CHAPTER 1
Jed
I lean against the cedar mailbox at the top of my driveway. The only sound is the crunch of my cowboy boots on the gravel as I stare down the long, empty road.
Is this young lady really going to show up?
I can’t believe I posted an advertisement for a babysitter on the Internet, and I can’t believe some girl halfway across the country replied and accepted.
And now I’m not sure if I believe she’ll really show up at all.
Then off in the distance I see it. It’s big and grey and at first it blends in with the mirage that seems to be rising up off the hot West Texas asphalt. But as the sun beats down on my cowboy hat and my pocket watch inches closer to noon I realize my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. It’s a Greyhound bus that’s probably been on the road for an entire day already. Been through a bunch of States in this great country and it’s probably still got a few more to go, but in another ten or twenty seconds it’s going to be right here in front of my ranch.
The only question now is will it stop and will she be getting off?
Greyhounds don’t make unscheduled stops from what I hear. Well, here in West Texas we do things a bit differently. Folks are still friendly and bus drivers don’t see any point in making you go all the way to Albuquerque or Tucson only to backtrack a few hundred miles to a drop-off point they pass earlier in the day.
Manners and respect. We’re all about it in these parts.
The bus pulls over on the side of the road and the doors swing open. A gust of cool air and the smell of air-conditioning hits me in the face.
But it’s nothing compared to the theoretical slap I get the instant I see her coming down those steps.
“Morning ma’am,” I say, tipping my hat and then rushing to take her duffel bag from her when she hits the last step. I offer her my hand and go to help her down, but the moment my skin touches her I feel my legs wobble a bit myself. And I’m the one who’s supposed to be holding the both of us steady.
“Morning,” she says.
Suddenly the doors close and I hear the stick shift slide into gear and the bus begins to take off down the road.
“Hey!” I yell. Then I whistle like I’m calling cattle, but the bus just keeps on moving.
“Your other bags,” I say.
“That’s all I got,” she says.
I look down at the duffel bag that’s not much bigger than the one I used to take to high school football practice seventeen years ago when I was eighteen.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” she says.
“A true traveler. A young woman looking for adventure. I like it,” I say, conveniently leaving out the part about how much I like the way she looks. I don’t want to scare her off or else she’ll be sticking out her thumb and trying to flag down the next truck headed in either direction.
But that’s not about to happen. I can tell right away that we’ve got chemistry going on, and I’m not about to let her wiggle her way out of here. And I know she doesn’t want that either.
The only question is is this going to be one of those wild eight minute rides full of thrills and excitement, or am I gonna rope her up and keep her here forever?
I’m a risk taker and I can see she’s definitely a risk worth taking. And like a long South Western road I want to explore how far we can take this thing and just where it might lead us.
I sure never believed in all that falling for a girl at first sight thing, but standing out here on this hot day looking at her still trying to decide if this lovely young thing is real or just a mirage, well I might just have to change my stance on that whole serendipity business.