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“Is it really bad?” I said, worried and nervous for him but also for Lucy. What was she getting herself into?
“I mean, we’re not going to be out in the streets or anything,” he assured me quickly. “We’re not in dire straits, but I have a lot of important decisions to make that could affect this ranch for generations to come, you know?”
“I understand.”
Though I didn’t really. I certainly didn’t have generational wealth in my family, and I didn’t know anyone else that did. I hadn’t grown up with people who had trust funds and were born with silver spoons in their mouths. My parents were like me, living from paycheck to paycheck. I was positive that the constant stress of “Do I pay the electricity bill or the water bill this month? How many days can I push it before something gets shut off?” was going to shorten all our lives.
It was a lot, but I guess it would be a lot if I had the futures of everyone in my family to worry about as well, as it sounded like Beau did.
“Does your dad still help with the ranch?” I asked.
“Not the business side of things. My dad, he was a great cattleman—business savvy and very by the book. Maybe too by the book.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. We lost a lot of money with a lot of the practices that he continued. He wanted to make sure that we hired real men to do a lot of work that machinery could do, you know? A lot of people in town, they rely on their jobs here at Horseshoe Ranch. People are important, but I don’t know if . . .” He paused. “Sorry, I don’t want to bore you. That’s not why we came out here.”
“You’re not boring me,” I told him. “I understand. I guess it’s like tech jobs, right? And jobs that machines and robots can take over. A lot of companies are hiring machines as opposed to people, and that’s something that’s always struck me as sad and scary for mankind.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “At some point, we can’t rely completely on machines, but people want to pay the bare minimum for products and food and just about everything. And when you pay the bare minimum, you can’t expect that the workmanship is the same.” He sounded glum. “It’s just not possible.”
I was surprised at how serious the conversation had become. We stopped next to an old Chevy truck and he grinned. “Okay, I promise I’m going to stop. I’m going to take you down to the stream. Well, creek.” He laughed. “I call it a stream because when I was young, I always used to say, ‘I want to swim in the stream. I want to swim in the stream,’ and even though I know it’s a creek now, of course, I still call it a stream.”
“Oh, I see. So we’re going to a creek?”
“Yeah. I know you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Why is a strange man complaining and driving me to a creek in the middle of the night?’ but I promise, you won’t regret it.”
“I already don’t.” I jumped into the passenger seat of the pickup truck. “I’m glad we’ve had this conversation. You’re different from what I expected.”
“You thought I’d just be some cowboy hick?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said quickly.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t offend me. I am just a cowboy, but I’m a cowboy with a lot of layers and a lot of things to think about. I’m also a cowboy that loves this state and loves the land, and any opportunity I have to share that with someone else, well, I’ll take it, especially when it’s a beautiful woman like you.”
He started the ignition, and I sat back, my heart thumping. I looked out the window as we pulled out of the driveway and to the back of the property down a dirt road. I could see nothing except for the dirt road ahead of us lit by his headlights. We were in the middle of nowhere. I should have been scared, but I felt excited. I felt like I was going on a real adventure. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie—which told you how sad my life was, because Indiana Jones had been in the Middle East and Africa, and here I was in the middle of Montana, excited to be going into the forest to see a creek.
I was glad I’d come to visit, and I was even a little glad that Lucy wasn’t here tonight. If she was, maybe I wouldn’t be on this adventure with Beau, experiencing what I was experiencing right now. Happiness. Lightness. Excitement. I didn’t know how long the feeling would last, but I was glad for it. I wanted to see Montana in all its glory. And maybe, just maybe, he could make a convert out of me. Maybe, just maybe, I was someone who would really appreciate nature.
Maybe I wouldn’t want to go back to the city after all.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Beau
We rode in companionable silence as we made our way to Rock Creek. I glanced to the side to ensure that Olivia wasn’t sleeping and caught her checking me out. She turned her face away quickly, and I grinned as I leaned forward to turn on the radio. An old Patsy Cline song poured through the speakers, and I sang along. I could see Olivia nodding her head to the beat and it made me smile.
“So, Olivia, what is it you think you’d rather be doing in life?” I said, trying to think of a conversation topic as I made my way down the dirt road.
She looked over at me. “What, you don’t think I want to work in a boutique for the rest of my life?”
“Well, do you?” I glanced at her, then pulled my eyes back on the road. I should really concentrate a little bit better. You never knew when the elk or deer or even cattle would be moving across the road, and in the dark, it was hard to see them until you were up close.
“No, I don’t want to work in a boutique forever. I’d like to be an interior decorator, I think.”
“You think, or you know?”
“I know,” she admitted. “But even saying that seems almost impossible.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t go to school for it. I don’t have an education. I don’t have much of a background in it, aside from decorating my own little place and helping friends pick out pieces.”
