Dodge the Bullet

by Christy Hayes

  Dodge turned his attention back to Sarah. She wore a pair of faded jeans, a button-down blouse that gaped open with white tank top underneath. He noticed the small silver medallion that hung from a leather rope cord around her neck. The hair around her face was pulled back and the light from the overhead fixture brought out the amber flecks in her green eyes. She was pretty, too damn pretty to spend a cozy evening with and walk without wanting more. Damn Thornton for getting him involved.

  He’d been worried about her ever since he left her two days ago, all alone with no one to protect her. He knew he should say no, he’d just take a quick look at the photos and be on his way. But he hadn’t eaten all day and he knew she’d have a thousand questions about anything he suggested. “Why don’t you point me in the direction of the grill and I’ll light it for you?”

  When she smiled back at him, the relief he saw in her eyes had the hair on the back of his neck tingling. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t happy about being at her ranch. He enjoyed being alone, or being alone around others like when he ate almost every night at the diner in town. He was out amongst the people but not mixing with them, just the way he liked it.

  Sarah led him to the deck and showed him the grill. “I hope it still works.” She watched as he took the cover off the grill and looked over the propane connection. He flipped a switch after turning the dials to high and it fired right up.

  “Good as new.” He looked out over the railing to the view from the deck. “God, this is a beautiful piece of property,” he said more to himself than to her. From the deck, the river seemed only a few feet away and the sound the water made cascading over the boulders and rocks of the riverbed was so peaceful he had to fight the urge to close his eyes and rest his tired bones in one of the deck’s many Adirondack chairs.

  “Can I get you a beer?”

  “That’d be great.” He didn’t look away from the river and the mountains in the distance. She surprised him with a good beer and a tray of assorted cheeses and crackers.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “You don’t eat cheese.”

  “I eat cheese.” He smiled, took the tray from her, and set it on the table next to his chair. “It’s been awhile since any meal I’ve eaten was preceded by an appetizer.”

  “I’d hardly call cheese and crackers and appetizer, but if that’s your way of saying thank you, you’re welcome.” Sarah took the seat opposite him, looking ready to jump out of her skin.

  Dodge sighed. It was the first time he’d had a chance to sit down all day. “So tell me about your kids.”

  When she grinned, Dodge watched her face relax. “Well, Kevin’s 13, and according to my sister’s update this morning, he now has a girlfriend.”

  Dodge was glad to hear she had a son big enough to keep her safe when others weren’t around. God knew he would have killed someone who’d threatened his family when he was 13. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

  “It’ll obviously be short lived since he’ll be living here in less than a week. But it seems weird to think of him dating. I guess I never thought I’d have to go through this kind of stuff alone.”

  “You’ll be glad to know that the moment he gets a girlfriend around here you’ll probably hear about it before he gets home from school. You’re all going to have to get used to the change.”

  “I’m looking forward to the changes. Things are complicated with Kevin. We don’t have the easiest relationship. Jenny, my sister, she says we’re too much alike.”

  “And you don’t agree?”

  Sarah shrugged. “He knows how to push my buttons and I know how to push his. Todd was always the one who kept the peace, and now Lyle’s taken over his role.”

  “Lyle?”

  “He’s 11 going on 25.” Sarah beamed at him as she sat back in the chair. “He’s Todd’s greatest legacy. I swear that boy has none of me in him, but God help me, I’m so glad he’s around to keep the peace between me and Kevin. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sons equally. They’re very different and my relationship with them isn’t the same.”

  “So Kevin is like you and Lyle is like Todd, who I’m guessing was your husband.”

  “Yes.” She let out a sad sigh. “Kevin’s determined, stubborn and resistant to change. He’s loyal to a fault, and if you earn his respect he’ll defend you to the end of the earth. But he’s a hard nut to crack. And Lyle, well, he’s the easiest kid you’ll ever meet. He has a thousand friends, all his teachers love him and his older brother can do no wrong.”

  “It must have been hard on them, and you, when your husband died.”

  “You have no idea how hard.” She stared out into the sky. They both turned to watch three geese fly overhead. Her eyes flew back to his. “I’m sorry, Dodge, you may know exactly how hard. I don’t know a thing about you.”

  “Not much to tell.” Dodge shifted in his seat and filled his mouth with an unusual cheese he didn’t recognize and enjoyed the way the flavor of it blended with his beer. He’d been pleased when Sarah had handed him a microbrew from Oregon instead of one of the light beers everyone seemed to drink. His family teased him unmercifully about buying high dollar beer. His dad said all his travels had made him too big for his britches and his sister’s said he drank expensive beer just to prove he was better than everyone else.

  Truth was, he didn’t drink that much anymore and when he did, he wanted a drink with flavor. All the guys he knew who drank the cheap national brands still drank beer just to get drunk. He looked up and saw Sarah studying him. “What?”

  “I just gave you the unabridged description of my family and all you have to say is ‘there’s not much to tell?’ Surely you can give me more than that.”

  He didn’t like talking about himself. The truth wasn’t pretty. He didn’t know her well enough to tell her the whole sordid story of his checkered past in Hailey. But if he told her the basics and left out the sordid part, when she heard it from the locals, as she was bound to do, it would seem like he was avoiding the truth and make him seem guilty.

  But she was looking at him like she wasn’t going to leave it alone so he decided to start with the basics and let the inevitable gossip find it’s way to her on its own. “I was born and raised here. My dad still ranches, although he’s sold most of the land we grew up on. My sisters are scattered all over the valley.”

  “How many sisters do you have?”

  “Six.”

  Sarah’s eyes grew wide. “You have six sisters? My God, seven children? Your poor mother.”

  Dodge chuckled. “My poor mother loved having babies. She probably would have had more if she hadn’t gotten sick when I was little. She died when I was three.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It was a long time ago and from what I’ve been told, she had a great life up until the end.

  “What was it like growing up in such a big family?”

  “It was loud.”

  ###

  Dodge gave Sarah the impression that he didn’t want to discuss himself any longer. He unfolded his lanky body from the deck chair and sauntered over to the grill, a clear signal that Sarah was to fetch the steaks.

  As he monitored the grill and looked around the property from the deck, Sarah busied herself setting two places at the kitchen bar and putting together a salad from her sparse collection of fresh food. She’d stocked up on canned goods and things for the freezer, but had only bought a few fresh items since she hadn’t expected dinner companions for another week. Before joining him on the deck, she retrieved the photos and survey materials she wanted to show Dodge and set them on the counter near his seat.

  The two place settings looked cozy, almost date-like. She didn’t want there to be any confusion about her motives for inviting him over. He was very attractive, in a rough and tumble kind of way, and she hadn’t expected him to bring dinner. Although he hadn’t given her any indication that he found her anything other than annoying, if her kids walked in and saw them, she
’d feel uncomfortable.

  She got another beer from the refrigerator and went to the deck to join him, but stopped at the threshold of the door and just stared. The sun had slipped behind the hills to the west and daylight had faded to dusk. Dodge stood at the edge of the deck, his big hands braced on the cedar rail. Sarah could tell that his eyes were closed and he appeared to drink in the sounds of the river. The peacefulness that the bubbling flow brought to his face took years off his usually hardened expression.

  His brown hair didn’t have even a hint of gray and while it was short, it had the shaggy appearance of a man who couldn’t be bothered with regular haircuts. And that was kind of how she thought of Dodge, as someone who couldn’t be bothered by much of life’s little inconveniences. Yet there he stood, ready to grill steaks that he’d brought for dinner and help her plot out a future for her ranch.

  He was a complete stranger. What had she learned from him other than that he grew up in the valley and came from a big family? Besides his cell number, she didn’t even know where he lived or how to find him if she needed to. On some instinctual level she trusted him. She still hadn’t researched Tommy Thornton or his connection to Senator Burwick, and she intended to. But the reticent man on her deck didn’t threaten her and in some way his presence was oddly comforting.

  Was Sarah attracted to him or was she lonely all the way to her core? She never minded being alone, even before Todd’s death. Unlike her sister, the family’s gregarious child, she preferred solitude to the company of just anyone. Lately, quality company was much harder to find.

  Dodge opened his eyes and turned to see Sarah staring at him. She felt her cheeks blush as she stepped onto the deck.

  “The steaks are almost ready.”

  “Great.” Sarah could feel Dodge studying her curiously. “I can tell you want to ask me something,” she said to break his stare. “You may as well just spit it out. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll tell you to mind your own business like you did a few minutes ago when I asked about your family.” What was it about him that made her so sassy? Why did talking to him without a concern for what he thought feel so liberating?

  “Are you sure you’re from the South?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  Dodge laughed and shook his head. “You’ve just about ruined every stereotype I’ve ever had about southern women.”

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m a born and bred southerner, although my family’s never owned a rebel flag. Not everyone from the south has southern accents, you know.”

  “You’ve got a little flavor to your voice, but not much.”

  “I’m from the suburbs. Metro Atlanta’s a melting pot of northern subcultures.”

  “So the south is full of yankee implants? How delightful.”

  “Spoken like a true southerner. Where’d you get your southern state of mind?”

  “I’ve traveled in the Northeast enough to know I don’t ever want to live there.” Dodge moved to the grill.

  “You don’t like talking about yourself much do you?” She noticed for the second time that he’d stopped talking the moment the conversation moved in his direction.

  “How do you like your steak?”

  Sarah just stared at him. Why did he keep everything so close to the vest?

  “Too late for rare,” he said as he poked at the smaller of the two. “I hope medium’s okay.”

  “Medium’s fine.” She went inside to get a plate for the steaks.

  ###

  When Sarah turned her back and to go into the cabin, Dodge let the smile he’d been trying to hide creep across his face. Damn, that was one meddlesome woman. Most women simply bored or annoyed him to death, but there was something her he found very amusing. Maybe it was because he frustrated her so much. She couldn’t seem to hide her displeasure with him and for some reason he felt highly entertained by her reaction. He wasn’t usually so ill-mannered with women, but she seemed to see right through the malarkey he fed most people to keep them at a distance. He’d gotten kind of used to being smarter than most of the people around town. He needed to be on his toes around the alluring Mrs. Woodward.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as she emerged from the cabin and handed him a plate, “for being rude to you.” Dodge looked up but said nothing. “People at home have been patronizingly nice to me since Todd’s death. I’ve gotten in the very bad habit of being disrespectful to people to break through their pity.” She fidgeted with her hands before shoving them in the back pockets of her jeans. “Please don’t take my behavior as a personal insult.”

  Dodge smiled at her over the rim of his beer. “Sarah, I’m pretty used to being talked down to by most of the folks here in town. I don’t take any offense to the way you talk. I’d much rather someone speak honest than sugar coat the truth any day.” He ushered her inside the French doors and set the plate brimming with steak down on the counter.

  Sarah took the bar seat that Dodge pulled out for her before taking his own seat. “Why do the people here talk down to you?”

  Damn, he shouldn’t have let that slip. He needed to watch his tongue. “No reason in particular.” She’d hear all about it soon enough and he was too hungry to ruin a good meal with talk of his sordid past.

  Sarah cut her steak into a fourth its original size and placed the remainder on the platter. She did seem to be enjoying what little was left on her plate. He looked down to see he’d demolished most of his meal without much thought or appreciation.

  “What is this you put on the steak?” he asked.

  She looked up from her plate, glanced at his and laughed. “You’re almost done and you finally realized there was a marinade on the meat. It’s good, isn’t? I picked it up at some hole in the wall place I stopped to eat at outside of Oklahoma City last week. The guy at the counter promised it’d be the best I’d ever tasted. He may just be right.”

  Dodge carefully placed his knife and fork on the plate. “You drove out here from Atlanta by yourself?”

  “Yes, it was a very peaceful two days.”

  “I don’t know what’s more shocking, that you drove all that way by yourself or that that old truck of yours actually made it this far without breaking down.” He wondered how in the world her family had let her drive practically across the country unaccompanied. He figured she’d probably come up through Amarillo, and that meant she’d gone through some areas that didn’t even have cell coverage. As much as she tried to project an image of someone who could take care of herself, her behavior proved the opposite. The possible pitfalls she could have encountered along the way were staggering.

  He reached over and started looking at the photos and survey she’d laid on the counter as she cleared their plates and refilled his water glass.

  “I have multiple copies of the survey and photos, so feel free to write on those if you want to,” she said over the hum of the running water.

  As he studied his copy, he could see the value of her property. Did she have any idea? Almost three miles of river and over a thousand acres of natural grassland would fetch more money than she could ever need in her lifetime. Why did she want to ranch her place instead of living like a queen anywhere her heart desired?

  He looked up and watched her slender hips sway as she scrubbed a dish. She turned around and caught him staring at her.

  “Everything okay with the papers?”

  Dodge straightened in his chair and cleared his throat, tried to disguise the fact that he’d been gawking at her. “Yeah, it’s all here. Some of these areas near the river look like they may be slews in the spring. Were these photos taken in the fall?”

  Sarah moved around the counter and peered at the photos over Dodge’s shoulder. Her hair edged close to his collar. She smelled like lemons.

  “Yes, that’s about right.”

  “The underbrush on the other side of the river is pretty thick. Is there any way to get across there and take a look?”

  Sarah came around the counter and f
aced Dodge. “We’ve used the four wheelers to cross when the river’s down, but it’s so high now I’m not sure we could make it.”

  “That’s what I thought.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I can trailer a couple of my horses over here this week and we can take a look.”

  “Horses?” Her fingers tightened around the leather cord of her necklace.

  “You do know how to ride, don’t you?”

  “Well, I’ve been on a horse before.” She lifted her shoulders in a helpless gesture. “Is it absolutely necessary for me to go with you?”

  Dodge fought the urge to slam his forehead into the counter. She wanted to run a ranch and she didn’t even know how to ride. Why was he surprised? “I assumed you’d want to know what was over there. I’ve got a real gentle horse that shouldn’t be a problem for you to ride. Unless you’re afraid.” He imagined she was the kind who wouldn’t back down from a challenge, but he wanted to know for sure.

  “Of course I’m not afraid.” She stammered and nearly pulled the cord around her neck to shreds. “I just…just thought there’d be another way to get across, that’s all.”

  Dodge tried not to snort. “Ok, how does Thursday afternoon work for you? I’ve got to be out this way then anyway.”

  “Thursday’s fine.” Sarah unclenched the necklace and pointed to the papers he held in his hand. “Should I go ahead and set up some appointments with the fence people for next week?”

  “Once we get a good look at the other side of the river, I’m sure I can give you an idea of what you may need in terms of fencing.”

  He continued blocking off parcels on the aerial photo. He’d arranged a series of pastures in 50 to 100 acre parcels that included most of the land except the main entrance, caretaker’s house and storage barns. The cabin had been fenced during the building process and abutted one of the largest pastures he’d drawn. Once she got the fences up and had the grass seeded and weeded, she’d have a fine piece of cattle property.

  He sighed wistfully. Hers was the kind of ranch he’d been raised on. His family’s property had been almost twice the size, with the river running along the northern border and a few ponds near the house and barn. He’d always thought his family would own the land forever, but his dad had had to sell most of it when times got bad and his health declined. He’d always wondered if maybe his dad wouldn’t have sold out like he did if Dodge had been around to help.