Olympia gushed on. “A real cattle ranch. I have not had the experience of a real cattle ranch. My-oh-my.”
“We’ll have to take you on a trail ride. Do you ride?” Opal asked.
Olympia took a sip of wine. “Yes, I do. That is, a long time ago, I rode a horse. I might have to practice up a bit.”
Fiona smiled. That Olympia knew how to ride was news to her.
The phone range, and Opal went inside to answer.
Olympia focused her attention on Fiona. “Tell me everything. What have you gotten yourself into?”
Fiona nodded to the knoll. “See that black rubble up there. That’s what is left of my bunk house.”
“No.” Olympia grabbed her throat. “How terrible. What happened?”
Fiona gave her the short version of the fire, the longer version of finding the bones, and topped it off with the cattle rustling.
“You have had a time of it. The Wild West is still wild then, isn’t it?”
Fiona could hear the ideas rumbling around in Olympia’s head for her next book.
“It’s different,” said Fiona. “Vastly different from city living.”
“I believe you like it here,” said Olympia, peering at Fiona. “Fiona Marlowe, I believe you like it here.”
Fiona smiled and toyed with her wine glass. “Maybe I do.”
“What about Mr. Hunky? I’m dying to hear all the details of your romance.”
“He likes me, and I like him. That’s all there is to it.”
“Really, Fiona, I find that hard to believe. Two grown adults of a certain age only liking each other? That’s not how it plays out in romance novels.”
Fiona smiled. “This isn’t a romance novel, Olympia, you goof. This is real life.”
“Humph,” said Olympia, clearly disgruntled that Fiona was not forthcoming with any juicy details.
“Speaking of Mr. Hunky,” said Fiona, “here he comes now.”
Olympia followed the direction of Fiona’s gaze.
“I can’t see anything except a dust cloud.”
“That’d be the buckaroos, as we say in Harney Valley, coming home from a hard day on the trail.”
Olympia jumped up. “Let’s go meet them.”
Fiona laughed. Olympia’s enthusiasm always burned full flame.
“Best we wait here. You don’t want to get caught in the cloud of dust and a bunch of tired horses and riders.”
Opal rejoined them. “That was the Sheriff calling. He wanted Jake to go with him tonight to follow that trail. I talked him into going first thing in the morning.”
“Are you going with them?” asked Fiona.
“You bet. I wouldn’t miss this trail ride for the world.”
Fiona said, “Hoover didn’t look like he wanted a woman along on a man’s mission.”
“Where are we going? We could all go,” said Olympia.
Fiona and Opal looked at each other.
Opal said, “This wouldn’t be a trip for green horns. I’m a seasoned rider, and the Sheriff thinks I should stay at home.”
“Too bad,” said Olympia. “I’m itching to get into the saddle. Will you look at those horses? It looks like there are a couple of women in that bunch. Fiona, maybe you and I could take a ride.”
Fiona and Opal looked at each other again.
“Let’s see how things develop,” Opal said.
Fiona was thankful for Opal’s diplomatic response.
Rosemary and Esme and the others rode straight to the corral with the horses. Jake stopped in front of the house and dismounted. With the dust, the hat, the horse, the spurs, neck scarf, and chaps, he couldn’t have looked more the Wild West cowboy. Fiona could see Olympia melting and falling in love in the time it took to Jake to walk to the porch.
He touched the brim of his hat. “I see your friend has arrived. Nice rig you got there. That color will be easy for the police to spot.”
Fiona thought Olympia was going to swoon. She grasped her arm to steady her. “This is my friend, Olympia. She was waiting for us when we got back.”
“A real cowboy,” Olympia said. “A real cowboy.”
Fiona rarely saw her friend at such a loss for words.
“How’d everything go?” said Opal, walking to where Jake stood.
Jake nodded. “The cows are in good shape. I’m not sure how long they’ll last on the new pasture. Grass is thin, and the well isn’t running good.”
“Cowboy talk,” said Olympia. She held on to Fiona’s arm like a lifeline.
Olympia was a woman who lived in books, in cities, and in luxury. Real life staring her in the face made her speechless, much to Fiona’s surprise. She’d have to remember that the next time Olympia went on a talker.
Jake took off his hat and dusted it on his knee. His dark curls were plastered to his head and a dust line circled his forehead. He didn’t seem to care and neither did Olympia, by the enamored look on her face.
He said to Opal. “I could use a drink. A man gets mighty thirsty on the trail all day.”
Fiona smiled. Jake was laying it on thick. He knew he was impressing Olympia. He could be a devil when he wanted to. He followed Opal inside, and Fiona pulled Olympia along with her.
Olympia held back and whispered, “Fiona, he is more than Mr. Hunky. He’s the man of my dreams. I don’t know if I can be in the same room with such manliness.”
If Fiona hadn’t known Olympia better, that declaration could have made her jealous. But having seen Olympia encounter more than one hunky man, she knew that every good-looking man and then some was the man of Olympia’s dreams.
“You’ll do fine.” Fiona patted her arm. “Just be your normal, bubbling self, and everything will be fine.”
“Of course,” said Olympia. She squared her shoulders. “I can do this. I can talk to the most gorgeous man I have ever met and not get tongue-tied.”
“That a girl,” said Fiona, leading her into the house.
Jake pulled a beer from the refrigerator, leaned against the kitchen counter, and crossed his booted feet. He could hardly keep his lips from twitching so he occupied them with downing half the bottle to wash the dust from his throat. Fiona’s friend sat at the table with a silly grin on her face while Fiona refilled their wine glasses. Opal joined him, leaning against the counter. He guessed the friend’s first encounter with a buckaroo was overwhelming her.
Opal said, “Hoover wants you to ride out with him to track those rustlers. He’ll be over around five tomorrow morning.”
Jake nodded. “I figured as much when I saw you take him to the end of the trail.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, you aren’t.”
Opal looked him dead on. “I said I’m going with you.”
“And I said you aren’t. You got guests, and Fiona is waiting for you to start on the decorating project. Hoover and I can do this ourselves, and you know it.”
“It’s my ranch.”
Jake grinned. “Right, but I’m the manager.”
Opal was silent then sighed. “I know I’m being pig-headed. I just can’t get used to not doing everything I want to do. I guess I’d slow you down.”
“There’s that.”
“I know you don’t need me along.”
“That, too.”
Opal looked at Fiona and Olympia who were intently following the conversation. “I guess I better stay to keep you gals out of trouble.”
“There’s that, too,” said Jake with a grin.
“We can look out for ourselves,” said Fiona. “We’ll do some sightseeing. I think Olympia wants to do some research for a new book, don’t you?”
Olympia perked to life. “I certainly would like to see more of this lovely country. Fiona and I could go along with you two gents. That would be fun.”
Jake studied the newcomer. “This is not a fun thing, and, no, you won’t go. It’s hard riding over rough country.” He looked to Opal. “You could take them sightseeing maybe over to the refuge to do some bird watching.”