Sarah went to freshen up in the bathroom, while Matt helped his grandfather clean up the lunch dishes.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Have you asked her to marry you yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We’re still figuring each other out.”
John shook his head.
“Don’t wait too long, son.”
“How long is too long?”
“That’s your decision, but she’s here, now. Anything can happen, Matt, so take advantage of the situation while you can.”
“…Okay.”
John looked his grandson in the eye.
“Do you love her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does she love you?”
“Yes.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“…Ah…”
“She wants to live here, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’ve saved up enough to put down on the ranch next door? Plus, I said I’d help.”
“That would be a good summary of the situation, Grandpa.”
He threw up his hands in frustration.
“…I just wouldn’t want you to lose her, son.”
“Do you think I might?”
“She has a family back in Baltimore that probably loves and misses her, Matt. Don’t underestimate their influence. She’s a sweet girl and she’s waiting for you, just like I am.”
Matt rubbed his temples like he was getting a headache.
“I was married once before, remember?”
“All right, so that happened. But Sarah is in no way like Betsy and you know it. Sarah’s crazy about you, even I can see it from the little I’ve seen of the two of you together. Don’t blow this, Matt.”
“Okay.”
Sarah came back into the kitchen and noticed the serious expressions on their faces.
“Somebody die?”
John cracked up at that. “Not yet.” He glanced at Matt. “Take her out to see the ranch, but say goodbye before you leave.”
Sarah walked over to give him a hug. “Thanks so much for lunch.”
“Remember to get your things and come back tonight. I’ll have the bedroom cleaned up for you two.”
She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
John’s eyes got a little misty and Matt almost laughed. So Sarah had John eating out of her hand too. Figures. This girl can charm the bees out of the hive.
Matt drove Sarah around his grandfather’s ranch. After seeing the house, barn, corrals, cattle and horses, she had a few questions.
“So this is a pretty big ranch?”
“… Close to two thousand acres.”
“And he can have a good sized herd of cattle?”
“Yes, because he has a lot of grassland and water on his property. Water’s gold in Nevada.”
“The ranch you’re buying?”
“What about it?”
“Are you buying it to mesh with your grandfather’s?”
He looked over at her. “Pretty good. How’d you figure that?”
“Well, it’s obviously not large enough to run a big herd, so the land must have other assets that will complement his ranch.”
Matt smiled at her. “So you’re not just a pretty face.”
“Ha…”
“You know I’m to inherit my grandfather’s ranch someday.”
She nodded, tilting her head at him.
“He suggested I buy the ranch next door for the water rights and additional grassland. I’ll run a herd of horses on my property and help John with his cattle. We’ve planned it out for a while now.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Nothing now. I’ve saved up the money I needed from working at the Walker ranch and some investments. I’m buying the ranch probably next week.”
A big smile spread across her face. “So you’ll be a rancher soon.”
“Yep. Want to see the ranch house?”
“Very much.”
Matt drove Sarah over to the ranch next door. By next door, it was actually ten miles to the south of John’s property line. The smaller ranch had been vacant for a while, so it needed some work. Matt pulled up in front of the ranch house and turned off his truck.
“Ready to take a look?”
Sarah looked at the pretty place. They’d parked on a curved paved driveway with a sidewalk going to the front porch. The house was built of light, brown wood, probably cedar, with a beautiful black, shingled roof. It had big windows everywhere and a huge pine tree, maybe sixty feet tall, in the front yard. There had been some landscaping done at one time, but it needed some work. Sarah was charmed.
“It’s lovely…” That brought a big smile to Matt’s face – He was hoping she’d like it.
They got out of the truck, walked up to the porch and Matt opened the front door with a key on his keychain.
“It’s about 3,000 square feet, I think,” he said as he held the door open for her.
Sarah looked around at the spacious house. Nice wooden floors, a river rock fireplace from floor to ceiling and overhead lighting. Another room, just off the living area had another fireplace, slanted ceiling with solid windows on one wall. The views of the mountains behind and to the front of the house were incomparable. Sarah had never seen a house like this.
The kitchen had been renovated already with granite countertops, new appliances and cupboards. Dark wooden floors with full lighting overhead made Sarah gasped. Matt smiled – She liked it.
“… Comments?”
“It’s spectacular!”
“What were you expecting? A little house on the prairie? A sod dugout perhaps?”
“I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is fabulous.”
“Come see the bedrooms.”
There were four bedrooms. One – the master – was large, with a huge picture window showing a view of the backyard trees and mountains in the far distance. She gasped again.
“You don’t like it?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. And out here in the middle of…”
“… Nowhere?” Matt laughed at her embarrassed look.
“Okay…”
“Come here,” he said beckoning her into his arms. As he held her and looked into her clear, blue eyes, he asked it.
“Do you think you’d like to live here someday?”
“… With you?”
“Yes.” He kissed her lips.
“What are you saying?”
Matt swallowed. “Can we take this slow?
She scrunched up her face. “How slow?”
“Well…”
“You want to live in sin for a while, is that it?”
“Would that upset you?”
“No, but it might upset you if I get a better offer.” She broke free from his arms with a slight smile.
Matt grabbed her. “What are you talking about?”
She laughed at him. “Matt, I heard what your grandfather said. What are we waiting for?”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want to marry me?”
“Are you asking?”
He swallowed again. “Maybe.”
Sarah bent over laughing this time. “Well, when you figure it out, let me know. In the meantime, I need to get back.”
He knit his eyebrows in confusion. What the hell?
She could tell he was totally confused on the drive back. They’d said goodbye to John and would see him later that evening. Sarah wanted to help Dale with dinner and spend some time with Tess before she left tomorrow. When they arrived at the Walker ranch, Sarah looked over at him. She smiled – He was still chewing on it…
“Matt?”
“Hmm?” He looked up at her pretty face and smiled.
“Can you take me into Wells tomorrow?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I need to call my family and my friend, Ab
by. I haven’t spoken to them in over a week now. I may call my boss as well…”
His grandfather’s words came back to him in a rush. Her family’s influence… Would she be talked into going back to Baltimore? It hit him again like a punch in the stomach that her home and life were back East.
“Hey. Where are you? Are you all right?”
He grabbed her hands. “Sarah, are you going to leave? Are you going to leave me?”
Wow. She’d never seen competent, decisive Matt so unsure, so uncertain…
“Do you want me to?”
“Never.”
She smiled at him. “Never’s a long time…”
“I know.”
“I’m staying, honey, if you really want me to.”
“I want you to very much.”
“All right, but I still need to call home.”
Matt let out a breath. “Okay.”
Pause.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” he breathed. “And Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll work on that marriage proposal.”
She grinned at his serious face and leaned over to kiss his lips.
“You do that.”
* * *
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Riding the River (The Westerners, Book One) Page 31