Drawn to a Cowboy (Brother Duet #1) (14 page)

“The cowboy actor? Star of many old Westerns? Yes, I know him quite well. He was my grandfather’s best friend, he came down to surf with him often.”

“So they did stuff together off set?”

“Yep, there was a group of them that often got together.”

“That’s cool. A lot of the time you hear that actors don’t get along. Once movies wrapped they never saw each other again unless they did another film, or attended industry events.” I wondered where our conversation was heading.

Once I mentioned Tex, people always wanted to hear more. Sage didn’t strike me as a star struck fan. Actually, he was quite calm about the whole western star stuff. I didn’t mind telling him more. “Well a bunch of my grandpa’s co-stars kept in contact. They got together down at our house mainly. Carson, Wes Colburn, Wyatt Cromby, Jack Evans and Jesse McGraw and Tex had a surfer gang, Cowboy-ungas. I loved being with my grandpa and his buddies. A couple of them bought houses not far from us. Hearing their cowboy stories, tales about being in movies, made up adventures, I delighted in it all.”

“That’s amazing. What a great childhood.”

“My grandparents provided a happy environment for me and Jinxie.”

When my grandmother got pregnant with my mother they decided they wanted their child to have a normal life away from the Hollywood lifestyle. Both of them had always loved the beach, so they headed down south and bought a piece of land right on the beach with a small cottage. They lived in the bungalow and built a large house around it that could accommodate several guests. Once the big house was complete they tore down the cottage and put in a large patio and pool.

In my grandfather’s off time he learned to surf and his friends teased him at first, nicknaming him cowboy-unga. The last laugh was on them when they joined him, riding the swells. He got so involved in it that he opened a surf shop and used his nickname for the business name. The store was decorated with photographs of well-known surfers wearing cowboy hats riding waves, mixed in with movie memorabilia from westerns my grandfather was in. A variety of country western and surf music entertained shoppers. Besides selling boards, wetsuits, clothing and everything needed for surfing, they also offered surfing lessons, and hosted surfing safari trips.

When Jinxie was old enough to walk my grandpa had her out on his board. She loved it, her mother was a nervous wreck. My grandmother surfed occasionally, but she never really got the bug. She just went out riding when her husband talked her into it. Her daughter, however, loved it so much that she had her own board by the time she was starting kindergarten. When she was a teenager, she worked in the shop, and was an instructor on weekends and throughout the summers. She passed her love of surfing on to me. Like her, I was on a board early, and once I was a teen like Jinxie, I gave lessons too. Beach life was good.

“What about you? How was your childhood?”

“Basic city life, going to parks to play with my brother. Family outings to museums, libraries, and ballgames.”

“Cable car rides? Harbor cruises?”

“Not very often. I’m not sure I’ve ever gone on a harbor cruise. Kind of a tourist thing, both of those, along with the wharf and the chocolate factory.” He winked at me.

“You’re making fun of me.” I smiled.

“Just a little. I’ve heard those questions my whole life living in the Bay area. Country boy heart living in a city that was my childhood. My parents knew I was interested in livestock, horses, being a cowboy. They encouraged me to join the farming program in high school, and supported my involvement in county fairs. Of course, I got interested in all of that thanks to them taking me on my first trip to the ranch. When they allowed me to work on the ranch every summer it was the best thing ever. I truly looked forward to my summers working for Hank.”

I knew the basics that the ranch was owned by him at one time, but I didn’t know the details of what happened to him. It seemed that it was something sad that he wasn’t willing to share with me.

“The Hank that you just asked me about?”

“Yes, he was the owner of the ranch. He knew I loved this place that’s why he said he wanted me to have it.” I could see a sparkle in his eyes as he spoke about the ranch, it was his true home. “I can’t believe this is my fifteenth summer.”

“That is incredible, no wonder he left it to you. Why did you wonder if I knew him or Carson?” I asked at the same time a scrambling of boot heels sounded on the hardwood floor outside Sage’s office. Pounding on the closed door followed shortly, along with Walker’s voice, “Boss, we need you down at the riding ring. Some asshole is making a stink.”

I scooted off the desk as Sage stood, grabbed his hat, put it on his head and headed to exit the room. “Be right out, Walker,” he said then stopping short of unlocking the door, he turned to me, “I might need your help.”

“Mine?” I was taken back by his request.

“Yes, I envisioned trouble with this guy. He looked happy as hell to be here, but his wife and two kids, not so much. His wife flinches at his movements and the kids watch his every move. I know those reactions.”

How did he know who was causing trouble? What did he mean when he said he knew about that? Had he seen it before with guests or had he witnessed spousal abuse… child abuse first hand? I followed after him, I would do whatever he needed me to do.

Following Walker out to the corral area, he informed us that the man had gotten all riled up watching the bullwhip demonstration. Rance is a master with a whip. He had the wife stand still with a piece of paper in her lips while he sliced it cleanly in half. Something that he did all of the time, the crowd loved it. But it was scary as shit to watch him do it. Even scarier when he used you as a volunteer. Yes, I was at the hand of his mercy once. Thankfully, my face is still fully intact, my nose attached as well.

Apparently, the husband wanted to try it. Of course, that was a big “hell no!” He wouldn’t listen to them and grabbed one of the whips, and was flipping it around. His wife tried to remove the children from the area. He shouted at her to stay, then cracked the dangerous leather in her direction. He caught her arm, slicing it pretty good, and it had to be tended to by one of the guys. Wayne happened to be a paramedic when he was not at the ranch. Thankfully she didn’t require any stitches, just some butterfly, steri-strips and a bandage wrap.

As Sage suspected, the kids were upset, and left standing off to the side, watching the drama unfold. With the mother’s approval, Norma and I took them into the lodge, along with some other children, to do some arts and crafts. Out of the way, the guys got the man under control. They were ready to send them on their way off the property, but the man promised to behave. Sage let him know that he would be watched intently: One false move and that would be the end of their vacation.

If the day before hadn’t been enough for him to deal with, a rain storm moved in and my simple words requesting to paint from Sage’s cabin front porch, threw him overboard. You would’ve thought I asked to move in. I didn’t even ask to go inside the door. He had a perfect scenic view of the lake and mountain range behind it from his covered deck. My request was strictly on the up and up, no funny business. I was happy with my accommodations. I knew that the honeymoon cabin was rented for the rest of the summer. I never made a stink about the fact that when I met him he said I could stay in a cabin on the property.

His abrupt retreat reaction signaled a definite no, I respected that, and made other painting arrangements for the day.

What was not okay with me, was the way his walls went up, how strange he started acting after he stomped away from me without a word. In addition to his rude behavior as far as I was concerned, he didn’t show up for dinner, and then he did not show up at my room. It was the first night in weeks since I had been left alone.

When I didn’t see him the next morning at breakfast or lunch or dinner, I decided to get away for a few days. I couldn’t leave completely, I had a job to finish. Packing up a bag, I contacted my friend Lark and asked her to run away with me for a bit. She said it sounded perfect. With our plans set, I made the excuse to Norma that I was going off to get supplies, have some of the artwork framed, and treat myself to a few days off. Part of me wanted to tell her more, but she belonged to Sage, she was his family. A day later with Sage still AWOL, I took off to pick up Lark from the airport and headed out of town to a gorgeous resort. There we commiserated about our men and attempted a bit of relaxation.

Sage

I
freaked out. First, with the newest letter from the estate attorneys. It seemed like there could be a chance of losing the ranch due to the clause. Next, seeing Jade in my office behind my desk with the letter and documents in plain sight had my trust issues kicking up again. Even her lovely pinkness decorated with crayon-red curls wasn’t enough to distract me, immediately. Then with the guest family issues, I lost it.

Why did parents misbehave in front of their kids? If you wanted to live in a messed up situation or you didn’t have a choice, leave the kids out of the shit. God, why do people have to abuse each other at all? And abusing children by subjecting them to their parent’s fucked up abusive relationship is unacceptable, criminal in more ways than one. No one has a right to strike another person or to verbally abuse another either. But physical abuse really was a no-no, keep your fucking hands to yourself!

I was completely on edge. I panicked, when Jade asked to paint on my front porch, I felt the walls closing in. I couldn’t breathe, and I totally shut down. Thankfully, I didn’t lash out. Which wasn’t my thing anyway, but I had never felt the way I did at that moment. Remaining mute to her request, I just got the fuck out of there. I didn’t even say another word to Jade. I hadn’t even told her during the week before—when all was right between us—that I was going to be doing a ride, not one detail, or even an inkling of my complete departure. What would she think when I was nowhere to be found? When she found out that I had gone off without a word to her. Without an apology. At that moment I hadn’t thought about her or the impact it might create with us. I only thought of the great escape it was providing me, and quite frankly, it couldn’t have come fast enough.

Saved by an Indian in more ways than one, a text from my brother provided my escape. Not only was I avoiding my feelings for Jade, but then the two bastards showed up and my nightmare appeared before my very eyes. Frick and Frack, the twins, along with their construction team began surveying the property after sitting in the dining room discussing their plans over lunch. Lucky for me—lucky for them—my guys were around to keep me from killing them with my bare hands listening to them drone on. Norma, pushed Sal to the side and sat down across from me, and began to remind me that they had no claim, “Ignore them, they are here to push you, to get your reaction—attempting to unsettle you.”

Agreeing with her, I swore that they would never build anything on the property—over my dead body would I allow that—then I stood to leave. They looked shocked and disappointed that I did not play into their game, and just walked to the stable, saddled up Cactus Joe and rode off with Wayne and Sal and our good friend Jack Daniels, leaving Norma and Clay to appease the two greedy mongers. Unsure when they would get their grubbing hands off the ranch ground, the boys and I roughed it, sleeping… passing out up in the meadow. It was probably the only time up there, since Jade had arrived, that I didn’t think about
our tent
, but only because I was too damn pissed off and drunk.

Spencer’s arrival the following day was perfect. I took off a day early to stay in town at Hank’s little getaway cottage. Not many people knew about his house and he liked it that way. Sometimes he ventured off on his horse, but that wasn’t really a good solution. So he purchased a small craftsman style place right in the downtown area. He didn’t like to drive much, the location was ideal. He parked in the driveway and could walk anywhere. I think he used it as a romantic hideaway too. There would be no romance for me at the little house.

Once I picked Spencer up, we headed back to the house, then strolled to a bistro he wanted to check out. Another possible venture. Besides needing to appease our hunger, it was a good place to talk about the upcoming trip. His visit was something he wasn’t looking forward to as he never liked riding horses or camping. However, one of the activities we offered needed to provide food service. If he was going to carry the gourmet, fresh and healthy cuisine throughout the ranch, the excursion guests needed to be fed as well.

Our outline included how the three-day ride would include an upscale menu, but practical. Another thing we had to take into account was any food allergies. I had to gather all of that information, along with main food selections: chicken, fish, red meat, and vegetarian, if needed. How to store the food was an issue as well. On the three day ride, would we have daily items delivered or could we pack it in dry ice; minimal perishable food as possible? I had never worried about this part of the cattle drive, it had been simple meals and snacks—cowboy meet astronaut. We had filled our packs with a mix of fresh and freeze dried foods. We weren’t known for our culinary delights. Spencer wanted to change all of that if he was going to link his name with the Bleu Moon Ranch.