Page 21 of The Earl's Wrangler
“And hope we don’t screw it up,” Randall said flatly.“And if we’re done trying to out-cliché each other now?”
Sawyer chuckled softly.“Okay.You got me on that one.Now, we have work to do, and it isn’t going to do itself.”
“I was hoping that since we got the stalls cleaned already and that with all the excitement of the last few days… maybe we could go for a ride?I haven’t had a chance to see anything of Wyoming other than the ranch.”
Alan returned, standing in the doorway.
“I can’t just leave,” Sawyer said.
“Actually, you can,” Alan interrupted.“Go away for a few days.Take one of the ranch vehicles and see some sights.Randall can go with you if he wants.If your father shows up, we can say that we don’t know where you are and that he should get the hell out of Dodge.Things here aren’t going to fall apart over a couple of days.”
“Are you sure?”Sawyer asked.It seemed like a lot.
“Go.Let us see if a little absence can help defuse this situation.”He waved, and Sawyer went down to the room he was using.He grabbed his bag and hurried out to the bunkhouse, where he packed enough for a couple of days before meeting Randall in the yard.They tossed their things behind the seat in the truck and took off out of the ranch drive.
“Where to?”Randall asked.
“We’re a couple hours from Grand Teton.We could go there.It’s beautiful, with the peaks and the river valleys.Yellowstone is probably farther than we should travel for a few days.”Though it was one of his favorite places.He had vacationed there a number of times, but the distance was a little too much.
“Will I get to see geysers?”Randall asked.
“No.Those are only in Yellowstone.But there are plenty of other things to see.I hope that’s okay.”
Randall smiled.“I’m sure it will be great.”
Sawyer drove to the highway going north, and they settled in.“Is everywhere here like this?”Randall asked as they drove toward the mountain range.“I mean, there are peaks all around.England has hills, but nothing like this.”
“Yeah.Welcome to the northern Rockies.Can you imagine being one of those first settlers heading west?They crossed pass after pass thinking the next one was the last.But the mountains went on for five hundred miles in some places.Now we drive through them easily, but not back then when all they had were horses, oxen, mules, and a wagon.”
Randall continued looking out the windows, his head going from side to side.“How long does it take to get from one side of the state to the other?”
“It’s about three hundred and fifty miles from one side to the other, but some parts of the state are pretty remote.There isn’t a lot of population here in Wyoming, and a lot of the state is owned by the federal government, so there are huge unspoiled and wild spaces.Over the years, that led to a lot of tension, but today we have some amazing resources that would have otherwise been lost.”Sawyer continued driving as Randall practically pressed his nose to the glass like one of Chip’s dogs.Even Sawyer had to admit that the scenery was pretty amazing, but what kept turning his head was the sight sitting in the passenger seat.Sawyer knew that his heart had woken up and that he was developing strong feelings for Randall, ones he should put out the way he’d stomp a burning ember into the ground.After all, he would return to his fancy life as lord of the manor soon.Sawyer knew he’d also be back on his own again, and he might as well get used to it.
He pushed that notion away.What the fuck was he doing?He shook his head.
“What are you thinking about?”Randall asked.
“Nothing,” Sawyer answered quickly with a smile.He needed to get that notion out of his head.Randall had been here barely a week, and while he liked the guy, he was not going to fall in love with him in that short period of time.And even if that was happening… he was happy.Damn it all, he was enjoying the time with Randall, and if that came with disappointment at the end, so be it.He would take what he could get for as long as it lasted and deal with the crap at the other end when it arrived.Hell, he dealt with horses every single day, and he knew what to do with the crap that always seemed to flow no matter what.Shovel it, dump it on the muck pile, and move on.And that was what he’d do now.
“Are you woolgathering?”Randall asked.
“I don’t know what that means,” Sawyer said, pulling himself back into the moment.He reached over and took Randall’s hand, determined to stay in the here and now for as long as it lasted.
Chapter 9
RANDALL COULDbarely breathe as they came to a stop at the scenic overlook.They had been driving for about three hours, and suddenly he found it impossible to look away.Randall opened the truck door, mesmerized by the sight in front of him.This view was famous, with so many pictures published of it that he might have thought it redundant, but seeing the place in person made him realize how flat all the images seemed.
“The mountains look like you can reach out and touch them.”Randall used the same voice he had when he was a child and his parents had dragged him to church.He knew he was in some grand space that might belong to God.
“The mountains themselves are miles away, but they seem right there.”Sawyer reached out with a smile.
The valley below them seemed lush, with rivers and even a lake.It was hard to tell how large they were because everything seemed small as the line of jagged peaks rose above them.Randall shifted closer to Sawyer, unable to look away.Sawyer slipped an arm around him, and they stood, just the two of them, in the late afternoon light as the shadows of the peaks slowly spread over the valley, while the peaks themselves seemed to blaze as the snow still clinging to the tops glowed and sparkled.“The Grand Tetons.”
“Yeah.This is them.They’re also called the Sisters and goodness knows what else.”
“Teton comes from the French,” Randall said and leaned closer.“It means teats.”
Sawyer groaned.“I was told as a kid that the name refers to one of the Western Sioux tribes, and I think that’s a lot better.When I was a kid, I helped out on a dairy farm, and believe me, I saw more than my share of teats.So let’s leave it at the tribe.”He sighed.
