Love on the Ranch

  Chapter Seven

  The water from the hose did the trick and at least washed off most of the mud. My clothes were done and so were my sneakers. I was ready to take a long, hot bath so I could scrub again because I could not shake the feeling of the mud still on my skin.

  By the time I showered and changed, Blake was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking a bottle of water.

  "I thought that maybe I would take you to town. Show you around a bit and make sure you get a pair of new sneakers and some clothes to replace the ones that you had to throw away."

  "That would be great. But I have some other clothes packed. You really don't have to do that."

  "Well, I need to get out and go to town anyway. And there is no sense in you staying in the house alone."

  Somehow I felt like he was giving a command, more than asking if I wanted to go with him. And this could be yet another part of my adventure. Besides, I did not think that there could be anything that exciting in the small town where I was.

  "Fortunately, my schedule is free. I guess I have some time to go in to town. And besides, the company may be more exciting than the trip."

  I was shamelessly flirting and was not going to apologize for it. There was something brewing between Blake and I. During my water hose shower, I decided to figure out exactly what that was. It was working. He was blushing.

  "Let's go."

  I waited out front for him to pull up in his vehicle, a pick up truck as I expected. He stepped out of the driver's side and came around to open the passenger door for me.

  “Impressive,” I said with a smile.

  "Thank you." He tilted his hat and closed the door behind me.

  The ride was quiet at first. Blake cranked up the music as I took in the scenery. I could not get over how beautiful Arizona was. It was not the ideal place I thought of settling, but there was something peaceful and serene about it.

  "What are you smiling for?"

  I glanced over in his direction. The warm air blowing through my hair. "I did not know that I was smiling."

  "You are. And you should do it more often."

  His turn to flirt.

  "Maybe I should. It's just that."

  "What?"

  I paused for a second, not sure if I should share for fear of sharing too much.

  "Well, I have not had much to smile about recently. There has been so much going on in my life."

  Blake nodded quietly.

  "We all have things going on in our lives."

  His comment was humbling. "That is true."

  "So are you going to tell me all that you have going on in your life?"

  I rolled the window down a little more. The fresh air was refreshing.

  "We can talk about it later. Today is such a beautiful day and I want to enjoy it. Plus I want to see this town you are bragging about."

  He laughed. "I would not say that I was bragging, but I do love my little town where I live."

  I didn't bother to say much else because we arrived in town. It was quaint. The backdrop of the mountains made it look like a postcard. People here smiled when they walked by, looking happy and content. It was a little more up to date than I expected it to be.

  "We do live in the new millennium around here."

  "I mean, I kind of figured that."

  "Just kidding, Christy."

  "I figured that. It is beautiful out here. I can see why you love it so much." I had to stand there and take it all in for a moment. I wasn't sure when I would get a chance to see something this breathtaking again.

  "Been here all my life. I never want to take it for granted."

  Such prophetic words. Not wanting to take for granted the beauty in life. I did not want to be the type to do that either.

  "The ladies all shop over there. Go on in and tell Mandy to take care of you."

  "Alright." I glanced at him again before I walked across the street to the store.

  "Welcome! How can I help you?"

  The woman seemed like the salt of the earth kind, very sweet.

  "I need to pick up a few things."

  "Certainly. What can I help you with?"

  I told her the items that I was looking for. She was so much help, showing me around the store for everything that I needed. By the time we finished, I had three outfits, a pair of sneakers, and a new pair of heels.

  Not sure why I was buying so much, I thought about putting some of it back.

  "You must be new in town. I have never met you before. I kind of know everyone in town. I'm Mandy."

  "Oh, Mandy. Blake told me to ask for you when I came in. I'm Christy."

  "Blake. He's such a sweetheart. So are his parents. So nice to meet you, Christy."

  With a smile, Mandy began ringing up the items and putting them in a bag.

  "You are all taken care of, Christy. Make sure you come back and see me."

  I was confused because I had not paid for anything. "Uh, let me take care of the bill."

  Mandy held up her hands. "If Blake sent you in, he will take care of everything."

  "Really?"

  Mandy nodded. "He's good for it."

  Mandy laughed. "Blake is a great guy. He's always doing something around town to help out. As a matter of fact, his entire family is always donating money here and there for repairs, fundraisers, or anything in general. He's pretty generous like that, but then again, he comes from a good family."

  "That's good to know. I mean, that he's such a good person." I was actually happy to hear that I was not staying in the home with a man that people considered to be a lunatic. What was the word that was often used? Eccentric. At least people thought of him favorably and that was nice to know.

  "Known him for a long time. Never been anything but. Have a good day and I hope to see you again, Christy."

  Mandy passed me the bag across the counter and I waved goodbye as I left the store. Not quite sure what Mandy was sharing with me, because she kept mentioning how generous he was.

  "Thank you, Mandy. I appreciate it and hope to see you again." As soon as I opened the door to leave, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. Blake was standing across the street, in deep conversation with a tall, leggy blonde. She kept flipping her hair, in that playful way that a woman did when she was flirting. I could not tell from his body language if he was interested in her like she appeared to be in him.

  I watched the scene as she laughed and touched his shoulder gently. Blake just stood there, rigid posture as she continued to try and get his attention. He turned, looking in my direction with a double take. There was no way that I could act like I was not staring at him and his admirer, so I just stood there in the same spot for a moment. I spotted a diner a few steps away and I decided that was the place that I would go to escape the obvious personal conversation that was going on.

  Blake watched as I began walking away. I took one other glance and then made my way to the diner. Why was I getting angry about this? I had known him for a total of three or four days. Blake lived here his entire life. Of course he knew everyone and had an entire history here. There was no way that I was privy to all of that history just by looking at a few pictures on a fireplace mantle.

  I found a booth in the back of the diner. My waitress came over immediately smiling as she poured me a glass of water.

  "What can I get you hun?"

  As I browsed the menu, I was not that hungry but I wanted to eat to at least take my mind off of what I had just seen.

  "Can I get a strawberry milkshake, an order of onion rings, and a turkey club sandwich, no mayo?"

  "Coming right up." She popped her gum, not even writing down my order. Swiveling on her heels, she went and put in the order and set about tending to some other customers.

  The chime over the door sounded, making me look up from my phone to see who was coming through the door.

  Blake looked around until our eyes met and he made his way directly to me.

  "Wh
y did you run off like that?" he asked, approaching the table.

  "You were busy. I thought that I would go and grab something to eat while you finished."

  Frowning, he took a seat across from me. "Christy, really. It was not that serious. Did you find what you wanted with Mandy?"

  I liked how he expertly changed the subject so quickly.

  "I did. Thank you."

  He folded his massive hands on the table. "Good. I told you that she could take care of you."

  The waitress came back and greeted Blake with a huge smile. "Blake, would you like the usual hun?"

  "Sure, Deb. That would be great."

  Deb sat my order down in front of me with the same smile plastered across her face.

  "Be right back."

  Blake turned his attention back to me. "So what did you get?"

  "What?"

  "From Mandy's store. What did you get?"

  "Don't worry. I did not do too much damage. Just a few things. Thanks again."

  Deb returned with the plate of Blake's usual; a steak medium rare, a side of scrambled eggs, and a glass of orange juice.

  He dug in before saying anything else to me.

  "That was an old friend of mine."

  "You really don't owe me an explanation, Blake."

  He shrugged. His nonchalant attitude was really starting to get under my skin.

  "You always appear to be so indifferent." I closed my eyes as soon as the words escaped my lips. Somehow, the things that I was thinking escaped my mouth from time to time.

  "I guess it's a talent of mine." He straightened up in the seat, leaning across the table. The way that his eyes concentrated on mine, I was mesmerized.

  "Maybe so." I tried to sit back in my seat, but what I really wanted was to lean in more closely to him, meet his lips with a kiss.

  And I was way too distracted when he licked his lips. Right there. Leaned across the table, licking his lips and concentrating on me. When would he come right out and say, "Christy, I want you?"

  "Can I get the two of you anything else?" Deb came over to the table, with the privilege of having a front row seat to our interaction.

  "No, thank you. As a matter of fact, can I get a to go box?" I asked.

  "Sure thing. I'll be right back with the check."

  "I have a few more things that I want to show you while we are out here in town."

  "Really? I kind of thought that we would be done for the day."

  "If that's what you want, we can head on back to the ranch," he responded.

  "That would be nice. It's been sort of a long day so far."

  Blake nodded, throwing a few bills on the table when Deb brought the bill.

  He stood up first, holding out his hand to me. I walked out of the diner first, headed toward the truck. And as we made our way, there she was again. The blonde haired woman walking past Blake's truck. She did not appear to see us at all, but I got a closer look at her and she was gorgeous. I wondered then if Blake had a type.

  The ride back to the ranch was quiet. I did not know what else to say to him. I already felt like I had overstepped an imaginary boundary. I really was not sure what was developing between the two of us, but there was most definitely something there that the two of us were well aware of.

  By the time we reached the ranch, Blake and I went our separate ways. It gave me plenty of time to be a little more nosey. I went exploring in the house to see if I could find any pictures of his old friend lying around. His house was immaculate and about the tidiest house that I'd ever seen in my life.

  This time, I ventured down the corridor where Blake's room was. He was outside in the stables and I knew that he would not be back for a while.

  There was a gym, a study, and what I could assume was his bedroom. I thought it too personal to go in the bedroom, so I took my chances snooping around the study.

  With the requisite taxidermy heads mounted on the wall, I was then intrigued by the contradiction of business journals and information about Wall Street investments lining the walls on a built in book shelf. I was struggling to figure this man out.

  His desk was full of picture frames. I stepped around to the side where his huge leather chair was to get a better look at the pictures. He stood smiling in one with some children who had the same blue eyes, dirty blonde hair as he did. In another picture, the same children with another leggy blonde. His parents were in another of the pictures with the children.

  Did Blake have children and a wife?

  No. Not possible. I had been here for almost a week and there were no children or women floating around. And the woman that he spoke to in town was not the same woman in the picture. I could not remember if he said anything about having a sister or any nieces and nephews.

  Maybe I had stumbled on to way too much information. None of it mattered, because as soon as I had my car fixed, I would be out of here, leaving Blake to swim in the shallow end of his pool of indifference all by his lonesome.