Читать книгу The Rebellious Rancher - Kate Pearce - Страница 10

Chapter Three

She certainly wasn’t used to picking up after herself.... Ben checked that Silver was still following along behind him. She wasn’t exactly moving fast, her hat pushed back on her head as she took in the amazing view of the Sierras and the foothills leading up to them. Seeing as they weren’t going that far now, he was happy to let her get used to the horse and settle in.

If he’d been famous since the age of five, he guessed he wouldn’t be much better. Sharing a room with Kaiden had drummed tidiness into his bones. If he didn’t keep things nice, Kaiden would dump all his stuff in the cow barn. Even though they now had separate rooms, he still complained when Ben didn’t leave the bathroom quite how he liked it. Silver Meadows was obviously used to being waited on hand and foot.

There had been a moment when she’d looked around the yard like some haughty princess, and he’d almost gone and put her stuff away for her himself. But he couldn’t let her think that was the way things were going to be. She might look like some modern-day version of Doris Day, whom his auntie Rae loved to pieces, but when they were out on the trail, they’d have to rely on each other. If she wanted the real experience, he was more than willing to give it to her.

The turnoff to the ghost town of Morgansville appeared on his right, and he waited for Silver to catch up with him.

“We’re going this way, so take it slow, okay?”

She paused beside him, her blue eyes direct as she inspected the narrow cutout. “This looks man-made.”

“It is.” He pointed up the straight line of the slope. “There used to be some kind of rail system up to the mine, and this is all that’s left of it.”

“Mine?” She sat up straight. “Like a gold mine?”

“Silver. We can check it out on the way if you like. It’s scheduled for being filled in after someone nearly got trapped in there, but you can still see the main entrance and where the buildings used to stand.”

In the last year, he’d taken a dozen trail rides out past the mine and up to the ghost town of Morgansville, and he’d yet to meet someone who wasn’t interested in the history of the place. Even though the trail rides went from the Morgans to the Lymonds and beyond, all the best places in his opinion were right here.

He led the way up the rapidly narrowing path, aware of the gradually encroaching silence as the vegetation was stripped away, leaving an unrelenting dusty whiteness that sometimes hurt the eyes. He took another turn off the road and finally came to a stop at the flattened piece of land where all that remained of the once-prolific Morgansville silver mine remained.

“That’s it?” Silver asked. She sounded just as disappointed as everyone else who got to visit.

“Yeah.” He pointed past the sealed-up door of the mine and the fluttering yellow tape around the cave-in. “The mine buildings used to stand to the right, but they took out the machinery and anything useful years ago.”

“It’s kind of sad,” she said, her gaze fixed on the DANGER DO NOT ENTER sign. “Is it really dangerous in there?”

“Nearly came down on Rachel Morgan and Cauy Lymond last year when they were trying to locate some drunken dude ranch guests.”

She shivered slightly. “Well, don’t worry about me going down there. I hate small spaces.”

“So does Cauy,” Ben said dryly. “I’m surprised he made it out.”

“I used to be in this kids’ cowboy show—”

“—The Crazy Catsby Cowgirls, yeah.” Ben completed the sentence for her.

She gave him a curious glance. “Most people who watched that show were girls.”

He shrugged. “I used to mind my baby sister, Daisy, and she loved it so I somehow ended up watching reruns with her every day.” He hastened to add, “I don’t normally keep up with all that celebrity stuff, though.”

“Well, in that show there was an episode where me and my big sister Cookie got stuck down a mine.” Silver blew out a breath. “The thing was, I really did get trapped on the set because Dylan Palmer locked me in. It was terrifying. If my mom hadn’t realized I was missing, and hadn’t come back to look for me, I would’ve been stuck there all night.”

“That sucks. I never liked that Dylan guy much.”

“You had good taste, because most of the fans went crazy over him, and he was the vilest, most awful person imaginable....” She shuddered. “I was so glad when he left the show.”

“Can’t say I blame you.” Ben gathered his reins. “Seen enough?”

“Yes, let’s keep going.” She waited for him to ride off in front of her and followed him out, with one last glance back over her shoulder at the abandoned mine. “I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

* * *

Silver raised her arm and coughed into her elbow as the dust kicked up by Calder and Ted the mule swirled around her. She eased back on the reins and contemplated the high walls crowding in on them. It felt like she was in a different silent world and it was getting way too narrow for her liking. The sun was right above the gully and beating down on her head, which didn’t help. She contemplated calling out to Ben and asking how much farther they had to go, but he was probably too far ahead of her.

Not that he’d answer her anyway. He’d already shown a distinct lack of interest in jumping when she snapped her fingers. She tried to tell herself that it was refreshing to be treated like a normal person, but she wasn’t really convinced. Being a star, being on show all the time, was almost as natural to her as breathing, and she wasn’t used to being ignored.

Just as the silence was beginning to get to her, the path widened out into a level plane with the sign PARKING FOR MORGANSVILLE. NO UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES BEYOND THIS POINT.

Ben had stopped ahead, and was already dismounting and tying up the horses on the hitching post. She aimed Ladybug toward him and he caught hold of the bridle.

“We’ll have lunch here, and then you can take a walk through the ghost town if you’d like,” Ben offered.

Silver nodded and swung her leg over the horse to dismount. When she reached the ground, her knees buckled and Ben reached for her elbow to steady her. Her feet felt like they were made of lead and she had no idea how she was going to move them.

“Muscles locked up?” Ben crouched beside her and dug his fingers into the back of her knee. “Hang in there.”

She grabbed for his shoulder as he massaged her leg and groaned somewhere between delight and agony as he expertly stretched out her cramped muscles.

“Better?” He looked up at her, his brown gaze totally professional.

“Much.”

“It happens all the time.” He rose to his feet. “There are a couple of picnic benches over here so we don’t need to unpack more than the lunch Mrs. Morgan made for us.”

“Great.” Silver managed to take a step and then another one and suddenly everything started working again. For the first time in her life she was glad of the strenuous workouts her personal trainer made her go through every day. “Can I help?”

He was doing something with her horse and spoke without turning around. “Sure. Look in Calder’s left saddlebag and grab the food while I check the table out.”

Silver approached the huge horse somewhat warily, but he paid no attention to her as she unbuckled the saddlebag, only to reveal a medical kit, three pairs of hand-knitted socks, and four pairs of black boxers. She hurriedly shut the flap and went around to the other left side where she found the packs of sandwiches and a flask of what she hoped was coffee.

She brought everything up to the table where Ben was sitting staring out at the ghost town and placed it in front of him.

“You do wear underwear.” The words fell out of her mouth before she considered their impact.

His head jerked up. “Were you checking?”

“No, I opened the wrong saddlebag.” Silver sat opposite him. “Although I would think that not wearing underwear when you are riding long distances could cause all kinds of issues.”

He studied her cautiously. “Yeah, I guess so. How are your calves now?”

“Much better, thanks.” She opened the container of food and her stomach growled. “Oh my God, my dietitian and trainer would kill me if they knew what I was just about to eat.”

“It’s just a sandwich.” Ben waited until she’d made her selection and then helped himself. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s white flour, full-fat mayonnaise, and salted chicken.” Silver studied the bread. “If I was going to be good, I’d just eat the chicken and lettuce.”

“Then it would be a salad and not a sandwich,” Ben commented as he poured them both some coffee. “Are you really not allowed to eat whatever you want?”

“If I want to continue to get film roles, then yes.”

He snorted and helped himself to his second sandwich. “I wouldn’t last five minutes.”

“You wouldn’t have to,” she pointed out. “Guys get away with a lot of things that girls can’t.”

“Double standards, right?” He chewed for a while. “My sister, Daisy, who works in tech, says it’s hard for her to be taken as seriously as her male colleagues.”

“Daisy, the one you watched my TV show with?”

“Yeah, my one and only sister.” His smile was fond. “For some reason she liked me looking after her the best, so I’d get my homework done while she watched her TV shows and Auntie Rae made dinner for the rest of us.”

“Do you have a big family?”

“There are six of us, so I suppose that’s a lot. I’m the second son. My older brother, Adam, basically runs the ranch—”

“Your older brother is Adam and you’re Benjamin?” She interrupted him. “Don’t tell me you have a Caleb next?”

“Nope, a Kaiden.” She grinned at him and his brow creased. “What’s so funny about that?”

She set down her sandwich and shook her head. “And then?”

“Danny and Evan.”

“Was your mom by any chance a Howard Keel fan?”

Ben frowned. “I’ve no idea. Why does it matter?”

“Have you ever seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“It’s a musical which came out in the fifties about seven brothers looking for seven brides. The boys are named alphabetically from the Bible, starting with Adam and Benjamin.”

She looked at him expectantly.

“I doubt there’s a Kaiden in the Bible,” Ben said. “What do these guys do?”

“Well, it’s all a bit politically incorrect these days because they decide to follow the advice of the Romans and steal their brides from the local town just like the Romans took the Sabine women.”

“That’s not good.” Ben paused to consider what she’d told him. “I can’t see us galloping down to Morgantown and kidnapping women somehow. Not that any of them would let us, since BB started those female-only self-defense classes. We’d probably get our asses kicked all the way back to the ranch.”

He finished his second sandwich while she still nibbled at her first.

“Did the women in the movie get away?”

“No, they end up falling in love with the brothers.”

Ben shook his head. “That’s whacked.”

“Stockholm syndrome at its finest.” She nodded. “But you should ask your mom whether she named you guys after the movie.”

“I’m not sure I want to know if she did.”

“It is a great movie for its time.” She sipped her coffee. “You should still watch it.”

“I hate musicals.” Ben topped off her coffee. “I can’t dance, and I sing like a bullfrog.”

“Which is funny because the guy they cast in the movie as Benjamin couldn’t dance or sing either.”

“Then why the heck was he in it?” Ben asked.

“Back in the day, if you were on contract with a studio they could pretty much put you in whatever they wanted, and you had to make the best of it.” She grimaced. “Actually, that hasn’t changed much now. Poor old Ben was stuck at the back or sitting down while everyone else was dancing up a storm.”

Ben smiled. “Now that I can relate to, seeing as I was always stuck at the back in school and church stuff.” He eyed the remaining three sandwiches. “You okay if I have another one?”

“Sure! Have them all if you like.” She gestured at the sandwich in her hand. “This is plenty for me.”

“We’ll eat again after we set up camp tonight.”

“How far are you planning on going?” Silver asked as she finished up her sandwich.

“About five miles. I don’t want to push you too hard.” He watched her face fall. “Do you think you can make it?”

She grimaced. “I’m not sure. How far have we come already?”

“Three miles, give or take.”

“Is that all?” She gawped at him. “I thought it was at least ten.”

“Well, we are traveling very slowly. An average horse can easily put in fifteen to twenty miles a day.” He finished off his coffee. “How about you let me know if you can’t make it, and if we can stop, we’ll do it.”

“Thanks for being so nice,” Silver said softly.

He shrugged and tried not to smile back at her. He normally had no problem keeping things professional, but Silver wasn’t anything like his normal clients. He’d never ended up in a crazy conversation about musicals, and his mother’s reasons for giving them alphabetical names. He had no idea why his mother did anything anyway, and in his current mood, was unlikely to ask her.

“We’re going to be out here for over a week,” Ben reminded Silver. “There’s no point in ruining the experience for you on day one, is there?”

She reached over and squeezed his hand, and he fought the impulse to close his much-larger fingers over hers. “Thank you, though.”

“Yeah, well, let’s get moving, shall we?” Ben eased out of her grasp and stood up, brushing crumbs from his clothing. “We don’t want to be stuck up here when it gets dark. It’s not called a ghost town for nothing.”

* * *

Ben wasn’t what she’d expected. Silver glanced over at him as he guided her down what she guessed had once been the main street of the once-thriving town of Morgansville. Getting him to talk required a lot of effort, but when he did open up, he had a dry sense of humor that appealed to her, and he was far from stupid.

Due to the higher altitude, a lot of the buildings looked as if they had only just been abandoned, although Ben had told her it had happened a long time ago. Something was bugging her. “Why is it so quiet and barren?” She turned a slow circle, listening in vain for any sounds of life beyond her and Ben. “It looks like someone dumped these buildings on the moon.”

“The settlers cut down all the trees to build the houses and the stamping mill, pulled up all the bushes and stuff to plow the fields, and caused the equivalent of a mini dust bowl.” He pointed out toward the barren hillside. “That used to be covered in sequoias.”

“Is that why the settlers eventually moved down the road?” Silver asked.

“The creek dried up, they couldn’t power the stamping mill, and the mine stopped producing enough silver to make it worth the effort anymore. They had a town meeting and they decided to move down the valley to what we now call Morgantown.”

“I can’t say I blame them.” Silver gazed into the broken window of one of the wooden houses where strips of wallpaper were swaying in the breeze. “This would make a great film set.”

“I bet—except I don’t think the Morgantown Historical Society would be happy about letting a film crew tromp all over the place. These building aren’t as sturdy as they look.”

“I’m auditioning for a role in a Western next month,” Silver said. “I really want to get the part, and I thought this might help me get a sense of how it might have been back then.”

“So I heard.”

He shifted his booted feet, making his spurs jangle. Since their unexpected bonding over lunch he’d retreated back into the shortest sentences possible. But maybe they hadn’t bonded, and he’d just been polite listening to her chat away like a fool. That was his job after all.

She frowned. “My dad told you?”

“Yeah.” He started moving again, his gaze at the building at the end of the street. “Do you want to see the bank? The vault’s still there. I guess they couldn’t figure out how to remove something so heavy.”

“Sure.”

Seeing as her dad was super overprotective, she had to wonder what else he’d said to Ben. Had he warned him off? Silver smiled at her own arrogance. Maybe it was way simpler than that and Ben Miller simply wasn’t interested in getting to know her. She rarely got the opportunity to talk to someone outside her tight circle and she’d enjoyed talking to him and stupidly wanted him to like her back.

But how would she know if him liking her was genuine? Being around famous people could distort the most basic of interactions. She’d done her first commercial as a baby, and never had what could be considered a normal life. Maybe she wasn’t even capable of being liked for herself—maybe she didn’t know who she was after all.

“You okay?” Ben had halted in front of a brick building and was looking back at her.

“Yes, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About this place as a movie set?”

“No, about my inability to know how to act like a normal person.”

He looked her up and down. “You’re doing okay.”

“Thanks.” She frowned at him. “Every time I start a conversation, you look at me as if I’m nuts.”

He took so long to answer that she’d almost given up hope.

“You’re... different than the people I normally take out on a trail ride.”

“In a good way or a bad way?” Silver advanced toward him.

“Neither. Just different.” He pointed in through the open doorway. “If you look right through the back you can just about see the open vault.”