Page 7 of Without a Doubt

“About an hour.”

The question is on the tip of my tongue, but I've already asked and he said it's a surprise. All I know is we're doing something that may make me dirty or ruin my clothes, and it's an hour away. I really do love surprises, so I'm comfortable with waiting to find out.

“Sounds good,” I say. “So, where do you work?”

“I'm a bag boy at a grocery store in town.”

“I work at Sub Grub. What glamorous jobs we have.”

Emerson chuckles. “I've never been there. And hey, I'll take money any way I can make it.”

I shift in my seat to turn toward him a bit. “Any way? So, you would strip if you were paid?”

That bright smile makes another appearance. “Are you making me an offer, Eva?”

“Ha! If I wanted you to strip, I could make you do it without paying you,” I say with confidence. Guys are all the same. Push the right buttons and they're putty in your hands, willing to do whatever it takes to get to the good stuff.

“You're right,” he agrees.

This time, it's me grinning. “That's twice you've said that. Either I'm right all the time, or you're wrong a lot.”

“Or maybe I'm the kind of guy who can admit when he's wrong and you're not used to hearing it.”

“Maybe it's all three.”

We have small talk for a few more minutes until we stop to enjoy the warm weather coming in with the windows down and the country music on the radio. As we get closer to the hour mark, a question hits me.

“Do you even like country music?”

“Yeah, but I don't listen to it all the time. We're getting close.”

I don't even know where we are anymore. We get off the interstate and Emerson picks up his phone from where it's sitting in the cup holder. After pressing a few buttons, he lifts the phone to his ear.

“Hey, we're about twenty minutes out.” He pauses. “She's experienced.” He laughs. “Yeah, okay. See you in a few. Thanks.” Emerson hangs up, but doesn't say anything. Was he talking about me when he said, 'she's experienced'? Experienced how?

“Were you talking about me?” I ask, not able to keep it in.

“Yeah.”

“In what way am I experienced, Emerson? What have you gotten me into?”

He laughs. It's so easy to make him laugh. Most of the time, I'm not even trying to be funny. “Don't worry. You'll see. All will make sense once we get there.”

There is apparently a house down a gravel road. The trees clear to show a wide-open space with a two-story farmhouse in the middle. There are pastures to our left and right, wooden fence posts set in intervals. To our right, is a man standing in front of two saddled horses. Emerson is wearing a grin when I glance at him, slightly confused.

He gets out, comes around, and opens my door. He even holds out his hand for me to take as I hop out of his truck. I stay quiet as we walk over to the man. He has a round gut, but he's about Emerson's height. He's wearing jeans, an old, faded blue button up shirt, and a cowboy hat.

“Hey, Uncle Terry.” This is his uncle? “Thanks for doing this for Eva and me.”

His uncle smiles. “Anything for my nephew. It's nice to meet you, Eva.”

I shake his hand. “You, too.”

Terry turns his attention to Emerson. “The trail looks good, so you shouldn't have any issues. Y'all have fun.” He hands the reins over to Emerson and then walks away.

Suddenly, it hits me. I feel like an idiot for not realizing it the moment I saw the horses, but I ignore that part. I grab Emerson's arm with excitement. “We're going horseback riding?”

“Yep. You used to go all the time, right? Figured you might like to go riding.”

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