by Ivy Jordan
“He broke up with me. Just like that. Our relationship is over.”
“Oh no, Jillian. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, and I spent the whole night thinking he was going to call me and tell me that he had made a mistake, but he never did. I just lay here crying like an idiot.”
“You should’ve called me. I would’ve come over.”
“It was the middle of the night. Anyway, I was still hoping that he would change his mind. Clearly, as you can tell, he didn’t. I can’t believe it. I knew we were having problems, but... I thought we were trying to make it work. I thought he just said all those things to me because we were in the heat of the moment. Even when he broke up with me, I thought he was going to tell me he didn’t mean it. I was so sure it wasn’t final, but now I’m not so sure. I think we really are over, Harper. I think he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. How can something feel so right but it’s so wrong? I don’t understand.”
“You know, Jillian, as hard as this is to hear, maybe it’s for the best. I know you love him, but why do you want to be with a guy who isn’t even willing to make things work? You are the most amazing girl I know. You deserve a man who is willing to fight for you. I know it’s hard to see now, but maybe in time you’ll realize that he wasn’t the right one for you.”
“But he is the right one for me,” she insisted. “I know it’s hard for you to see because we fight so much, but I really do love him, Harper. And I know that he loves me too. I know it! I’m so sure that we are meant to be together. I wouldn’t be this upset otherwise. I want to be with him so badly. What am I going to do?”
I sighed. Who was I to talk about love? I clearly knew very little about it. All I could do was to be there for her.
“Do you think he’s going to change his mind?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
“Whatever you do, don’t beg for him to take you back. Let him come back to you, okay? You need to prove to him that you are the right one for him. And you won’t get that by begging. That would be the worst thing that you could do.”
“I know. You’re going to have to stop me though. That’s the first thing I want to do even though I know it’s being stupid. Which means I need to stay away from alcohol. I’m not going to be able to stop myself from contacting him if I’m drunk. You know what I’m like.”
“I won’t let you,” I promised.
“Oh, and you want to know the worse thing? This damn trip!”
“Well, yeah, but I’m assuming that’s off now isn’t it? I mean, you only wanted to go because of him.”
“That’s just the thing. I’m the one that booked the damn thing for us. I’m the one that paid for it all.”
“What? But I thought it was his idea?” I asked.
“It was, but I went along with it. And I so wanted to do something nice for him. I’ve also taken time off for it. That alone wasn’t easy, but now that they finally said yes, I’m not going to go back and tell them I don’t want the time off anymore. I had the whole thing planned, and I was looking so forward to it.”
“Can’t you get the money back? You can just spend your time off at home instead then. You can use the money on some new clothes or something. That will make you feel better. I’ll come with you. I’ll take time off, and we can go shopping together. It will be fun.”
“No, it’s too short of notice. It was non-refundable, anyway, so I won’t get the money back. And it was a lot. This is awful! This wasn’t supposed to be how it all went. I was supposed to go away to a ranch and find love with Thomas all over again. I was actually really looking forward to getting away. I’ve been thinking about it so much. I even started packing already. How can he do this to me? It’s ridiculous.”
“Ah, I’m really sorry Jillian. I guess it’s better than him breaking up with you when you were already away. That would’ve been worse. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“Are you still going to go?” I asked. “Maybe you should.”
“I don’t know. Although…” she said, and I could see that an idea was beginning to form in her head. “Hey, I have an idea!” she said suddenly and looked at me.
“Uh-oh. I don’t like that look in your eyes. What idea is this and why do I think I’m going to regret asking you?”
She seemed excited suddenly. Her crying had stopped, and her eyes were clear. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“What?”
“Yeah. Come with me. This is such a good idea. Why didn’t I think of this before? That way I won’t have to cancel the whole thing. I mean, the whole thing is already booked for anyway. It doesn’t matter if I arrive with you instead of Thomas. I’ll just call and tell them that there is a name change. That’s all. What do you think? It will be amazing.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re kidding, right? You don’t look like you’re kidding.”
“That’s because I’m not,” she said. “Come on, think about it.”
“That’s just the problem. I am thinking about it.” The more I thought about it, the worse I felt about it. But it was very hard to say no to her pretty face staring hopefully at me. How on earth did Thomas break up with her with a face like that?
“Come on; it will be fun. You and I always have so much fun together no matter where we are. You and I have talked about going away together for so long and now is our opportunity. And you don’t even have to pay me back. Consider it a gift.”
I laughed. “A gift? You know, when I pictured the two of us going away together, I didn’t exactly imagine it to be in the middle of nowhere. I don’t even like glamping, let alone camping. This sounds awful to me. I think you are asking the wrong person.”
“You’re not going to camp. Well… I think one night maybe, but you’ll have a room most of the time. It’s not going to be nearly as bad as you seem to think it is. I looked at the itinerary, and it sounds like a lot of fun. And a great way to just relax a bit. Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”
I shook my head. The whole idea was absurd. I couldn’t believe that she was even asking me to do something like this with her when she knew how much I hated the idea. “I don’t have a sense of adventure,” I said. The thought of spending my time around smelly animals in a place that was probably all dust made me feel somewhat ill.
“Okay, well, here’s the thing… you said you wanted to take some time off then too. I know you’ve already talked to your boss about it. And you said just the other day that you need to find yourself again, remember? What better way than to get away from your normal life for a while? And just think what a great revenge this would be for me to have on Thomas. He would never think that I would go and do this without him. He probably thinks I’m going to cancel the whole thing just because he’s not going. This would be an amazing way to prove to him that I don’t need him or want him.”
“But you do need him and want him,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to know that.”
“I’m not sure, Jillian. This doesn’t sound like much of a vacation to me. It sounds a bit like a nightmare, if I’m to be honest.”
“I know you think that it’s not your thing, but you might enjoy it more than you realize. Also, I would really appreciate it. I need to be around my best friend now. If I’m not with you, then I’m going to spend all this time being upset about Thomas. I don’t want to be alone right now, and I don’t want to be here where everything reminds me of him. And it’s not such a long time out of your life. And you really don’t have to pay me for it. And… well… please, come with me.”
I shook my head. Jillian was looking at me with those puppy dog eyes that she has. She knew exactly what to say to make me agree to it. How could I turn her down?
“Fine.”
Jillian’s eyes widened at my response. “Really? You’ll come? Really?”
I sighed. “Really. But you owe me big time, okay?”
> She squealed and hugged me. “I owe you forever. Trust me, Harper, you’re going to end up having the time of your life. And who knows? Maybe I’ll forget all about Thomas and meet a hunky cowboy that will sweep me off my feet. And maybe that hunky cowboy will have a twin brother who is also a hunky cowboy, and he will sweep you off your feet. And we’ll find love and romance where we never thought we’d find it before.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No, I’m optimistic.”
“You’re crazy, that’s what you are. And you really need to stop watching those romantic movies. That’s not real life at all. There is no such thing as hunky cowboys. I think we’ll last one week at that place and you’ll beg me to go back home with you.”
She chuckled. “And I bet you we’ll find ourselves some hunky cowboys and Thomas will be so jealous that he’ll come rushing back to me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Jillian. It would be fun to go away with her. We really had been planning to do something together for a while now. But a ranch in Texas was never part of the plan, and I was almost certain that I was going to hate every second of it. Jillian insisted that it would be good for me to learn something about myself and to get away from the fast pace of the city life. But I had a funny feeling that all it was going to make me do was appreciate my life a bit more. Why on earth had I agreed to this? Part of me hoped that Thomas found out the new plan soon and decided that he wanted her back. This was supposed to be their romantic break together, not a place for Jillian and me to go together. Come on, Thomas! Come back!
Chapter Five
Travis
A few days had passed since I’d first arrived at Mike’s house. He lived near to the ranch, and I was actually enjoying myself more than I thought I would. There was something about the wide-open space that was doing me more good than I realized. I did very well for myself in Washington, but our family home was huge in comparison. It was quite nice not to wake up to the sound of traffic, and the warm summer air made for a wonderful evening of sitting outside in their big outdoor area. Mike was busy, so we weren’t spending every waking minute together, and after the last fight, we’d actually been kind of nice to one another.
Today I woke up feeling a bit more trepidation as I realized it was the first day that I was due to help out at the ranch. Even though I’d promised to help out, I still hoped that I would get out of it. I expected them to find some more ranch hands after realizing that I wasn’t the right person for the job. But the night before, Allison had told me how grateful she was that I was going to be helping out and I knew there was no way of getting out of it anymore.
I headed downstairs early to enjoy some breakfast before starting my day. Allison told me that she’d have some food ready and waiting for me along with a decent amount of coffee to see me through the day. She made it sound like I was going to need my strength, which worried me a bit. How much work did they expect me to do that day? She wasn’t wrong about having the food ready. The moment I got to the kitchen, the smell of cooking bacon and coffee greeted me, and I immediately felt my stomach grumble.
“Smells so good,” I said.
She smiled. “Pull up a chair. Busy day ahead.”
I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
“Travis, if you don’t want to do this, I understand. I’m sure we can ask around and see if anyone else would be willing to help out,” she said even though I knew they had nobody else to ask. I instantly felt bad that I had said something.
“I’m just kidding. I don’t mind helping out at all. So, what’s the plan anyway? What’s this group like?”
“I have no idea. There are six guests in total, which I think is a fairly nice amount. Any more and it gets a bit too much to handle. Today will really just be about you showing them around and helping them get settled. But it’s all pretty straightforward. We have the itinerary on our website, which details what they can expect. You know the drill though; it’s all about giving them an authentic experience before they rush back to their city lives and feel like they’ve really lived out in the wild,” she said mockingly and then looked shamefaced when she realized she had just described me. “Uh, I didn’t mean you.”
I laughed. “It’s okay. Well, I’ll do the best I can.”
“Thank you. Now, enjoy your food before heading out. I need to love and leave you. I have a million things to do today.”
I finished my delicious breakfast and then headed out to the ranch. I hoped Mike knew how lucky he was to have a woman like Allison in his life. She’d gotten up early just to make us breakfast and had gone all out. A simple toast would’ve been sufficient, but she was always going out of her way. And she was right: a good meal and set me straight for the day ahead.
A shuttle bus arrived with all the guests, and I watched as they all clambered out looking so completely out of place that it was hard to hold in my laughter. I hoped I didn’t look like some of them did. One of them, a middle-aged man with a big stomach, came bounding up to me with enthusiasm.
“Hi, I’m Jackson,” he said and held his hand out. His handshake was firm and perhaps a little too eager. He looked like a child in a candy store who was desperate to let loose.
I smiled. “Jackson, it’s good to meet you. I’m Travis. How was your trip?”
“Great. We’re all so excited,” he said loudly, and I could swear I heard someone in the group groan in response. I didn’t blame them. I couldn’t imagine sitting in a room with this guy for too long. I’d also go a little stir crazy. “But I’m definitely the most excited of them all. I couldn’t believe it when I came across the website and I realized that I would get to be a real cowboy for the first time in my life. I mean, isn’t that every boy’s dream?” he said, and I noticed that his accent had changed slightly. He kept putting on one of those exaggerated western accents from cowboy movies, which nobody ever really had. Every now and again he’d slip back into his normal voice, so the whole thing sounded ridiculous.
“Absolutely,” I said with forced enthusiasm. “So what is it that you do?”
“Oh, I’m an accountant. Which is nothing like what I want to be doing. I want to be out here, on the open range, riding my horse off into the sunset.”
I wasn’t sure whether I could stifle a laugh. I was glad I chose not to when I realized that Jackson was being serious. This really was his dream, and he clearly believed that this is what really happened out here. I wondered how many cowboy movies he had watched before coming on this trip. I had a feeling it was one too many. He was wearing a ridiculously over-the-top bright white cowboy costume, complete with chaps and a huge hat. It was the sort of outfit that someone would wear to a dress up party.
But Jackson wasn’t the only one wearing the wrong thing. There were two women standing by the bus who looked to be friends. One clearly didn’t want to be there. The one was wearing good comfortable-looking clothing. They looked expensive, but they were at least suited to the environment. She was a pretty girl with big eyes that probably got her into a lot of trouble. Usually, she’d be the type of girl I would be interested in. But there was something about her friend that I could help but feel intrigued about, even though her outfit was perhaps even worse than Jackson’s. This woman was wearing tight designer jeans, a branded t-shirt, high heels, and oversized sunglasses. Anywhere else she would’ve looked incredible, but out here she just looked silly. And yet… she was gorgeous. I walked straight up to them and introduced myself. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but it would be nice to have a bit of eye candy throughout my month at the ranch. These two were definitely a sight for sore eyes.
“Hi, I’m Travis. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Welcome to our ranch.”
“Hi,” said the pretty one with the sensible clothing. “I’m Jillian. I’m so excited to be here. This is my friend Harper.”
Harper took off her glasses, and I was immediately taken aback by her eyes. They were so blue they practically shimmered in the sunlight. “Hi,” she said. �
��I’m Harper.” I noticed that she didn’t say that she was also excited to be there. In fact, she gave off the distinct impression that this was the last place in the world where she wanted to be. I couldn’t exactly blame her. I hadn’t wanted to be here either. But I came to see my brother. I wondered what her excuse was.
“Harper, I see you came prepared for the outdoors,” I said teasingly as I looked at her outfit. I wasn’t sure why I wanted to tease her, because I was sure it was precisely the wrong thing to do. I wasn’t far off as she gave me an icy look in return.
“Oh yeah?” she said. “That’s okay. I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about fashion. It’s a city thing,” she said and winked at me. “You wouldn’t understand.” She looked me up and down, and for the first time, I felt a little self-conscious in my clothes. I was actually wearing Mike’s clothes after he’d told me that all the clothes I bought were not suited for ranch work. It felt strange being in them—like I was another person.
I resisted the urge to tell her that I lived and worked in D.C., with plenty of fashion-obsessed women around me all day long. Even my students were more fashion conscious than they were about the environment. It drove me mad, but it was something I was very used to. I had already decided I wasn’t going to tell people where I lived. I wanted them to think that I lived at the ranch so that they all treated me with the same respect they would’ve treated any of the other workers. I didn’t respond to her comment, but I smiled sweetly back and her and chuckled. It was easy to play someone else while wearing these clothes. I felt like an actor, and not the same Travis Johns who worked as a college professor for a living.
I wasn’t surprised to see how much luggage the group had, especially Jillian and Harper, who seemed to have even more than everyone else. I imagined that the suitcases were filled to the brim with all the wrong clothes. Most of these were city people who honestly thought that dressing well every day was important. It probably was to them, I reminded myself. I had a bad feeling I’d be spending most of my time taking photos of them all so that they could share with their friends.