Horses and Flowers #2
It was always a beautiful drive, going into town from the ranch, as the road swept along through the valley with the Yellowstone River in the distance. This time, though, Maria barely noticed the view. She and Tim were talking.
In town, the main street was full of cars. “Looks like everyone in the area is here tonight,” Tim said, as he gave Maria his hand to get down from the truck. “I bet half the ranch is walking around Main Street.”
“They’re gonna tease you if you run into them.” Maria smirked.
“Of course they are.” Tim grinned. “I tease the hands about girls all the time. I guess I deserve it.”
Maria laughed. “That’s fair,” she said. “So where’s this place?”
“Well, the street’s so full, I couldn’t park by it,” Tim said. “It’s two blocks back.”
They crossed the street and walked down to the restaurant hand in hand, dawdling, looking in shop windows. Maria hovered by a store that sold western wear.
“I bet Grandma Austin has some old boots I could borrow,” she said, “so I don’t wear out my mom’s special boots.”
“Dozens of them,” Tim said. “Have you seen Pat’s closet? I think she got it built so she’d never have to sort through her clothes again.” He chuckled, but his expression was friendly. He wasn’t making fun of Patricia.
“I’ll ask her, then,” Maria said. “I know she’ll be thrilled if I learn to ride. She really wants me to get to know the ranch and like it here.”
“That’s because she sees something special in you,” Tim said. “You care about the ranch itself. Annabelle—no offense—just cares about being rich.”
“Maybe she’ll care more about the ranch if she gets interested in Nate,” Maria said. “I don’t know him well, but I have a much better feeling about him than about Neil.”
“Maybe so!” Tim said. “She’s never dated a guy from the Rocker A before—not while I was here, anyway.”
That was probably because Annabelle had had her sights set on Tim, but Maria didn’t need to mention that. Hopefully Annabelle had long gotten over Tim.
They came to a place where people were sitting outside, eating at tables on the sidewalk. It looked like a bustling restaurant. Maria squinted at the sign. “That’s Italian, isn’t it?”
“Yup.” Tim smiled. “An Italian restaurant, brand new in town this year. They say people are making two-hour detours to get to it when they drive through the state.”
“Wow,” Maria said. “Two hours? That’s wild.”
Not even Rover’s Restaurant, the fanciest one in Maria’s home town, was likely to attract people from two hours away.
“Well,” Tim said, “do you want to sit outside or inside?”
Maria looked at the crowded patio. “I’m all for fresh air,” she said, “but I think I’d rather sit inside tonight.”
“For sure,” Tim said. “For one thing, I can see three different ranch hands on this patio right now.”
“That’s Danny, isn’t it?” Maria motioned to a brown-haired guy sitting opposite an unfamiliar girl.
“Yep.” Tim grinned. “I’m gonna have so much ammunition if he teases me about you.”
Maria laughed. Tim sounded like he was looking forward to the experience.
Inside, everything seemed new and nice, and there weren’t any weird smells.
Maria had learned quickly as a cook to be aware of weird smells in a restaurant.
They sat at a booth by the front window.
Maria was glad this place had booths. She appreciated fine dining, but why did fine dining usually mean an uncomfortable table?
A little table, romantic as it might seem, was nowhere near as cozy as a booth.
The menu was small but intriguing, with a combination of regular Italian specialties and things you’d only see out west, like elk steak. It didn’t seem too pretentious. Maria scorned menus which left off the dollar signs and purposely used wild-sounding ingredients to attract snobby clientele.
Across the booth, Tim smiled at her. “So,” he said. “How’s your evening going?”
“Just great. Thank you so much for the riding lesson. That was so cool. Even if I was terrified the whole time.”
“You did great,” Tim said. “Let me warn you, though—you’re going to be sore tomorrow.”
“I figured. That’s all right. I can limp around the kitchen if I need to.”
A cheery waitress came to bring their waters and see if they needed a minute to order. “I think I’ve got it,” Maria said. “Tim?”
“Yeah, I know what I’m getting,” Tim said. “You go first. Anything you want. Do they have anything with gold leaf on it? Or truffles?”
Maria laughed. “Thankfully not,” she said. “I know it’s Friday, but I’ll say an extra rosary tonight and get meat. I’d like the braised lamb shank, please.”
“I think I’ll go for the bison ragu,” Tim told the waitress. He grinned at Maria. “We can say that extra rosary together on the way back, if you want.”
They talked about little ranch happenings, light topics, while waiting for their food. It was so nice not having huge problems hanging over their heads.
The lamb shank—which came with polenta and sautéed vegetables up to Maria’s standards—was excellent, as was Tim’s bison ragu.
He offered for Maria to try it—not pushily, just an offer—and Maria, to her own surprise, agreed.
The idea of eating bison was intimidating, but it turned out to be similar to a beef ragu. She let Tim try her lamb shank.
She hadn’t been out with anyone in a long time.
Dating Seth seemed like forever ago. Seth had spent most of their dates talking about future plans and things they were going to do with friends.
And cooking. Seth could be the life of the party, but he was also obsessed with cooking.
Sometimes Maria had suspected him of wanting her for a sounding board, just an audience for his brilliance.
Tim didn’t seem to be looking for an audience or trying to be brilliant. He was focused on Maria.
“You remember that game of truth or dare?” he asked.
“How could I forget it?” Maria said. “Especially after I fell in the creek.”
Tim laughed. “That’s fair,” he said. “You know how you were talking about trust? I’ve been thinking about that a lot since then. I can’t imagine what you must have thought when you realized I was the Montana Rider. I’m surprised you were even willing to talk to me after that.”
“Well, I was mad,” Maria said. “I didn’t understand why you hadn’t just told me.”
“I know, it was stupid,” Tim said. “I thought it was safer for everyone if nobody knew who I was. That way, word couldn’t leak out, and whoever was sabotaging the ranch wouldn’t take it out on the Austins.
I should have known I could trust you all to keep it secret.
And that I could trust at least some of you to care about the ranch.
When my parents sold our ranch and moved away, I was afraid everybody else was just ready to do the same thing. ”
“I think we both had a problem with trust,” Maria said. “Even apart from the Montana Rider thing, I was afraid to trust you.”
She fumbled for words, and Tim watched her, his face honest and open. Something about his serious blue eyes steadied her. There weren’t any secrets lurking behind them. He was just Tim.
“I was afraid the same thing would happen with you that happened with Seth,” Maria said.
“I guess I liked him more than he liked me. He seemed interested in me, and we went everywhere together, and then he broke up with me out of the blue. When I realized I liked you, I was afraid I was just setting myself up for disappointment. You were so important and popular on the ranch, and you had girls like Annabelle running after you. I was afraid that even if you did like me, you might just lose interest like Seth did.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Tim’s face was open and serious.
“Maria, I know I haven’t earned your trust in the past, but my feelings for you are serious.
It was agonizing, thinking of ways to explain my behavior while I was the Montana Rider.
I was trying not to lie to you, or to anybody.
I just wanted to tell you. But I was afraid.
And then after the rodeo, I knew I was sunk.
I thought you liked me—but I hadn’t told you about the Montana Rider.
And I hated to think how you would feel if you found out. ”
“That was a good evening though.” Maria leaned toward him. “All the lights, the music, and going around with you—it was wonderful.”
He smiled. “I’m glad. I thought so too.”
“Actually,” Maria said, “I think it was at the rodeo that I realized I liked you, not the Montana Rider.”
Tim laughed. “What won you over? The carousel ride? Beating me at target practice?”
Maria felt herself going red. “I’m embarrassed to say it was when you rode that bucking bronco.”
He couldn’t have grinned more widely. “So you can impress a girl riding broncs. Wait till I tell the guys at the bunkhouse. They’ve always hoped that would work.”
Maria laughed. “I don’t know if it works on everybody, but I guess it worked on me. And I had such a good time with you, all evening.”
“Me too. Even after I saw that guy with the skull tattoo hanging around at the shooting range.”
“So that’s when you saw the guy,” Maria said. “I wondered why you were acting weird.”
“That was when I figured out that Neil was probably involved,” Tim said.
“I’d thought of him as a possible suspect before—because he lives nearby—but he was dating Annabelle, so I wasn’t sure.
When I saw that guy, I knew. But I figured I’d just have to deal with that later.
And I wanted that shooting match with you. ”
Maria grinned. “Want a re-match sometime?”
“Absolutely,” Tim said. “But I’m gonna talk to your dad first. See if there’s any secret shooting tips they tell the police that regular people don’t hear about.”
Maria giggled. “I bet he’ll love that.” It was wonderful, having such a funny, friendly, normal guy (well, as normal as somebody who ran around in disguise as a masked rider could be) liking her.
That made her think of something. “So,” she said, “I’ve told you when I knew I liked you—when did you start liking me?”