“Why did you leave it?” She asked.

  Jack took a deep breath and explained, Kristin, there is a story they tell around here about these two brothers that go into the hay hauling business together. They bought a flatbed truck and found a farmer that would sell them hay for fifty dollars a ton. They loaded up the truck with the hay and drove down the road knocking on doors asking the local ranchers if they need some hay. The fifth ranch they come to the rancher just happens to need some hay for his cattle. He asks the two brothers how much they are selling their hay for. The brother’s looked at each other, they had not thought about what price they would sell the hay for.

  The rancher spoke up and told them that hay in these parts usually sells for around fifty bucks a ton. The two brothers agree that fifty bucks sounded like a fair price. After they unload the hay the rancher paid them. They filled up the truck with gas and discover they had less money than when they started. The one brother looks at the other and asks, “What do you think we should do?” The other brother said,

  “I think we need a bigger truck.’

  Jack waited for the story to sink me in then he looked at her very intently and said,

  “Kristin, in my previous profession I was always buying a bigger truck.”

  Jack looked at his watch and reminded his house guest that if she wanted to get that tire fixed they had better head into town he thought that most of the tire shops closed early on Saturday.

  Kristin suddenly looked very tired and vulnerable; she took a deep breath and blurted out before she could talk herself out of what she wanted to say,

  “Jack, would you mind if I stayed another night, I’m just not in a big hurry to get back.”

  Jack smiled at her in complete understanding and said,

  “Kristin, do you need a bigger truck?”

  She threw her napkin at his face...

  Jack leaned back in his chair and said, "Kristin, Sam and I would be honored if you would spend another day with us in the middle of nowhere."

  Jack was smiling as he made the offer but the look in his deep blue eyes made it appear that she was doing him a favor and not the other way around.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack put the flat tire from her car in the bed of his pickup Sam jumped up into the back and the three of them headed for town. As they rolled through the valley and down the canyon Jack waved at his neighbors and they waved back. Kristin wondered if anyone had waved at her on her way up the canyon the day before. It bothered her that she could not remember if she had even seen a car on that road the day before, let alone if they had waved at her.

  Jack pointed out some of his favorite fishing holes along the Blackfoot River as they made their way down the twisting canyon road. He explained to her that, some of his favorite fishing hole’s, were also some of the local kids favorite swimming holes, the two did not go together well. He told her about the time he was looking for a new spot to fly fish and he stumbled onto a bunch of the local girls skinny dipping. Jack told her that to this day none of those girls could look him in the eye without blushing, especially when he ran into them with their parents.”

  Jack told her stories about how beautiful the first snows in the valley were each year and how a blizzard had wiped out almost one third of his heard four years ago. She enjoyed listening to him telling the stories and watching his face as he told them, she could see every detail. After she finished laughing at an account of how a cow elk that had got her head stuck in the wire mesh around his tomato plants she commented on how every event or person had a story attached to it.

  Jack’s response was, “Kristin, nothing happens west of the Mississippi without a story, and some of them are even true.”

  They found a tire shop open across from the stock yards on the edge of town. The owner of the tire shop could not find any holes or punctures in the tire.

  “You must have hit something that broke the seal on the tire,” he said as he checked the tire for the third time.

  As they threw the tire in the back of the pickup they could hear the unbroken rhythm of the auctioneer at the stock yards across the road. Jack looked at Kristin with a sideways smile and asked, “Have you ever been to a cattle auction?”

  “No, I never have.” She answered

  Jack turned to the Tire shop owner,

  “Do you mind if I leave my truck here while we walk over to the auction?”

  The owner said, “No problem should be a good sale today.”

  Sam looked abandoned as the two of them headed across the road for the Auction, but she knew when she was expected to stay put in the back of Jack’s truck. They stopped by the stock yards cafeteria and grabbed a couple cheeseburgers and two bottles of Coke before they went into the auction barn. The two of them sat in the last and highest row of the sale barn where they could see everything going on at the sale. Jack’s only advice to Kristin as they sat eating their lunch was,

  “Be careful, if you scratch your nose you might end up buying fifty head of yearling heifers.”

  Her response was, “Kind of like Sotheby's with manure.”

  “You got it,” He nodded, “Although I imagine there is plenty of manure at Sotheby's.”

  “Yep, just a different kind of manure,” She added.

  Chapter Thirteen

  For the next two hours Kristin watched the sale with immense curiosity. Jack explained the hand signals that the buyers and the men running the auction used to communicate. He showed her what the buyers were looking for in a herd of cattle they could use to increase the quality of their own herds. He pointed out the cameras placed strategically in every corner of the sale barn so that ranchers and cattle buyers could watch and participate in the sale on the internet. Kristin asked a series of intelligent and pointed questions that Jack would have been impressed to hear from someone that had spent more than an hour at an auction. Kristin got so caught in the sale that Jack watched very carefully to make sure Kristin didn’t jump up buy that fifty head of cattle he had mentioned earlier. When the auctioneer took a break between the cattle and the sheep sale, Jack teased, “Let’s go before you raise your hand and I become a sheepherder too.”

  “A few sheep would look good along with those buffalo.” She suggested pleasantly.

  “One problem, Ruby wouldn’t let me in her cafe ever again.”

  As they approached the entrance to the canyon Jack remembered a little bait shop on the side of the road just around the first turn. He glanced over at Kristin with Sam’s head resting in her lap and asked her, “How adventurous are you feeling?”

  “What did you have in mind,” she asked cautiously.

  Jack pulled the pick up over in front of the bait shop, “come on.” Was all he said.

  Forty five minutes later the three of them emerged from the bait shop with a three day fishing permit, a pair of woman’s waders, and a brand new fly rod and reel.

  Fifteen miles up the road they pulled over on the shoulder. As Kristin pulled on her shiny new waders Jack gave her the crash course in fly fishing complete with the philosophy of fly fishing, she listened intently. They crossed the road and made their way down the steep embankment to the edge of the river. As they reached the river’s edge Kristin detected a change in Jack’s demeanor. Although she had only known Jack for less than a day, Jack had a look on his face that she was sure only appeared when he was standing on the bank of this river with a fly rod in his hand, pure joy.

  Kristin was a natural with a fly rod she understood the rhythm of casting and the precision of placing the fly exactly where you wanted to put it. Jack could tell that she was thoroughly enjoying the slow methodical tempo of bringing the line back behind her and then snapping it at your target. He sat on the river’s edge petting Sam, not saying a word he didn’t have to say anything. Kristin was in a trance as she moved the fly rod back and forth over her head and manipulate the fly almost exactly where she wanted it to go. She was so involved that she almost fell over in the river when a nice sized trout came out of the water and grabbed her fly before it had barely touched the surface of the water. Jack sat up straight and offered only a minimum amount of guidance and advice to help her land the fish.

  Kristin had that same look of pure joy on her face that she had seen on Jack’s face earlier. She was giggling as she held the fish up like it was a forty pound tuna. With the fish hanging in mid-air between them Kristin looked at Jack and asked with a questioning look, “Catch and Release?”

  Jack said slowly, “Kristin, what you have there at the end of your fishing line is one half of our dinner tonight.” Now you could let that fine example of aquatic life free, or you could catch another one just like it and we could have fresh fish for dinner tonight, what do you think?”

  She didn’t hesitate for a moment she hooked the fish to the chain and went back to work. But she did not catch just one more fish, she caught three more. She was having so much fun it broke Jack’s heart to tell her that she had reached her legal limit for the day.

  As Kristin came ashore with the last fish she threw her arms around Jack’s neck and gave him a monster hug followed by a sincere, ”Thank You.” They packed up her new gear and her day’s catch and made their way up the steep bank and back to the pickup. At one point in the climb up the embankment Kristin started to lose her balance and slide backwards, Jack’s hand shot out and steadied her with his hand at the small of her back. She didn't say a word or look back at him but his big hand and firm fingers on the small of her back felt at reassuring as if he was carrying her up the bank in his arms.

  All the way back to Jack’s house they talked fly fishing. She asked questions as fast as Jack could answer them. As the saying goes, she was hooked. At one point in the rapid fire question and answer session, Jack said, faking hurt feelings said,

  “I don’t know why you’re asking me questions I’ve never caught that many fish from that spot in all my years of fishing that hole.”

  She laughed, “What do you want to know, rookie?”

  When they got back to the house Jack cleaned the fish while Kristin fed the horses a double dose of oats. Jack prepared the trout on the grill and despite the fact that it took her fifteen minutes and two helpings of Ajax Cleaner to get the fish smell off her hands it was the best fish she had ever tasted.

  They finished the day where it had begun, on the front porch with a glass of wine. They talked for a while until the cool night air chased them inside. Jack lit a small fire in the fireplace and Sam rested her head in Kristin’s lap for as much attention as she could get. As the fire burned down to a few red embers Jack admitted that it was past his bedtime. Kristin said she was also feeling a little tired and excused herself as she headed up the stairs for bed. Jack put the glasses in the sink locked the doors and turned out the lights as he went through the house on his way up the stairs. When he reached the top of the stairs he found Kristin sitting on the top step wearing only the sweatshirt and a pair of snow white ankle socks.

  “I just wanted to thank you for today.” She said.

  “My pleasure.” He responded.

  She stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As Kristin turned toward the guest room with Sam right behind her Jack repeated the courtesy he had extended the night before, “If you need anything I’m at the end of the hall.”

  Jack went through his nightly routine of getting ready for bed and just when he was about to climb into bed he heard Sam’s light scratching at his door. He walked to the door smiling and as he reached for the door knob said,

  “Did you finally remember who gives you best scratches behind your ears around here?”

  He opened the door and as Sam ran past him into the bedroom, Kristin was standing on the doorway smiling wearing less than the sweatshirt.

  “A good scratch behind the ears sounds like a good place to start.” Was all she said as she walked up and pressed the full length of her body against him. She gave Jack a long slow kiss then just before she closed the door behind the two of them she looked at Sam and said with just the right amount of sternness in her voice, “Sam!” The Lab jumped off of Jack’s bed and went out in the hallway as Kristin closed the door.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kristin slowly came out of a deep sleep even before her eyes were fully open she slid her hand across the bed to find that Jack was not there. She listened closely but could not hear Jack rattling around downstairs then she heard the bedroom door open and Jack was standing on the threshold holding two cups of coffee. Kristin sat up in bed with the covers wrapped around her naked body. She watched him carefully cross the room doing his best not to spill the coffee, she asked,

  “What’s next, Breakfast in bed?” She asked.

  “If you like.” He answered honestly

  “Mr. Evans, are you trying to spoil me?”

  As he handed her the fresh cup of coffee he sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “Kristin, I had a favorite uncle that was a philosopher. He was fond of saying.”

  Whiskey is for Sippin’

  Horses are for riding

  Dogs are for friendship, and

  Women are meant to be spoiled.”

  “I agree with your Uncle, he sounds like a smart man,”

  “He was,” Jack confessed with a little sadness in his eyes.

  “Was he a professor?” she asked

  “Nope, he owned a junk yard.” Jack said with a wink.

  After Kristin stopped laughing he leaned in close and kissed gave her a long slow kiss on her warm lips.

  “Breakfast is almost ready.” He said as he got up to leave.

  As she Watched Jack cross the room and close the door behind him Kristin realized that she had not thought of work or anything else since that old blue pickup had rolled to a stop behind her car day and a half ago.

  Kristin got out of bed put on the long white bath robe hanging on the back of bathroom door and went downstairs. She poured herself another cup of coffee as Jack finished making their breakfast. Jack grabbed the two plates and Kristin carried their coffee as they headed for the front porch. As they walked out on the porch Sam came running up the steps to greet them, Kristin did not disappoint Sam. She set the two cups down on the small table between the porch chairs and knelt down to give her new best friend an enthusiastic scratch behind the ears, Sam was in canine heaven.

  Jack held the plates and waited patiently for Kristin to finish giving Sam some attention. As Jack handed Kristin her breakfast she pointed at the two horses watching them over the fence and asked,

  “What are their names?”

  “The buckskin stud is Buck, and the black mare is Sara.” He answered

  “She doesn’t look like a Sara.” Kristin remarked.

  “Actually, her registered name is Sarina Anastasia, I just like Sara better”

  “Agreed,” she said.

  They talked while they ate about the valley and the people who lived in it. Kristin was truly fascinated about how and why people lived so far from town and what they did for a living, they couldn’t all be Buffalo Ranchers. Jack explained to her the wide range of characters that inhabited the valley. The people were as colorful as the valley itself. The valley had its share of retired couples and families that worked the land it also had musicians, writers, and a couple of brothers that mined gold up Elk Creek.

  Kristin watched Jack intently as he rocked back and forth with one boot planted firmly on the porch and one boot thrown across his knee. She tried to force her mind to think about what made Jack so......unique. What made him so appealing and handsome and funny? The word that defined Jack Evans hit her like a warm gust of wind. What made Jack Evans so real was the fact that he was in a word, real. He was not fake or phony, he was as real as it got.

  Jack was right in the middle of telling her about one of the valleys most interesting characters when Kristin set down her plate and asked bluntly,

  “Do you think we could work?”

  Jack smiled at her as he took another sip of coffee, he asked, “What do you think?”

  “We come from two different worlds.” she replied with a little sadness in her eyes.

  “Do we?” he said, thoughtfully.

  She waited for him to put in plain words what he was thinking. Jack polished off what was left of his coffee set the cup down on the table.

  “Kristin, take a good long look at Buck and Sara, what do you see?”

  She starred out at the two horses grazing in the pasture for a couple minutes. As she watched them it appeared to her that no matter what one of them did the other was not far away. The closer she studied them the more different they looked to her. Something about their manner suggested that under different circumstances the two horses would not have ever crossed paths except in this valley.

  When Kristin finally spoke all she said was, “I’m guessing Sabrina Anastasia is not a native of these parts.”

  “You would be guessing correct,” Jack said with a culpable smile.

  “Let me tell you about Buck and Sara.”

  Jack leaned back in his chair and told her about how Buck had been born right here on this ranch and had only been out of the valley for the yearly fourth of July parade and the occasional trip to the vet. Buck had been elk hunting with Jack and Ben for the last six years and had even been a pickup horse at the local rodeo a couple of times. Buck’s story was not very exciting some people might even say his story was downright boring. Sara on the other hand, up until three years ago had belonged to a wealthy family in Denver. The family’s only daughter of four children was very big into Hunter Jumper competitions. And until Sara sustained a Flexor Tendon Tear during a practice session she was being groomed as the family’s next big trophy winner.

  Jack had done quite a bit of business with the girl’s father when he was an architect in fact the family loved to stop whenever they were going through Montana and spend a couple days at the ranch. The family tried everything they could think of along with a half dozen of the best veterinarian’s in the country to get Sara back into competition. The result was always the same Sara was still a great horse but she would never compete again. Jack had heard about the injury from the father the day after it had happened and he had followed the family’s efforts to repair the damage over the year that they tried everything. Jack was completely shocked when the father called Jack and asked him if he would buy Sara. Jack’s first response was disbelief. The man explained that having Sara around was just too painful for his daughter and when the family was deciding what they should do with Sara the girl asked if Sara could live on Uncle Jack’s Ranch. Jack explained to the father that he was honored that the family wanted Sara to live out her days on his ranch, but he was pretty sure that he could not afford the purebred mare. The father informed jack that the asking price was one dollar, cash. The family had decided that they would bring Sara to the ranch themselves.