Free Riding the River by Jeanne Harrell

the
wildflowers looking at her horseshoe. Life doesn’t get any
better, does it?
    Thunder was happily munching some grass.
Sarah picked up her cowboy hat and put it over her face. She’d
decided to snooze out here in the meadow, nestled in the
wildflowers. Listening to a few birds. The gurgling stream… Eyes
that drooped lower and lower until she was asleep.
    In a little while, around the hill came Matt
riding with another guest. He saw a rider down in the meadow and
told the guest to head back to the barn. He needed to check on
something. Concerned, Matt rode up to the stream, checked the horse
and looked at the downed rider, expecting some kind of trouble.
Instead, he saw a girl lying in the flowers with her cowboy hat
over her face, arms comfortably at her sides. He started to smile
as he heard soft, snoring sounds. When he glanced at the horseshoe
on the ground beside her, he knew who it was.
    He debated what to do – Matt could ride his
horse quietly away and let her sleep, which he was very tempted to
do. He’d made kind of a half vow or something to stay away from
her. And he really didn’t want to bother her… But it wasn’t long
until dinner, and Mr. Walker probably didn’t want a guest out here
by herself. So he dismounted, let his horse get a drink and sat
down to wait until she woke up. He was impressed she could fall
asleep out here in the open so easily. She was obviously
comfortable in her new surroundings. An unexpected pleasure…
    As he watched and listened, she made funny
little noises in her sleep – bubbles and pops. A purring sound… It
was hard not to laugh. Suddenly, she reached under her hat to
scratch her nose, and the hat fell off her face. Matt held his
breath, thinking she’d wake up. He didn’t want to scare her, but he
didn’t want to leave either. He glanced at her pretty face, so calm
in sleep, smiled at her light snoring and wished he could remember
the color of her eyes. Blue? Gray? With the blonde hair in a spray
around her head, it resembled a halo. Her pale blue Western shirt
fit her well and her jeans hugged in the right places. It wasn’t an
altogether unpleasant job, just sitting and gazing at her. She’d
picked up cowboy boots too. The city gal he’d seen at the hotel was
gone and a country gal had taken her place. It set well with
him…
    Finally, an eye opened --- Blue, they were
deep blue… He’d thought so. Another eye opened and she looked up at
the sky. She must have seen him sitting there, but didn’t comment
at first.
    “Pretty, isn’t it?” she said at last. Matt
thought her voice, just roused from sleep, was as nice as the rest
of her.
    “Very…”
    “How long have you been sitting there?” Her
eyes slid over to focus on his smiling ones.
    “Long enough…”
    “How long is that?” she insisted.
    “… You make cute little noises in your sleep,
you know.”
    She scrunched her eyebrows. “No, I didn’t
know.”
    “Your boyfriend’s never told you?” He was
still smiling at her.
    “Whether or not I have a boyfriend is no
concern of yours.” She sat up and grabbed her hat.
    Matt laughed. “Well, there’s no need to get
upset. I was just…”
    “… Just what? Spying on me?”
    “No, ma’am. I thought you might be in some
trouble, so I rode over.”
    “And seeing that I was in no immediate
danger…”
    “Sorry,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Then I
couldn’t resist watching you sleep. You’re kinda cute when you
snore...”
    Sarah huffed at him, got to her feet and
snatched up her horseshoe.
    “…You…”
    “And what’s with the horseshoe? Dan give it
to you? Is it bringing you luck?” He was laughing at her again.
    “Obviously not, since you’re here bothering
me.”
    “… Am I bothering you, really?”
    Sarah turned to look at him. She folded her
arms across her chest and tried her best to look cross. “You’ve
tried to ignore me ever since I got here, and now you make a pest
of yourself.”
    “I’m a