What could go wrong when taking a road trip, alone, across the USA after a break up? Well, I can answer that for you.
Your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. That's what could happen. The universe is really out to get me, these days.
That is...
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May 9, 2022
James doesn't say a word the whole ride there and I don't either because there is a comfortable silence that has settled around us. The road is gravel with stretches of fenced in pastures on both sides. Cattle roam freely throughout the large grass areas.
The view of the mountains is beautiful from here, something that I would never have thought that I would say as a city girl.
A beautiful two story house, with white siding, can be seen in the distance. As we get closer, I read what I presume to be the name of the farm, Evertree Ranch. It is written on a sign that is hanging from the archway to the entrance of the farm, well... I suppose it's a ranch.
As we make it through the entrance of the ranch, we are greeted by 4 beautiful dogs. "Oh my god, puppies," I squeal in excitement. I feel James's chest rumble against my back as he laughs. We come to a complete stop a few feet from the house. I jump down from the horse and am tackled by a dog almost immediately. I fall to the ground laughing as the perpetrator licks my face.
"Juniper, away," is called in a booming voice. The dog obeys and walks a few feet away from me to lay down. I'm still giggling when I look up to see that James has already hitched the horse to a nearby tree and now standing right above me, his eyes twinkling with some emotion I can't quite place. He offers me his hand to pull me up and I yelp in surprise when I fly through the air and right into his chest. "Oops, sorry. I didn't think you would be so light," James apologizes instantly.
"It's fine," I say laughing as I take a small step back from him. I reach out to squeeze his arm, "You've got some strength with how you just yanked me up like I was nothing." His laugh draws my attention to his eyes, only to see him already watching me closely.
"Ranching does that to you," he says quietly. All of a sudden I feel like I'm on fire and have to look away before I can read anymore into it.
"So, what are their names," I quickly change the subject as I turn to look at the dogs running around the open lawn.
He points to the one that jumped on me, "That's Juniper." He then turns and points at a dog with two blue eyes, "That's Zero." Finally he points at the last dog, "And that's Searchlight." He turns back toward me, "They are border collies and work cattle with me."
"Oh cool," I turn around in a circle to look at the property, "so this is where you live," I ask, turning back to face him. He looks at the house and surrounding land seriously before replying.
"Yeah. That barn over there," he points to a large wooden barn a few yards from the house, "has been here for over 100 years, but the house was just built in 2018." I feel like there is a story behind that, but something I don't want to delve into with the pained look that crossed his features when talking about it. So instead I change the subject, yet again.
