When they had arrived at the ranch pulling the four horse trailer with only one horse inside Buck ran up to the corral fence and pressed him-self as close as he could to the rail. After the hugs and handshakes they dropped the gate on the trailer and the father led Sara out into the yard. When Buck saw the black mare step out of the trailer he did something he had never done before or since that day. He backed up about twenty feet took a half a dozen powerful steps and jumped the fence without touching a rail. Then he walked over to where they were standing holding Sara’s halter and wedged himself in between Sara and the father holding the rope. The rope dropped to the ground and Buck nudged Sara toward the gate where the big buckskin looked back at Jack as if to say.

  “Aren’t you going to open the gate for our new guest?” The two had been inseparable ever since that day.

  When Jack finished the story he did not say a word he let the tale of Sara and Buck sink in real deep. Kristin’s could tell that Jack’s eyes were a little moist. Her eyes were more than a little moist. Jack handed her his napkin and went inside to get them each another cup of coffee. When he came back out to the porch he was wearing his full riding gear complete with chaps, spurs and an his best cowboy hat, the hat that he reserved only for the annual Fourth of July parade. He found Kristin watching the two horses with a greater intent than when he had went inside. Jack handed her the coffee and asked,

  “Are you interested seeing for yourself what a great horse Sara is?”

  “Absolutely,” she responded

  “I will go saddle them up.”

  He only made it half way down the steps when he heard Kristin say his name, He turned around.

  “I like your riding gear,” she commented.

  “I like yours better,” he said pointing at her robe.

  “Well then I’m ready, let’s go,” she said as she stood up and walked to the edge of the porch stairs. Standing on the edge of the steps Kristin put her hands on her hips and let the robe fall open just enough so that he could see that the robe was the only thing she was wearing. He climbed up the stairs to the last step to meet her, he slid his hands under the robe and around her waist and pulled her as close to him as he could. After a long slow kiss she leaned away from him just the slightest and laughed.

  “Your belt buckle is as cold as a doctor’s stethoscope,” they both laughed.

  Kristin turned to go inside the house to get dressed. As she reached the front door and started to go into the house she let the robe fall completely off and left it lying on the porch. Jack looked down at Sam and gave a long-drawn-out whistle. Sam barked twice in agreement. Jack turned and headed for the barn to saddle the two horses; his knees felt week.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They rode out through the front gate and underneath the massive log arch that framed the entrance to the ranch. They crossed the dirt road that ran along the fence line to Jack’s property and stopped at the locked gate on the other side of the road. Jack climbed down off of Buck and took a key out of his pocket. He unlocked the gate and held the gate open for Kristin and Sara to walk through. After he led Buck past the gate he closed the gate and hung the lock over the latch. Kristin eyed him as he tucked the key back into his pocket, she asked suspiciously,

  “Is this part of your ranch?”

  “No, but I am very close with the owners.” He said.

  Jack climbed back into the saddle and they turned the horses toward the gentle slope of the hill. It looked as if their current heading would take them past the foothills and straight up to the mountains beyond, there were no other fences for miles. For the first time Kristin noticed that Jack had stuffed a rifle into the scabbard hanging off the saddle,

  “Is that for show,” she asked a little nervously.

  “This is a JIC Rifle,” He said

  Kristin understood immediately, “Just in Case,” she responded.

  “Yep, besides I have a deer tag I haven’t filled yet, I might just get lucky today.”

  She rode over as close as she could to him, leaned over and kissed him,

  “In that case, you might just get lucky twice and you won’t need a rifle for that.”

  They rode for the better part of the morning. Jack gave her the scenic tour of the valley; he pointed out and named every one of the mountain peaks around the valley. He showed her a hundred year old cabin down by the creek that had belonged to a fur trapper. He pointed out a family of foxes that lived in one of the ravines and a heard of elk that was resting along the tree line. He named wild flowers she had never heard of or seen growing on the side of the hills.

  When they approached the crest of a hill before they could even see the ranch the two horses could tell that they were headed back home to the ranch. Their pace quickened and it took an extra effort to keep the horses from taking off at a full gallop in the direction of the barn. When they broke over the top of the hill they pulled the horses to a stop, they could see every detail in the valley including the ranch that had a single beam of sunlight shining through the clouds and pointing straight down on the house. It was Kristin’s turn to let out a long slow whistle. Jack uttered just one word as he crossed his leg over the saddle horn and looked out over his favorite view of the valley,

  “Yep.”

  After a few minutes they dismounted dropped the reins and walked to the edge of the hill. Despite the fact that Buck and Sara were not tied up and they could sense how close they were to home they did not move. Jack walked back over to where the horses were standing. He grabbed a blanket out of one of the saddle bags and the lunch he had packed along with a bottle of wine form the other saddle bag. He spread the blanket out in the tall grass and proceeded to fix lunch for the three of them complete with a bottle of wine and a couple of Sam’s favorite dog biscuits.

  Kristin sat down on the blanket kicked off her boots leaned back on her elbows. She watched him go through the careful motions of preparing their lunch. When Jack handed her the sandwich she said simply,

  “Jack Evans, you are one of a kind.”

  “Thank you,” was all he said as the cork popped out of the wine bottle. Sam ran off through the tall grass after the cork.

  They ate their lunch in almost total silence. They watched Sam amuse herself by chasing grasshoppers and barking at the ones that got away. Kristin caught Jack looking out over the valley as if he owned every acre that he could see and it was his personal possession. Jack poured Kristin another glass of wine and moved his glaze from the valley to her the look of ownership on his face did not change. Kristin lay back on the blanket and starred up at the clouds Jack sat down on a rock at the edge of the blanket and asked her,

  “Kristin, what do you want?”

  She sat up straight and answered him without any hesitation like she had been thinking about his question for years.

  “I want to wake up in the morning and look forward to the day ahead.”

  “I want to feel the passion I used to feel for my work.”

  “I want to look back on each day and know without a doubt that I accomplished something.”

  “And most of all, I want to spend the day with someone I can trust.”

  All Jack said was, “What’s stopping you?”

  Her answer was as simple as his question, “The only thing stopping me is me.”

  After a couple of minutes Kristin lay back down and looked up at Jack, she said to him,

  “You haven’t always been this way have you?”

  “What way?” He asked innocently.

  She reached over and gave him a kick him in the shin with her stocking feet.

  Jack polished off his wine and set the glass down on the edge of the blanket. He folded his hands together and leaned down in her direction.

  “Kristin, I have drank more than my share of whiskey and I have been in a more bar fights than I can count. I have spent a good portion of my life mad at someone or something for what I thought at the time was a good reason. I have said mean things to people that didn’t deserve it and I have lied to people that trusted me. I have done things that only me and the good lord know about. One day I realized what an enormous amount of time and energy I was wasting trying to prove to myself that I was somebody.

  “What made you come to that realization?” She asked.

  “The day I found out that Angela had cancer.”

  “Did she notice the change in you?”

  “I would say she noticed almost immediately.”

  “Was Angela one of the people you hurt?”

  “I hurt her more than anybody else.”

  “Did she forgive you?”

  “I hope so I spent the last three years of her life trying to make it up to her.”

  “Did you succeed?”

  “I don’t know...... I hope so.”

  Kristin could tell that it was painful for Jack to talk about Angela. She could also tell that no matter how painful it was he needed to talk about it. Kristin closed her eyes and felt deep warmth on her face; she wasn’t sure if it was from the sun or Jack looking down at her.

  Sam took the lead running through the tall grass as the two of them led the horses down the sloping hillside toward the ranch. It was not a steep hill. They could have rode down the hill without any problem but there was something about the gentle slope of the hill the tall grass and the absence of any recognizable trails that begged to be hiked on foot. The smell of the purple and yellow wildflowers was so powerful it was intoxicating. The feel of the tall grass against her jeans was like wading through a river of straw that could be brushed away with the lightest breeze. She could tell that Buck and Sara were restless to get back to the ranch but they were content to let their riders set the pace. As they reached the bottom of the hill and the land leveled off to a gentle slope leading down to the ranch they climbed back up on Buck and Sara for the last five hundred yards to the house. When Jack and Kristin were both firmly back in the saddle it was Buck and Sara that picked up the pace to a slow trot. Jack looked over at Kristin and asked,

  “Do you want to experience real passion?” he nodded at Sara,

  Kristin understood instantly, she gave Sara a quick kick to her flanks and the restless mare took off like she was being shot out of the barrel of a gun. Almost immediately after Kristin had given Sara permission to take off she heard Jack behind them shout “hah” to Buck. The next two minutes was nothing like she had ever experienced before. Sara was running full speed across the pasture like she had been set free. She could feel every muscle in Sara’s body pumping. She could sense all four of Sara’s hoofs striking the ground with an exacting rhythm but the impact of the pounding did not reach up to where Kristin was sitting in the saddle. The uneven ground could not have been as smooth as it felt underneath her.

  There was a small ditch about half way across the pasture and for the briefest moment Kristin felt nothing as the two of them were suspended in mid-air. Sara cleared the ditch effortlessly. The two of them were in the air for less than a second but it seemed like time stood still for that span of time. You could not call the impact when they touched the earth a landing it was more like an extension of the jump. They reached the fence a good fifty yards ahead of Jack and Buck. Kristin was sure that Jack had not held Buck back. She was positive that the two of them were doing their level best to catch up to her and Sara. When Jack caught up to Kristin she had already jumped down from Sara’s back and was unlatching the fence for Jack and Buck to walk through. Kristin had a look of pure exhilaration on her face and there was moisture in her eyes. The moisture that came only pure joy.

  They lead the horses across the road and onto Jack’s property where they walked around the house a couple times to allow Sara and Buck to cool down after their race. It was Buck that decided that they had circled the house enough when he nudged Jack in the direction of the barn. They escorted Buck and Sara into the barn where they removed their halters and saddles and gave them a good brushing, they had earned that. As Kristin was finishing up brushing Sara and Jack finished stowing the gear away they heard a car pull up in Jack’s driveway.

  Jack said “I think I know who that is.” He smiled and winked at Kristin.

  As he emerged from the barn he could see a distinguished looking older gentleman and an attractive elderly woman climbing out of a well-kept old Thunderbird. They were walking toward the house. Jack stepped out of the barn into the sunlight and hollered, “Hey Ben, over here.” The older couple stopped and turned around they waved and waited for Jack come to where they were standing. As Jack took off his work gloves he yelled back into the barn,

  “Kristin, come on out here, I have some people I want you to meet.” Jack waited for Kristin to make it to where he was standing before the two of them started walking together across the yard to where the older couple was waiting. When they reached the couple Jack gave them each a huge hug that seemed to Kristin to last longer and hold a little more meaning than the usual neighborly hug. Jack began the introductions, “Kristin, I would like you meet Ben and Mary Miller, my Father and Mother-in-law.”

  Mary gave Kristin a good long squeeze and said,

  “My word child you’re as pretty as a sunset.”

  Mary continued to hold Kristin’s hand as Ben gave her a Ben Miller Bear hug. Sam barked twice at the foursome standing in the front yard and Mary let go of Kristin’s hand just long enough to bend over and give Sam some attention.

  “Samantha, we didn’t forget you.” she said in a motherly tone.

  After they finished the greetings and the introductions the five of them headed for the front porch. Mary grabbed hold of Kristin's arm as they reached the front steps. Kristin helped Mary up the steps, even though Mary looked like she could sprint up the steps quicker than any of them. Kristin understood that the older woman was just getting a feel for one kind of person she was.

  Jack offered to make some coffee.

  Mary interrupted, “Nonsense I’ll go make the coffee, besides Jack, you make the worst coffee I have ever tasted.”

  They all laughed as Mary reached for the front door.

  Kristin said, “I will help you, Miss Miller.”

  The elderly lady stopped dead in her tracks and said in a stern friendly tone,

  “Only if you call me Mary,” she said, taking Kristin’s arm again as they went into the house.

  When they were alone in the kitchen Kristin put her hand on Mary’s arm and gently said, “Mary, I am sorry to hear about your daughter.”

  Mary patted her hand and thanked Kristin for her condolences.

  “Now, where does Jack keep that sugar,” Mary asked.

  The two women finished making the coffee and brought it out to the porch where they found Jack and Ben arguing about who was the greatest short stop of all time.

  The two couples talked and laughed for over an hour when Ben turned to Mary and suggested they head on back to the house before someone thought they had run away from home. Jack told Ben that he would be by later in the week to help him patch the roof on the barn. Mary took Kristin’s arm as she made her way down the stairs, she led her over to her side of the old T-Bird and after her third hug goodbye she patted Kristin’s face gently and whispered,

  “He’s the second best man I’ve ever known dear.”

  As Ben came around the back of the car he smiled and said,

  “Kristin, don’t let her kid you, Mary loves Jack, and she only tolerates me.” He gave Kristin a huge hug that lifted her off the ground. Then he kissed her forehead and said with what Kristin thought was a tear in his eye,

  “You are welcome at our home any time.”

  As Ben and Mary drove away Kristin sat down on the front steps and watched the cloud of dust disappear over the hill. Jack leaned against the stair rail and waited for Kristin to tell him what she was thinking.

  “They really do love you don’t they.” She offered.

  “They are very special people.” he said. And then as an afterthought he added,

  “Parents should not have to suffer over the death of a child, that isn’t the way things are supposed to be.”

  After a couple minutes of silence Kristin looked up at Jack

  “You know that tomorrow morning I’m going back to Seattle.”

  “I thought so.” He answered slowly.

  “Jack, can we spend the rest of the afternoon upstairs?”

  Jack stuck out his hand to help her up. She came to her feet and up into his arms in one smooth unbroken motion. As Jack carried her up the front steps and through the front door Sam stopped at the front door and lay down on the welcome mat, she was on guard duty for the afternoon.

  They spent the next few hours wrapped up in each others arms. The afternoon was an endless stream of ecstasy and desire, strength and surrender. Kristin could tell that Jack had not been with another woman for a while.

  Chapter Sixteen