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Luke 9
Twenty minutes later, Connie and I were saddled up. Connie rode a beautiful paint named Amazing Grace, while I rode Elvis, a beautiful, black gelding. We were headed for the path Jared, the sturdy-looking cowboy with a brown cowboy hat and frayed jeans, who saddled our horses, told us to stay on. “If you follow this path around, it’ll take you past the guest house, which should be open by now. Feel free to check it out. We opened it earlier this morning so you folks could tour it. Then continue on the path, and it’ll bring you right back here. You’ll pass more of the vineyard and a couple of horse pastures, then you should be able to see the roof on the ranch house, so you’ll know you’re almost back home. It takes about an hour, hour and a half, depending on your pace. Have a nice ride.”
And with that, we took off down the well-worn path with Connie leading the way as if riding a horse had been her way of life, which I knew it wasn’t. I felt comfortable enough, but it had been a while, and I knew I’d be sore tonight. Still, getting some alone time with Connie was exactly what I’d been hoping for.
I rode up alongside her. “What brought this ride on with just you and me this morning? Seemed like you wanted to get out of there in a hurry.”
We rode at a nice canter that kept me from bouncing against the saddle. Maybe I could get through this without sore balls. That was my hope, anyway.
“Just needed some time to clear my head.” I could tell she was concentrating on what she was doing by the death grip she had on the reins. Her horse seemed a bit agitated by it and kept tossing its head up and down.
“Try to relax, Connie. Your horse can sense your anxiety. Just breathe. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
She followed my instructions but didn’t ease up on the reins. “I’d forgotten how high up this is. Did he have to give me the biggest horse in the stable?”
“I believe Jared said that Amazing Grace was the gentlest and knew the path the best. You’re going to be fine. Trust your horse. Breathe, Connie, and go easy on the reins. You’re doing great.”
Her chest expanded with a deep breath, and when she slowly let it out, she seemed to sink into the saddle a bit more and allowed herself to relax.
“Okay. I can do this. I used to do this when I was younger, so there’s no reason I can’t do it now, right?”
“Exactly. You’ve got this. Take a good look around. This place is magnificent, and it’s yours if you want it. From the vineyard to the house. I don’t know about you, but living here, even if it’s only part time, would be amazing. I mean, look around you! It’s a slice of heaven.”
“Yes. Okay. I’ll admit that it’s magnificent, exactly like you said, but it’s big, and it comes with a lot of responsibilities. It’s all happening way too fast. How about we just try to enjoy the ride this morning. My cousin’s coming over tonight and hopefully, she’ll help guide me through all of this.”
“Is this the same cousin you spent that summer with up here in Napa?”
“How did you know about that?”
“We became friends right after that summer, remember? For a while that summer, your cousin was all you talked about. I even remember you getting up in class when we had that assignment to talk about our summer vacation. You told everyone about how you and she became good friends and how you never wore shoes all summer. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. No shoes, even outside.”
She giggled then, and my heart soared. I knew I’d finally gotten her to calm down. That little giggle of hers always meant she’d relaxed and was ready to have some fun. And when Connie wanted to have fun, she was in her element. Exactly like she was on stage.
“We hated shoes that summer. They stood for everything we were rebelling against… which was mostly our moms who expected us to act a certain way. More so for Shea than for me, but still. It was one of the best summers of my life.”
“Maybe we can get this summer to fall into that category as well.”
“Maybe we can,” she said, with another giggle, melting my heart. “Look, that must be the guest house Jared was telling us about.”
A ranch house almost as big as the main house loomed in front of us. “That’s the guest house? Holy shit!”
This was a single-story house, made from blocks of sandstone, so it had to be one of the original homes in the area. The wide front porch was even with the grounds with double doors that looked as if they were the originals. There was also one of those black souped-up golf carts parked next to the house, so someone had to be inside. It seemed to be the way the workers got around while on the property. I’d noticed a red one parked alongside the stables this morning as well. They must be fun to drive.
“The more I see of this place, the more I don’t understand why Dusty left it to me instead of his family. Did he hate them or what?”
“I don’t know, but whatever happened for him to leave all of this to you, had to have been something big. Maybe his family didn’t treat him right or like that song…”
“People Are Crazy?Yeah, I was thinking about that song as well.”
And, as if we’d planned it, we harmonized the chorus, smiling and laughing as we sang.
I dismounted, while I kept singing that Billy Carrington song, and tied my horse to the fence. I gave Elvis some loving, then walked up to Connie and finished our song, even adding the whistle at the end.
We both chuckled, and once again, my emotions surged for this woman who’d stolen my affections when I was just a kid and still held them tight, without even knowing anything about it.
“This is too much,” Connie said. “I don’t know if I want to see what’s in this house. I haven’t even seen everything in the main house yet. Thisiscrazy, and so was Dusty. What did he think I would do with all this?”
“Enjoy it. But let’s not think about that yet. Come on inside. Let’s take a little rest. I don’t know about you, but my butt is already hurting. Do you need help dismounting?”
