Riding the River (The Westerners, Book One)

by Jeanne Harrell

“So where the heck did you go last night?” Tess asked Sarah at breakfast the next morning.

  “You want to know where I went? Where did you go? I saw you walking off with Richie.”

  Tess sighed. “I did… I really did…”

  “So?” Sarah raised an eyebrow at her. She popped a bite of muffin in her mouth.

  “So…” Tess raised an eyebrow back at her. “We went to his cabin and we…”

  “… I think I get the picture.”

  “Oh, my… I hope so. The picture is so-o-o good.” Tess bit into her toast.

  Sarah laughed at her. “At least your night sounds better than mine.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I did it to myself.”

  “… Take it from the top. We left when Matt started singing. Wasn’t he good?”

  Sarah sighed. “… Too good. I started getting goofy thoughts about him.”

  “Goofy?”

  “… Mushy.”

  “Oh – mushy. That’s good, right?”

  “No, Tess. I’ve only been in Nevada for three days now and I’m not going to fall for a local cowboy.”

  Tess rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Just have a few nights pleasure. After the weekend, we’ll be gone and everyone will have had a nice time.”

  “Is that what you’re doing with Richie? Having a few nights pleasure?”

  “God, I hope so. The guy has an incredible bedside manner.” She winked at Sarah. “…If you catch my drift.”

  Sarah couldn’t help herself and laughed at her.

  “I just can’t do that, Tess.”

  “What?”

  “… Hop in the sack with some guy for fun. It’s…”

  “It’s what?”

  “Too personal, too intimate.”

  Tess smirked. “I sure hope so.” She took another bite of her toast.

  “Don’t you want more than that?”

  “Sure, someday. But I didn’t think I’d look for a forever guy on a week’s vacation at a remote ranch in Nevada. I just want to have fun.”

  “Does Richie feel that way?”

  “Oh, yes… Definitely.” She thought a minute and looked at Sarah. “He spoke a little bit about Matt.” Sarah ate some of her eggs and mumbled something. “Want to hear what he said?”

  “… Okay.” Sarah swallowed and looked over at Tess.

  “Matt was married once before and has a little boy in Reno.”

  “He has a child?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he say what happened to the marriage?”

  “Just that it didn’t work out.”

  Sarah sat back in her chair and pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. “I bet that’s what he was doing in Reno when I saw him at the hotel.”

  “Yeah. Maybe he’d just been visiting his boy.”

  “…Ah.”

  “Does that change the way you think about him, Sarah?”

  “Yes…”

  “How so?”

  She got a big grin on her face. “It makes me like him more. I bet he wants something more out of life too – like me. He may not be just a cowboy looking for a good time.”

  “Nope. Richie said Matt was way too serious about lots of things.”

  Sarah thought about that for a few minutes. Then she pushed back from the table. “Okay, breakfast is over. Let the horse drive begin. Let’s go.”

  Tess laughed as they headed back to their rooms to pick up duffel bags and bedrolls.

  “So where the heck did you go last night, Richie? I looked around after our set and you’d taken off.” Matt was finishing up his bacon and eggs.

  “Yeah, you were wowing the girls when Tess and I decided to go for a stroll.” He raised his eyebrows at Matt.

  “Did that stroll end up at your cabin?”

  Richie gave him a look of mock surprise. “Golly, gee! What do you know about that? It did, indeed.”

  Matt laughed at him. “Well, I’m glad someone had a good night.”

  “What happened? Nothing? I saw you making eyes at Sarah…”

  “I apparently scared her off. When I finished my song, I couldn’t find her anywhere. She must have left… Unimpressed with me, probably.”

  “She didn’t stick around to talk to you?”

  “Nope.”

  Richie shrugged. “Too bad. She looked really cute last night.”

  Matt sighed. “Damn. Didn’t she? Dale told me, in a roundabout way, to try to get to know her. How can I when she takes off on me?”

  “Think she’s playing hard to get?”

  “… I don’t know, but I don’t think so. I think she’s scared. Of what, I have no clue.”

  “Well,” Matt looked over at Richie. He was about to take a big bite of bacon.

  “Well, what?”

  “Um…”

  “Out with it…”

  “During a lull in the action, Tess said a couple of things about Sarah.”

  Matt perked up. “Like what?”

  “Desperate for information?”

  “Yes… tell me.”

  “… Well, you know she’s from Baltimore.”

  “Yeah…”

  “Apparently, she’s from a prominent family.”

  “How prominent?”

  “I guess Sarah didn’t say, but Tess got the feeling they were important.”

  “What else?”

  “She mentioned that Sarah had just broken up with some guy too.”

  “Really? This is good. More.”

  “Well, she and Tess don’t know each other that well, but…”

  “But what?”

  “Tess got the feeling she was running away from something… or someone.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.” Matt thought a minute. “But it might explain her hesitancy toward me, her skittishness.”

  Richie brightened. “Oh. You’ll like this.”

  “What is it?” Matt leaned toward him.

  “Sarah definitely thinks you’re cute.”

  “Cute?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s it?”

  “What do you want? A marriage proposal? Much has been done with less.”

  Matt nodded his head. “Yep, you’re right. Thanks for the information.”

  “You’re welcome.” Richie wiped off his mouth. “Ready to hit the trail?”

  “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN