Hope rose in her chest. “I do, I just thought you wouldn't want to—after I … and we …” She signaled to the cows. “Also, don’t you need to do something with these?”
He smiled. “These three are the last of them. I just need to stick them in the corral, and I’ll be good to go.”
She grinned back at him. “I’d like to ride the hills, then.”
“Me too. Give me fifteen,” he said, and he spurred his horse off at a gallop. It took him ten minutes to do whatever he needed to do, and to her surprise, half of that was a quick trip inside his house. He returned with saddle bags that he strapped down in no time.
“You’re going to love this ride. It’s one of my favorites to take in the fall when half the leaves are still on the trees.” They headed off at an easy gait.
“Oh?” she prodded, grateful that he was so even-keeled and easy to talk to.
He was right. The trees were thick and the leaves a kaleidoscope of fall colors. They fell like huge snowflakes all around, bringing a sense of magic with them. And the smell? Amazing! Crisp air mixed with earth and grass … just perfect.
Zoey couldn’t believe how easy being with Hunter was. How quickly their fight, her blunder, was forgotten.
“Yeah, but my second favorite is a sleigh ride in January when there are tiny icicles hanging from the branches. It’s the coolest thing.” He grinned, motioning for her to come alongside him. Some of the trail was wide enough for two horses, and for parts of it they had to go single file.
“It sounds pretty.”
“It’s heaven on earth out here, I’m telling you.” He took in a deep breath as if the very air fed his soul.
In the distance, light from the setting sun reflected off a white surface in the distance. There was something small out there that was out of place in all the natural wonder. Zoey allowed her eyes to wander over this heaven Hunter was so in love with, but her eye kept coming back to that strange reflection. A few minutes later, they came upon the cause. It was a “for sale” sign off an old dirt road that could handle nothing more than dirt bikes, quads, four-wheelers, and horses.
“That’s a weird place for a ‘for sale’ sign,” she said, standing in her stirrups and looking in all directions for some sort of house or building that would signify the land had been tamed at one point.
Hunter shrugged. “There’s a good hundred and fifty acres or so in there, all bordering Westbrook and Carroll land, and none of it touches a main road. It’s good for us because the owner lets us graze our cattle up here, where there’s plenty of vegetation. If it sold, it could be a real struggle for our family to continue raising cattle. We depend on the grasses to feed them during the summer and part of the fall.”
An idea popped into her head—a challenge put forth by her brother. “Any good farming land in there?”
“Yep, maybe eighty acres down the Carroll side. It’s been for sale for the last twenty-three years. The poor old man who owns it has probably given up hope of ever selling.”
She glanced over the property. It was beautiful with lots of trees and vegetation, rolling hills, and tall grass cresting like waves. And eighty of it was good farmland? That, mixed with some of Brandon’s forty, would be enough to put her Harvest Ranch side of the business idea into play. They could grow orchards here and start selling fruit from Virginia as well as North Carolina. And it could be good for the Westbrooks too. If she owned the land, they’d never have to worry about grazing rights again.
A spike of excitement shot through her. Maybe, just maybe …
Hunter moved on, already bored with the sign. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the number listed. She’d call later and ask about the price. That was all. She’d just explore the idea, put out feelers, and see what she got back.
Shaking the thought from her mind, she focused on the man in front of her, a different kind of excitement coursing through her. Oh yeah, she could totally wait to think about that later.
A couple miles into the hills, he pulled up and turned west, and she followed suit. The sun was just about to set, bright reds, oranges, and yellows lightening the sky like a blaze of fire on the horizon.
“Now, look at that,” he said. “Isn’t that a pretty sight?”
She grinned at him. So was he.
After a minute, he reached into his saddle bag and pulled out two sandwiches and two bottles of water. “Have you eaten?” He handed her the items. “Hope you like peanut butter and jelly.”
She grinned as she opened her bag. “I love PB and Js. They remind me of my mom.”
“Oh?”
“She made them all the time—and not just for the kids. I think she could have lived off of them herself.” She gulped. She kind of loved Hunter for making them. Here they were on their first date, and instead of trying to impress her with some over-the-top meal, a date at a fancy restaurant, and dressing up, like every other guy she’d ever dated, Hunter had invited her to ride and brought her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “It’s perfect.”
They ate in silence for a moment, and when they were done, Hunter took her trash and stored it in the saddle bag.
“I brought you something.” He pulled out a small cellophane bag with a chocolate-colored ribbon from his satchel and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” The paper crinkled as she accepted the gift. He didn’t have to do this. His thoughtfulness, the fact that he’d driven into town and picked up something just for her, made her feel all the more embarrassed about her earlier outburst.
