Ember Meadow

Prologue

Miles

Hollow brown eyes stare back at me in the window. The sand colored buildings of Salt Lake City, Utah blur behind my own reflection, glowing orange in the sunset. Even through the glass I can make out the bags under my eyes, my crumpled button up shirt, bolo tie hanging loose from my neck.

I look like I’ve been run ragged. It doesn’t help that Parker and I were up at three this morning to drive all the way down to Utah for a cattle auction.

The beginning of Spring down here is much warmer than Wyoming.

Back on Lone Pine Ranch, it’s snowing right now.

At least this year, we aren’t presenting cattle at the auction.

Instead, we are here to pick up a few head to strengthen our herd.

When one of our fences broke, I figured we’d lost a good amount of cattle.

But the final count last week was more than I expected.

At least Walt will be proud of the amount we were able to wrangle up today.

“Miles,” Parker yells from the other room of our hotel suite, “Hurry up. My buddy is waiting for us outside.”

With one more glance out towards the glowing city windows, I turn around with a sigh. My bolo tie slides down my button up as I loosen it all the way. I already despise going out, I definitely don’t care what I look like. Those days are over.

Running a hand through my messy hair, I throw on my baseball cap backwards and make my way toward the door where Parker waits, his entire focus fixed on sending a text. Seeing his phone makes me wonder where mine is. I haven’t seen it since the drive down here.

“Ready?” Parker smiles, finally looking up at me.

I feel a little underdressed compared to his perfectly styled chestnut hair, button down, and not-dusty jeans.

But that just about explains Parker and I.

We’ve been this way since the first day he walked onto the ranch looking for a job.

It’s probably why we are such good friends.

“I suppose,” I reply.

“Oh come on,” he laughs. “Live a little, will you? It’s been over a year, man. It’s time.”

It turns out Parker’s buddy who lives in the city has some other buddies that live in the city, and they all lead us down a couple of blocks to a rooftop bar at the top of some swanky skyscraper.

I didn’t even know Salt Lake had places like this.

I almost never go out when I’m here. We usually just head to the auction, and maybe to dinner somewhere with a good steak.

The music is loud, the lights are shining above us, and I really don’t fit in here. Parker, of course, fits in anywhere and already has a whole group of new friends to shoot the shit with. I shuffle towards the bar, finding an open bar stool to order a whiskey sour.

My gaze scans along the crowded rooftop as I take a swig of my drink.

Girls in sundresses and heels, guys in button ups, some even with ties.

Most people are laughing and paired up. It’s a nice scene.

I might even come back some time if I’m in town.

The city lights glow all around us. The magnitude of the skyscrapers always takes me off guard.

It may not be a huge city, but it’s the biggest I usually go to.

My shoulders loosen up a little more with each sip of my drink, the warm air blowing across my arms. Maybe I should try to have a good time. Enough moping. Maybe Parker is right, it’s probably time I try to live a little.

Right as I’m about to get up and head back over to Parker and his new posse, long crimson hair brushes across my shoulder. A blur of a woman rushes by before planting herself in the seat next to me.

“Four lemon drops please,” she tells the bartender with a dazzling smile. She’s wearing a skin-tight shiny, burgundy dress and a sash that says twenty-one across her shoulder.

But what catches my eye are her cowgirl boots.

Real cowgirl boots. Not the fake kind you buy for twenty dollars on the internet.

I’d be willing to bet she has actually seen a horse before.

At some point, my brain catches up enough to realize I’ve been staring at this girl’s boots for too long. I snap my eyes up to her face.

It must be the whiskey. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her green eyes practically sparkle with mischief. Big, auburn curls frame her face, slightly flushed from running through the bar. The spaghetti straps holding up her dress are the most thin, ridiculous straps I’ve ever seen.

A spark ignites an ember in my chest when her pine green eyes catch mine. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything like that.

I feel like I should run away, but I can’t.

“Well hi,” she says, her head tipping slightly to the side. I track the movement of her curls falling over her bare shoulder. “Who are you?”

Oh god. She’s talking to me. What’s my name? Shit. “Miles Autry,” I manage to choke out. My full name? What are we, in kindergarten?

“Well, Miles Autry,” she teases, “I’m Katie MacPherson. Pleased to meet you.” She holds out her hand for a handshake. The second I grab her hand, an electric pulse runs through my arm and I’m drowning in her big green eyes again. Stuck in a trance.

“Hello? Anyone home in there?” she says with a laugh. I hadn’t realized I was staring for so long.

“Yeah, sorry,” I clear my throat, “I’m just a little tired. Long day.”

“You can’t be tired. It’s my birthday, you know. Everyone must be awake and excited,” she says. The bartender brings over her lemon drop shots and she flashes him another movie star smile. My chest constricts as envy bubbles up in my veins. Why does that guy get a smile?

“Oh yeah? Happy birthday. I’m guessing you’re twenty-one,” I say, gesturing to her sash.

“Why yes, I am. My first ever alcoholic beverages,” she winks.

“Can I buy you a drink?” I offer, before a rush of anxiety hits me straight on. “I mean, you know, for your birthday. After you’re done with those. Or now. Whenever, really.”

“Only if you’re drinking with me,” she says. It’s been a few years since I’ve done this, and apparently I’m way out of practice.

“Right. Sure. I can do that,” I say. She runs off to her group of friends to deliver the lemon drops, letting me know she’ll be back.

I order us another round of whiskey sours, hoping she drinks that.

I’m not creative enough to think up anything else at the moment.

It’s been, shit, a good amount of years since I’ve done anything like this.

She walks back over to a table full of girls about her age and one guy. I look over just in time to see them all tip back their shots, Katie the first one. If it fazes her at all, she doesn’t show it. First drink, my ass.

She whispers something to her dark haired friend and they both look over at me before I can snap my head back to the drink I’ve been twirling in my hands. There’s no way they didn’t see me looking. I turn back to the bar with a deep sigh. I’m not made for this.

What am I doing? I’m a twenty-eight-year-old rancher from Wyoming who hasn’t been on a first date in ten years. She’s here with her friends for her twenty-first birthday. The last thing she needs is some older guy flirting with her. I shake my head, adjusting my ball cap.

Parker was wrong, I am definitely not ready for this. I’ll just give her this one drink for her birthday, and go back to the hotel. Download that taxi app thing Parker has. No reason to ruin his one night out in the city.

I feel around for my phone in my pockets before remembering I didn’t have it when I left the hotel room.

Shit. I’m screwed.

Katie startles me as she bounces back down onto the barstool next to me. “Alright, I’m ready, Autry. What are we drinking?” All thoughts of leaving fly out of my brain once I’m in her presence again. She called me Autry.

“Well, Mac,” I smile, “Figured I’d see if you’re a real cowgirl. Ordered a couple of whiskeys.” I nod to her legs, “I like your boots.”

“Thanks,” she laughs, grabbing her glass, “My best friend lives on a dude ranch. We ride a lot. I guess I’m just used to wearing them now.” I try not to watch her throat as her head tips back when she takes her first sip. “So what do you do?” she asks.

I clear my throat, running through any possible information about myself. It’s hard to focus when my heart is racing like this. “I’m a cattle rancher up in Wyoming. My ranch hand and I are here for a cattle auction.”

“Ah. One night only?” she giggles. Her laugh is like wind chimes in a summer breeze.

“Yep, just tonight. What about you?”

“Same. We just came to the city for my birthday. I live up in a small town called Juniper Ridge just barely inside of Idaho,” she explains, taking another drink. Her cheeks turn more pink with every sip. I feel my leg start bouncing under my stool.

“I think I’ve been through there,” I say, not wanting the conversation to end, “It’s pretty.”

In the next hour I find out she’s here with her best friend, who’s name is Hazel, and a few others from their small town. She just graduated college early, and started running her family’s vacation rental properties around Juniper Ridge’s Bear Lake. She loves it and wants to expand one day.

I tell her a bit about my family’s ranch. It’s an easy conversation, like we’ve known each other a while.

I can’t help but stare at her. The way she gets so animated when she talks, throwing her arms all over the place.

How the sparkle in her eyes glows brighter when she talks about her town and her friends.

The slight spackling of freckles trailing across her cheeks.

Her giggles when I order us another round.

She’s like a magnet. I can’t pull away, just keep moving in closer and closer.

“You know,” she slurs, “Historically, I don’t date cowboys.

Not my type. Too flighty, always covered in sweat and dust,” she makes a sort of ‘ick’ face before continuing.

“But you… you’re different. You’re all smiley and kind and funny.

And you smell like a cedar chest. I like you, Autry.

” She jabs her pointer finger into my chest with each point she makes.

“I like you too, Mac,” I nod. She likes me? Why?

Two whiskey sours in, we are laughing hysterically at a joke I can’t remember and my arm is tingling where her hand rests. I’ve forgotten about our age difference completely. I’ve forgotten we are strangers. I take her by the hand and whisk her away from the bar, over to where the band is playing.

Three whiskey sours in, we are dancing with her friends to a song I’ve never heard before, lights blurring around us.

Her hands are around my neck and I can count the stars in her eyes.

The warmth from her body radiates into mine when we are this close.

She’s like the sun. Warm and comfortable and keeping me close with a gravitational pull.

Four whiskey sours in, her soft lips finally meet mine and I feel the ember in my chest grow into a flame.

I never want her to let go. Her fingers scratch on my five o’clock shadow, sending a shiver down my spine.

I haven’t kissed very many girls in my life, but I already know this is the best kiss I’ve ever had.

After that, I just have pieces of memories, mixed with heightened emotions.

Leaving with her. Kissing her forehead as we walk down the city sidewalk through the melody of her giggles.

Trying way too hard to unlock her hotel room door, and probably waking up the whole floor in the process.

Ridiculously thin dress straps falling down her shoulders.

Soft cotton sheets around us with nothing in between us. Hearing her little gasps in the dark.

I want to brand them into my memory.

Feeling my heart beating so hard I’m sure she can hear it. The flame in my chest igniting into a burning fire I’ve never felt before.

When I wake up the next morning in a bed that is not mine, sunshine pouring in through the window, head pounding, ears ringing, it takes me a few minutes to realize where I am.

Memories come back in patches, and I can’t help the grin that spreads along my face.

I reach over to the other side of the bed to touch her again.

I’m met with an empty pile of sheets. I panic, shooting up in the bed, cracking my eyes open to look around.

The room is completely empty. The fire in my chest extinguishes into a pile of smoking coals.

I reach for the nightstand, only to realize my phone isn’t there. I forgot I didn’t bring it with me. I groan, wincing as my eyes open all the way. It’s far too bright in here. She not just gone, she’s gone-gone. No trace left behind.

My heart aches as I remember her gorgeous, happy face, bar lights twinkling behind her. I turn over to the nightstand again and notice a small, folded piece of paper with Autry scribbled on the front next to the hotel writing pad.

The note reads, Thx 4 everything. Had to jet. Call me! I frantically turn it over, looking for a phone number, but there’s nothing. Who leaves a note that says call me and doesn’t leave their phone number?

Probably someone who doesn’t actually want you to call them, Miles, I think to myself.

Standing up from the bed I run my hands through my hair. My face heats up. I can’t believe I let this happen. Should have known. In fact, I did know. Parker knew I didn’t want to come here.

It’s only been just over a year. Fourteen months since she left without a trace, not that anyone is counting. And now, here, the first time I feel a tiny spark, the first girl I feel anything for doesn’t feel the same.

That’s it. I’m done. No more giving into feelings, no more letting hope tease me only to be ripped away.

I’m glad she didn’t leave her number. I was already too attached to Katie after one night with her, I need to stay away anyway.

I’m not a one night stand sort of guy. From now on, I’m going to focus on the ranch and only the ranch.

No more distractions.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I pull my jeans and shirt back on, and head off to track down a cab to take me back to my own hotel. I’m sure Parker isn’t worried in the slightest where I am, if he’s even in our shared room, but I need to track down my phone, then him, then pack up to head out.

I go over the list in my mind a few times until I’m no longer thinking about Katie. No reason to. She probably does this all the time.

Plus, she lives in Idaho. It’s not like I’ll see her again anyway.