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“Well, they were nice…” she explained as her cheeks brightened. “And very kind to me.”
Sam patted her on the leg and she glanced at his action. “I guess you think I’m crazy.”
“No…I think you are about the grandest lady I’ve ever known.” Sam’s eyes raked her with a sensual glance. His glance enflamed her, but she hid it well.
She felt weak-kneed at his compliment. “Thank you, Sam…that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me…”
His heated glance raked her. “You just caught me in a good mood.”
She smiled and he jerked on the reins harder.
That night they camped and Sam handed her some old clothes.
“What’s this for?” she asked.
He scratched his chin for a minute. “Can’t have you getting those duds dirty before we get there. Sleep in these,” he said.
“Oh yeah, that’s good thinkin’.” She smiled and went behind the bushes to change.
***
“Couple of days this is all gonna be over, you’ll have your ranch back, your money, and I’ll be headed west, like I started,” Sam remarked as he made a pot of coffee and offered her a cup.
Dressed more comfortably now, he noted how she had to roll the legs up on the pants and how she tucked the shirt in to keep the pants up. She took the cup of coffee and sighed heavily. “You’re not interested in being my foreman, then?” Riley asked.
Sam glanced at her misfit outfit, and then averted his attention elsewhere. “Riley, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Riley sat down on a dead tree that lay sprawled obviously from the tornado that had hit the area. She sipped her coffee thoughtfully and watched Sam out of the corner of her eye. “Then I guess we’ll be sayin’ goodbye when this is over, huh?”
Sam walked away from her, unable to look at her, unable to speak.
Finally after a long silence he lay down his coffee cup and nodded. “I guess so, Riley…”
She let out a breath. “Bring some firewood, I’ll make us some supper.”
He left and she held her tears inside. She hadn’t contemplated saying goodbye to Sam, but she knew it was inevitable, especially since he couldn’t come to terms with it working between them. She understood why, but accepting it was hard. Still, she wanted to show him how much she’d grown through the experience.
She fixed the evening meal when he brought back a wild turkey and made a spit over the fire for it. As they watched the bird cook, they stared into the fire, both with their own thoughts. “I’m really grateful for all you’ve done for me, Sam.”
Sam nodded, but didn’t take his eyes from the fire. “Yeah.”
“Where’d you find the bird?” Her voice trailed off as though her mind wasn’t on the bird.
Sam shook himself a little and shifted off the log to the ground. “Down yonder ways.”
“I’m hungry…”
“It’ll be a while yet,” he cautioned as he fashioned the spit to cook it on.
“So when I go into the bank, I tell them I’m Dr. Ethan Morgan and that I came to withdraw Riley Morgan’s account money. Then what?” Riley asked, trying to keep the conversation on business.
Sam came out of his trance and put his hand over his eyes for a second. “I’m not at all sure that calling yourself a doctor is a good idea. You could be called upon to do something you couldn’t handle. Just call yourself Ethan Morgan and let it be. Once you get the money, you inform them you’ll be taking over the ranch, as you’re the next of kin and all.”
“Won’t I have a hard time with that since I didn’t write a will?” she asked.
“They’ll be investigating it, of course. But since you will be the only next of kin, there shouldn’t be much trouble. The real trouble is getting Harry and his men off the ranch. That’s where I come in,” Sam said.
“You…what do you mean?”
