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“Yeah, a little, why?” she asked, not prepared for that question.
“Because you gotta be your cousin now, and you’ll need Eastern duds, fancy stuff. Maybe even one of those silly hats they wear,” Sam insisted. “By the way, what’s his name?”
“Dr. Ethan Morgan.”
“A real dude, huh?”
“Do you really think I can fool them?” Riley asked, narrowing her glance on him.
“You don’t have any choice. It might be best to go to a barber here in town and let him fix your hair; it’s a little rough looking. You have to if you want your place back,” Sam continued. “It won’t be too hard. We’ll practice it a few times. Then you can go and collect your money. Do you want to see the ranch again?”
Riley took a deep breath. “I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know if I’m good enough to pull this off, especially alone.”
“Well, how the heck do you expect me to come with you?” Sam jumped at her.
Riley flopped on the edge of the bed. “There’s a way, but you might not like it.”
“What way?”
“Well, bein’ a doctor and all, I’d probably have a man servant,” Riley explained.
Sam gritted his teeth, his expression was not pleasing.
“That way you could help me stay in character,” she insisted.
Sam sighed heavily, not looking at her. “I thought I’d be moving on, Riley.”
Riley jumped to her feet. “Move on? You can’t do that.”
“Well, Riley, once you get your money and land…you won’t need me any longer,” Sam explained, still not looking at her.
“You’re wrong. I’ll always need you, Sam,” she protested, coming to stand just in front of him.
“It ain’t gonna work, Riley.” He moved away from her.
“What?” she asked, innocently following him.
“You and me, that’s what,” he insisted. “You gotta ranch to run, I got places to see. I’m black and that ain’t gonna change for sure. I can’t live in your world, Riley.”
“There’s always a way if you really want it.” She stared into his somber face and came up close, but not too close. “You are the best friend I’ve ever had, Sam. Truly. I don’t want to lose that friendship no matter what. I value it, I keep it close to my heart. No one has ever taken the time to know me so well, to help me so much. My gratitude is deep seeded. I need you Sam, I think I’ll always need you…But I can’t hold you, even I know that. But if you’ll help me get my ranch back, you’ll be a part of it, a big part of it. I’ll draw papers up saying we are partners. Whatever you want, Sam, that’s how much I trust you.”
Sam noticed she swallowed hard to keep the emotions that were close to surfacing at bay.
“I want you to come with me and be my foreman…for now.” The tremor in her voice made him consider her words.
“Why?” He looked up at her, seeing the unshed tears in her eyes.
“Because of all the people in the world, I trust you most…with my life and my money,” she added.
His heart throbbed with a passionate message, but if he allowed himself to speak the words, they couldn’t be taken back. Instead of confirming his own feelings, he squashed them in a small part of his heart and nodded. “It’s against my better judgment, but I’ll go along with you as your man servant.”
His lack of commitment hurt, as he watched her swallow her unshed tears. “Thank you, Sam…”
“I suppose the first thing we need is a proper haircut, and clothes for you. And the safest place for a haircut like you need will not be to your liking,” he announced, cutting his emotions with disguised words.
“I don’t understand…” she hesitated.
“I’ve been thinking. A barber would just ask questions and consider you strange. It wouldn’t work there. The only people I know that would give a woman a man’s haircut is at the whorehouse,” Sam announced.
