Duke sipped from a tin cup of coffee, tilting the brim of his hat to shade himself from the morning sun. It was good to get back to normal after all the excitement.
"Well, Rhubarb, it looks like it's just you and me. That's what we're used to, right, boy?" He asked, looking at the cattle, who were waiting to be let out to graze. "Same as before, maybe some of us just don't know what we're looking for when it's right under our nose. It looks like it's just you and me, boy."
Rhubarb whimpered to see Duke so down and licked his hand affectionately.
"My first wife, she was too good for me. Maybe that's my life, a lonely hired hand with a faithful dog," said Duke. He heard the birds in a stand of trees by the edge of the pasture shrill in alarm. Rhubarb, attuned to strangers, perked up her ears and yipped once quietly. More like a greeting than an alarm. Duke looked up alertly; Rhubarb never behaved like that. She would always chase any game and bark at strangers.
"Well, what's going on, Rhubarb?" As he looked in the direction of the startled birds, he heard the clip-clop of a horse's hooves. His heart involuntarily lifted for a moment. Who was that? Could it be... no, he had imagined this before. Around the bend came a horse with a slim figure dressed in men's apparel. He could not make out the face under the hat brim, but the rider looked familiar. In spite of himself, he jumped up and rushed to the hitching post. The rider dismounted and finally lifted their hat, and he saw a flash of light brown hair and a pert nose looking at the sky.
"I have a half-trained dog, Duke. Do you want to help me?" she asked, her eyes flashing.
"Well, my oh my, look who is here," he said, and casually, oh so casually, sauntered out to meet her, hoping against hope she was here to stay. As he stood in front of her, she tilted her face up at just the right angle. That was when he lost his cool. He reached out and swept her off her feet, relief mixing with anticipation.
"You're back. I was afraid I wouldn't see you again. Anna, my Anna." He kissed her, knowing that he should have done it ages ago, and making up for lost time. She leaned into his kiss, thirsting for his strong embrace, and finally letting herself release in his muscular arms. A long moment later, as he caught his breath, he thought, I can never let her go again.
YOU ARE READING
Cherry Springs
Mystery / ThrillerOregon 1887 Anna goes on a journey of discovery as she sets off to find her missing brother. She wants to be more than a housewife and dreams of working as a ranch hand. She finds a job at Belle's ranch and meets Duke, the ranch hand at the neighbor...
