“Sure thing, Bill, and thank you.” With a lighter heart than he’d had all week, Leland mounted Gwen, settled himself in the saddle, and tugged the reins against her neck to get her to turn. He nodded to Bill, and scanned the horizon, taking in the view across the valley and the blue sky above.
Fresh air rushed around him like a gift, one that he never stopped appreciating. It was selfish of him to keep that for himself, and so now he would offer it to a young stranger who had come looking for work. He imagined in his mind’s eye how the expression on Jamie’s face would change with the offer of a job. And he remembered the way the sun had bronzed through Jamie’s dark hair when he stepped out of the glade of pine trees.
Riveted by that image, he clucked to Gwen to get her to move into a trot. He needed to catch Jamie before he got to Farthing and caught the next Greyhound out of town.
6
Jamie
With his head down, Jamie walked along the dirt road to the gate, passing in and out of the shade as he went, not even stopping at the stone bridge to let the spray of water cool his hot skin. There was no point in sticking around to see if anybody changed their mind, no point in dawdling. He needed to pick up his duffle bag from where it had fallen near the gate, and return to Farthing. From there he’d have to decide which direction he needed to go.
He had two options. Either he could hitch a ride to Chugwater and fill out whatever forms were needed at Templeton’s and try, at least, to get a job on a ranch, like he’d planned. Or, he could hitch a ride back to Denver and start his life all over again, staying in the city, and maybe getting a job in a convenience store or something. Neither of which sounded very promising. He’d probably end up sharing an apartment with guys who would be jerks, and spend all his money on rent and food.
His dream of finishing college and making something of his life would turn out to be just that, a dream, one that would never come true. And who was to blame for that? Part of him felt like he should be angrier at Leland Tate for saying no about the job, but he wasn’t. He’d watched Leland taking care of Monica, settling her from her fright. And he’d seen how Leland handled the horses, horses which were calm in Leland’s presence, heads down as they nosed him in a gentle way.
Leland had seemed so steady, so kind, that even without knowing it, Jamie knew for a fact Leland hadn’t refused him out of meanness, or his frustration with Eddy Piggot at the Rusty Nail, or even because he thought Jamie was a drifter. No, he refused Jamie a job because that washisjob.
And then, for an entire hot minute, Leland and he had looked at each other, and he’d been sure Leland had been on the verge of offering him a job, anyway. Except Leland had shaken his head, and any sympathy he’d had vanished beneath the glitter of his hard blue eyes.
Not that Jamie needed sympathy. He needed a job and quick. His stomach was growling and his ribs hurt and he was so footsore he wanted to collapse then and there. And he smelled like horse now. While it wasn’t a bad smell, he wanted a shower more than anything. The other part of him wanted to prove to both himself and to Leland that he wasn’t a drifter, wasn’t looking for a handout. He was trying to make his way in the world, and he just needed a chance.
By the time he got to the gate and picked up his duffle bag to sling it over his shoulder, he realized the duct tape on his left sneaker had broken and the sole was now almost completely detached from the canvas. He was basically walking on a bare foot; he had a hole in the sock where his big toe was poking out, and he still had a mile to go to town, and then unknown miles after that. In his wallet was twenty-five dollars and twenty-two cents, barely enough to buy fries and a coke to keep his stomach from growling. Barely enough for a night in a cheap motel. Certainly not enough for new sneakers.
The sun was blaring overhead, and his mouth was so dry, he could taste dust. There was nothing for it, though, but to open the gate and limp that last mile into Farthing. He couldn’t think further than that, as the last bit of hope he’d clung to that day as he approached the ranch seemed to have vaporized in the heat.
From behind him he heard the churn of an engine and when he turned to look, he saw the sleek black SUV that had been in the parking lot before. Now it was coming down the road at him, and didn’t look to be slowing at all, with spins of dust clouds churning from the wheels before settling on the spiky grasses alongside the road.
Out of courtesy, Jamie opened the gate wide for them and stood aside. He remembered Leland shouting at him to shut the gate, and it seemed important, so after the SUV passed through, he shut and latched the gate once more, coughing as dust settled in his throat.
To his surprise, the SUV pulled to a stop and the passenger door opened. The man who’d been sitting on the front porch with a drink in his hand leaned out and gestured to Jamie to come closer.
Thinking that he’d now get a lift into town, thus saving his feet, Jamie hustled over, swinging his duffle bag back so it wouldn’t hit the man or the car. Sitting in the back seat was Monica and the woman who’d also been sitting on the porch drinking.
“Here you go, son,” said the guy who was obviously Monica’s dad. He held out a fold of bills. “You did a good job rescuing my daughter, and you deserve a reward.”
“Give him more than that, hon,” said Monica’s mom from inside the SUV. When Monica’s dad reached back into his wallet and pulled out more bills, Jamie hesitated before taking the money.
“Thank you,” he said, shock moving through him like a low but energetic hum.
As the door closed and the SUV pulled away in another cloud of dust, he looked at the bills in his hand. There were many bills, most of them twenties, a few hundreds, and a couple of fifties. It looked like there was just about a thousand dollars in his hand.
As he shoved the fold of bills in his front pocket, he realized with a small jump of hope that he could do so many things. He could get one of those rent-by-the-week motel rooms, if Farthing or Chugwater had one. He could even get new sneakers. He could really work at getting a ranch job and save for going back to college. He could, finally, start turning his life around.
This lent a spring to his step, even if he had to limp a bit, but he’d not gone ten feet before he heard galloping hooves behind him. Jerking around, he was surprised to see Leland Tate riding Gwen. He slowed her at the gate and opened it without even getting off his horse. He carefully closed the gate behind him, which told Jamie that yes, he’d been right about that small detail being important, even as he watched Leland trot right up to him and stop.
Jamie looked up, squinting into the sun and was surprised when Leland moved the horse so that it was Leland facing the sun. He looked down at Jamie, eyes shadowed by the brim of his cowboy hat, and leaned forward on the horn of the saddle.
“I’m headed to town,” said Jamie, in a hurry to make sure Leland knew he wasn’t loitering or trying to stir up trouble. “I just saw Monica and her folks.” He pointed his thumb up the road at the cloud of dust that was only now settling back down.
Opening his mouth, he tried to swallow as he prepared himself to tell Leland more of his plans, and how he meant to spend the money in his pocket, though why he felt the need to do that was beyond him. Or maybe he did know. He wanted Leland to think well of him.
“The Ayers didn’t give you a lift?” asked Leland, with a long, hard stare up the road, as though the Ayers had just exhibited the worst manners.
“No,” said Jamie. He shrugged to excuse them. “I think they were in a hurry.”
“Still.” Leland shook his head at his own private thoughts, then nodded at Jamie as if they’d come to an agreement between them about the Ayers.
Jamie waited and watched as Leland shifted in the saddle, not having any idea why a man who wanted him gone had now ridden out to see him, unless it was to make sure that Jamie stayed gone. Jamie shifted his duffle bag on his shoulder and was about to say his goodbyes when Leland straightened up.
