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Mathis set his hat in his lap, nodded respectfully at my dad before answering, “Yes sir, I recently inherited a ranch from my uncle off Wild Cat Canyon Road. Moved in a couple months ago. I’m originally from Great Falls, Montana.”
Now, my dad’s interest was piqued. “Montana, huh. What was your uncles name, son?”
Mathis nodded. “Ken Rogers, sir. He was my mother’s brother. He bought the land about fifteen years ago from the Blumberry’s and had a house and barn built. He didn’t actually move onto the property till about ten years ago.”
My dad looked surprised. “You don’t say, I knew Ken. Good man, I was sorry to hear about his passing.” My dad looked thoughtful for a moment, glanced at me, and smiled. “You two have met before then.”
I gaped at my dad in confusion. “What?”
“Yeah, you were about…oh, maybe thirteen, fourteen. We were at the county fair, it was the first summer your Ma let you compete. You won the barrel race your first time out, you were riding Pizazz’s dam, remember?”
I frowned. “I remember the barrel race, how could I forget, but I don’t know what this has to do with Mathis.”
My dad grinned. “I’d met his uncle earlier in the year, and studded old Clancey out to him. He found us at the fair and introduced his nephew.” Glancing at Mathis, he continued, “You had just graduated high school if I recall. You asked me all about my bull riding career, then Callie ran her race, and you couldn’t seem to ask about anything but her.”
I glanced at Mathis whose cheeks were turning a suspicious shade of pink, and I shook my head. “I don’t recall meeting him.”
My dad chuckled. “Oh, I introduced the two of you, but you were too busy being excited over your first race, and you took off with little Sammy.”
Suddenly, Mathis let out a laugh. “Gosh, that’s right! I remember now. There was a girl I met at the fair when I was visiting my uncle. I remember she had dark hair and these huge grayish eyes. And I remember her taking off with a blond girl, and I was hoping to see her again, but I never did.”
Now, it was my turn to blush. “That’s so weird. Who would have thought that years later, we’d run into each other in New York, of all places?”
Mathis laughed, “And then here in Durango again. Wow, I guess some things are fated to happen.”
Now I looked away. My dad caught my eye and gave me a look I didn’t even want to think about before he turned his attention back on Mathis.
“So, did you grow up in town in Great Falls, or on a farm, son?”
Mathis grinned. “I’ve never lived in town, sir. My parents own a thousand acre spread, and we run Angus. We raise top quality bulls and ship them around the states.”
My dad grinned. “A country boy, born and raised huh. No wonder you were so interested in my bull riding career. Ever do any of your own?”
Mathis shrugged. “I rode bronc’s and bulls at the local fairs back home, and in a little back country competition between the locals, but that’s about it. I wasn’t nearly as good as you, sir.”
I rolled my eyes. They were fricking bonding. Glancing into the kitchen, I caught my mom looking at Mathis with a smile of approval on her face, and I wanted to throw a tantrum. This wasn’t fair. Why did he have to win them over? Relief flooded me when my mom brought coffee and no questions came up about my relationship with Mathis.
An hour passed as Mathis and my parents made conversation, with me sulking beside him, trying to maintain a civilized distance, despite his ever effort to make physical contact whenever possible. I just wanted the night to end, when the one question I dreaded the most popped out of Mathis’s mouth.
“So, what the heck was Callie doing in a place like New York?”
The table immediately went quiet, and my parents glanced at one another, then at me, and back at Mathis. With her ever-present wisdom, my mom answered the question and diffused the situation.
“Oh,” she waved a hand nonchalantly. “Callie just needed to get away from it all for a while. She wanted to explore, have a change of scenery.”
Mathis glanced at me, and I just focused on my cup of coffee. It was on the tip of my tongue to shout out the truth, to tell him how I was really loco and watch him run from me as fast as possible, but the way he looked at me, with those golden eyes that just plain undid me, kept my mouth closed. So instead, I took a deep drink of my heavily creamed coffee and avoided looking at him.
Mathis was no sooner out the door than my mother’s intense blue eyes glued themselves to my face, and she asked, “Calamity Jane, how on earth could you keep such a charming young man-a country man at that-a secret?”
I sighed. “Mom, I met him in New York, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again, and then he turned up here…I mean, it’s no big deal. He’s just a friend.”
My dad chuckled from the doorway to the kitchen. “The way that boy looks at you, darling, he doesn’t just want to be your friend.”
Closing my eyes, I looked up at my mom, moved in to hug her, and said, “I love you mom. I love you dad. I’m really beat, Elaine’s was great, but I think I need to sleep for a week. Goodnight.”
I hadn’t even made it to the bottom of the stairs when my dad called out behind me, “Was Peter as much of an ass as usual?”
I stopped mid step, took in a deep breath, and slowly turned. So, they knew after all. The look on my mom’s face confirmed my thoughts. “So, you knew he was a complete asshole?”
