Brianna took another bacon cream cheese bite and when she was done, she said, “Yeah the entrees are great but is that your only selling point? I can get finger foods this great anywhere else. What else do you have to offer me that I can’t get elsewhere?
Emma smiled and she stood up, “I thought you would never ask. Why don’t we take a tour of the grounds, Miss Castillo? You can decide when we are done.”
“Uh... Okay,” Brianna said, standing we well.
“Do you ride?” Emma asked as she headed to her desk phone. She gave Brianna a once-over and said, “You’re a Texan. Of course you ride. Will they be joining us?”
“No.” Brianna turned to her personal assistants and said, “How about you stop at the restaurant and get an early lunch?”
“Yes ma’am,” they said in unison.
“Can you get riding boots, size 6 ready?” she looked at Brianna to confirm and she nodded.
They took a walk through another arched hallway of greenery before they arrived at the stables. It was just one of the numerous routes to get there. Emma led Brianna to the horse she would be riding. The horses were waiting for them. They started out on a walk. Emma took Brianna through the property, pointing out all they had to offer.
They rode up a path to an elevated area that overlooked the ranch. The cluster of barns, the community of cabins and lodges, the vast expanse of plains, the trees, the fields, the snaking paths and the people down there, they saw it all.
Brianna sighed as she took in the view, “This could be a perfect spot to say our vows.”
“Uh huh, and it can’t be easily accessed by unwanted guests,” Emma chipped in, causing Brianna to laugh.
“Now that’s true,” Brianna agreed.
For a while, the women sat there, admiring the view in silence. Brianna was the one who broke it when she said, “I admit that I don’t know what I want. Everyone is telling me this and telling me that. I make one choice and the next minute there is an aunt telling me that she thinks a nineteenth century cathedral would be better and then I go with that and the cycle continues.”
“Why don’t you go with what you want? It is your wedding after all.”
Brianna shrugged, “Joe said the exact thing. He’s gotten tired of all the changes and has left me to it. You know what he said, he wants to marry me so when I’m ready to marry him, I should holla.”
Emma chuckled, “Now he is an honest one.”
Brianna smiled. “Indeed he is. It really isn’t so easy to make my choice when I’m being overwhelmed by everyone’s choices. Frankly, I’ve lost track of what I want.”
“Well I do not live in your world, you know, the rich and famous...” Emma started.
Brianna smiled and she said, “You would stick out like a sore thumb. You are so not rich and famous material. You know you are the poster girl for the country gal.”
“Do you want me to speak or would you prefer to go on?” Emma quirked a brow.
Brianna chuckled and waved that she go on.
“What I wanted to say is this, it’s your wedding. Yours and no one else’s. You have to make the decision and everyone else is simply going to accept it. And that’s why you have to choose somewhere you love and want to get married. I mean, if you really love something, what others say will not matter. And I think that has been the problem all this time. You’ve never really found a place you love and so, you’ve been easily pulled away. So how about you go on home and think about what you really want, think about the little things because they truly matter in the long run.”
“Well you are smart for a country gal,” Brianna said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Emma sighed and stood up. She dusted her jeans and she said, “Come on, we should head back before your personal assistants will think I shoved you off some cliff.”
Brianna grinned. Just before she turned around, she pointed at some snaking paths that were visible along a nearby hill. “How many hiking trails are here?”
“A lot, and that’s not counting the hidden ones,” Emma winked as they got on their horses.
This time, they cantered all the way and by the time they were slowing to a walk at the main building, there was a rosiness in their cheeks due to the wind.
Emma turned to Brianna and said, “Well, Miss Castillo...”
“Please call me Brianna. I mean, I never thought I would end up at a therapy session when we drove into your ranch this morning but see where we’ve ended up.”
Emma nodded and she said, “All right, Brianna, I believe you would like to see the accommodations?”
