When Nicole walked into Wally’s Western Duds she almost dropped her jaw; there was everything anyone could ever want if they were searching for something western. Dressed in her cream pressed slacks, pink silk shirt and high-heeled cream sandals she felt distinctly out of place. An attractive man with a twinkle in his eye and a swagger in his step wandered over to greet her.
“Hi there. I’m Wally. Anything I can help you with?”
Nicole stared at the vast array of goods. There were saddles, bridles, halters, and a variety of equipment at one end of the store, while at the other were racks of clothing.
“I’m a friend of Beau Chapman’s,” she replied. “He’s going to put me on a horse. I’ve never ridden and he suggested this was the place to find the right clothes.”
“Beau? Then you get my gold star service,” he grinned. “Let’s start with jeans and a shirt, then the boots. The boots are real important.”
“I own a ton of boots but they all have heels.”
“I doubt you’ve got the kind of boots you’ll need,” he remarked. “Tell me what kind of budget we’re dealin’ with.”
Wally always asked, and even though Beau’s new friend was wearing a Cartier watch, and clothes that looked as though they cost as much as it would take to feed a horse for a month, he made no assumptions.
“I’m not too worried about that,” she replied, “but I’d like to wear whatever I buy somewhere other than on a ranch.”
“The jeans I’m gonna suggest are tapered and stretchy.”
“That’s good, yes, that works.”
“Come on over here and I’ll show you which racks to check out, and when you’re ready to start tryin’ on just give me a holler.”
“Thanks,” she smiled.
He escorted her to the opposite side of the store, showed her where to look, made some suggestions, and had just turned to walk away when she stopped him.
“Wally, I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Beau’s been extremely helpful and I’d like to buy him something to say thank you. If you think of anything he might like, or need, would you let me know?”
“You bet. I’m sure something will come to mind.”
It took an hour of trying on various jeans and shirts before she was satisfied, and when it came to the right footwear Wally suggested paddock boots, rather than the traditional western ones.
“These will give you more stability in the saddle,” he explained, “and you can walk a mile in ‘em and they’ll still be comfortable.”
When they were finished she stared at herself in the large mirror that hung on the back of the dressing room door; she was ecstatic.
The stretch blue jeans hugged her curves, and tapering down into the ankle-high black boots, they gave her legs length and accentuated their shape; the white and red check shirt was snipped in at the waist, but still comfortable with its lycra blend fabric.
“Wow. I love this look,” she exclaimed. It’s sexy as hell, and talk about flattering my figure!
“Knowin’ Beau he’ll wanna put a helmet on you, but I think you need the finishin’ touch,” Wally declared, and walking quickly across to a display of hats he selected one and hurried it back to her. “There ya go!”
It was a white cowboy hat, and when he popped it on top of her head she let out a holler.
“Whoo hoo, I’m there!”
“You look pretty damn good,” he said cocking his head to the side. “If Beau hadn’t beaten me to it, I’d be invitin’ you out to sit on one of my horses.”
“Wally, I want a pair of these jeans in the black, and this shirt in aqua, and the pink as well.”
“You want me to wrap up your other clothes?”
“I’ll be changing back into them, thanks though. Did you think of anything for Beau?”
“I did, I’ve got some choices for you. When you come to the counter I’ll show you.”
As she slipped back into the dressing room and peeled off her new look, she sighed happily.
This is so much fun. I’m going to sit on a horse. I can’t wait. I’m sure this is all going to be fine. Beau will build my house and we’ll become…what? Friends, more than friends? Oh, Lord, I want to be more than friends. Of course I’ll have to deal with Gerald, fuck, that won’t be easy. I just have to do it, I have to make it official.
As she left the dressing room she paused, and turning around she looked at herself in the cream pressed slacks, pink silk shirt and high-heeled sandals.
“Ick, talk about boring. I mean, ick,” she muttered, and delighted with her new garb she headed to the counter.
“Let me put that shirt in this garment bag,” Wally offered placing it on a hanger and adding it to the others. “While I’m doin’ that, why don’t you take a look at what I found for Beau. He’d be tickled to get any one of ‘em.”
She studied them for a minute, then pointed.
“This one, and…that!”
While Nicole had been shopping, Beau had returned to his ranch, taken a shower, then called his housekeeper, a woman who was also one of his dearest friends, asking if she could stop by the following morning to make some of her baked chicken.
“I’m havin’ a guest here, Gina, and I’d love to serve it for lunch,” he explained.
“A guest? That right?” she tittered. “I’ll be happy to, and I’ll make some of my chocolate cheesecake tonight and bring it over.”
“Thank you, that would be fantastic.”
Hanging up the phone he couldn’t deny the burgeoning excitement, and though he planned to drive into town to see Dan at the city, he took a minute to think about how much fun it would be to show Nicole the joys of the ranch.
She might hate it.
She’s not gonna hate it.
She might not like the dirt, or the smell.
She’s gonna love it, she’s gonna be so damn excited…
He shook himself as he felt the stirring in his jeans, and grabbing his hat and a jacket he headed into his garage. He owned a regular car, a late model Jeep Cherokee, which he preferred for driving at night; it could get nippy after the sun set and as much as he loved Betsy, her heater wasn’t the best.
As he headed into town he did his best to push the image of Nicole to the back of his mind, and focus on his meeting with Dan. They’d been friends since they were kids, and he wanted to reassure him that if he took over as the contractor, all the hassles and drama would be history.
Pulling into the parking lot he jumped from his jeep, walked into the small building that housed city hall, and poked his head around Dan’s office door.
“Time for a humble contractor,” he grinned.
“Hey, Beau, good to see you. Come on in. Did you get everything worked out with the Diva? Geoff’s done a great job with the modifications. What a relief.”
“Yep. The house is smaller for a start,” Beau nodded. “She was tryin’ to put a monster on that lot.”
“So the question is,” Dan said raising his eyebrows, “are you going to build it?”
“That is the question,” Beau chuckled. “Looks like it. What else can you tell me I might not know? Is there anythin’ besides the obvious?”
“Are you aware that she’s had it wired to be a smart house? Blink and the lights go on kinda thing.”
“No, I didn’t,” Beau frowned. “Damn, I don’t know crap about that techie stuff.”
“It was done by an electrical company I’ve never heard of. I don’t see it as a code problem, at least not yet, but it’ll be a notch above Lyle’s head, that’s for sure.”
Lyle Brady was Beau’s electrical contractor, the best in town, but Daniel was right; Lyle was steak and potatoes.
“I’ll talk to her about it. Anythin’ else?”
“She didn’t get a permit for a pool, but I know it’s been staked out.”
“Right,” Beau nodded. “I wondered about that myself. It looked like a big pool. I’m guessin’ a geology report was done but it looks dicey to me.”
“Like I said, she didn’t even apply for a permit, and that’s gonna take a while. Those are the only things that come to mind, but if I think of anything else I’ll let you know. You sure you wanna get involved with that woman? She was hell on wheels when she came in here.”
Beau paused, leaned back in his chair and smiled.
“To be honest, Dan, I’m really lookin’ forward to it. Life’s been a bit borin’ lately, and I don’t think that girl has a borin’ bone in her body.”
“You’re one brave cowboy,” Dan chuckled.
They shook hands, and as Beau headed back to his Jeep to drive to the hotel, he thought back to his last big job; it had been over a year. He knew if the owner was anyone but Nicole he’d be having second thoughts about getting involved. He didn’t need the money, and he certainly didn’t need the early mornings and late nights, but Nicole was interesting, and she was also a challenge.
“The thing is,” he mumbled as he rolled down the main road, “just how much of a challenge will she be?”
Pulling into the hotel parking lot he wandered inside, stopped at the front desk to say hello to everyone, then ambled into the hotel bar. Geoff was already there, sitting at a table with his sketches laid out. Beau settled in, ordered a beer, and started to look them over.
“This is real good, Geoff. Straight forward. You’ve left a ton of open space inside, her idea I’m guessin’, but you’ve closed in these front walls and reduced the amount of glass.”
“I had to,” Geoff remarked. “With the winds and the debris, those big sliders, scary, and talk about expensive.”
They were discussing the details of the modifications when something made Beau lift his eyes from the table, and looking across the room he thought he saw Nicole.
She was walking past the entrance to the bar lounge wearing a white dress; it looked just like the one he’d imagined earlier that day when he’d been leaning against the tree.
“Hey, Beau, you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“What time is it?”
“Uh, just gone six-thirty,” Geoff replied. “Why?”
“I have to check something,” Beau said quickly, and jumping to his feet he hurried out of the bar.
Standing in the wide hallway he looked up and down but there was no sign of her. Marching to the entrance of the restaurant he peered in; nothing. The hostess saw him and hurried forward.
“Hi, Beau. We have your reservation. It’s for seven, right? I can seat you now though, if you want.”
“Did my dinner guest arrive? She’s wearing a white dress.”
“No,” the hostess frowned. “I haven’t seen anyone in a white dress.”
“Huh. No-one came by here?”
“No, not that I saw.”
“Okay, thanks,” he sighed, and shaking his head returned to the bar.
“Everything okay?” Geoff asked.
“Yeah, but I think I need something stronger than beer,” Beau replied sitting down. That was weird, really weird.
“You sure you’re all right?” Geoff pressed.
“Yeah, I just…” but before he could finish the drunken conversation with Clyde flashed through his head.
“No, you don’t understand, I saw her, but she wasn’t there. I mean, like a ghost, like she was so much on my mind I imagined her. It freaked me out, but when I told Pa he said it meant she was the one.’
“Holy crap!”
“What?” Geoff asked.
“I think I’ve got a problem,” he muttered.