“Well you have a good day now. I’m heading back out to the road." With that he was up and heading down the stairs. He threw his bedroll on the back of his Harley and hopped atop the black and chrome beast. With a click of his heels and a turn of a key, he was rumbling down the road. Erin watched as he rode off into the rising sun and lost track of time. Before she realized it Jack was out of sight and the sun was shining bright. A wide smile broke across her face as she walked back into the cabin and prepped for a long day of work.
She started in the bathroom—checking first to see if Randy was using the toilet—and then cleaned up the master bedroom. Perhaps one day, when the bed and breakfast up and running, the master bedroom could be rented out, but for now it was all hers. Erin was surprised to find a firm queen sized mattress left behind and as she put a fresh set of linen on the bed she couldn’t help but imagine Jack taking her on top of the bed. She shook her head and reminded herself that she was here to build a business and not seduce a lonely widower, no matter how sexy he was.
Erin checked her watch and noticed it was lunchtime. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she’d skipped breakfast and done a heavy load of chores so she decided to make a sandwich anyway. She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and sat down on the porch to eat. Three bites in she felt as if someone was watching her and turned around to see a squirrel—presumably Randy—watching her from the porch railing.
“Are you Randy?”
The squirrel didn’t answer and Erin shrugged her shoulders. “Jack wasn’t too talkative when I met him either, but you’ll come around.” The squirrel tilted his head and Erin laughed. “I’ll make you a deal Randy. I’ll give you some of this sandwich, provided you don’t scare me in the bathroom anymore, ok?” Erin pretended like he agreed with her and threw a piece of bread out onto the grass. Randy rushed off the side of the railing and bounded past her. Erin shrieked as the furry critter ran past her and stuffed the heel of bread in his mouth. He turned and looked back at her with the same quizzical look on his face. She took the look as a thank you and went back to her sandwich. Maybe Jack is right about Randy, she thought to herself, although the jury is stull out on both of them.
Feeling refreshed, Erin decided to take a walk out on the prairie. She looked at the rifle lying on the counter and decided to bring it. Cindy had told her it was a good idea to get in the habit of bringing a rifle everywhere you went, even if you didn’t think you would need it. She’d also shown Erin how to hold and fire the weapon. She encouraged her to set up some target practice and get used to the weapon. Maybe Erin would find something to shoot at among the rocks that surrounded the valley, or maybe she would just carry around a rifle and never use it.
She left the cabin and headed towards a formation of rocks to the east. She estimated the distance at about three miles and figured to be there within an hour. Two hours later she decided she couldn’t trust her eyes and much as she thought and a sense of relief washed over her as she came upon the formation. “Okay, so maybe it’s closer to six miles.” She sat down and took a long pull off the water skin she’d brought with her. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze, but Erin still had beads of sweat forming atop her forehead. She wiped the beads away and realized she no longer had to worry about a dress code, and undid the top three buttons on her blouse. Nobody out here was going to complain if she showed off a little cleavage as she cooled herself down.
Erin stood and took a good look at her surroundings. She was in sort of a semi-circle of rocks with brownish patches of grass poking up through the ground. There was a tree in the middle of the formation and laying next to it an old log. There were several glass bottles lined up on the log and Erin looked to the ground and saw spent shell casings littered around her feet. She’d walked into a makeshift shooting range. “Well now’s as good a time as any.” She slung the rifle off her shoulder and placed the butt tightly against her shoulder as Cindy had instructed her. She used her finger to unlatch the safety and took aim. After a few deep breaths and she fired and watched as a portion of the log shattered in the distance. The bottle she was aiming at remained upright.
“Shit!” Shooting a rifle was a lot harder than it looked on TV. She took aim again, but this time when she fired Erin missed the thick log altogether. “Dammit!” Erin yelled. She hated not being good at something and regretted even trying to fire the rifle.
“That’s no way for a lady to talk.” Erin spun around and looked up to see Jack leaning against a rock. The gunfire and Erin’s cursing must have muffled the sound of his approach and he got her off-guard. “Jack, what are you doing here? I didn't hear your bike."