to say, ‘I want to swim in the stream. I want to swim in the stream,’ and even though I know it’s a creek now, of course, I still call it a stream.”
“Oh, I see. So we’re going to a creek?”
“Yeah. I know you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Why is a strange man complaining and driving me to a creek in the middle of the night?’ but I promise, you won’t regret it.”
“I already don’t.” I jumped into the passenger seat of the pickup truck. “I’m glad we’ve had this conversation. You’re different from what I expected.”
“You thought I’d just be some cowboy hick?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said quickly.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t offend me. I am just a cowboy, but I’m a cowboy with a lot of layers and a lot of things to think about. I’m also a cowboy that loves this state and loves the land, and any opportunity I have to share that with someone else, well, I’ll take it, especially when it’s a beautiful woman like you.”
He started the ignition, and I sat back, my heart thumping. I looked out the window as we pulled out of the driveway and to the back of the property down a dirt road. I could see nothing except for the dirt road ahead of us lit by his headlights. We were in the middle of nowhere. I should have been scared, but I felt excited. I felt like I was going on a real adventure. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie—which told you how sad my life was, because Indiana Jones had been in the Middle East and Africa, and here I was in the middle of Montana, excited to be going into the forest to see a creek.
I was glad I’d come to visit, and I was even a little glad that Lucy wasn’t here tonight. If she was, maybe I wouldn’t be on this adventure with Beau, experiencing what I was experiencing right now. Happiness. Lightness. Excitement. I didn’t know how long the feeling would last, but I was glad for it. I wanted to see Montana in all its glory. And maybe, just maybe, he could make a convert out of me. Maybe, just maybe, I was someone who would really appreciate nature.
Maybe I wouldn’t want to go back to the city after all.