by Verna Clay
"Of course not," Harris replied, offended. "But just so you know, I'm not going with you and Angel. I'm hiring a pilot to fly me to Paxtonville the day of the wedding and return the same day. The reason is because I just got a call from a charity in Albuquerque doing a benefit for vets. It seems they lost their spokesperson at the last minute and heard I was in the area. They practically begged me to bail them out. Honestly, I couldn't say no."
"And what about Lucinda?"
"She's staying here."
Eli shrugged. "Okay. You're the boss."
"Eli, please stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Acting all superior. It's my life and Larry is my father–"
Eli interrupted, "No, Harris. Miles is your father. This guy abandoned you–"
Harris interrupted, "I asked you to trust me and you said you would."
Eli threw his hands up in the air. "Okay. Okay. My bad for hoping my big brother doesn't get taken advantage of."
Harris clasped Eli's shoulder. "I hear what you're saying, bro, and I appreciate your concern, but I'm a big boy."
Eli huffed and conceded, "Yeah. You're right. I may not like what you're doing, but I'll back off."
A few days later, Eli closed his laptop as the plane he and Angel were on started its descent into Cortez. Beside him, she did the same. For the past hour, under his supervision, she had been working on the business budget and Harris' itinerary for the week after their return. He had two interviews with local media and one with a radio station.
Eli said, "God, it feels good to be home, even if it's only for a few days."
Angel nodded. "I know what you mean. As much as I love working with you and Harris, I miss my family and my town." She zipped her laptop into its carry case and placed it under the seat in front of her. "Have you ever wanted to live anywhere else? Like a big city or exotic location?"
"No. Never." Eli started securing his own laptop in its case, but in the process, several pages slipped from a pocket. Quickly, he said, "I'll get them," but Angel was already bending forward. She scooped the pages up and handed them back to him. Suddenly, she paused and jerked her gaze to his. He silently groaned. His secret had just been discovered.
Angel read aloud from the top page, "American Spy by Eli Brightman. Eli, are you writing a novel?"
He blushed. "It's really rough."
She grinned. "Are you following in your father's footsteps?"
He felt his face burn. "I could never follow in his footsteps. He's the best writer ever."
Angel touched his cheek. "Eli, you're blushing. Am I the only one who knows about this?"
"Well, yeah. So can we keep it our secret?"
"On one condition."
Warily, he asked, "What's that?"
"I get to read the story."
He hesitated. "Ah, sure. When it's done."
"No. Not when it's done. I want to read what you've already written. In fact, how deep into it are you?"
"I only have two or three chapters to write before it's finished, but you should really wait–"
"No," she responded before he could finish his sentence.
He glanced out the window and saw they were about to touch down. He quickly stashed his manuscript into his briefcase and stowed it under the seat in front of him. Then he changed the subject by asking about their rental car. His hope was that Angel would forget the whole incident.
She didn't forget.
After they were in their car and headed for Paxtonville she said, "Now, back to your book. I want to read it this weekend."
"No. It's too rough."
"I don't care. Besides, I can give you feedback. I can check for plot inconsistencies and that sort of thing."
"You're not going to give up on this, are you?"
"Nope. Now that I know you're a writer, I'll keep pestering you. I love reading. So, how about you give me the manuscript; I'll start reading it tonight, finish it Saturday after the wedding, and bring it to your house on Sunday?"
"I won't be there." As soon as he said the words, he wished he could take them back.
"Where will you be?" Angel turned in her seat to face him.
"I have errands to run."
"Eli, I know you, and you're lying. Do you have a hot date or something?"
"No, I don't have a hot date."
There was a long silence before he finally said, "I bought a cabin about six months ago and I'm going there on Sunday to write." He glanced at Angel to see she was grinning.
She exclaimed, "That's perfect! How far is your cabin from Paxtonville? Is it in the woods?"
"It's about twenty miles away at Ponderosa Ridge and nestled at the top of a mountain. And yes, it's in the woods. In fact, I own forty acres of woodlands. The cabin is one bedroom, one bath, but has a gigantic deck with the most incredible views. Of course, there's work to be done, but the place has solar power, a well and septic, and a great wood burning stove for winter. The road leading to it needs grading, but I'll get that done soon. I plan to stay there when we take a couple of months off."
Angel said with enthusiasm, "It sounds wonderful! Please say you'll take me there."
Eli glanced at the sweet and beautiful woman he had adored since childhood, and his heart melted. He wanted nothing more than to share the beauty of his land and cabin with an angel.
Chapter 16: Wedding
Angel was thrilled when Hannah insisted the two of them dress for the wedding in her bedroom. Along with Hannah's mother, the women giggled and cried and fantasized over Hannah's upcoming role as Lady Wyndham. When Sarah stepped from the room to check on Hank, the longtime cook for the Lazy M who was preparing the wedding supper, Hannah plopped on her bed dressed only in her underclothes and patted the spot beside her. She said, "Sit down and tell me everything that's happened since our pact in the barn. Now that you're working side-by-side with Harris, are you lovin' every day?"
Wearing her slip and pulling a brush through her silky hair, Angel sat beside Hannah and sighed. "I truly am. Eli has been wonderful and he's so capable and dedicated to his brother. The rodeos are exciting and Harris usually scores a win and, get this, we even have a reporter traveling with us. She's doing a scoop on Harris—that's how popular he's become. The reporter's name is Lucinda Bergamot and she seems capable, but quiet. After her exclusive comes out in the Seattle Daily, I think Harris' popularity will soar. Eli is already preparing for an onslaught of companies wanting endorsements from him. Eli is so smart and capable…did I already say that?"
Hannah giggled, "You did. Are you sure it's Harris you're after and not Eli?"
Before Angel could respond, there was a quick knock on the door and Hannah's sisters-in-law, Freckles and Dovie, burst in. Freckles proclaimed, "The dorm is gorgeous! Your colors of lavender and royal blue are just stunning!"
Dovie sat on the end of the bed and placed her cane beside her. She giggled and joined the conversation. "Just think about it, our little Hannah is going to marry into English nobility." She grinned at Hannah. "I hope you realize that the entire family, including mom and dad, your brothers and sister, all your in-laws and nieces and nephews are planning on visiting you this summer."
Hannah moved to hug her sister-in-law. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I love ya'll so much!"
There was another knock on the door and Julie, Hannah's half sister married to Angel's half brother, peeked around the door. "Hey, can I join the fun?"
Freckles said, "We looked all over for you. Where have you been?"
"I was helping dad with his bowtie. Can you believe he's posed hundreds of times showcasing formal wear, and yet he still needs help with his tux?"
The door opened again when Sarah returned. She gazed from face to face and suddenly burst into tears. Everyone rushed toward her. "Mom, what's wrong?" exclaimed Hannah.
Sarah pulled her daughter into a hug and sobbed, "My baby is getting married."
Dovie, Freckles, Julie, and Angel, all looked at each other and sighed with relief
. Nothing was really wrong. Sarah was just being a mom.
Eli glanced around the small gathering in the great room of the dorm that had dozens of vases of blue and lavender flowers strategically placed, and remembered the many weddings and special events he had attended in this very room. Each of the Tanner offspring had married there and sometimes other folks in the community enjoyed the Tanners' generosity by having access to the dorm for their own occasions.
For Eli the Lazy M Ranch held a lot of great memories. When he was a teenager, he'd worked for Mr. Tanner at his dude ranch and also the Three Day Trail Blazes he hosted every year. The trail blazes were for people wanting to experience pioneer life. There was also a blaze for challenged children and adults. It wasn't as rustic, but it still tested their endurance and gave them a sense of pride. Eli had loved riding his horse alongside the covered wagons escorting "pioneers" across "wild" territory that started at nearby Triple T Ranch owned by Angel's parents and ended at the Lazy M.
He smiled at his remembrances and then glanced toward the door wondering if Harris would make it on time. The wedding was about to start. As if thinking about his brother conjured him up, the door opened and Harris stepped inside. He was greeted warmly by the guests with waves and quiet hellos. He spotted Eli sitting with their mom and dad, brothers Morgan and Austin, and sister Sunny. When he reached their row he sat in the chair Eli had saved for him, and then leaned past him to whisper greetings to his family.
The music changed and everyone's attention shifted to the groom entering the room through the dorm's kitchen door, with Preston Tanner and Pastor Pixley. The trio walked to the front of the great room and smiled at the guests.
Soon, Peggy Pixley, the pastor's wife who had been blessed with an amazing voice, joined her husband. And when she started singing Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Eli got goose bumps. All heads turned to the entrance where Hannah and Angel would enter. Angel entered first and Eli got a lump in his throat; she could have descended from heaven itself. Wearing a strapless blue gown with a spray of lavender flowers in her golden hair, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her eyes swept the room and locked with his. He smiled and she returned his smile. Then she shifted her gaze to Harris and smiled again. The lump in Eli's throat got bigger.
Mrs. Pixley finished the song and there was a moment of silence before the music started again. Then she sang I Will Always Love You, and Hannah entered the room. Everyone stood and a collective sigh rose from the guests. The bride was radiant and beautiful and only had eyes for her groom.
Chapter 17: Implosion
The day after Hannah and Alex's wedding, Angel sat with her parents on the newly renovated porch of their large ranch house. It was only a little after 7 a.m., but Eli would soon pick her up so they could go to his cabin. She wasn't sure why she'd pestered him into taking her there since she'd come home to visit family and friends. Maybe it was because of how beautifully he'd described it or because she needed time in nature; maybe because she enjoyed his company so much—probably all three. And she really wanted to read his novel. Was he as fantastic a writer as his father or as poetic as his mother?
Returning her attention to the conversation her parents were having about enlarging the back deck, she added her own ideas. Over the years her father had improved on an already fabulous house that her mother had made into a wonderful home. Her mother was the quintessential homemaker who baked and sewed and visited the local nursing homes. She was everything Angel wanted to be, but she was also something else. She was a brilliant computer hacker who had helped the FBI crack several cases over the years.
When Angel was eight, her mother and father had told her they had something important to share. They said nothing remained secret in a small town, so she needed to hear the truth about an incident that had happened before she was born. Throughout her young life, Angel had occasionally seen adults whispering and pointing to her parents, and a couple of mean kids had begun taunting her by proclaiming her mother was a criminal. Angel had come home from school so mad she'd burst into tears when her mother asked what was wrong. That's when Angel had learned how her mother had stolen money from her father before their marriage in an attempt to protect Angel's half brother and his bride from the mafia. They had continued the story with a revelation so amazing it was like something grownups watched on TV. The gist of it was that her mother had taken down a mafia kingpin in New York.
Over the years, as more details were revealed, Angel couldn't even imagine the incredible fear that had driven her mother to steal, and then, in her need to make amends, risk her own life in a sting operation. To this day, the story gave Angel goose bumps.
Angel staunched her memories when she saw Eli's truck enter the circular drive leading to her front porch. He parked and waved as he got out of his truck and when he reached the porch he said, "Howdy, Mr. and Mrs. Martinez."
"Good to see you, Eli" said Jackson.
Ann smiled and offered him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, ma'am, but I already had two cups at home."
Jackson said, "Angel tells us you bought a cabin up on Ponderosa Ridge. I have to say it's one of the prettiest locations I've ever seen."
"Yes sir. I couldn't be happier with it."
Angel waited for the chitchat about Eli's cabin and then Alex and Hannah's wedding to die down before she said, "I'm ready when you are, Eli."
Eli said goodbye to her parents and Angel called out from the car, "I'll see ya'll this evening."
Soon, she and Eli were speeding toward Ponderosa Ridge under blue skies and puffy clouds. Eli asked, "So, how do you like working for Harris?"
"I like it very much. Every day is different and exciting. But I work for you as much as Harris. You're a wonderful boss, Eli."
"Thanks, Angel. We make a great team." He reached to squeeze her hand.
She squeezed back and said, "I know that Harris wants to quit rodeoing in a few years. What are your plans after that?"
Eli gave her a lopsided grin. "Harris and I are actively saving and investing so we can retire and pursue our dreams. He wants to purchase a thousand acre ranch and I want to write." He shrugged. "Maybe my aspiration is a pipe dream, but I've got to give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, I'll probably travel the world before settling down with a 'real' job." He removed his hands from the steering wheel long enough to make quote marks with his fingers.
Angel asked, "And what would that real job be?" She chuckled and added, "Perhaps a statistician for a large company because you're so good with numbers?"
Eli grinned. "For most people any job that has to do with numbers sounds boring, but I've always loved crunching them." He turned the conversation around by asking, "And what about you? What are your goals? You can do just about anything with your Master's degree."
Puffing air, Angel made a sudden decision to share her heart with her longstanding friend. "I'll tell you something if you promise to keep it a secret."
Eli said solemnly, "I promise. But are you about to tell me you've been offered the job of the century?"
Angel turned her head to gaze at the thickening forest as they climbed higher into the mountains. "Actually, I've been offered several of those jobs, but I always turn them down." She returned her gaze to Eli's curious one.
"Okay, Angel, I'm dumbfounded and anything you tell me stays in this car."
She felt close to tears and confided, "I don't want the job of the century as a high powered executive. I want a life like my mother's. I want to be a homemaker caring for a husband and children. I also want to start a blog sharing advice, recipes, and tips with other moms." She fingered a tear. "But everyone, including my mom and dad, are always telling me how proud they are of all I've accomplished and what a successful career I'll have when the right one is offered. Right now, they think I'm just biding my time waiting for that offer." Her voice cracked. "I hate the idea of being in the corporate world."
Eli felt like his world just imploded. Angel, the smartest and pre
ttiest girl in high school, who had graduated at the top of her class in high school and college, wanted to be a homemaker; and she wanted it so much that it brought tears to her eyes.
Quietly, he said, "I never knew."
"No one knows except Hannah."
He slowed the car and turned onto the gravel drive leading to his cabin. They were both silent until he said, "You should tell your parents."
"I know, but I don't want to disappoint them."
"Angel, you could never disappoint anyone."
She faced him again and said sincerely, "I'm so glad we're friends."
Eli got a lump in his throat and said huskily, "So am I, sweetie. I want you to know you can confide in me about anything."
Gravel crunched under the tires of the car as Eli drove up the mountain, unsure of what else he should say. Angel stared out her window. Eventually, they rounded a bend which revealed his cabin with its sweeping views. Angel gasped. "Oh. My. Golly. It's beautiful."
Proudly, Eli said, "Thank you. I love it."
"I can see why. It's so serene. It's the perfect place to write."
He pulled to a small clearing behind the cabin and said, "The previous owners ended the drive here, rather than the front, and they were smart in doing so. It keeps the front view completely natural."
Angel stepped out of the car carrying a large tote and her purse, and from the bed of his Toyota Tundra, Eli retrieve the ice chest his mother had happily packed with their lunch. A few stairs led to the back deck and he set the ice chest down to unlock the door. He waved Angel inside and followed her into a small mudroom that opened into the kitchen, which was separated from the main room by a long granite bar. Basically, the inside of the cabin was a spacious room with doors leading into a bedroom and bathroom on their left. Both of those rooms were average size and somewhat outdated.