Rest Thy Head (12 page)

Oh, it didn’t matter either way since Patrick had gotten involved with her. He made a gesture of repugnance. What kind of man would covet his brother’s girl to the point he had to clamp his teeth together to keep from picking a fight with his brother?

He’d better stay clear of her. She looked like an angel, and he wanted her for himself, but Patrick had seen her first. Anyway, Patrick had a lot more to offer her than he did.

He sighed and crawled into his bed. If he stopped thinking about Peyton lying naked beside him, he might get a little sleep.

Chapter Nine

The next morning Peyton learned that Rest Thy Head sponsored a wilderness ride every summer.

“Jake usually takes everyone out,” Sandra said as she and Peyton were working on breakfast. “Patrick stays here to run the inn. He likes the wilderness as much as Jake does, but he knows Jake likes the chance to get away from people.”

Peyton reached across Sandra for a bag of coffee. “There are people on the wilderness trip.”

“Yeah, but Jake seems okay with them. Go figure.”

Peyton measured the coffee and started the coffee maker. “How long do they stay in the woods?”

“Only two nights. Everyone always has a good time.”

Peyton sighed. “Do they sleep under the stars? That sounds so romantic.”

“Jake has tents set up in a pre-selected location so you do have some shelter. I love the place he picked. It’s on a lake, and the tents are only a few feet from the water. The view’s great, and everyone can fish or swim in the lake. It’s crystal clear but cold.”

“What else do they do?” Having finished with the coffee, she started slicing grapefruit for baking. Jake liked to sprinkle it with sugar and put it under a broiler until it was golden brown. It tasted wonderful and made a great low calorie addition to the meal.

Sandra laughed. “You mean what do they do besides eating fresh trout, roasting marshmallows, and telling ghost stories?”

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes Jake takes them into Bannister’s Cave.”

Peyton shuddered as she sprinkled sugar across the grapefruit and placed it on a baking sheet. Besides tasting good, it would look pretty when it was golden brown. “I don’t like caves.”

“I don’t either, but you’d be surprised how many people do.”

Peyton poured some real cream into a pretty pitcher and admired the effect. No artificial creamer could be found at Rest Thy Head. “I’d love to go on the ride. I’ve only gone camping once, but I had a great time.”

“Then ask Jake.” Sandra gestured toward his office. “He always takes someone to help him with the cooking, but you’d better hurry before he picks someone else. They leave the day after tomorrow.”

Peyton immediately sought Jake out and asked to go with him, but to her surprise he didn’t want her. “You aren’t used to riding,” he argued. He stood up, and it looked to Peyton as if he intended to make a quick getaway.

“Neither are the rest of the people visiting the inn.” She dropped into the chair in front of his desk, hoping he’d be too polite to just leave her sitting there. “You’ve hurt my feelings because I can see you don’t want me to go. Are you angry with me about something?”

He sat back down, a look of surprise on his face. “No, of course not. I’m only trying to make things easier for you. Not only will the ride be tough, but the work will too. We won’t have all the modern conveniences we have here. I won’t take advantage of your good nature.”

Petyon sniffed. “Well… I thought I was doing a good job, but I guess I was wrong.” Her head dropped. “I guess you don’t want me around.”

“That isn’t it. I told you why, Peyton.”

She blinked hard at him. “I so wanted to see the mountains.”

Jake jumped up and strode over to the window, but almost at once he returned to his desk. “Please, don’t cry. I don’t think I can stand it if you do. If you’d like to go with me, you’re more than welcome, but you will have to work.”

“I know that.” Maybe he hadn’t wanted her to come because he feared she wouldn’t do her job, and if so he had another think coming. She never shirked her work and didn’t intend to start now.

Peyton left the office with a little smile on her face. She had figured he couldn’t resist a woman’s tears.

She saw Ashley later that morning and told her about the trip. “You have a good time, Peyton. I’m not much of a wilderness girl myself.” She giggled. “Aren’t you afraid bears will get you? You told me you saw one not long ago.”

Peyton laughed. “No, I’m not afraid of bears. Jake’s in charge, remember? He wouldn’t let a bear hurt any of his guests.”

Time dragged for Peyton because she really looked forward to the trip, but eventually departure time arrived. Everyone else must have been looking forward to the trip too because all the campers were ready and waiting by seven, when Jake had told them to report, and most of them didn’t usually get up by seven.

“I love my horse,” Peyton enthused as she urged her mount alongside Jake who rode in the lead on the chestnut mare he favored. She took care to approach him on his good side. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Yeah, I like a pinto.”

“Why did you name her Reggie?” Peyton ducked as Reggie ambled under a tree limb. “Isn’t that unusual for a horse?”

“You can name a horse anything you want. Reggie was a girl I used to date in high school. The horse reminded me a little bit of her.”

“Oh, you’re bad.”

Jake grinned and didn’t try to deny it. “For the record, my horse is named Cinnamon. Do you like that better?”

Peyton rolled her eyes at him. “Okay, I’ll change the subject. I see you have absolutely no remorse over naming a horse after that poor girl. We only have six people on this trip. Is that about average?”

Jake guided his horse around a fallen tree limb, and everyone else fell in behind him. “I usually take ten, maybe one or two more to accommodate family groups, but this year nobody seemed too interested, which is surprising. We usually have to turn people away.”

Peyton growled at him and made his horse snort. “Maybe they all saw the bear that I saw. You won’t let it eat us, will you?”

Jake growled back. “There won’t be anything left of you for the bear to eat, missy, if you keep growling at me.”

Peyton put her hand over her heart and urged her horse away from him. “Let’s move, Reggie. I bet he eats horses too.” Reggie twitched an ear and pretended not to have heard. “Tell me about the group, Jake.”

“Well, the older couple riding the two bays are Morris Feldman and his wife Annette. They say he made a lot of money on Wall Street, and it must be true because they seem to have money to burn. The tiny little woman on the small gray is Lucille Chastain. She’s Annette Feldman’s cousin. She’s an author, but I’ve never read any of her books.”

Jake’s horse danced and snorted, and Peyton watched as he skillfully brought the animal to a sedate walk beside her and Reggie. “The younger couple is Charles and Nanette Bradley, and the boy is their son, Frankie. They moved to Texas after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home in Mississippi.”

Peyton glanced at the young couple who were talking quietly together. “What do they do for a living?”

“He’s a software engineer, and she’s a teacher.”

“It’s a nice, diverse group,” Peyton approved.

Around lunchtime they stopped to eat and rest their horses. Peyton gave everyone a bag lunch consisting of a sandwich, fried chicken, chips, and brownies. Jake had drinks packed in a soft cooler attached to the back of his saddle.

Peyton finished her lunch and lay back in the grass to watch the clouds. “Look, Jake. I see a wolf.”

Jake flung himself down beside her and looked too. “That isn’t a wolf. That’s a bear.”

“It was a wolf when I looked.” Peyton sighed. “I guess life is a little like those clouds. It changes from moment to moment so you never know what’s around the corner.”

Jake rolled over and propped on one elbow. “Thinking about your wedding?”

Peyton nodded. “I loved Drew. I had a lot of hopes and dreams for our future.”

Jake lay back and stared at the clouds again. “You don’t mope around, or at least you seem cheerful when you’re around me.”

“Leaving Milford was the best thing I could have done.” She shrugged. “It gives me something else to think about, but it still hurts to know I was so wrong about him.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

He said those words with a bitterness impossible to mistake; someone had hurt him too. She might have tried to find out, but Jake sprang to his feet. “Mount up,” he called. “We have some hard riding in front of us.” He extended his hand to Peyton and pulled her up as easily as if she were a child.

They packed up their things and continued their journey, but the terrain had changed. So far they had ridden through meadows and rolling hills, easy ground, but they now entered a forest where the going was steeper. “Jake! Look at that little river!” Peyton cried.

The crystal clear little river gurgled and whispered as it rushed its way through the trees. Peyton saw that over countless years the river had smoothed and worn the rocks.

A flash of silver caught her eye as a nice sized trout scurried away. “I saw a fish!”

Reggie must have thought the river looked good too. She waded into the edge of it and drank deeply. It felt nice and cool on the bank of the river, but Jake didn’t tarry and kept them moving.

The trail now led sharply upward. Some of the rocky, rough terrain challenged Peyton’s riding skills, but she and Reggie kept up with Jake anyway. “I’m glad you know where you’re going. It would be easy to get lost in these mountains.”

To her surprise, Jake took her idle comment seriously. “Yeah, it would be. Remember that, and don’t wander off by yourself.”

Around three they reached their campsite, a small meadow located in a pretty little valley about half of which was occupied by a clear, blue, mountain lake. Mountains ringed the valley and made it seem as if they were the only people in the entire world.

Jake had helpers who had already come to the valley to set up their tents. They cheerfully greeted everyone and told them they’d have to take care of their horse before they could rest. Peyton didn’t mind. She liked taking care of Reggie.

They finished with the horses, and then Peyton helped Jake and his crew prepare their meal. “Why are we having grilled hamburgers?” she demanded. “I thought we’d eat beans like cowboys.”

“I like hamburgers better.” He slapped a bun on the grill to toast. “So do most of the people on this trip.”

Peyton did too. After all the guests were fed, she, Jake, and his helpers had a burger for themselves. “I think this fresh air makes the burgers taste even better,” she observed as she polished off the last of her food.

Jake nodded. “It does. Eating outdoors is always better.”

Before his guests could scatter, Jake had a warning for them. “Don’t forget you’re in the wilderness now. This is a national park; I promise you there are no houses or telephones to use if you get lost. Stay within calling distance of the camp. Also, look out for wild animals. This is their territory, not yours. You should respect what they can do if they get angry.”

The group broke up after that. Mr. and Mrs. Feldman and her cousin decided to go fishing, but Mr. Bradley took a deck of cards from his pocket. Soon the entire family as well as Jake’s men were playing cards.

They invited Peyton to play, but she didn’t want to. She could play cards anytime. “Let’s go swimming, Jake. It’s still warm enough to swim.”

“You go on. I’ve got some things to do.”

Peyton sighed. She had hoped he’d forget that nonsense about his scars. Okay, if that’s how he wanted to play it, she’d wait for him. He’d probably jump in the water after dark when he thought no one could see him. She shivered. The water would be icy after dark.

She was right. As dusk fell, he grabbed a towel and headed for the lake. Peyton tried to follow him without being seen, using trees and the boulders scattered around the meadow as cover, but Jake spotted her and gave a black scowl that would’ve withered a lesser girl. “What are you doing here?”

Peyton swaggered up to him. “Going swimming with you.”

“Peyton...”

Peyton took his hand. “I know what you look like. Let me come with you.” She smiled. “I waited for you.”

She saw a flash of…something, pleasure maybe, in his eyes before he looked away. “Oh, all right.”

Not a gracious invitation, but an invitation nonetheless.

When they reached the lake, Peyton thought they’d jump right in, but Jake kept walking. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a real pretty little spot just around the bend that has a sandy bottom. It’s not too deep there either.”

Peyton saw the place he meant and gasped. The sandy, white beach beckoned bathers to drop their towels and dive in while the primeval mountains surrounding the lake were filled with mystery, freedom, and beauty. She inhaled the fresh, cool air scented with cedar and lake water. “Oh, Jake! Look how the moon reflects off the water. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yep, it’s a real nice view.” He took a deep breath. “Just smell that air. It must be close to what God intended air to be.”

Peyton took a breath and sighed. “I already noticed. It’s clean, and I smell a touch of cedar.”

“Great, isn’t it? Sometimes I think I could stay here forever. When I’m up here I don’t worry about…”

“About people seeing you,” Peyton finished. “I’ve told you and told you. You aren’t repulsive.”

He shrugged which made her angry, but she refused to let him spoil their evening.

She wiggled out of her jeans and jerked her tee shirt off. “Hurry. I need a swim.”

Peyton almost lost her breath when she hit the water. “It’s freezing,” she shouted.

Jake was right behind her. “It’s bracing,” he corrected with a laugh. “Get moving. It’ll warm you up.”

Peyton held her breath and dived under the cold water. Being afraid of the cold made it so much worse. A wicked thought occurred to her. She pursued Jake across the lake with the stealth of a predator.

He saw her coming and darted away with Peyton right behind him. She forgot about the cold in her efforts to capture him, but Jake stayed ahead of her until her foot came down on a big rock in the lake. Using the rock to push off of, she shot through the water and grabbed his shoulders. He hadn’t expected her to catch him so he went under.