by Joanna Sims
“My hat is too big now,” Skyler complained, pushing her cowgirl hat back on her head. “It fit just fine when I had the wig on.”
Hunter hadn’t known how to react about the wig, so he hadn’t reacted at all. He’d just kept on working like he had been trained to do all his life. “Focus on the job, son,” his father always said. But while his hands were busy working, his mind had been working overtime, too. The shorn hair wasn’t a fashion statement for Skyler—she had been sick. And the discovery, even though he hadn’t shown any reaction to Skyler, was a kick in the gut. Old memories of a friend long gone and sorely missed felt like someone had ripped out stitches and reopened a wound not yet healed. Now, at least, he understood why Jock was so insistent that Skyler be allowed to have her ranch-life experience.
“I’ll see if my sister has an extra hat you can borrow. I bet you’re the same size.”
Skyler was staring hard at the discarded wig; the wig was covered in dust and dirt, and had been trampled on several times while she hauled wood to the trailer.
Not looking at him, Skyler asked, “Why haven’t you asked me about it?”
Hunter finished off his own water, squinted at the sun and said, “Folks in these parts don’t go around asking too many questions. We figure if you want us to know something, you’ll tell us sooner or later. And if you don’t, then it wasn’t any of our business to begin with.”
She looked up at him, and once again, he was temporarily mesmerized by the goodness he saw in those wide, violet-blue eyes. What he saw in those eyes was a heart of gold, a kind soul and a woman who had seen more than her fair share of hardship. In that instant, he realized that he had been wrong about her from the get-go. She wasn’t a spoiled socialite playing dress-up; she was a woman on a mission to save her own life through the hard work and fresh air that could be found on a Montana ranch.
“Let’s head back and grab some lunch,” Hunter said. “You up for driving the tractor back?”
Skyler stood up slowly, her hat falling forward over her eyes. With a frustrated noise in the back of her throat, she pushed the hat up so she could see.
“I’m up for it,” she said and headed toward the tractor, leaving the wig half buried in the dirt.
* * *
“I feel human again.” Hunter leaned back in the rocking chair, his booted feet up on the porch railing.
“Me, too,” Skyler sighed happily.
They had returned to her cabin and made sandwiches for lunch. She hadn’t fully regained her appetite before she’d left for Montana, but now it was coming back with a vengeance. She had eaten two whole sandwiches and three glasses of fresh-squeezed lemonade that Hunter’s sister-in-law Savannah had made specially ahead of her arrival. It had been the right amounts of tartness and sweetness, and she had greedily guzzled as much as her stomach would allow.
They sat in silence together; it was a comfortable silence, which Skyler didn’t often experience. She was typically a nervous talker, always wanting to fill in the silences if her mind wasn’t focused on a task. But with Hunter, silence was easy. After a while, Skyler felt ready to talk, ready to fill in some of the silence between them.
Not looking directly at him, she said, “I had cancer.”
In her peripheral vision, she saw Hunter look her way. “Had?”
“Yes.” A nod. “Had.”
“Good news that you can use the past tense.”
“Great news, really.” Skyler rocked back and forth in the chair. “This trip to Montana was motivation for me.”
There was a long pause before Hunter asked, “Is that right?”
“My best friend, Molly, she’s the one who arranged the whole thing,” Skyler explained. “She knew that I have dreamed of Montana my whole entire life. It started out as a bucket-list trip, but then it became a celebratory trip. My friends and coworkers, family—they started a GoFundMe page so I could fly private out here. I had strangers donate, too,” she said with wonder in her voice. “Can you believe that? People who’ve never met me pitched in so I could get out here safely during the pandemic.”
“People can surprise you.”
“Absolutely they can,” she agreed. “Your father surprised all of us by not canceling.”
She saw a muscle work in Hunter’s jaw and she almost thought that he had something that he wanted to say on that subject—something he might want to add—but when he kept silent, she thought she must have been mistaken.
“Either way, I’m here now.” She rocked back and forth several times, the heat of the day feeling less taxing under the cool auspices of the porch overhang. She breathed in deeply, feeling grateful for the day.
“The wig was not one of my better ideas,” she admitted, the thought just popping out of her mouth.
Hunter remained silent on the matter.
“I wanted to feel normal when I arrived,” she added.
“You don’t owe me any explanation,” Hunter said.
“It’s not really the best way to meet someone—‘Hi, my name is Skyler. I’ve had a rare form of lung cancer. How you doin’?’”
That made Hunter crack a smile and show those dimples she loved so much.
She turned her body a little toward him. “Now that you know, don’t you feel sorry for me!”
“I don’t.”
“And don’t you go easy on me because of it.”
This was met with silence.
“Don’t you go easy on me because of it,” she repeated. “I’m serious. Treat me like you’d never found out.”
He looked over at her, squinting a bit. “That’s what you want?”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
“Then that’s what you’re gonna get.”
“Good,” she insisted.
“Fine by me.”
“Fine by me!” she said more loudly than he did.
That made the dimples come out again. Lord, the man was cute. Sitting on a porch in Montana with Hunter Brand—now this really was her dream coming true. At least the dream she had held dear when she was a teenage girl with braces and a flat chest.
At least the braces were gone.
“So what’s next?”
Hunter slipped his hat down over his face and leaned his head back like he was going to take a nap. “After our food digests a bit, I think I want to check out your riding skills. We’ll saddle up the horses and go out on the trail.”
She hadn’t ridden in years, but it had to be like riding a bike, didn’t it?
“Sounds like a plan.” She titled up her face to catch the rays of sun that weren’t blocked by the porch overhang.
After a minute or two, Hunter asked, “I’ve been wondering...how did your friend know about Sugar Creek? It’s a bit off the beaten path, isn’t it?”
Skyler’s stomach clenched a bit and her nose wrinkled as she winced. Somehow she knew this question was going to arise; she had just hoped to have a little more time with Hunter before having to confess.
“Cowboy Up!”
Hunter dropped his feet from the porch railing and his boots landed on the wooden planks with a loud thud. He leaned forward, repositioned his hat on his head so he could look at her with a hint of accusation in his bright, ocean-blue eyes.
“I knew you recognized me from the show,” he said. “I knew it.”
“Guilty as charged,” she admitted. “But what I said at the airport wasn’t a lie exactly. I did recognize you from the website. I just also recognized you from the show.”
Hunter didn’t sit back in his chair; his shoulders seemed tense as she watched him wipe his hand over his face. He didn’t look at her when he asked, “Please tell me you aren’t part of one of those fan clubs online.”
She laughed. “I promise you. I’m not.”
He let out a relieved breath. “Well, that’s something, at le
ast.”
“Molly and I loved that show,” Skyler continued. “We always watched it together. We never missed an episode.”
Hunter leaned his elbows on his legs, his head down a bit. “I’m glad you got some pleasure out of it. But agreeing to do that show was the worst mistake of my life. I’ve wished I could go back a million times and get a do-over. But I can’t.”
“Really?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Why? You were great on the show.”
Skyler stopped herself from gushing about the countless hours she binge-watched marathon showings of Cowboy Up! just to see him ride a horse or sit around a campfire playing guitar with his friends. And she sure as heck wasn’t going to confess the many daydreams she had had about marrying him. Judging by his reaction, that secret was best kept in the vault.
Hunter sat back again, seeming to relax. “Being famous isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, especially if you want to be taken seriously as a rancher in a small town.”
Up until that moment, Skyler hadn’t realized that she had only been seeing Hunter as a one-dimensional character from a TV show instead of a flesh-and-blood man. It had never occurred to her that Cowboy Up! had been anything but amazing for Hunter. After all, being a part of his life, vicariously through the show, had been so amazing for her.
She sought to lighten the mood and set him at ease. “Well, I promise that I’m not a stalker. Just a fan.”
“Good to know.”
She stared at his profile. “But I do have some posters and T-shirts that I would like for you to sign.”
Hunter shot up again, his brow furrowed. “Are you serious?”
“No.” She shook her head with a smirk. “I was just teasing you.”
“You really spooked my mule, Skyler,” he said, the dimples coming out. Then he stood up and raised his arms over his head in a stretch. For the briefest of moments, his button-down shirt raised up, revealing strong, defined abs—the kind that tempted the touch. “All right. Enough resting. You ready to go for a ride?”
She didn’t want to let on, but she could do with some more rest. Honestly, she felt as if she had already done weeks’ worth of work before lunch and the conversation had tired her out even more.
“Sure,” Skyler said with a weak smile. “Lead the way.”
At first, when she tried to stand up her legs didn’t want to cooperate. She fell back a bit and then tried again. Hunter had his back to her and didn’t notice, which suited her just fine. She pushed herself upright, reaching for the railing. In a split second, her world narrowed and the edges of her vision closed in around her. She heard herself say Hunter’s name and then everything around her faded to black.
* * *
“Why didn’t you tell me she was sick?” Hunter whispered harshly into the phone.
“It was her business to tell, not mine,” Jock said in his terse manner. “What’s going on now?”
“Well, she damn well passed out, Dad.” He rested one hand on the porch railing. “I worked her like a man before I even knew anything was wrong.”
“You should’ve eased her in, regardless,” his father admonished. “That’s just good sense, son.”
Yes, it would have been good sense if he hadn’t been determined to send her packing back to the city. It would have been good sense if he had a clue that Skyler had health concerns. He didn’t have a decent argument so he just moved on.
“Does she need to go to the hospital?”
“I tried to take her and she refused to go. She’s resting now,” he said. “I think she just got overheated and overly tired.”
“Well, that’s on you, son. Keep me posted,” Jock said. “And let her know we’re planning a family get-together—outdoors so everyone can be safe. We all want to make her feel welcome even though we’ve got this pan-dammit going on.”
“Yes, sir.” Hunter nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“Take care of her as if she were one of our own, Hunter. I wouldn’t expect any less of you.”
He ended the call with his father, put his phone in his back pocket and then stared out at the landscape. Jock had pulled the perfect bait and switch on him. He had thought he was getting a bratty city girl who flew around on private jets wasting people’s time for kicks. She was in Montana chasing a dream; she was in Montana to regain her life and her health.
The door opened to the cabin while his mind was wandering and he was staring out at the field. He turned to find Skyler standing in the doorway, looking smaller and slighter than before, but the color had returned to her face.
“That was terrible.” Skyler had her arms crossed and she sounded, to his ears, embarrassed.
“Do you feel well enough to sit down out here with me?” he asked.
Arms still crossed, she nodded. She sat down in the chair she had occupied earlier. This time she curled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
“I’m sorry I pushed you so hard, Skyler.” Hunter was seeking her forgiveness. He had acted like a class-A jerk and he knew it.
“This isn’t your fault,” she said quickly, emphatically. “I wanted to keep up, show you that I wasn’t going to be a burden to you this summer...”
“I didn’t want you here, so I made it tougher on you than it needed to be.” Hunter decided to just clear the air between them. He felt like he owed her that much.
“I know that.” Skyler met his gaze. “And I wanted to prove you wrong. Instead, I made your point for you.”
“No. You didn’t. Everyone needs time to acclimate to this kind of work. I ran you ragged and for that I’m sorry. I want you to accept my apology.”
“I do.”
“Good. Thank you. Now we can start over.” Hunter was surprised that she’d forgiven him so easily, so willingly, so completely. He had just told her that he had deliberately run her down and she had nothing but acceptance and friendship in her eyes, which could only be described as lavender with flecks of blue and gray. Lovely eyes. Perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen. In fact, at times, he found it difficult to break the gaze...to look away from those eyes.
Skyler smiled sweetly at him, yawned and then her eyes drooped down. “I think I’m going to go lie down again. What time should I expect you tomorrow?”
“Let’s make is seven.” Hunter stood up with her.
“What about the horses, the cows?” she asked, worried.
“I’ve got them. You just get some rest and we’ll go for that trail ride before it gets too hot.”
Skyler nodded in agreement as she headed to the front door.
“By the way,” Hunter said, “Jock is planning a family cookout. Outside—plenty of social distancing. Everyone wants to meet you.”
Skyler smiled that sweet smile at him again. “And I very much want to meet them.”
* * *
“It’s been more than I hoped for.” Skyler was propped up in bed video-chatting with Molly. Molly’s friendly, pretty face was a comfort to her and she was grateful to Jock for ensuring that she had a solid internet connection in her little private oasis on the ranch. Molly’s father was a redheaded Irishman and her mother was a doctor from Haiti; with those genetics, Molly had inherited long, curly sable hair, moss-green eyes and darker skin with the most endearing freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. And her dear friend had the best smile of anyone she had ever known.
“Everyone has loved the pictures you’ve been posting,” her friend said from her micro patio. In the city, Molly’s minuscule outdoor space was considered a luxury.
“I’ve been trying to be kind of low-key about all of the pictures. Hunter doesn’t like for his picture to be taken and he definitely doesn’t like social media.”
“Hunter.” Molly put her hand over her heart, fluttered her long, curled eyelashes and pretended to faint.
“Hunter,” Skyler repeated in
a dreamy voice. “He’s so handsome in person, you wouldn’t believe it. But, you know...he’s better than I had imagined. Nicer.”
Molly’s eyes widened. “What if you actually marry Hunter Brand? Just think about it. All of those mock weddings we produced between Hunter and you would actually be dress rehearsals!”
That made Skyler laugh. “No. I don’t think marriage between Hunter and me is written in the stars. When he first saw me, he looked at me like I was an alien from Mars.”
“Well, that wig was odd.”
Skyler laughed harder. “I know it was. You tried to tell me.”
“Good riddance.”
“Agreed,” she said. “But now that he knows I’ve been sick, he treats me like his little sister.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s whatever.”
“Well, I think Hunter Brand would be crazy not to fall in love with you.”
“Thank you.” She smiled; Molly was always there to lift her spirits. “I wish you were here with me. It’s like walking on to the set of Cowboy Up! The family is going to have an outdoor get-together in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to that. By that time, I think all of the quality time with trees and solitude will be getting old.”
“I wonder if Chase will be there.”
Chase Rockwell was one of Hunter’s friends and another dream-worthy cowboy on Cowboy Up! Molly had always had a hard time choosing between Chase and Hunter. For Skyler, it had never been a contest: it had always been Hunter. In fact, it still was.
“I don’t think so. Hunter says the ranch has been closed up pretty tightly—only essential workers have been coming in.”