Chapter 9
Garrett
I didn’t expect Sarah to come climbing into my tent at all when I was joking with her about staying warm. She didn’t strike me as the kind of woman who would go back on her word either, or the kind who would do anything behind her father’s back.
So, when I awoke to the sound of my tent zipper, it took all the will power I had to hold back the smile that came across my face and the excitement I felt inside. In fact, I continued to pretend as if I were sleeping just to give Sarah the leeway to sneak into my tent without feeling like she needed to explain herself. I honestly didn’t want her to be cold all night long and I was fine with her sharing my tent; it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Although it was going to be pretty damn hard to avoid going after her if she was right there for the taking.
It wasn’t freezing out that night, but it was certainly cold. I estimated it was in the lower fifties and although I was a very warm-blooded sleeper, I did feel the cold seeping in through my sleeping bag. It didn’t bother me and I likely would have slept all through the night if Sarah hadn’t climbed into my tent to keep warm.
I heard her throw her sleeping bag and pillow into the tent and then she climbed in and zipped it back up. I didn’t move as I tried my best to pretend to be asleep. Luckily I was facing away from the tent opening and I didn’t have to do much but lay still.
“I’m just in here for the warmth. That’s it, nothing else,” Sarah said to appease herself as she finished zipping the tent back up.
Because I was pretending to sleep, I didn’t answer her, which made it easier for her to take her time and get her sleeping bag situated. It would have been warmer if we combined our two sleeping bags into one and used each other’s body heat to keep warm, but I wasn’t going to push my luck. I had her in my tent and that was much more than I thought I was going to get from her.
Sarah took a few minutes to get situated and then I felt her snuggle up against my back and pressed her body close to me. We were both in our sleeping bags, so there wasn’t anything inappropriate that her father wouldn’t be all right with; except that we were in a tent together. I also happened to only have my boxer shorts on, which I could only assume wouldn’t have made Sid very happy either. But I was going to behave myself. Even if it took every last bit of will power I could muster, I wasn’t going to let myself go after Sarah on that night. Maybe on another night I’d justify that it was all right, but I felt like Sid trusted me to keep Sarah safe on that evening and I couldn’t go against his trust.
As soon as she stopped moving, I quickly fell back to sleep. Since arriving on the ranch, I had become accustomed to getting a good night sleep and my body was constantly tired at the end of the day. Sarah was comfortably warm and in my tent and I hoped she would sleep better with me near. After months on the ranch, I thought I would have gotten used to the amount of work by then, but my body was always tired and on that night, it was also extremely sore from all the horseback riding that we had done.
I don’t remember even turning around or moving at all throughout the night, but when raindrops started to hit the tent I opened my eyes and realized I was cuddled up behind Sarah with my arms around her. She felt good in my arms and I hesitated to move them. They were probably even helping to keep her warm.
“Sorry,” I said and finally pulled them away.
“Get those back here, I’m freezing,” she demanded and pulled my arms around her again.
I breathed in a deep large breath of air and could smell that delicious, sweet scent coming from Sarah. I immediately wrapped my arms around her again and snuggled up close. There could have been so much more happening that night between us, but I was very content laying there with her in my arms. I didn’t need to push her for more. I didn’t want to. The feeling of her next to me was plenty to satisfy my desire, at least for that moment.
“It’s raining,” I whispered. “Do we need to do anything with the horses?”
Sarah laughed and then pressed her body back against mind. She thought I was joking, but I actually had been wondering if we needed to do anything with them. When she closed her eyes and went back to sleep I assumed the answer was that we should leave them be. They were horses, I figured they were probably used to dealing with the elements. Well, at least Buckjoy was.
Her ass was completely distracting me. I had been perfectly fine with cuddling and going back to sleep until she pressed that damn, round, delicious piece of her body up against me. I tried to pull my hips away from her and she moved close to me again. She might have been doing it unconsciously, but I felt like she was purposely teasing me.
The rain continued throughout the early morning and by the time Sarah’s alarm went off so she could get the sunrise the rain had stopped almost like it was on a schedule. The mist that was on the ground from the change in temperature and humidity made for one amazing photo when the sun started to come up.
This time Sarah didn’t stand in the water and instead opted to lie in the wet grass just next to the creek. She sure was determined to get some good photos for her father. She looked at a couple different views before she decided on the one that worked best. Once she got down to the ground, she ended up moving around a little to get a few more photos, and by the time she stood up, she was wet and muddy.
“You’re wet,” I teased. “You should take those clothes off.”
She just laughed and continued on with her photos. I felt a little out of place as she worked, but it didn’t take her long before she took a break to talk to me.
“I just really want to get some good pictures,” Sarah said as she looked through the ones she had taken so far.
“Tell me again why your father wants to sell this land?” I asked.
“He’s not making enough money to keep it all, basically. But he was going to sell it to a friend of his for much less than it is worth. I’m going to help him list it with a realtor and see if I can get an offer for what it’s really worth.”
“What do you think it’s really worth?”
“I’d like to get ten million for it, but I don’t know if there are any buyers who will see the true potential of the land like I do. I’d settle for five million. If we could get that kind of offer, it would set my parents up to finally relax and maybe even do a little semi-retirement.”
“What do you see as the potential for the land? I mean besides its beauty of course.”
Sarah turned toward me and jumped up from the ground where she had squatted down to take another couple photos. I saw a spark of excitement in her eyes like I had seen when she was talking about writing a book for women. This land made her happy, I could see it, I could feel it; it was sad that her father was going to have to sell it in order to make ends meet.
“This part of the ranch would make a fabulous executive retreat. I mean, think about it. We have mountains in the winter, hiking in the summer. I’d put a big lodge at the base of the mountain and build a hiking trail with a bridge over the river. It would take some fundamental land upgrades to get it going. There’s no electricity or water out this way, but once that was all done, this could be one of those amazing, high-price resorts that companies bring their executives to for team building. I haven’t crunched all the numbers, but my best estimate is it could be profitable in two years if there was good marketing at the opening of the ranch.”
Her excitement was contagious. As Sarah talked about the idea of an executive retreat on that location, I couldn’t help but see her vision, too. It sounded amazing; like a perfect way to spend time and enjoy this beautiful land.
I knew a lot of businesses who enjoyed taking their top salespeople and executives on team building retreats. I knew they were popular and companies were willing to spend decent money for retreats that were truly innovative and secluded.
“Why don’t you buy it and build that dream resort?”
“I’ve got a little money from my severance package, but I’m certainly not rich enough to do what needs to be done here. Not only would it take buying the land, the land improvements would cost millions as well. Plus, building the lodge and all of the rest of it. It’s a great plan, but it will have to be someone else’s future; it’s not mine.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand all the costs for something like this. I just saw how excited it made you and thought you’d make the perfect executive lodge owner.”
As much as I wanted to continue our conversation, I knew I would put my foot in my mouth. She could get backers to fund the building, or loans to finance it; I knew business and I knew there were plenty of options available to Sarah. The frustrating part was Sarah knew there were financing options; she had an MBA. It wasn’t the financing that was holding her back; Sarah didn’t believe in herself enough to take on such a huge task.
“It’s all right. Maybe someday I’ll get one or two of my other dreams.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said and then tried to change the subject. “Should we start heading back? I’ve got tons of jobs to get done today and don’t want to disappoint your father or Forest.”
“Yes, let’s head back.”
Sarah seemed sad as we loaded up our things and got on the horses to head back to the ranch. She was happy out by the river and I wished that someday she would be able to have her dream of living up there or running a business there. Or at least that they would be able to sell the land to someone who would pay her father a decent price for the land.
The Millers were quickly becoming some of my favorite people. They were genuine and friendly and even though they knew nothing about me or the trouble I was in; all of the Millers were taking me in and treating me as if I belonged there. I hadn’t had that sort of feeling in my life in a really long time.
The only person I had was my sister, and although we were close, we just didn’t get to spend that much time together. I used to think it was her fault that we never saw each other, but my time at the ranch had changed my opinion on that matter. My sister was married and about to have a baby. She was in no position to be flying across the country to visit me. Yet every time we talked on the phone, I always told her I was too busy to come see her.
I owned an airline and yet I was too busy to fly to Florida and see her? It sounded so incredibly stupid when I thought about it. I couldn’t believe my sister even kept calling me to check on how I was doing. Whenever she called, I hardly made time for her and I was often not listening to what she had to say at all. It made me sick how I had treated her over the years and I vowed to do a much better job when the whole testifying disaster was finished.
Going back up over the mountain was much easier than it had been the first time. I felt much more in control of Buckjoy and was able to guide him back down the other side without any incident. It was a pretty big confidence booster to have ridden the horse all that way and back again without falling off or getting myself hurt in some other way.
“You’re becoming a regular old cowboy,” Sarah yelled as she passed me at the bottom of the hill. “I’ll race you home.”
Sarah was slapping the reins for her horse around and her horse was running fast toward the house. I didn’t feel nearly as comfortable with Buckjoy going that fast, but he didn’t seem to mind the running and wanted to keep up with her horse. I held on tightly and let Buckjoy lead me as he took off in a sprint after the white horse and Sarah. Soon we were right beside them and then quickly we moved past them. It was exciting to be moving so fast on a horse and it was something else that I hadn’t done before in my life.
When we got back to the ranch, we both slowed down to a trot and moved the horses into their barn to get them settled and let them rest. Buckjoy seemed perfectly happy to have gotten a good run in and I could see that I was going to have to take him out again for some fast action. My adrenaline was pumping and I couldn’t help but feel like I was on some sort of high from the ride. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to go riding again sometime very soon.
“So what do I get since I beat you?” I teased.
“The pleasure of knowing you can out-race a girl.”
“A very well trained horsewoman,” I added as I took a step closer to her.
The moment was filled with happiness and we were both out of breath from the ride and smiling from ear-to-ear. The sun was shining and the morning air was crisp and moist. I was going to kiss her. I had decided it and that was the perfect moment. I wouldn’t go any further than a kiss; I would just kiss her and see how she felt about it. If she pulled away, I would chalk it up to a riding high. If she stayed and kissed me, I would be a very happy man. It wasn’t a bet and we weren’t far away from the farm; this kiss was going to be purely because I wanted to and hopefully she did too.
Slowly I took another step toward her and kept my eyes locked on hers. She knew I wanted to kiss her, I could tell that she knew. Her lips were wet and she leaned in toward me as I closed my eyes and leaned in toward her. I felt my own heart beating so hard that I could hardly contain it in my chest, or so it felt.
Sarah was right there with me, eagerly awaiting my lips to touch hers. We hadn’t made a bet that resulted in the kiss so I felt like she genuinely wanted to be in the barn kissing me at that very moment. I knew that I wanted to be there with her. There really wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be.
When our lips touched each other’s, it was a gentle and soft kiss. Sarah didn’t move away from me, but she didn’t move toward me either. I kept my hands at my side just waiting for some sort of sign that I could move forward with kissing her harder. It was daytime and we were in the barn, so anyone could come across us if they happened to be walking past the barn; but I was willing to take that risk.
“Garrett, are you in here?” I heard Sid’s voice yell from just outside of the barn.
I quickly pulled away from Sarah and smiled down at her as her eyes looked up at me dreamily. She was mesmerizing and I couldn’t wait to feel her lips on mine again. Hopefully, I would feel them very soon but for the time being, I thought it would be best not to have Sid see the two of us making out in the barn when we had just gotten back from our ride.
“In here. Just getting the horses settled,” I yelled.
“How was the trip?” Sid asked us both.
“It was good. It rained, but I think it made the sunrise photo more amazing. I’ll pick my favorites and get them to the realtor today,” Sarah said as she tried to hide the flush cheeks I had given her from kissing me.
“Garrett, I need to talk with you,” Sid said solemnly.
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked, thinking that he had somehow found out that Sarah and I had shared a tent. Or maybe it was something to do with my court hearing.
My gut filled with tension when I saw the look on his face. I desperately hoped that he wasn’t about to tell me that it was time for me to leave the ranch. I wasn’t ready for that, not even close. I wanted to stay on the ranch for at least a few more weeks as I got to know Sarah more. We had taken so long to warm up to each other, it wouldn’t be any fun if I left at that moment.
“Let’s go to my office.”
Suddenly the reason I was on the ranch was clearer to me than I had remembered on any day since I had first arrived. Was it time for me to go back home and testify? It had been several months and I hadn’t heard any news. My heart sank and I felt like the timing couldn’t have been more horrible. I was comfortable on the ranch. I liked the ranch. And most of all I was getting to know Sarah and she was softening up to me if I left at that moment I would certainly never get to know Sarah at all.
I followed Sid back to his office and resigned myself to hearing the news that I was going to have to leave. It was funny that the idea of leaving the ranch seemed like a bad thing to me; only a few months before I had hoped I would be able to leave very quickly after I arrived. But ranch life was starting to suit me very well. I was learning so much and I felt calm all the way down to my core. Living and working on the ranch was better than any yoga class I had attended at the fancy gyms in my city.
“Forest has left. I think you should take over,” Sid said quickly when we got into his office.
“Really?” I asked in total shock. I literally just talked to him yesterday.
Not only was I in shock that Forest had left without even a hint that it was on the horizon, but I was also shocked that Sid thought I knew enough to be in charge. I certainly didn’t feel like I knew enough to be in charge of anyone except for maybe myself.
“Yes, you have the best temperament for the job. Plus, Sarah or I can help when you have questions.”
“But…” I started to protest.
“I know we don’t know how long you’ll be here for. But if you’re here for six more months, I’d kick myself for not putting you in charge; these other guys are hard workers, but they just can’t see the big picture.”
“What if I get called up tomorrow?”
I desperately hoped that I didn’t get pulled away from the ranch the next day or anytime soon. I wanted to stay for a while longer. I needed to stay. Not just for Sarah though; I wanted to stay for myself. Through my time on the ranch I had grown and felt like I was recognizing where I had gone wrong in my life.
The ranch gave me time to think while I was working and I thought about more than I could have done in the city. My mind had all the time in the world to explore different changes I wanted to make in my life when I got back home.
“Then you’ll have had at least one night sleep in a real bed,” Sid said as he threw me a set of keys. “You also get Forest’s small cabin.”
Not once, since I had been on the ranch, had I thought about what it would be like to have my own cabin. I was happy in the bunkhouse. I was happy with my job. I didn’t feel the drive to be better than anyone else, and I actually liked hanging out with the guys in our large bunk room before bed. We got to know each other and shared stories about our lives; except mine were made up to match the made-up back-story from my life. But with the keys in my hand, the idea of sleeping in an actual bed was feeling pretty damn exciting.
“My own cabin,” I said quietly. “Thanks, Sid.”
“You’ve earned it. I don’t go handing out jobs like this to just anyone. You’re a hard worker and don’t complain, I like that. And thanks for taking Sarah out to the river for the photos. She’s got it in her head that she can make me millions out there and I don’t have the heart to tell her that the land is pretty useless and won’t sell for nearly as much as she thinks.”
“It was my pleasure. I was happy to do it. The land is very beautiful. Thanks again for the promotion,” I said as I shook Sid’s hand and started to walk out of the office. “I won’t disappoint you.”
“Don’t get too excited; the cabin is a mess and there’s no one around to clean it up.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind a little cleaning.”
I hurried off to grab my things from the bunkhouse and brought them over to my new cabin. It was a mess inside, just like Sid had said. Forest certainly hadn’t been a man who enjoyed a clean home, but I didn’t care at all. It was mine, my very own, tiny little cabin and I was so excited.
I felt more excited for the promotion I had just received than I had when I bought my last plane for my company. Before coming to the ranch my life had been so sheltered from what real hard labor was. I pretended to bond with my employees over the long hours they worked, but I didn’t have a clue about what it was they were really doing. My head was clearing up on the ranch though and I had been taking notes of the changes I wanted to make in my organization when I returned home.
I was more excited to move my backpack full of things into the small cabin than I had been when I bought my first mansion. It was funny how my perspective was changing simply from living and working on the ranch. I didn’t need a mansion. I didn’t need fancy cars to be happy; I felt happiness pouring out of my skin as I sat down at my little kitchen table and looked around my one room cabin.
There were still jobs to do for the day, but I couldn’t leave my new home a total disaster so I decided to take a few minutes to clean the place up. I grabbed a garbage bag and started throwing everything away. I tossed old magazines, food, and everything from the cabinets. I wanted it to be my home and I was happy to spend some of my salary to buy new things at the store if I wanted them.
As I started to do a load of dishes, there was a knock at the door. With my wet and soapy hands, I went to the door but couldn’t get it opened. For that brief moment in my life, it was fun and novel that I was washing dishes in my own little cabin far away from anyone who knew who I really was.
“Come in,” I said through a laugh. “My hands are too soapy to turn the knob.”
“Oh, mister big wig can’t even turn his own door knob,” Sarah teased me as she walked into the cabin. “Well, Forest certainly wasn’t a neat freak.”
There was a knob joke somewhere in the back of my brain but I couldn’t remember it. It was disappointing though because I desperately wanted to see Sarah laugh and smile again. It had become one of my favorite things to do; making Sarah laugh made me feel energized and excited.
“I’ll be right back to work; I just wanted to get started on some of this.”
“Here are some clean sheets. I’ll pull those old ones off for you,” Sarah said.
She didn’t wait for me and went right to work on the bed. I dried my hands off and helped her spread the sheets on the bed. We started with the fitted sheet and then the flat one. Each of us took turns tucking the corners in and then grabbed a pillow each and put the covers over them. Our little domestic collaboration was perfect and I let my mind wonder briefly to what it would be like to live with Sarah.
Sarah was strong-willed and certainly tried to hide her true feelings. She seemed to have a little bit of a lighthearted side to her, although she kept it very well guarded. It dawned on me that a relationship with Sarah, or a woman like her, would be a partnership. I hadn’t dated a woman that I felt was a partner to me. It was a novel idea that I only allowed for a small moment before I pushed it out of my mind.
It was going to feel amazing to sleep in that bed. I couldn’t resist and pulled my boots off quickly and fell face first onto the bed. The crisp, clean sheets brushed against my skin and I closed my eyes and let myself rest for just a moment. If I hadn’t had a ton of work still left to do for that day, I certainly would have fallen asleep right there without a second thought.
“Okay, is this some sort of weird man ritual that I don’t know about?” she laughed.
“I just love the feeling of fresh sheets. Come here, feel them. It’s so amazing. I just want to get naked and take a nap in them right now,” I joked.
Before I knew what was happening, Sarah had fallen face first into the bed with me and she was moving her hands around the sheets like I was. If she hadn’t known the pleasure of having fresh sheets, she did at that moment.
I watched as she took in a deep breath from the sheets and closed her eyes too. She was taking in the scent and touch of the sheets just like I was. It was a little bit of a bonding moment for the two of us and I tried to keep it as nonsexual as I could. Although all I could think about was having her naked in that bed and laying under the covers together.
“You’re right. There’s absolutely nothing like the feeling of freshly cleaned sheets on a bed. Especially if you’re naked.”
I couldn’t tell if she was joking. Did she want to get naked with me in the bed? All I could think about was how much I wanted to be naked with her in that bed too and if she wanted the same thing then we should both be naked. My mind swirled with the thoughts of what she really meant by what she had just said. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t look at her; I was stunned.
“Well, let’s get naked then,” I finally stuttered out with a little bit of laughter, secretly hoping that she was serious and she did want to be naked with me in those crisp sheets. But I was totally prepared for her to tell me she was joking.
“You go first,” she teased me.
“Oh, don’t tease me like that. I’ll happily get naked and crawl into these sheets.”
“Then do it,” she taunted me. “I dare you.”
Sarah didn’t know me well enough to know how much I loved dares, but I was totally naked and had slipped under the sheets in less than twenty seconds. Sarah had turned her head away from me when she saw me start to strip and she was in the midst of a total giggling fit. She held her hands up to her face just to make sure she wouldn’t get a glimpse of me naked, although I thought I saw her taking a little bit of a peek.
“Now I dare you,” I said as I let my hand glide up and down her arm.
If I wanted to keep things light and playful, I certainly shouldn’t have touched her. That single motion had sent vibrations through my whole body and I longed to feel every in of her. If she would only agree to get naked with me under the sheets; that was all I needed to be positive about her interest in me.