River's End (River's End Series, #1)(12)

“So how does this work then? What do you do?”

“The ranch has been in our family for a hundred and twenty years. It used to be just for cattle. But in the seventies, my dad turned to horses. And since then, Jack has turned it into a training facility. There didn’t used to be a lot of cash. Jack has turned this place upside-down.”

“Is that why the river is named after your family?”

Joey smiled and hung his head. “Yeah, my ancestors were the only ones here, so… they simply named the river after them and it stuck.”

“What happened to your dad?”

Joey shrugged. “He died when I was five. Jack and his wife, Lily, raised me.”

Ah… so she got it now. Jack was his brother and father; and it wasn’t an easy transference, she supposed.

“What happened to your mom?”

He looked away. “They were killed together in a car crash.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

He smiled at her and she blinked. He was so perfect, she wanted to merely stare at him in the sunlight. “So your mom died recently?”

She nodded. “Yes. It’s only been a few weeks…”

“It never gets okay. Losing your parents.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

He smiled, and she smiled back, nearly blinded by Joey’s flash of white teeth and dimples. God, he really should have left the ranch long ago to become a movie star.

“Has Chance shown you around?”

“Not at all.”

Joey glanced her way and she stared harder towards Jack. He gently laid a whip-like-looking device over the back of the skittish horse. What was he doing?

“Let me,” Joey said as he glanced down. “You have any shoes that won’t break your ankles? There isn’t any pavement. Not that those aren’t great shoes. They are. But…”

“But ridiculous to wear here. I lost most of my stuff in a fire recently. It’s part of why I showed up here.”

He frowned. “That’s terrible. You’ve been through it of late. Can I do anything?”

A knot of regret squeezed her heart. Joey looked so earnest, and appeared to feel actual sympathy for her. How long since anyone felt that towards her? Look at how Jack reacted to her. With unconcealed, total scorn. Joey’s first instinct was, what could he do to help her? No one had offered to help her in so long. She turned her full attention to Joey and smiled, suddenly appreciating Joey for much more than just his pretty smile.

“Could I borrow a coat?”

“A coat? Are you serious? You don’t have a coat? Or decent shoes? Jesus, Erin, of course, you can borrow a coat. But why doesn’t Chance help you?”

She glanced away. “He and I have never been all that close. He’s not like you.”

“Why don’t I take you shopping? We can get a few things.”

She was tempted. So tempted, she almost said yes. But she thought of the way Chance looked at her, and the way he expected her to deal with the Rydells. The way she dealt with Joey. However, she looked into Joey’s face and knew she didn’t have to use him. Or hurt him. She didn’t have to be what everyone expected from her.

She shook her head. “No, I’ll get some things. But I would take a coat to borrow until I can.”

Joey looked across at her. He took her hand and pulled her with him towards the house. “Okay a coat. Then I’ll show you around the place.”

The inside of the house was even better in the daylight. The furniture was big and comfortable, big enough to hold the massive men that lived here. There wasn’t a candlestick or dainty piece of furniture anywhere. It was all big and heavy, with square corners and solid legs. The walls were wood, with big windows that dappled the wood floor in squares of sunlight. The only bow to modern comforts was a ridiculously large TV that hung on the wall, which all the seating faced.

Joey came back from a hall closet with a brown coat. It was thick corduroy material. “There is no hurry to give this back. It doesn’t fit me anymore. In fact, just plan on keeping it, okay?”

She took it and slipped it on with a sigh as the heavy warmth surrounded her. She hadn’t felt warm in days. She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Joey. You can’t imagine how I appreciate it.”

“Come on; I’ll show you around.”

Joey took her hand and she followed him outside, breathing in the crisp, clean air, and feeling the sunlight’s warmth falling over the valley before her. The view from the porch was breathtaking. How could one wake up to this every day and not be glad just to be alive?

She followed Joey down a road that led past the outbuildings, and bordered a long meadow. He told her they grew alfalfa there all spring and summer. The road they walked on was dirty and dusty, with big bumpy rocks scattered along it. She tried to keep from slipping on them and twisting an ankle in her strappy, heeled shoes. Once past the buildings, the road dipped down towards the river. They came to a flat, camp-like setup. Pine trees were scattered all around with leafless, skeletal cottonwood trees, fat and thick, filling the riverbanks. The river was louder here, and the rushing gurgle echoed back towards them. The water flashed silver through the trees.

The road ended there. Two trails took off: one down along the mountain, and the other going off diagonally from them towards the woods. Joey took her along the mountain. It was a narrow, snaking trail that soon opened up as the river came into view before her.