Stay (Wild Creek Ranch Series Book 6)

Chapter Eight

Later they all sat down to breakfast. Anastasia noted Ryder’s sad blue eyes fixed upon her. He hadn’t talked to her after returning from their trip. Strangely she missed his naughty banter, his flirty remarks, his hot body close to hers! She had no idea why! They weren’t anything more than acquaintances after all! 

“So where are we heading to after this?" Asked Sawyer.

"We'll go hiking on the Continental Divide Scenic Trail right away and then after lunch we can go boating on the Coyote Creek," said Rhett.  The others too liked the idea and all were ready in twenty minutes. They locked the cabin and drove towards their destination. The girls were excited to see herds of elk, deer and families of white-tailed deer crossing their path at regular intervals. There were lots of bighorn sheep, mountain goats and antelopes everywhere but thankfully they didn't find any bears anywhere. 

Rhett showed them the Antelope Basin teeming with wildlife and an abundance of wildflowers, beautiful hued aspen and willow thickets and lush grasslands. 

"It's beautiful, Rhett, " said Adelaide, clicking pictures with her phone. 

"We need to go hiking from here," said Rhett. They all parked their trucks and started the hiking trail and followed the beautiful and picturesque Antelope Basin Road crossing other trails passing through grasslands, open stands of Douglas fir, and aspen. In places, the grass had grown over the constructed tread, so they had to be careful not to lose track of the trail. This route closely followed the actual Continental Divide, dipping in and out of the Montana/Idaho border. 

Terrific vistas of the Madison and Centennial Ranges come into view as they followed the relatively easy hike. "Look at that cave on the other side, a black bear is sunbathing, " Ryan pointed out and they all checked it out, especially Adelaide. Living at Fordsville they had all seen bears except Adelaide and Anastasia of course. 

"What if a grizzly blocks our path?" Asked Rihanna and Adelaide looked at her with horror, going towards Rhett and clutching his arm.

"They usually avoid the trails," explained Rhett, holding her hand tightly in his. "Stay by me, " he told her softly and she nodded. 

"Rhett's ready to fight a thousand grizzlies now, " said Rex with a grin. Even Rhett grinned. Teasing the two of them had become their favorite thing to do. 

At the end of the trail portion of the route they followed a winding road through the Henry's Lake Mountains, to Red Rock and then to the Centennial Mountains.  Throughout their hike they saw elks, badgers, deer, and antelopes, a few black bears while they saw wolves and antelopes at the Basin. Everybody took pictures of the Raptors and the songbirds along with everything that they saw. It was strange that through it all Ryder hadn’t uttered a single word. While the others were busy clicking pictures Anastasia stared at the far away peaks thinking about how she would miss all this when she went away forever. She just wished that she could stay with them forever in Fordsville! 

“Hey! Are you thinking of me?” asked Ryder, coming up behind her. Anastasia clutched at her heart with surprise. 

“You startled me!” she gasped. Ryder smiled, his eyes looking sad. 

“I’m sorry!” he mumbled. “What are you looking at?” he asked with curiosity.

“Everything. I’m going to miss Fordsville a lot,” said Anastasia with a sigh. 

“Then stay. Who’s asking you to leave?” asked Ryder, fighting the urge to compel her to stay. Ever since she had informed everyone her plans of going away to Las Vegas, he had been restless. A strange dejection, a strange helplessness made him wish that she would change her mind somehow. He just couldn’t pinpoint why he felt this way. It wasn’t as if he was in love with her!