After a shower Sara let herself fall on the bed. She had booked a bungalow, a thirty square feet room with a kitchenette and bathroom, this was a room the same size but without a kitchenette because Sara didn't need one. Sofia had made the decision her old colleague would stay with the family and could use the family kitchen. It felt strange first but somehow Sara was happy that she wasn't treated like an ordinary guest. Maybe it was good that she was involved with a whole family to stop her mind from thinking too much. She could have her private time in her room but she had to meet people for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Sofia owned the place where Sara wanted to have a break. So crazy. Well not that crazy anymore after Sara knew the doctor was Sofia's cousin. He wanted to give her business a little booze, thought maybe that Sara and Sofia knew each other and wanted to catch up on good old times. Did she? Their last case together hadn't been a nice one, Sara almost died in the desert, Sofia had been there when she was found. The detective and Nick found her thanks to the mirror she took with her.
So far it had been nice to see the blonde again. The little excursion about the ranch had been interesting and Sara's first riding experience wasn't too bad if you left the end out.
A knock on the door got her out of her thoughts.
"Come in."
The door opened. Instead of Sofia her oldest son was standing there.
"Hi." Sara got up.
"Sorry to wake you up, dinner is almost ready."
"Thanks. I wasn't sleeping." She slipped into her shoes. "And who is that?" He held a toddler on his arm and another child was hiding behind his leg.
"This young gentleman is Patrick, my little brother. The shy guy down there is Kieran, my son."
"You're married?"
"No, he's from the relationship with my ex girlfriend who thought two years ago she needs to be a star and left us to get famous in Los Angeles. So far I haven't seen her in a movie or a TV show. But we cope without her, don't we Kieran? We're tough guys."
"Dad?"
"Come on, you're not that shy. That's Sara, she's a friend of grandma. Say hello to her."
Sara bent down to be on the same level like the boy. His blond hair was short and messed up. He reminded her of a baby version of Greg.
"Hello Kieran."
"Hi."
"Give him a day and he'll be not that shy anymore. You should think he's used to see strangers but he's still shy. Kieran, go out and have a look what uncle Jamie is doing. Run." With one last look at Sara he turned and ran away.
"Four children and a grandson, Sofia had been busy. Who old is Kieran?"
"Three. Yeah she was shocked when I told her she'll be a grandmother soon. Not even forty and already a grandmother. That what happens when you're only fifteen years older than your son, you'll be a young grandmother."
"Does he call her grandmother?"
"Yes. And she hates it."
"I thought so." Sara laughed and looked at Patrick. "You're younger than your nephew. Sofia's youngest son is younger than her grandson. That's what I cal unusual."
"We're not a usual family." He opened the door for her.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Let's have dinner, Jamie is a great cook and he made some salad and fresh bread. You can meet the other guests, there are four others at the moment. A couple and two friends. Tomorrow will a man arrive, we wanted to put him in the bungalow next to yours but since you live with us he has to be alone."
"I'm married." Sara lifted her hand where her golden ring was.
"Your husband should be here with you."
"I can give you his number and you tell him. I hope you're fluent in French."
"No I'm not."
"In that case we won't talk to him and he has no time anyway."
"He is in France?"
"Yes."
"I heard it's a wonderful country, a lot history, art, beautiful landscape and exciting coasts. But it should be nothing compare to your wife."
"It's less the country than the work."
"What is his job?"
"He used to work as a CSI…"
"Grissom."
"Sofia told you about him."
"Yes she told me about your colleagues one evening when she was cleaning up old paper and photos. That's why I knew who you are. She said when she left Vegas it was fresh for the team that you and Grissom were a couple. Looks like it had worked out, a relationship with a colleague."
"Worked out? Well, I'm here, he's lost in France. It's a long distance relationship for over a year and I'm not that happy with it to be honest. I visited him a few times in France, he never came over. Now he has even no time for me if I'd fly over."
"Mom said he is a smart man, what you tell me sounds like he's rather stupid."
"He's one of the best scientist in the world." Calling Grissom stupid was wrong. He was way up too smart to be called stupid.
"I don't doubt that. Leaving your wife behind is stupid, no matter how smart you are. You can work anywhere, you can live anywhere but there's only one wife and your wife should be more important than anything else. If I had to choose between my family and a job, I'd pick the family. Family is unique, work isn't." He stepped aside and let Sofia see a little campfire. Jamie and Sofia were there, together with four other adults and Kieran.
"A campfire in the sunset, is that a wild west romance?"
"It's your standard dinner for the next two weeks. Don't worry the food will change, most times we sit here eating anything, only on the weekends, when there was the full day ride, we have a real barbeque. Jamie cooks every night a dish from another country."
"He's a cook?"
"He had cooking in school, he never went somewhere to learn it proper. Mom told him to do so, he refused. He wants to be here, wants to help her. We all want. She helped us when nobody else was there for us, she believed in us when everybody had given up on us and she gave us a future when everybody blamed us for our past. It's what I told you about family, it's the most important thing in life."
"Refreshed?" Sofia got up and took Patrick in her arms.
"Yes. This looks great."
"Thanks, I've very talented children. Go and get your dinner, Pat." She let her son down and he walked to his older brother. Sofia smiled a bit when her eyes followed her son.
"Let me introduce you to the others. Guy, we've a new cowgirl. That's Sara from Las Vegas. Sara these are George and Laura from New York, they're here for three weeks, have another two to go and these Julia and Roberta from Indiana. They're here for two weeks and half of their time is over today."
"Unfortunately." Julia said. "How much time do you have?"
"Two weeks."
"You'll be amazed how fast the time will run. It feels like we arrived yesterday and not last week. If we could have another week off we'd stay longer."
"I took your booking for autumn." Jon smiled.
"You're the best. Will you come with us tomorrow? The morning ride?"
"Yes, I'll be up at five with you."
"Five?" Sara was shocked. Was she supposed to get up that early too? She thought this was a holiday and not a drill camp.
"We offer a sunrise ride twice a week, five is the latest we can leave. You don't have to join it…"
"Do it! We missed the first one, had the one last time and we'll have the tomorrow too. It's magnificent to see the sunset here." George said. "You can sleep in the next mornings, don't miss out that ride."
"I never been on a horse before."
"That won't be a problem, I'll take care of you." Jon promised.
"If I break my neck on the first day…"
"You can stay another two weeks for free."
"I'll have a few weeks in hospital. I had that a few days ago, your…whatever the cousin of your mother is, sent me here."
"A smart man."
"He thinks for the family."
"That's what family is for, being there for each other, working for each other. You'll join us or you want to start with a riding lesson later in the morning?"
"Do I have another choice than joining you if everybody tells me I'll miss out something beautiful when I stay in bed?"
"No you don't." Roberts grinned. "Not if you don't want to hate yourself."
"Did you pick a horse for Saraa, mom?"
"Yes Jon I did." Sofia smiled. "I think she'll be perfect with Caza."
"Hold on a second…I know that word even my Spanish isn't that good…I'm a beginner. I don't want a caza, I want something calm."
"You'll be fine." Sofia laughed.
"You won't get a cent if I break my neck because you gave me a trouble maker."
"A trouble maker fits perfect to you if I remember right."
"You know each other?" Laura asked.
"Yeah we used to work together years ago. If I had known Sofia is here and wants to kill me, I had stayed in Vegas."
"You should trust me, Sara. You'll be fine and Jon will take care. Or do you want me to join you too?"
"I think I'm better without you. Caza."
"She worries." Jon laughed. "Hey Kieran, be a lovely boy and get Sara her horse over, will you?"
The boy nodded and left the fire.
"You can't let your son get a horse called Caza."
"Kieran grows up with the horses he knows what to do."
"Give her something to eat that might calm her down." Jamie came with a plate to Sofia. "The only vegetarian here gets service. All the others, dinner is open. Grab what you like, we've steaks, sausages, salads and bread."
"Did you make your Mexican bread again?" George asked.
"Yes."
"You need to try that, Sara, it's fresh made bread with red pepper, corn and chili. So great. Do we get that for the ride tomorrow?"
"No you'll get something else, a breakfast bread."
"You'll make something great for us, no doubt. This man is better than most star chefs in New York because he cooks with his heart."
"Thanks." Jamie flushed a little bit.
"Look there's Kieran with Caza." Sara turned and saw the three year old one with a horse behind him on a rope. Her horse was black and white and followed the boy without any trouble.
"Thanks Kieran." Sofia got up and took the horse. "Sara, that's Caza, she's twelve, used to be a racing horse. When she got older her owner didn't want her anymore, we got her from the slaughter. She's perfectly healthy, a really nice horse and tame. She won't make you any trouble."
"A former racing horse?"
"Most of the riding horses are former racing horses. They get like seven or eight and they're too slow for the sport. No wins means no money means the horse is useless. She's a Quarter Horse, if you tell her to run you'll win every race on a quarter mile."
"I prefer to walk."
"Caza will walk, you'll sit on her and enjoy the morning sun. She's perfect for a beginner. You won't scare Sara, will you?" Sofia petted the horse and fed it a carrot. "She said she'll be gentle. Will you give her a chance?"
"Yes." Sara sighed. She had no other choice than believe Sara that the horse was harmless. And when a three year old could get the horse from the meadow, she could manage to sit on it somehow.
"Thanks."
"I trust you because once a detective always a detective. That means you have to take care of your CSI."
"Jeez, this marriage made you whiny, Sara." Sofia laughed.
"Skeptical."
"Whatever. Come on, Caza, I'll take you back to the others. You'll have a short night, wake up time is four in the morning to be ready at five. No long parties tonight."
"Most of the others will be too tired anyway after our trip today." Laura laughed. "We gave them a good run a few times."
"Good I don't like horse parties in front of my window."
"What about some Vegas style parties? Neon light, loud music, the sound of slot machines everywhere. Don't you miss that, Sofia?"
"Being a huge gambler I can barely make it through the day without these things, Sara." Sofia laughed.
"All these years in Vegas and you don't miss it at all."
"Not that much. There are some things I miss, the noise, casinos and neon lights are nothing I miss."
"What do you miss of Vegas if not that?" George asked.
"The shows. They have some really great shows. I wouldn't mind to watch a show again, there are some good musicians on the Strip, I loved the magicians. We don't have things like that here."
"You've got…nature." Sara said. She preferred nature than Las Vegas shows, the touristy Strip and most of the shows. Somehow they were all the same, some music, comedy, magic or sport. Sure it was great to watch a show when you had an evening off and wanted to do something but she never visited a show with Grissom. First they barely had a night off, it was even more seldom that they had a night off together and when they had that, they wanted to spend time together. Alone. And not in a crowd with a few thousand other people they didn't know.
"Yes and I prefer that. I'll show you Grand Teton, it's much better than Las Vegas."
"I don't doubt that." Sara was more into nature than cities. She had lived all her life in cities, she wondered why she never worked in a small place. Probably because she couldn't be a CSI there and she needed her job like the air she breathed.