by Parker, Ali
I looked up to see that the woman had turned and was walking toward us. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her for some reason. Then she looked up and her gray eyes locked with mine. A beautiful radiant smile came across her face. It made me smile in return. I watched as her breasts bounced with every step as she walked toward us, and I felt myself getting turned on.
Then she got closer, and I couldn’t believe it. It looked like she was coming right toward me, and her eyes were still locked on mine with that big smile on her face.
“Dylan,” she said.
I was stunned. How did this beauty know my name?
2
Helen
I walked around the Livestock Show and Rodeo Fairgrounds. It had been several years since I had been to one, and I was really enjoying the sights and sounds. I enjoyed this kind of environment, it was my line of work after all. Seeing all the cowboys and cowgirls having a good time while combining it in with their work was fantastic. The smell of barbecue in the air, and of everyone talking about their farm and ranch animals had me excited.
It had been a while since I had this spark of feeling inside of me for the ranch and farm lifestyle. But being surrounded by it with all this energy was bringing it back to life inside of me. I even ran into a few old friends here and there that I hadn’t seen in a long time. I felt good. I felt back in my element, and Lord knows I needed it. The past two years had been rough, and even though I was staying strong, sometimes it would get to me.
That was one of the main reasons why I was at the fairgrounds in the first place. I knew it was a stretch to be at the Livestock Show and Rodeo advertising my dude ranch business. After all, why would cowboys and cowgirls want to go vacation at a place that was exactly the same as their own ranch at home? But I wasn’t targeting them, I was targeting the tourists that were walking around the fairgrounds. It wasn’t always that simple to tell who was who. I had to do it though, and I was having desperate times with my business. It wasn’t doing so well, so I had to do whatever was necessary to get people to book a few nights at the Larson Dude Ranch.
I walked around the Pavilion, handing out flyers and discount cards to those that seemed interested. I spoke to a few tourists, who were enjoying their very first time at this event.
“Well if you like this, you should come out to my ranch, the Larson Dude Ranch. You get to live as a cowboy would, learn to rope, feed the livestock, stay in cowboy bunkhouses and so much more. Here is some information, and you can use the code on this card if you book online,” I said, with a big smile on my face.
“That sounds really fun, we’ll have to check it out. Thank you for the information,” the tourist nodded with a smile and walked away with the information.
I was glad it was well received. No one wanted to be solicited and it was tough work, but it was necessary. I made a few more introductions to people that had just finished eating. They were genuinely very nice about it and took the information, but something told me they were real ranch folk and weren’t interested. My radar had been off about them being tourists. I told myself it was a numbers game. That if I could get a hundred flyers distributed, surely at least ten of them would book. Or some percentage anyway. That was my business mind at work. Something I was damn proud of and had worked hard for.
I fanned through the flyers in my hand and set them down in my messenger bag. I didn’t want to seem too eager. Maybe I would even take a break and get something to eat and sit down with some strangers and start talking. That was always a good way to get people interested.
Turning to scan the area, I looked to see if I could figure out who else was not a real cowboy, but then I spotted a true and genuine cowboy. Someone I had known from my past but had not seen in years. In fact, I barely recognized him. He had changed quite a bit. I smiled as I locked eyes with him and started in his direction.
A big grin came across his face as he looked at me. Those light blue eyes were very familiar to me, but I couldn’t see his hair underneath his dirty straw cowboy hat, except for the few blond strands sticking out from under the brim. On his right arm was a tattoo sleeve I could see because his western shirt was rolled up to the elbows. Those were new, I thought. They definitely weren’t there when I knew him long ago. But still, I knew for a fact that I was looking at Dylan Dawson, my former employee.
“Dylan—”
He looked at me, stunned, and the smile fell from his face. He stood up from the table where he sat at with another guy, who I could tell was one of his brothers, even though I had never met him before. Dylan took off his hat and pressed it against his chest, he had turned into a gentleman.
“Yes ma’am? I’m sorry, do we know each other?”
I raised my eyebrow at him, surprised that he didn’t remember me. It had been several years, but I didn’t think I had changed that much.
“Dylan, it’s me. Helen Larson, of the Larson Dude Ranch? You used to work for me out there,” I said.
“Helen? Boy howdy, I’m sure sorry I didn’t recognize you. Of course, how are you,” he said, as he quickly put his arms around me and gave me a hug. I realized just how strong his hug was, and for a fleeting moment, it felt good to have the arms of a man around me again. It had been so long.
“I’m good, how are you? Look at you all grown up,” I said.
“I am good. Wow, Helen, it’s good to see you. Oh, this is my brother Tanner,” he said. The guy sitting across from him stood up and shook my hand.
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
“This is Helen Larson. Remember I used to work on the Larson Dude Ranch for a couple of summers in high school for Helen and her husband. You remember when I used to go, right Tanner?” Dylan said excitedly. The mention of my husband brought a frown to my face that I tried to hide.
“Yes, I sure do remember. You wouldn’t stop talking about it every time you came back. It is nice to finally meet you, Helen,” Tanner said.
Ping. A mobile phone went off. Tanner grabbed his phone from his pocket. “Dang, it’s Abi. Looks like Father needs a hand. I didn’t get to finish my sandwich, either.” I watched as Tanner quickly wrapped up the rest of his sandwich and grabbed the other. He chugged down what was left of his beer and then tipped his hat to me. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’ll see you later brother.” Then he dashed off.
“All right, see you later,” Dylan said.
Then Dylan turned and looked at me. He smiled again, and it didn’t escape my notice that he let his eyes quickly scan my body head to toe and back up to my face. For a moment it felt wrong. This was a guy that used to work for me when he was a teenager. He was clearly a grown man now, but it still felt wrong somehow. But a little part of me felt excited, since I hadn’t been looked at in that way for a really long time. It was awakening the feminine side of me and I liked that—I liked it a lot. Was that so wrong?
“Please, sit down Helen. We have some catching up to do. What are you doing out here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at this event, not for a long time anyway,” he said, as he pulled a chair out from the table for me. I sat down and he pushed the chair in for me.
“Is Steve here? I haven’t seen him in a long time either,” he said. At the mention of my late husband, the smile fell from my face once more.
“No, he uh, Steve is no longer with us, Dylan. He passed away two years ago,” I said.
“What? Oh Helen, I’m so sorry. Dang it, I didn’t know. I sure wouldn’t have—”
“It’s alright Dylan, you didn’t know.”
We were silent for a moment. Then he reached out and put his hand on top of mine.
“I am really sorry for your loss. He was a good man. I always looked up to him, a true cowboy. Gosh, I bet you miss him,” he said, and then gave my hand a squeeze.
“Yes, he was a good man, and I do miss him very much. He would have been really happy he made such a good impression on you. Thank you, Dylan,” I said.
He pulled his hand from mine and nervously pushed his cowboy
hat up a bit from on his forehead.
“The ranch is partly the reason I’m here. See,” I said, pulling out the stack of flyers and discount cards and laying them on the table in front of him.
“Yeah. These look great. Wow, these are great photos. This flyer sure does bring back a lot of memories,” he said.
“I am glad to hear that. We always did enjoy having you come out and work summers at the ranch. You had a good energy about you and a good way with the tourists. Honestly, since Steve has gone, the ranch has hit some hard times financially. We don’t have near as many guests as we used to, so that’s why I’m here. I’m handing these out, trying to drum up more visitors, getting the word out, you know.”
“What? Gosh, I’m shocked to hear the ranch isn’t doing well. I was just a kid, but it always seemed booked solid when I was there working. Shoot, I guess that has been an awfully long time though,” he said, silently reminiscing.
“Around ten years, I bet. You were 16 or 17, around that age anyway. You did what, two summers, right?” I said.
“Yes, I’m 26 now, so I guess it has been about that long. Time goes by very fast, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, too fast. Look at you, you are all grown up,” I said with a smile.
“You have changed a lot too in the past ten years. I hardly recognized you,” he said, smiling at me.
“Well, I was around 24 back then, I guess. Steve was a good bit older than me, fifteen years actually, but age didn’t matter to us. But I suppose that’s probably why I look so different to you.”
“Yes, that must be it,” his lip curled up into a sideways grin.
A very attractive grin. I felt a nervous tick in my stomach, and I knew that it was time for me to go.
“I should get going. It was good to see you, Dylan,” I stood up.
“You’re leaving already? Look, what do you say I come out to the ranch? Maybe there is something I can do to help figure a way to help get the ranch back on track. I know that ranch pretty well,” he said, standing up. He stood up in front of me, over six feet tall and very fit.
“That is very kind of you Dylan, but it’s not necessary. It was good to see you though. I hope all is well with you and your family,” I said, gathering my flyers and cards from the table. I smiled and turned, then walked away from Dylan Dawson. As I walked across the Pavilion, I noticed that my heart was beating very fast. I was excited. This was wrong, very wrong. But he was a man now, a very strong and handsome man. Still, nothing could ever come of that. It was good to see him though. Very good.
3
Dylan
I rubbed the polish over the leather saddle, making sure I could nearly see my reflection, just the way our father had taught us when we were younger. I had been working hard the entire morning, and today was my day to polish the saddles in the stable. But even though I was trying to concentrate on my work, I couldn’t. My mind was where it had been all week long, with Helen and the trouble at the Larson Dude Ranch.
But it wasn’t just the trouble at the ranch that kept occupying my mind, it was Helen herself. Dang, she looked good. She looked better than I remembered. I had always had a bit of a crush on her when I was working at the ranch, but she was off-limits. She was a married older woman, and I was nothing but a scrawny teenager. Then it was nothing but a fantasy, but now I was a grown man, she was older, and she was free. She had blossomed into a beautiful and very elegant woman. Gorgeous really. I was surprised that I hadn’t recognized her at the Pavilion immediately. But she had changed a lot, she had really filled out into an hourglass figure for one thing, and there was something else. There was a wisdom in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, wisdom gained by a life lived.
I didn’t know then that what I was seeing was sorrow. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Steve had passed away. I didn’t ask what had happened, it was obvious that mentioning it had upset her and I didn’t want to make it into an awkward or sad run-in with her. So, I didn’t ask at the time, but now I was very curious. I was surprised that my father had never mentioned it. We weren’t exactly close to Steve and Helen Larson, but ranches in Texas kept on top of news, it was sort of a community thing all across the massive state of Texas. But I guess it was because she was hours away in the Texas Hill Country, and we were all the way out in East Texas. Still, it was strange that I hadn’t heard anything about it given the fact that I had history with the ranch. I would definitely have to ask my father about it later, maybe he didn’t know about it either.
“Dylan! Dylan!” Abi shouted at me.
“What?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I rang the bell for lunch,” she said.
“Sorry, I didn’t,” I said. I really hadn’t heard her. I guess I’d been too deep in my own thoughts.
“Well, lunch is being served in the gazebo. You best hurry up or your brothers won’t leave you any,” she shouted at me from the stable door. Then she turned and walked away.
“Coming,” I said. I threw down the rag and walked out of the stable, pretty much on her heels. She was walking fast and steady toward the gazebo. She let out a loud piercing whistle. Her gaze directed toward the barn.
Connor was pushing a wheelbarrow. She waved at him and pointed toward the gazebo. He put the wheelbarrow down and waved his hat in the air letting her know he understood.
“Darn it, don’t no one hear the lunch bell anymore? Maybe we’ll have to have two, one on the porch where it is, and the other out here in between all of y’all,” She sounded a little annoyed and turned toward the gazebo. I had caught up with her by then and was walking beside her.
“Might be a good idea. I can help you if you decide to do it. What’s for lunch?” I asked.
“I went into town and picked up some chopped barbecue sandwiches and potato salad from the barbecue joint,” she said.
“Can’t stop thinking about those barbecue sandwiches from the livestock show, huh?”
“You know it. Those were darn good. I figured we could all use another round. Especially since we were all eating on the run all weekend, so nobody got to really sit down and enjoy them. At least we can sit and have a proper lunch today,” she said.
“Sounds good to me.”
Connor jogged over to us, just then catching up. “I swear building that little retaining wall is going to be a real pain in the ass. Just lugging the gray stones over from that pile is enough work for a week,” he said.
“Yeah, but it’ll end up looking really nice,” Abi said.
“That’s what Lydia tells me,” he said.
I jabbed my elbow into his side. “Looks like your girlfriend is running your work on the ranch now, too,” I teased him. Ribbing each other was just something we did. All in good fun though. It was kind of what the Dawson boys had been known for—that and getting into a bit of trouble around town here and there. But we couldn’t help it, sometimes it just came with being a cowboy. Other times it came because of my quick temper.
“There y’all are, Tanner and I were just about to eat your sandwiches,” Wyatt said, with food in his mouth.
“Touch mine and I’ll have to break your hand,” I said, walking over to the water pump. Wyatt gave me a grin, knowing I was kidding. I pumped the lever on the water pump a couple of times until cold water came rushing out of the spout. Connor grabbed the bar of soap and began to wash his hands vigorously, then handed it off to me as I did the same.
“I don’t know why Father hasn’t installed a modern pump. That one has been there for decades. Did you know you don’t even have to pump the new ones by hand? You just turn it on, just like turning on the faucet,” Tanner said between bites. He and his wife Madison were agricultural scientists, and they liked their modern agricultural gadgets. But I didn’t.
“Oh I don’t know, I think it is part of the charm of the place. I wouldn’t change it. I like doing things the old way, the way the old cowboys used to. There is some fun in that,” I said, drying my hands on the towel and sitting do
wn at the table with my siblings. I poured myself a cold glass of lemonade and took a large drink. It was nice and refreshing.
“It also means more work,” Tanner said.
“Work is good for you,” I said.
“You’re starting to sound like Father. He always says the same thing, and you know how he likes things old and traditional around here,” Connor added.
“Well, I guess maybe I’m just growing up,” I gave them a cheesy grin. Tanner threw a rolled-up ball of foil from his sandwich at me. “Yeah right. When you go a whole year without getting in a bar fight, then I will say you are growing up.”
Everyone laughed, including myself. “Hey, I can’t help it if cowboys like to start crap with me. I guess I have the face for it.”
“You definitely have a face,” Abi laughed. I gave her a light push from my shoulder on to hers.
We all laughed and teased each other. This was what was good about working with family, you got to take breaks together and let off some steam. It was always good to laugh during a hard day of work.
“Good call on the barbecue sandwiches, Abi,” Wyatt said.
“Yes,” we all agreed.
“I couldn’t get enough of these things at the livestock show. But no, I had to sit there and sell them hogs. We sold them good, too. Made a good little fortune off those fat Sally’s,” Connor said, with a mouthful.
“Yes, that was quite a time this weekend. Did any of you catch that bull rider? I couldn’t take my eyes off of him,” Abi blushed.
“Which one?” I said, with my brows furrowing at her.
“Andy Taylor, the bull riding champion. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he wasn’t too hard on the eyes either,” Abi said.
“You know the rule Abi, stay away from bull riders,” Wyatt said, giving her a stern look. Abi just gave him a smile, and she reminded me a lot of myself when she did that. You could see the mischievous little girl, behind that smile, so she would probably go after a bull rider anyway. Dawson’s didn’t seem to do that well with rules, all we did was break them.