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“Maybe I ought to leave, just get up and walk out, like you suggested. This don’t make no sense, Riley!” Sam fumed unable to see a reason for her new found attitude.
“It makes perfect sense.” Riley barely glanced at his tirade.
“You owe it to me, tell me why?” Sam insisted.
She firmed her lips and met him face to face. “I know you are gonna think I’m crazy, that I don’t know what I’m doing. But I do. For once. I’ve thought this through. What I want with my life and what my father wanted for me, are two different things. I don’t want to run a ranch any longer. I don’t want to own all the territory between here and New Mexico territory. I don’t want men chasin’ me for my ranch, or my money. I want a life, I want a family,” she said simply and turned away from him. “I want a man that loves me for me.”
“But you can have that and your ranch too!” Sam said adamantly. “You don’t have to give it up.”
“No, I can’t. I’ve tried that. When men come around me it’s because they think they can either romance the ranch out from under me or marry it. When I am at the ranch, I’m no more than a ranch hand myself, doing my job every day. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not a man, Sam. I no longer want that kind of life. That’s a man’s kind of dream, not a woman’s. My father built this but not me. My father earned this, not me. Now that I’ve seen a little of the world, I want more for myself than a life that promises nothing. I simply want love, that’s all, and kids,” Riley admitted, no longer looking at him. “I want to build a family of my own. And if I’m going to do that, I’ve got to learn how to be a real lady.”
“This is crazy, Riley.” Sam threw his coffee on the ground. It soaked up fast. After a few minutes of reflecting on the things she said he asked, “So, what are you gonna do?”
“I’m going into town and to the bank, get my money, put the ranch up for sale and have the lawyer handle the details for me.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, and then what?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t got that far with my thinkin’ yet,” she insisted. “But I can live on the money for a few years without worryin’ over it.”
“But you’re a rancher!”
“No, I was a rancher. Now, I’m going to be a lady.” She smiled brightly.
“A lady. A lady of what?”
“Just a lady. Maybe I’ll find a husband.”
“Then I guess this is goodbye, Riley, because you shore don’t need me for this.” Sam shook his head with disgust.
“You don’t want to come into town with me and help me pull off the last charade?” Riley challenged.
Sam studied her for a long moment. “All right, I’ll see it to the end, and then I’m gone.”
“Fair enough, let’s be on our way then,” she exclaimed.
“What about breakfast?” he asked.
“I’m not hungry.” She smiled.
“But…”
Chapter Thirteen
Northwest of Fort Worth they came upon a relay stage station and she bought tickets to ride to Dallas, under the name of Ethan Morgan, and male servant.
“Hey, can my dog ride up there on the seat with you?” Sam asked as the driver was loading the stage.
“Sure, I guess. Is he friendly?” the man asked.
“‘Bout as friendly as he can be…” Sam smiled.
Sam motioned for Nodog who jumped up and onto the seat, then lay down and whined as the driver took his place.
The driver waved to Sam that they were set.
Riley would be a man for the next few days and then this whole thing would come to an end. The sadness of losing Sam was almost too much for her to handle. But the reality made her face it. Sam wasn’t offering marriage, or even his love.
However, she squashed it to the back of her mind as her and Sam sat side by side in the stagecoach.
