Leland slid his hand to Jamie’s hip, and ducked low to kiss him on the mouth, and it staggered Jamie to be loved so much that he had to hook his hands in Leland’s belt and just hang on as they kissed. Then Leland patted Jamie’s bottom, quite gently, and helped him mount Dusty, and then mounted the red horse, whirling to pull the reins as the horse’s hooves danced in the dust.
“This is Red,” Leland said. “Red likes to run, and on account of that, he’s only good for experienced riders. He needs to learn to slow down some, but we’ll let him stretch his legs today. What do you say? Dusty can keep up, I think.”
“Sure,” Jamie said. His one lesson had been in the ring, but he’d gone on that trail ride, too. Dusty was gentle enough, and he trusted Leland to know whether he could handle the ride.
They clucked their horses into going and headed up the long dirt road that led to the gate, where beyond stretched wild grasses and the horses, grazing freely. Leland had Jamie practice opening the gate from horseback, but he was hopeless at it and climbed down to open it and let them through. Then he closed the gate behind him, mounted Dusty, and pulled him up gently and beamed with pride. Maybe to another ranch hand it wouldn’t be much, what he’d just done, but it was a big deal to him.
Leland smiled, and then they rode, two abreast along the dirt path that led up to the edge of the valley. There they paused, the wind ruffling the horses’ mane and tails, and Jamie took a deep breath, all of a sudden, like his body wanted to absorb the sweeping view before him.
The sun was going down behind Iron Mountain to the west, and the silver shards of dark mixed with the bright yellow sun streaming through the ridge. Below them, the green grasses swirled around and around in the breeze as though stirred by an unseen hand. Cool air mixed with warm and Jamie looked at Leland.
“We’ll walk ‘em down this slope,” Leland said, pointing. “This is how we do it when we take guests out on the trail. We teach them to walk a horse downhill always, unless there’s an emergency. Be gentle with them going uphill, as well. Across the flats, yes, let them run.”
Leland clicked to Red, and led the way down the slope. Jamie held Dusty’s reins loosely and balanced himself with a hand on the saddle horn, feeling like he was a real ranch hand now that he got to go riding with Leland.
At the bottom of the slope, Leland looked at Jamie and nodded, and Jamie nodded back. Then Leland clicked to Red again, pressed the horse’s side with his heels, and off Red went like a shot.
Dusty followed at what felt like a full gallop, but he was slower than Red and couldn’t keep up. So Jamie let him go at his own pace, and laughed as he saw Red sweep up a hillside, his long legs eating up the distance from where he’d been to the top of the next hill, like he was conquering it. And Leland let him, his hands easy on the reins, leaning forward so Red could run as fast as he pleased.
Jamie cantered slowly, and let Dusty take the up-slope as he wanted to, which was at a brisk walk. He found himself at the top of that hill all alone until finally a red blur caught his eye. He saw Leland, miles away, it seemed, pull up and circle the horse, a brilliant curved streak of scarlet against the tall green grasses, like a circle of fire as Leland came back around.
Jamie eased Dusty into a canter, the wind fast against his face as they went, only to pull up, and really, Dusty pulled himself up, when they met up with Leland and Red in the curve of a lonely hillside.
“This horse needs to be ridden more often,” said Leland by way of greeting. He patted Red’s neck while Red chuffed and snorted, his ears pricked forward, eager and alert. “Our guests are mostly beginners, and he’s just too much horse for the majority of them. I’ll make a note in his chart and talk with Brody, see what he can arrange.”
If Jamie’d not already been in love with Leland, he would have fallen in love with him then and there. His concern was not just that the horse might be too much for the guests, but that Red loved to run, and so should be allowed to run.
He was all about taking care of the horses, of the guests. Of Jamie. On this, their first ride together, he’d put Jamie on a horse he already knew so he would feel comfortable. And now, as he looked up, still patting Red’s neck, he smiled at Jamie.
“Sorry I left you like that,” Leland said. “But Red was pulling so much, and he really needed a good run.”
Jamie shook his head, smiling. It was hard to put it into words, the feeling of watching Leland turn that horse, that horse that so loved to run and who would have run to the horizon’s edge if Leland had let him—Leland had turned that horse in Jamie’s direction. And all so they could sit on horseback, side by side, and stay that way for a good long while as the sky grew dark, and the smoky colors of sunset grew bolder, settling down over the landscape.
“We should head back,” he said. “While it’s romantic as all get out to ride beneath the stars, it’s not always safe. We can take the truck out sometime, though, if you’d like. Some evening after it gets dark.”
“I’d like that,” Jamie said, because of course he would like it. His mind started coming up with all kinds of images, like dreams taking shape. Leland and Jamie, kissing under the stars while a slender, quarter moon slid into the blue-tinged blackness above the mountains.
They were silent as they rode along the glow of the path to the road that led through the gate. Leland unlocked the gate from Red’s back and closed it behind them. And then, together, side by side, they rode back to the barn.
There, in the quiet coolness of the barn, they groomed the horses, and wiped down the tack. Gave the horses hay and water, and started back beneath the trees. As they arrived at the bottom step of the porch of Leland’s cabin, he hugged Jamie close.
“I want to take you to bed,” Leland said. “And then, after, I’d like to sit out here and watch it grow really dark. Maybe have a root beer or two, or maybe share some of Mom’s strawberry-rhubarb pie, what do you say?”
“Sure,” Jamie said, because yes, all of him wanted that, all of that.
A part of Jamie heard the unspoken message as it wove its way between Leland’s quiet words. There was something to his invitation about sitting on the porch together and having a cold root beer. It was as though there was a picture in Leland’s mind about it, and Jamie understood those kinds of dreams, sure enough. So he stood up on tiptoe and kissed him lightly.
“Those chairs look mighty empty,” Jamie said. “And I’d be proud and pleased to sit out here with you.”
“But later,” he said, with a small smile. “After. After.”
“After,” Jamie agreed, and clung to Leland as he half carried him inside the cool darkness of the cabin.
34
Epilogue
Leland had to wrangle his temper like it was an ornery calf as he stared at Brody, his hands on his hips.
