High Lonesome (5 page)

“There are a few horses in here,” Scott said. “The rest are out on the trails with Cody and the guests this morning.”

She strolled to the first stall and stroked the velvety nose of a chestnut. He had a wide white blaze down his nose and two white socks. “He’s beautiful. They all are,” she remarked as she moved down the aisle.

“You can give them each a treat if you’d like.” Scott opened a plastic container and handed her some peppermints.

“I didn’t know horses like candy.” She held her palm out to each animal. They slurped up the mints, leaving her palm wet, and made loud crunching noises as they chomped.

“Horses want good breath, too,” he joked. “You look natural around them. Is there any chance you’ve ridden? Can you remember ever being on one?”

“No,” she replied. “I’d like to try though.”

“Come with me. I want to show you something else.”

She followed him to a large corner stall where a tall painted horse with a flowing white mane and tail stood. The animal exuded pride and confidence. When the horse spied Scott, she whinnied. He reached into his shirt pocket and held a piece of carrot under her flapping lips. “She gets a special treat.” The mare yanked the carrot out of his hand and bit down. “Her name is Pepper. This girl is mine.”

“Oh, she’s wonderful.” She patted the paint’s neck and threaded her fingers through the horse’s silky mane. “How old is she?”

“Pepper is just a baby. She turned three years old recently. She was born right here in this stall and I broke her. Best trail horse I’ve ever had.” He rubbed the paint’s ears and then said, “Let’s hop back in the truck and I’ll drive you down to see the guest cabins.”

The pickup rambled down a gravel road to the base of the red rock mountains. Nestled among juniper trees and wildflowers were five rustic cottages spread out over a couple of acres. They all had wooden decks with rocking chairs out front. Scott turned off the truck engine and the two of them got out and walked to the nearest cabin. “This one’s empty this week, so I’ll show you the inside of it.”

Hanging on the front door was a bleached cattle skull with a lasso and a pair of spurs decorating the space between the double windows. Under the windows sat a barrel full of flowers. A table with a wagon wheel and glass top sat next to a weather-beaten rocker. Scott pulled a ring full of jangling keys from his shirt pocket. He stuck one key in the door and turned the knob. When the door creaked opened, they heard a gasp from inside.

A young couple on the loveseat jerked apart. Although fully clothed, it was obvious they’d been making out. The young woman’s cheeks flamed, and her gaze flew to the ground. The young man slicked back his black hair and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He grinned at Scott. “Hey, boss. What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same question, Rowdy.”

Rowdy stood and shoved his shirt into the waistband of his jeans and strutted to the door, leaving the girl behind. “Guess I should be getting back to the barn. Got some work to do.” He plucked a wide-brimmed hat off a wall hook and slammed it on his head, shading his chocolate brown eyes.

“Not so fast, pardner.” Scott gripped the lean wrangler’s shoulder with a firm hand. The girl remained on the loveseat with her head bent.

With a catch in her voice, she said, “Please don’t fire me, Scott. I’m so sorry. I told Rowdy we shouldn’t come in here, especially not during work hours.” She cast an angry look at her boyfriend.

It didn’t look like Scott planned to humiliate the couple, but he would probably let them know he wouldn’t tolerate monkey business.

Rowdy’s eyes blinked rapidly. When he met Scott’s cool stare, the wrangler’s bravado shrunk. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Amber’s right,” he apologized. “It’s my fault, Scott. If you’re going to fire anyone, it should be me. I told her we could hide out here for a little while, but I should have known better.”

Amber’s lower lip quivered. It seemed she might start crying any moment.

“Nobody’s getting fired.” Scott released his hold on Rowdy and pointed a finger at Amber. “You, come here.”

Amber rubbed the back of her hand across her cheek, stood up, and shuffled to her employer. Her legs were shaking.

Scott stared at the couple for one of the longest minutes ever recorded. Kind but firm, he made his point with measured words. “This is a place of business. The two of you are my employees. I don’t care what you do on your own time, but when you’re on my clock, I expect you to be doing what I pay you to do, which is wrangling and housekeeping. Understood?”

“Yes, Scott,” they replied in unison.

“All right, then. Get back to work. Break is over.”

“Yes, sir,” Rowdy said, saluting his boss. Amber rose up on her tiptoes and gave Scott a quick peck on the cheek. Relief flooded her face. The couple ran out the door and up the hill toward the barn.

“No more make-out sessions in the cabins!” Scott hollered after them. When they were out of earshot, he laughed.

“You’re a real toughie,” she teased.

“Ah, they’re just two kids in love. They don’t mean any harm. Don’t you remember what it feels like to be young and in love?” As soon as the words left his mouth, she could tell he regretted them. “I’m sorry. That was an insensitive thing for me to say.”

“Don’t be sorry. I
do
remember what it’s like to be in love. I just don’t know whether I’m in love right now.”

“It must be frightening not to know your own name, or whether you’re single or married.”

“This morning in the bath, I was thinking that very thing. If there
is
someone in my life, I hope he’s looking for me.”

“If I were him, I’d be pounding the sidewalks until I found you.” Scott pierced her with his blue eyes and an unexpected tremor coursed through her body when their gazed fastened.

She felt a blush creep into her cheeks.

He cleared his throat. “I guess you can see that I don’t mince words.” Not waiting for a response, he changed the subject again and rubbed his hands together. “I’m sorry. I should have introduced you officially to Amber and Rowdy.”

“It’s okay. You had business to take care of.”

“True. Well, now you’ve seen what the cabins look like.”

“Thanks for giving me the grand tour.”

“You’re welcome, but that’s not the grand tour. There’s a whole lot more to this ranch. I’ll show you the rest of it later, when we have time and you’re up to it.” He looked at his watch. “We should probably get started in to town. We’ll stop by the sheriff’s department before we head over to the clinic.”

“I’m ready if you are.”

The two of them hopped into Scott’s truck and he swung by the house to tell Carmen they were leaving.

As they motored to town, she remarked about how unique and pretty the area was.

“None of this looks even vaguely familiar to you?” Scott asked.

“No. I wish something...anything would come to me. I’m just blank.”

He drove in the manner of a man with nowhere to be at no particular time. His arm dangled out the window and he slumped in his seat. She appraised his profile. He had a strong jaw, and there was a slight bend in his nose. She wondered if a horse had kicked him, or if he’d broken it playing some high school sport. His lashes were long and thick, for a man. His skin was tan, no doubt from long hours working in the sun, and his sandy blond hair looked soft and well conditioned.

Curious as to the whereabouts of his wife and child, she gathered up courage and decided to broach the subject of his family. She’d been in his home for several hours and there’d been no mention or sign of them. “Mr. Landry—”

“Call me Scott,” he said, interrupting her.

“Okay. Scott. I’m not a nosy person, I don’t think, but when I was in your bedroom, I noticed the photo of your family on your dresser. You have a lovely wife and precious little baby. Will I get to meet them later?”

He took his eyes off the road just for a moment. He met her stare, and his answer was straightforward. “My wife, Maggie, passed away four years ago.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry. No wonder you reacted the way you did a while ago when I brought her up.”

“You had no way of knowing. It would have come up sooner or later.”

“Are these your wife’s clothes I’m wearing?” She fingered the shirt.

“Yes. It was Carmen’s idea for you to borrow them. But I didn’t mind,” he added quickly. “I hope you don’t feel weird about wearing them.”

“It’s fine with me, as long as you’re okay with it. Her things must be precious to you.”

He kept his eye trained on the road. “I haven’t looked at any of her things for a long time.
She
was precious, but clothes are just clothes. It was a shock to see you wearing them, that’s all. I’m over it now.”

Since they were being candid, she went ahead and asked, “If you don’t mind talking about it, what happened to your wife?”

“She suffered a brain aneurism. One minute she was laughing and playing with our daughter, and the next minute she was gone. There was nothing anyone could have done. It was just one of those bad things that happen to good people.”

She shook her head. “That’s tragic. She must have been quite young.”

“Twenty-six. We were high school sweethearts, but she was two years behind me. We had a good life together, while it lasted. I thought we’d grow old together, but the universe had other plans.”

She waited, not speaking, sensing he had more to say.

“Maggie played a major role in making the ranch as successful as it is today. And she gave me my little daughter.” Scott’s smile flashed so radiant it could have lit up a moonless sky. “Willow is seven, and she’s a real pistol. She’s ornery and precocious as all get out. You’ll get to meet her tomorrow. Tonight she’s spending the night with a horse riding friend.”

“Willow. That’s a darling name.”

Scott chuckled. “Maggie chose it. She was involved with a local environmental group for a while when she was pregnant. They wanted to save trees. If we’d had a son, Maggie planned on naming him Oak. Oak Landry.” He laughed out loud at the remembrance. “Maggie was as curious as a cat. That girl liked to read the encyclopedia for fun. Can you believe that?” He shook his head. “Willow means the world to me. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had her when Maggie died. I suppose I would have gone crazy.”

Their frank conversation about something so personal seemed natural. His ability to open up to her, a stranger, about his loss said so much about the man. It said a lot about the way they connected. “You’re a lucky man,” she told him. “You’ll always have a part of your wife with you, through your daughter.”

He nodded. “Yes, but there are so many regrets.”

“What kind of regrets?”

“The biggest is that Willow doesn’t remember much about her mommy. She was so young. To her, Mommy is just a photograph. She’ll never know what a special lady her mother was.”

“She’ll know if you tell her. It’s important for you to share your memories and stories with her. As I’m sure you do,” she added. “And that’s coming from a person who can’t even remember her own name.” She rolled her eyes playfully.

Scott tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “You seem to know what children need. Do you sense you might have a child?”

“I don’t know,” she replied quietly. “That’s the kind of gut feeling I’d think even amnesia couldn’t erase.” They both reflected on that for a few moments.

“Willow needs a mother,” Scott blurted. “As she grows and gets older, she’s going to have lots of questions about things I don’t understand or know anything about. What will I do then? I won’t be able to give her the kind of advice a mother can. She’s already such a tomboy. I’m worried about what will happen when it comes time for her to date and go to dances...I don’t know how to raise a girl.”

Her heart picked up its pace. The sincerity and honesty with which he spoke was charming. “I’m sure you’re doing just fine. All any child needs is a loving parent. Willow is lucky to have you as her father. You’re a good man. I can sense that. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with tomboys,” she added. “I don’t know why, but I have a sneaking suspicion I may have been one when I was a girl.”

Scott whipped into a parking space at the sheriff’s department and cut the motor off. He seemed to remain in a philosophical mood. “Most people think it’s too painful for me, so they never talk about Maggie. They act as if she never existed. I suppose they think it’s better for me, but it’s not. Maggie was my wife, and the mother of my child, and I loved her. Sometimes it’s therapeutic to talk about her. I think you understand.”

She nodded. “Of course I do. It’s perfectly natural to want to keep memories alive. Maggie was your love. You expected to spend your life with her. She was taken from you too soon.”

He looked out the window for a moment before his gaze returned to hers. “Thank you for asking about my family. That was real kind of you.”

“I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me about your wife.”

“That’s unusual for me, if you want to know the truth. It usually takes a while for me to warm up to people, but you’re very easy to talk to.”

When they exited the truck, he shook his head. “Here you are, not able to remember whether you have a family or not, and you’re listening to me jabber on about mine. I’m sorry about that. It was insensitive of me, again.”

“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “You can return the favor when I need to talk.”

“That’s a deal.” He stuck out his hand to shake. When they touched, a spark ignited between them. As her heart turned over in her breast, she wondered if he’d felt it.

They entered the brick building and Scott greeted the secretary with a high five. “Linda and I were classmates,” he told her, as she and the secretary nodded greetings. “The sheriff told us to drop by, Lin. Is he here?”

“Yep. You can go on in.”

Scott peeked into the office. The door was open, but he still rapped on it before entering. She followed him inside.

The sheriff sat ramrod straight in a swivel chair staring at the computer screen. “Come on in.” He stood and pumped his friend’s hand. “How ya doing, Scotty?”