by Rain Trueax
Helene dismounted. Taking a stick, she broke away the ice at the edges of the pool. From the beaten down snow, it was obvious the cattle had been here as well as deer. At the edge of the pool, she saw a fresh print of a fox. This pool was life for a myriad of animals. She couldn't imagine it being turned into a hot tub for rich people to wallow in, not when the forest animals as well as cattle depended on it for water when other sources were frozen. She shook her head then. Whatever the pool was used for in the future, it wouldn't be her decision. She knew where her happiness lay, and she had to put concern for the ranch behind her.
Riding back across the pasture to where Phillip was throwing out hay, Helene smiled at the virile picture he made. When she got nearer, she saw sweat was beaded on his face. He stopped a moment to catch his breath as she opened the gate. "How do you think they're doing?" she asked.
"For all I can tell, fine. They're glad to get food." That he wouldn't have had to tell her as the sounds of tumult had softened to chomping sounds and softer bellows over right of possession.
Phillip wiped his face with his scarf and remounted his horse. At her side, he took a deep breath of the cold, mountain air. "No man could've told me about this," he said, shaking his head.
"What do you mean?"
"That it could feel so good feeding cattle. I know it’s something you already knew, but I didn’t. I don’t even know if I can explain it.”
“Try.”
“Well, even now, hurting in every muscle, there's something--grounded about coming out like this. Like there's a connection between me and all the men before me who have done the same job. I like doing something that is directly connected not only to the land but also the people this land will feed."
"You really do like doing this?"
"I love doing it." He laughed then, amused at himself. "I sound like a nut. There's not a lot of money in it. If there was, your uncle wouldn't be struggling to hold onto this land, and yes, I know that’s what’s going on here. But... what is here is worth more than money."
“I have found the same thing with the housework. My mother had all those maids and she missed out on what might’ve made her own life happier—real work where you can see the results.”
He chuckled. “I suppose that’s what those western stories were all about.”
She laughed too. “Probably so. They had to add in the heroics to get people to read the stories but it’s not really about that. It’s about sticking to a job, the simple work that so many are removed from.” They gigged their horses back down the trail. Hobo ran ahead following the trail they'd blazed out.
"Do you think you can do anything to help Uncle Amos hold onto this ranch?" Helene asked after having considered the question for some time. She could leave it behind, but she'd be happier knowing her uncle still lived on this land, that he managed it rather than some stranger.
"Well." Phillip thoughtfully rubbed his lower lip. "I was kind of thinking we'd help him sell it."
She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She swallowed down her disappointment and nodded her agreement. "I guess that is most realistic."
Phillip threw his head back and let a laugh ring out that echoed across the snowy landscape. "Realistic, huh? That's what I love in you, woman. You're so realistic."
She knew he was teasing her, but she smiled nonetheless. After a moment, he pointed to a rocky ridge high above the main ranch buildings. "If a man built a house up there, he'd have a view of the whole valley. The house would be sheltered from the worst winds by that grove of pine trees."
She looked from the ridge back to Phillip. His eyes were so blue they took her breath away. She didn't suppose she'd ever get used to the handsomeness of his face. There was something more though. The glint in his eyes, the shadow of his beard showed a toughness there that she'd failed to recognize before she married him. He looked like a man capable of making decisions, of taking care of a family, but also of caring for those he loved. She wondered how there could ever have been a time when she hadn't recognized those qualities in him.
"What do you mean?" she asked, not wanting to misunderstand what he was telling her.
"Think maybe your uncle would like a partner?"
"Phillip!"
He went on as though he hadn't heard the excitement in her voice. "I'd like to build a house for us here. A house with lots of windows and wood. Maybe a big stone fireplace with one of those big paintings of Montana over it." He smiled at her further squeak of pleasure. "I'm not saying, at least in the beginning, that we could live here year-round. We'll try, but I may have to maintain an office in Boston. With my plane though, I think we can make it work at least until my clients get used to my living out here. We could build a house big enough for a family someday. What do you think about that?”
“I love it but I would live in Boston if that’s what you wanted. I thought, after the storm nearly killed you, you'd want to leave Montana and go back to Boston as fast as you could."
He shook his head. "Boston was never a home to me. It was a base from which to do business. I've come to love this hunk of Montana. I didn't realize it until I came out here, but I've never really had anyplace to call my own, certainly not a piece of ground. I'd like to have that here." He smiled crookedly. "Of course, if you've got your heart set on living in Boston."
She laughed. "You know what I want... or did want. Now all I want is to make a home with you, Phillip, but there's no place than here that I'd rather do that."
"Then I think maybe when we get back to the house we ought to call your uncle and see if he'd like to sell half interest in this place to an interested party."
"You think his heart could stand it?" she asked, her excitement rising.
"I suspect it won’t be a big surprise to him. Maybe though we should wait until we visit him at the Bozeman Hospital. Maybe." His eyes took on a gleam she was coming to recognize. "We could figure out something else to do when we get back to the house."
"And just what did you have in mind?" She smiled as she thought of several delicious possibilities.
"Oh, just let your imagination run wild. With an imagination like yours, I'm sure you'll come up with--something."
Looking over at her handsome husband, Helene knew he was absolutely right.
The End
Copyright page
From Here to There
Copyright © 2011 by Rain Trueax
All rights reserved except for use in review, the reproduction of this work in part or in whole,
in any format mechanical or electronic is forbidden without the written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either
the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and
any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Author page
Contact information Works in progress and author’s thoughts can be found at the author’s blog:
[http://raintrueax.blogspot.com.]
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Copyright page
Author page
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Copyright page
Author page
Table of Contents
Rain Trueax, From Here to There