Charlie dismounted and stood in the middle of the darkening ranch yard, maybe she should leave now, before anyone saw her…
"Shoot…" she muttered when a figure approached her.
"Well howdy Miss, whatcha doin' out alone so late?" he asked. It was Nate.
"Oh uh… I was going to see Mrs. Allen, she's my Aunt, well, she divorced my Uncle a few years ago and I was going to see her… she's on Deerpath ranch… I uh… like visiting her…" Charlie clamped her mouth shut when she realized that she was blabbering out of nervousness. Nate didn't seem to notice.
"Mrs. Allen is your aunt?" he asked, his voice a warm, deep, rolling tone.
"Yeah…" Charlie said.
"Well, its kinda dark Missy," Nate started.
"You can call me Charlie," Charlie interrupted.
"Sure thing…"
"And Frank let's me ride alone all the time," Charlie answered, then she noticed that Nate was shifting.
"Well… I could go with you…?"
"Really? That'd be fun!" Charlie answered, maybe a little too excited.
"Gimme a minute," Nate answered, a grin breaking over his handsome face. Charlie watched as he ran back inside.
O0o0O0o0O
"No way Nathaniel! You can not go…" his mom started after he asked.
"But mom, Charlotte Redhawk is going and I thought I would go with her, you know, it's getting dark. She's going to visit her Aunt, Mrs. Allen."
"Well now Maxine, that's different, he'll be escorting a lady," Luke spoke up from his ancient leather chair. Nate grinned when his mom sigh in resignation.
Nate turned to go outside and was met by Jake's upturned palm. Nate gave him a high-five. That dang boy was too observant sometimes.
"Thanks Nate," Charlie said, their horses were walking side by side.
"No prob, it's really fun actually," Nate answered. Charlie smiled when he seemed to be studying the stars. She looked up.
"Pretty ain't they?" she responded.
"Naw, some things in life fall in the beautiful category," Nate said slowly. Charlie looked down, even in the dark it looked like he had been watching her.
"Oh…" she said.
"You're beautiful…" Nate said, staring hard at his saddle horn. Charlie felt her breath catch. Her cheeks heated in a bush and she couldn't help but smile. Nate rubbed the back of his neck.
"thanks…" Charlie said.
"I'm sorry… that was a little out of place…" Nate said. Charlie couldn't help it, she leaned over from her saddle and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
His hand flew up to his cheek and he turned wide brown eyes on her.
"Oh my gosh… I don't know where that came from…" Charlie stammered. He reached over and took her hand, holding it in his warm one. He smiled at her.
"Let's not go so fast…" he said.
"Agreed…" Charlie said.
I hoped you liked it. I'm goin' real fast here, it's gonna get good!