Up the Creek Without a Saddle (Bandit Creek Book 31)

by Sandy Kelly

  “Hello,” Lily said knowing that greeting the cows was a really strange thing to do. Her voice sounded oddly out of place and the cows nearest her lifted their heads lazily. They continued chewing while they gazed at her for a moment. Unmoved by what they saw, they simply bent their heads and tugged at more prairie grasses.

  “It’s nice here,” Lily continued stupidly, realizing how incredibly lonely she felt. The four days driving here was the longest stretch she had ever gone without talking and she obviously hungered for company. One of the cows patiently lifted his head in her direction once again, while the others ignored her.

  Lily was speaking to a cow and sadly grateful for the company. But what amazing animals! A bit of wire fencing was the only thing that stood between her and these giant beasts and she began sauntering nearer. She decided to stand as close to the friendly cow as the fence would allow. She kept her eyes cast down toward the ground for signs of uneven earth, gopher holes, dung and other stuff she imagined was covering the floor of this new land. Mice probably, she thought, feeling her feet sink into several inches of soft dirt.

  She was too close. The cow was suddenly restless and Lily immediately began backing up. The surrounding animals lifted their large heads once again, assessing this latest motion on their otherwise still field. They looked at Lily, chewing all the while.

  Turning quickly to make her way back to the safety of her car, she suddenly began to skid along a slippery patch of muck. Her shoe stopped its short slide and then felt like it was anchored in the ground, as Lily tried to lift her foot and continue her retreat.

  Once she got near the car she tried scraping her heavy shoe along the ground, which only gathered more of the dung and dirt mixture. Lily began walking around the car to find a stick to scrape it off. The cow, who had relaxed into her previous position, once again seemed displeased with Lily’s latest plan.

  “Never mind,” Lily said, stalking back around the car and opening the door, eager to leave the tiresome scene. She lowered herself sideways onto the seat and stared at the assaulting shoe, knowing she couldn’t let it into her car given the state it was in. She twisted her body enough to reach her purse, and pulled out a facial tissue that looked terribly insufficient for the job it faced. Soon little balls and flakes of tissue were interspersed with muck along the sides of her shoe. More devastatingly, Lily discovered that one movement had shoved bits of the putrid stuff up every nail on her right hand.

  “Yuk!” Lily said in frustration, rising from the car and startling the cows as she looked for something that could now also clean her nails. She bent over the gravel that lined the side of the road and set about working a small pebble through her fingernails, looking around all the while for a stream or puddle or a five star hotel.

  Used as she was to having everything perfectly laid out and prepared for her, Lily suddenly felt the full burden of her journey. She was tired and lonely for the familiarity of her home and all the staff that kept it running smoothly. She had never smelled this bad in her life and she damn well wasn’t prepared to smell like this now.

  She bent over and peeled the dirty shoe off and, giving in to her frustration, threw it into the field beside her. Every cow in the vicinity stood watching skeptically, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Lily bent her other leg up behind her and pulled forth the other shoe, holding it poised overhead. That’s when Jayce arrived on the scene.

  “I don’t want to invade your privacy,” he said now. They were driving to somewhere from somewhere and, for all the world, Lily couldn’t seem to gain any control over the situation. She watched as Jayce steered her old car through the gravel roads which he seemed to know so well.

  “I don’t want to pry, I just want to help,” he said again.

  “You must think I’m pathetic,” Lily said apologetically. It was time to put an end to this notion that she was destitute. It wasn’t right that she had let him continue to believe she needed that kind of assistance.

  “Everybody needs a pair of shoes,” he said simply. His manner was so refreshingly honest and practical.

  But she also found it difficult to believe he could be feeling the same way about her, given that she looked so disheveled and acted so strangely. He was simply being a Good Samaritan, she realized, and she would politely accept his act of kindness and then release him from this burden she had become.

  “Where are we going?” Lily asked.

  “The town is just up ahead. I’m sure it will have what we’re looking for.”

  “Which town?” Lily asked, trying to get her bearings.

  “Bandit Creek,” he replied, sending a flood of relief through Lily. Despite the strange detour her trip had just taken, she was going to end up at her destination after all. Before long they were turning off Highway 90 into the town.

  “Here we are,” Jayce said, pulling to a stop on Willow Drive.

  Lily glanced up and saw, to her utter dismay, that Jayce had pulled up to a place called ‘Helping Hands’. It was a charity, that was for certain. She suddenly felt like an out and out liar and was ashamed.

  “Here we are. I think they’ll have shoes in here,” Jayce said softly, waving a hand to quiet her renewed protests.

  He stood and made his way around the car to open Lily’s door, as she tried one more desperate time to sweep away some of the muck from her hands and pants. She smiled up at him with some resignation, as she got out of the car. They walked together into the store.

  The few rows of shelves were lined with used clothing and household goods. Lily walked sheepishly alongside Jayce, as they passed shelves of bargain-basement women’s slacks and sweater sets. Before long they arrived at a small area displaying shoes that Lily could only describe as practical. Used cheap vinyl brown shoes stood before them and, as she looked toward Jayce for his reaction, she found he seemed most pleased.

  “Here we are, then,” he said, delicately. “Shoes.”

  “Yes, I see,” Lily said slowly, trying to determine how it was, exactly, that she should be acting. She shouldn’t be acting at all, she decided. This performance must end, and it must end now. “Look,” she began, her serious voice causing Jayce to look quickly toward her. “I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but I really don’t need shoes.”

  The two looked down in unison to Lily’s stocking feet.

  “Well, I do need shoes,” Lily stammered, one foot trying to cover the nakedness of the other. “What I’m trying to say is that…”

  “Please don’t be embarrassed,” Jayce said with such heartfelt sincerity that took Lily aback. “I want to do this for you.”

  He gently placed his hand on her shoulder for reassurance, and Lily was once again stunned by both the size of his hands and the sparks they ignited when he touched her.

  Jayce set to the task at hand, trying to find a pair of shoes in the right size. He fumbled around for a bit, picking up one pair of modest shoes after another as Lily stood quietly, suddenly captivated by the hilarity of it all.

  “I’ve never bought a pair of ladies shoes before,” Jayce stammered awkwardly. “Would these ones be alright? What do you think of them?”

  He held out a pair of bland beige bargain-bin loafers. Lily tried to keep her face unexpressive as she peered at the footwear, the likes of which she had never seen before. Glancing further up the powerful arms that held them out to her, she saw Jayce smiling invitingly at her. He seemed proud of his offering.

  “Do you think they’ll fit?” he asked politely. Seeing Lily continue to hesitate, he became more authoritative and took further charge of the situation.

  “Here,” he instructed, lightly taking hold of her elbow with his free hand. “Sit down a minute and try them on for size.” He guided her to a metal folding chair that sat at the end of the shoe rack, stuffed between last year’s winter clearance jackets that overflowed into the aisle.

  Feeling helpless to back out of the situation, Lily surrendered herself to the hard metal. Jayce lowered himself on his musc
ular haunches before her and gently placed his strong hand around her slender ankle.

  “Let’s see how it fits,” he said shyly, avoiding her eyes. She felt his firm fingertips lift her foot gently from the tile floor and she shut her eyes to the overwhelming sensation of his presence so near. She felt the warmth of his hand as it cupped the curve of her calf.

  “Need some help?” a shrill voice called to them, breaking the spell. Lily quickly opened her eyes to discover a woman standing over them.

  How odd they must look. Jayce was now looking incredibly guilty as he continued to hold Lily’s calf in his hand. From Lily’s toes dangled a shoe that was many sizes too big.

  “I don’t think this fits,” Jayce stated the obvious.

  “Yes, I can see that,” the lady countered. “What size do you take?” she asked in her businesslike voice.

  “I take a size 7,” Lily stated firmly and clearly, hoping the woman wouldn’t require any further information from her.

  “Well, chances are we won’t have this particular shoe in your size, but I can find a similar shoe if that’s what you’d like,” the woman said, taking the shoe from Jayce. From between the woman’s fingers, the shoe looked like a beige boat with tiny balls of mud now visible around the edges.

  “I guess so,” Lily said hesitantly, as if confessing to having very bad taste.

  “Then I’ll get you some clean hosiery, too,” the woman said.

  Lily and Jayce watched as she walked away, then looked at each other and burst out laughing. It seemed to be the first honest and spontaneous response they had exchanged since their strange encounter began. They tried to quiet their laughter under cupped hands, but it was useless.

  “Here,” the woman said, as she plunked a shoebox onto the floor between them. She placed a well-used and tattered black knee-high stocking on top of the box, said, “Use this,” and then walked away.

  “I guess we better start behaving,” Jayce said quietly, in his bashful manner.

  He tenderly lifted Lily’s foot once again and delicately began to place the nylon stocking along the tips of her toes. His touch lingered, as he held her ankle much longer than was necessary.

  “How’s it going now?” the sales clerk broke into their trance once again.

  “Umm,” was all Jayce could muster, as he looked down at the obvious lack of progress the two were making in the shoe department.

  “I see you need more time,” she declared, walking away once again.

  Jayce took up the black stocking again and began to stretch it along Lily’s slender foot.

  “That’s attractive,” Lily said playfully, as both looked at the snags and runs crisscrossing along the length of the knee-high. Jayce met her eyes and a smile creased the dark skin around the green of his eyes.

  “At least it’s clean,” he joked. Lily watched in fascination at Jayce’s mix of tenderness and awkwardness as he fumbled gently with the shoe. Soon – much too soon – it was on her foot and he released his magnetic hold.

  “How does it feel?” Jayce asked shyly.

  Lily, feeling like a strange version of Cinderella, looked down at the beige vinyl shoe. She glanced at Jayce, who hunched expectantly on the floor before her, his elbow resting casually his bent knee.

  “It seems to fit okay, heh?” he continued.

  “It’s fine. It’s very good, in fact,” Lily said politely, her enchantment of this man’s sincerity wiping out any embarrassment about being seen in such shoes.

  “Then let’s buy them and get out of here,” Jayce stated lightheartedly. She met his gaze and saw that his eyes were dancing.

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Lily answered, bending to remove the shoe and place it back into the box, feeling awkward once again at what was transpiring. If she truly needed the charity of this man she would swallow her pride and accept it. But she was lying to him without ever intending to. She was letting him believe she needed his financial help when in reality she could purchase this entire block just with the money available in her chequing account.

  “There’s something you should know,” she began, the seriousness in her voice threatening to break the camaraderie that was developing comfortably between them.

  “What I know is that you need these shoes,” Jayce broke in, lifting the box from the floor and straightening up.

  “I do need shoes,” Lily relented, finding herself smiling as she followed him to the check-out counter.

  “You’ll take them, then?” the sales clerk asked. Jayce discreetly passed the clerk some money, while Lily looked away sheepishly.

  “There, that’s all done,” Jayce said to her when the little transaction was finally complete. He gently took her hand and began guiding her out of the store. Lily felt like a child as she let him steer her away from the counter, tingling in the rapture of his touch.

  “Wait just a minute,” the familiar voice of the saleswoman called to them. “You haven’t entered our draw,” she insisted, pushing a worn coffee tin towards them. The plastic lid had a small slit cut through the center, which drew the attention of them both.

  “You put your ballot in there,” the clerk explained, pushing some ripped squares of paper along the counter toward them. They looked toward one another, stifled further laughter and turned back to the papers.

  “Just write your name, phone number and address on it. You could win a toaster,” she coaxed them.

  Jayce picked up the pencil and wrote his phone number down. It took a few tries to jam the small paper into the uneven slit in the recycled lid, and a few grains of coffee popped out from inside when he finally did.

  They turned and quickly exited the shop before they could be interrupted again. Once outside, the brilliant sunshine hit them both and Lily wondered what would happen next. Was this the extent of their encounter? Would they simply part ways? She was sure he felt an appreciation for her company, as well, and she hoped they would find a way to continue this little rendezvous.

  “Here, you might as well wear them,” Jayce said, still carrying the package while Lily remained shoeless.

  “If the shoe fits, as they say,” Lily joked weakly, as Jayce bent to set the shoes on the ground.

  “Looks like they both fit. Two shoes are better than one, as they say.” Jayce returned the pun as he stood up. He glanced quickly into Lily’s eyes, then looked shyly away.

  “Would you like to have coffee or something?” he asked softly. “There’s a place right around the corner.”

  “Well,” Lily began to stammer, aware that she was really a dirty mess and felt uncomfortable. But she certainly didn’t want to just let him go. She replied softly, “Okay.”

  “Good. That’s good.” Jayce smiled sweetly and turned toward Ma’s Kitchen, his hands awkwardly jammed into his trouser pockets as he walked.

  Lily felt conspicuous as they entered the little diner and everyone turned to see what stranger their neighbor was with. He was obviously used to being here and they were used to seeing him.

  “Hi Lucy,” Jayce said to the friendly woman behind the counter. She greeted him warmly and turned to get Jayce’s particular mug from the dozens that were hanging from little wooden pegs on the wall behind the coffee counter.

  “You have your own mug here?” Lily asked.

  “Yeah, everyone does. It’s easier that way for some reason. Feels more like home,” Jayce said.

  “I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “That’s what I call personal service!”

  Both watched as Lucy looked from Lily to the racks of mugs, trying to determine how best to handle the issue of Lily’s cup.

  “Most of ours are regulars,” she explained. “We don’t get many new people here.” Her last sentence sounded like a question to Lily, an invitation to explain herself and how she came to be with Jayce.

  “That’s okay,” Lily said easily. “Whatever cup you’ve got will be fine.”

  Lucy rummaged under the counter for a nondescript, plain white mug.

 
“They’ll know if someone else has used theirs,” she said, nodding her head to indicate the mugs on the wall.

  Once Lily and Jayce had chosen a table in the small shop, Lucy set both cups on the table and turned to retrieve the coffee pot from the counter. Funny, Lily thought, no one actually asked if they wanted coffee. Guess it is part of the daily ritual here.

  While Jayce settled into the wooden chair, Lily quickly excused herself and headed straight to the washroom. She wanted to clean her filthy hands and splash some water on her face, in an effort to collect herself.

  “Oh, Lord!” she exclaimed, once she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her hair seemed to be flying every which way and dirt was smeared on her face. Her clothes hung wrinkled and disheveled from her slight frame, and the overall appearance was that of a young baseball player who just got her socks knocked off.

  Here she was, about to return to the company of a magnificent stranger in an unruly state she had never before been in. Lily knew she was an attractive woman and she was used to turning heads, but none of that showed itself in the person she saw reflected before her.

  She splashed cold water on her face, trying to both clean and revive herself. She dried her delicate skin on the scratchy roll of paper towel, took one last look at herself and then turned her back on the disturbing mirror. “Well, here goes,” she thought.

  Steaming mugs of coffee were waiting when she returned, and Jayce seemed happy with the distraction of stirring. He rose politely from his chair as Lily returned and two thoughts dominated her mind as she took her place before the second mug: that Jayce smelled exquisite and that she was an absolute mess.

  “I’m usually quite clean,” she blurted. “Cleaner than this, anyway,” she continued, embarrassed anew by her strange explanation. Nothing seemed to be going right for her today. “And I usually don’t need help.”

  “I figured that,” Jayce said good-naturedly. Both busied themselves stirring their coffee for a moment, before Jayce stated bluntly: “You don’t like the shoes.”