Riding the River (21 page)

“Nothing now. I’ve saved up the money I
needed from working at the Walker ranch and some investments. I’m
buying the ranch probably next week.”

A big smile spread across her face. “So
you’ll be a rancher soon…”

“Yep. Want to see the ranch house?”

“Very much…”

Matt drove Sarah over to the ranch next door.
By next door, it was actually ten miles to the south of John’s
property line. The smaller ranch had been vacant for a while, so it
needed some work. Matt pulled up in front of the ranch house and
turned off his truck.

“Ready to take a look?”

Sarah looked at the pretty place. They’d
parked on a curved paved driveway with a sidewalk going to the
front porch. The house was built of light, brown wood, probably
cedar, with a beautiful black, shingled roof. It had big windows
everywhere and a huge pine tree, maybe sixty feet tall, in the
front yard. There had been some landscaping done at one time, but
it needed some work. Sarah was charmed…

“It’s lovely…” That brought a big smile to
Matt’s face – He was hoping she’d like it.

They got out of the truck, walked up to the
porch and Matt opened the front door with a key on his
keychain.

“It’s about 3,000 square feet, I think,” he
said as he held the door open for her.

Sarah looked around at the spacious house.
Nice wooden floors, a river rock fireplace from floor to ceiling
and overhead lighting. Another room, just off the living area had
another fireplace, slanted ceiling with solid windows on one wall.
The views of the mountains behind and to the front of the house
were incomparable. Sarah had never seen a house like this.

The kitchen had been renovated already with
granite countertops, new appliances and cupboards. Dark wooden
floors with full lighting overhead made Sarah gasped. Matt smiled –
She liked it.

“… Comments?”

“It’s spectacular…”

“What were you expecting? … A little house on
the prairie? A sod dugout perhaps?”

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but this
is fabulous.”

“Come see the bedrooms.”

There were four bedrooms. One – the master –
was large, with a huge picture window showing a view of the
backyard trees and mountains in the far distance. She gasped
again.

“You don’t like it?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. And out
here in the middle of…”

“… Nowhere?” Matt laughed at her embarrassed
look.

“Okay…”

“Come here,” he said beckoning her into his
arms. As he held her and looked into her clear, blue eyes, he asked
it…

“Do you think you’d like to live here
someday?”

“… With you?”

“Yes…” He kissed her lips.

“What are you saying?”

Matt swallowed. “Can we take this slow?

She scrunched up her face. “How slow?”

“…Ah…”

“You want to live in sin for a while, is that
it?”

“… Would that upset you?”

“No, but it might upset you if I get a better
offer…” She broke free from his arms with a slight smile.

Matt grabbed her. “What are you talking
about?”

She laughed at him. “Matt, I heard what your
grandfather said. What
are
we waiting for?”

“Okay….” He took a deep breath. “Do you want
to marry me?”

“… Are you asking?”

He swallowed again. “Maybe…”

Sarah bent over laughing this time. “Well,
when you figure it out, let me know. In the meantime, I need to get
back…”

He knit his eyebrows in confusion.
What
the hell?

She could tell he was totally confused on the
drive back. They’d said goodbye to John and would see him later
that evening. Sarah wanted to help Dale with dinner and spend some
time with Tess before she left tomorrow. When they arrived at the
Walker ranch, Sarah looked over at him. She smiled – He was still
chewing on it…

“Matt?”

“Hmmm?” He looked up at her pretty face and
smiled.

“Can you take me into Wells tomorrow?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I need to call my family and my friend,
Abby. I haven’t spoken to them in over a week now. I may call my
boss as well…”

His grandfather’s words came back to him in a
rush… Her family’s influence…
Would she be talked into going
back to Baltimore
? It hit him again like a punch in the stomach
that her home and life were back East.

“Hey… Where are you? Are you all right?”

He grabbed her hands. “Sarah, are you going
to leave? Are you going to leave me?”

Wow…She’d never seen competent, decisive Matt
so unsure, so uncertain…

“Do you want me to?”

“… Never…”

She smiled at him. “Never’s a long time…”

“I know.”

“… I’m staying, honey, if you really want me
to.”

“I want you to very much.”

“All right, but I still need to call
home…”

Matt let out a breath. “Okay...”

Pause…

“… You okay?”

“Fine,” he breathed. “And Sarah?”

“… Hmmm?”

“I’ll work on that marriage proposal.”

She grinned at his serious face and leaned
over to kiss his lips.

“… You do that…”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Dinner that night with Tess and Richie was
bittersweet. Sarah and Tess had become good friends and would miss
each other very much. They’d made plans to get together, both in
Nevada and Arizona.

“I’ve never been to Arizona,” commented
Sarah.

Matt, to her left, shook his head. “… City
girl…”

“… Country boy…” she smiled at him.

They’d discussed the ranch house and the
visit with Matt’s grandfather and other polite conversation as it
came up. Tess finally excused herself to go to the restroom and
Sarah went with her.

Richie frowned. “What is it with women? They
have to go in pairs to the restroom?”

That got Matt laughing. “Can’t live with ‘em
or without ‘em.”

“Ha…”

“You going to see Tess again?”

“I’m going to visit her next month.” He
looked sharply at Matt. “What do you think?”

“I think she’s great, don’t you?”

“I really do…” He looked shy for a minute. “…
Never thought something like this would happen to me.”

“Yeah, you’ve been catch and release as long
as I’ve known you.”

“Speaking of being caught… Are you engaged
yet?”

“No, but close. I almost asked her today, but
my mouth and brain tripped me up.”

“What’d she say?”

“Basically, she laughed at me.”

Richie shrugged. “It’s a start…”

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Tess and Sarah
were giggling.

“Oh, did you check under the stalls?”

“Yes, we’re alone…”

“So how was your last day with Richie?”

She almost swooned. “He’s really a pretty
romantic guy. He stumbled around and finally asked if he could
visit me next month.”

“And you said yes, of course.”

“… Of course, but only after we spent most of
the afternoon in his cabin…”

“Yes?” Sarah raised an eyebrow.

“… Uh-huh… Doing the deed…”

They laughed heartily at that.

“How about you?”

“Pretty close to the same.”

“… Really?” Tess raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, we had a fight in his truck in the
morning…”

“On the way to his grandfather’s?”

“… Yes, and we spent the rest of the morning
having makeup sex…”

“… in the truck?” She nodded.

Tess blinked. “Wow, Sarah. City girls are all
right… So we both had good days.”

“I’d say so.”

Tess looked in the mirror, fluffing her hair.
“Better get back before they cool off.”

They left the bathroom with Sarah laughing
and enjoying her friend, Tess.

####

Matt’s grandfather was as good as his word. A
huge bedroom with incredible views of the hills behind the house
was at their disposal. It was located in the back part of the
house, insuring them privacy, something Matt really wanted. It was
understood they’d stay there until Matt had bought his ranch and it
was in livable condition. In the meantime, there would be lots of
work to do – painting, cleaning, carpeting... Matt wanted to make a
few changes before moving in, so they’d planned to work every day
possible over at the new place.

That night, Matt was in bed waiting for
Sarah, who was brushing her teeth in the bathroom.

“Are you using your own toothbrush this
time?”

She popped her head out with the brush in her
mouth.

“mmm…I…arg…brush…” Words coming out were too
garbled to understand, but the color on that toothbrush was bright
blue. She went back into the bathroom.

“Hey… that’s my brush, isn’t it?” She popped
back out again, this time with her ponytail hanging off to one side
and the brush still in her mouth. She smiled big with toothpaste
dripping down and nodded enthusiastically.

Matt rolled his eyes. “What gives? Can’t you
even find yours anymore?”

He could hear her rinsing and spitting in
there. She came out and bounced into the bed with him.

“No…”

“No, what?”

“No, I can’t find mine anymore. It’s
lost…”

He blinked in amazement.

“How do you lose a toothbrush?”

“… If I knew that, I’d know where the
toothbrush is…”

Matt ran a hand through his hair and thought
he’d heard it all now.

“I can’t believe this conversation we’re
having…”

She raised an eyebrow. “… Maybe we should do
something else.”

He pulled her down by him under the
covers.

“… Tired of talking?”

Matt lifted Sarah’s chin up so he could look
into her eyes. When he saw his reflection, he almost melted.

“… For a big, brave cowboy, you seem awfully
sentimental…” she teased him.

“Do you always see through me?” he
breathed.

“… Always… Do you love me?”

“Yes, Sarah, I do…”

“Prove it.” She reached out to caress his
dear face and to bring his lips down to hers.

“…Yes, ma’am…” And they were off…

Sometime in the middle of the night, when
their bodies were still tangled together and the kissing still
hadn’t stopped, Matt had an epiphany… He held Sarah’s lovely face
between his hands and just looked at her. He gazed at her blue
eyes, her cute nose… cheeks rosy from his face rubbing against
hers, and those full lips – swollen from the constant kissing,
nibbling, sucking. It hit him like a sledgehammer…

“Matt, honey? What is it?”

“… I’m in love, Sarah…For the first time in
my life…”

She smiled. “I know that, cowboy…I’ve known
it for a while.”

“… Probably before I did.”

“…So?”

“This probably isn’t the best time for me to
say this…”

“… Maybe not, Matt… We’re in the middle of
something here…”

“Yes, I know and that makes what I want to
say even more important.”

“Honestly, I get that, but…” Sarah pointed
down to emphasize her point. They were quite in the middle of
things with their bodies and hips glued together for one express
purpose – He was still deep inside her… “Maybe we could just finish
up first, before you say what you need to…”

Matt laughed and flipped her over. “Right.
First things first...”

Later, after Sarah had fallen asleep, Matt
lay there watching her. Everything she did was becoming dear to
him. He loved those little bubbles and pops she made in her sleep.
She never moved away from him and stayed right in his arms all
night. He never even thought that would be a comfortable way to
sleep. Now it was the only way he could sleep…

So in the middle of the night, when she was
sound asleep, Matt gently turned Sarah’s head to whisper in her
ear. He had to say it and he had to say it now…

“Sarah?” She mumbled something… “Can you hear
me?”

Without opening her eyes, she whispered,
“Yes…”

Matt didn’t know if she was awake or not, but
decided to go on anyway.

“… Remember I had something to say to
you?”

“…Yes…”

“I love you, Sarah.”

“I love you too…”

“Will you marry me? I’m asking you…”

“… Yes…” Matt watched her face as her eyes
slowly opened and she turned her head to look at him. “Did you just
say what I think you said?”

He smiled. “Are you awake now?”

“We’ve been awake most of the night.”

“You were asleep just now, honey.”

She looked at him in love. “Say it again to
my face, instead of my ear.”

“All right… Sarah Hughes, I love you. Will
you marry me?”

“… Is that what you wanted to tell me
earlier?”

“Uh-huh…”

“What did I say when I was asleep and you
asked me?”

“You said yes.”

“Okay. I’ll stick to that decision. It seems
like a good one.”

His face fell. “That’s not terribly
romantic.”

She leaned up to kiss his lips. They stayed
on his for a good while.

“… Matt Garth, I love and adore you. I would
be very proud to marry you and be your wife. In fact, I’d be
thrilled…”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“I don’t suppose you want to go back to sleep
now. We have to get up in four hours…”

The way Matt looked at her, Sarah knew he
didn’t want to go back to sleep.

“Okay,” she sighed. “Another sleepless
night…”

Matt laughed as he brought her in closer for
an incredibly sexy kiss. When they finished, she smiled against his
lips. “Who needs sleep?” And they continued…

The next day she was helping Dale make
breakfast and yawned a few times. Dale smiled at her.

“Do you ever get any sleep at night now,
Sarah?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,
I don’t…”

He laughed and laughed. “Good for you. I knew
that boy loved you way back when you first got here.”