Old Town Sac
reminded him so much of Naples. An Old West veneer on refurbished
wooden buildings. Restaurants, souvenir shops and the occasional
saloon made the place look like the set of ‘Gunsmoke’, the old
western TV show. It had the same wooden sidewalks with horse and
buggies going by hauling tourists around for a look. Still, it had
a comfortable feel and he enjoyed coming here. Colt entered the
Sweet Pony Restaurant and sat down in a booth. Looking around, he
caught the eye of a beautiful girl sitting not too far away. She
had been scowling at the woman sitting at the table with her, saw
him looking at her and smiled. It wasn’t even a smile of surprise,
it was more like ‘Hi. Where have you been?’
Wow. Who’s that?
It made Colt catch his breath. She had dropped her napkin on the
floor and Colt strode over to pick it up for her.
“Excuse me,
miss, but you dropped this,” Colt smiled at her and then nodded at
the older woman sitting with her. The woman didn’t seem too
friendly. The girl took the napkin from him and their fingers
touched momentarily.
What was that?
Colt felt a kind of
shiver go through his hand. He rubbed it against his leg.
“Thank you very
much,” she said shyly.
Wow. Great looking guy.
Looks like a
cowboy—jeans, western shirt and cowboy hat under his chair. Black
wavy hair…
What’s with my hand?
They had only touched for the
briefest of moments, but she felt something shoot through her hand.
She rubbed it on the napkin.
“No problem at
all. Have a nice lunch.” Colt started walking away reluctantly
since he could think of nothing further to say that would prolong
the conversation. The woman at the table with her didn’t seem
welcoming, so he knew he had better leave.
“Thank you. You
too,” she smiled up at him. What a sweet voice…and that gorgeous
auburn hair. She had it caught up in a long ponytail at present,
but it looked like it could be wild if left on its own. Colt
wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through that
beautiful mane, like one of his horses back home. Was he just
comparing her to a horse? Yikes, maybe that wasn’t the best
comparison. After he sat down, the girl and woman got up, paid
their bill, and started leaving the restaurant. Colt sighed. A
great opportunity lost, he thought.
He started to
read his menu and then glanced up. Right before she went through
the door, that beautiful girl lingered and then turned around. She
gave Colt one of the most meaningful looks he had ever experienced.
Wow again. Who is she?
She parted her lips in response to
his broad smile and grinned back. Then she was gone.
He blew out the
breath he was holding… Colt, his mother’s son, knew he would see
her again. He believed in fate and it had just given him a sneak
preview of coming events. This was a teaser, as Grandma Jeanne
would say, and that meant the movie had yet to start. Sonoma was
going to be very interesting. Colt smiled again and decided to
order the spiciest hamburger on the menu.
“Why were you
smiling at that cowboy, Amanda? You are too flirty for your own
good,” said her mother. Amanda Evans was driving her mother back to
her home. She needed to go pack.
“Mom, just
because you’ve had two horrible marriages, that doesn’t mean I’m
going to. And it is really none of your business who I smile at.
You go your way and please let me go mine.” Amanda stuck out her
chin in defiance and her mother backed down.
“I just don’t
want to see you hurt again. That miserable creep of a boyfriend you
had last time was enough to make you swear off men. At least that’s
what you said at the time.”
Amanda let out
an exasperated breath. “God, Mom, you are enough to drive someone
to drink. This is my last weekend in town—could we please not have
a fight over some guy in a restaurant whom I don’t know and will
likely never see again? Please?” Her mother was needy, dependent
and between husbands. “You need to get your own life, Mom. Not try
to live mine.”
“Okay, you’re
right. Let’s not fight. I’ll save my energy to battle husband #2
for alimony.”
If Amanda
thought she was safe, she needed to think again.
“And why are
you moving up to that Soda Springs area by Donner Lake? It seems a
million miles from me and Sacramento?” Her mother looked sad, but
Amanda didn’t buy it.
“I’ve been
hired at that children’s camp, Mom. I want to get out of this town
and see more of the country. I’ll come back to visit sometime, if
you don’t start nagging me. In the meantime, get a job, learn to
knit, volunteer—do something.” Amanda gave her a stern look as she
stopped the car. Her mother got out, shut the door and then bent
down to speak through the window.
“You’ll come
say good-bye before leaving? And I have your cell phone number,
right?” She looked anxious.
Amanda sighed.
“I promise, now go lie down for a while, before another headache
comes on. I have to go pack.” Her mother nodded and then turned
away.
Amanda was
exhausted just taking her out to lunch. She’d turn into a nervous
wreck if she moved back home like her mother wanted her to do.
Nope—I’m out of here. I need to find a better way of life for
myself than what I’ve known here. Amanda pushed her wayward hair
out of her face. She tucked a few loose wisps back behind her ears.
She stopped at her apartment building and was glad to be leaving
it. Void of color and texture, the place felt like a tomb. Getting
out of the car, she stood straight, all 5’7” of her and thought
about the man she had just seen at the restaurant.
What was it
about him? Jeez, he was so something.
Good-looking, yes.
Polite, definitely. But touching his hand was electrifying… That
had never happened before to her with any man she had ever known.
What was it about? Did that mean anything? She remembered looking
back to get one last look at him. Looking down, he was
angelic-looking. Looking up at her, her heart kicked into
overdrive. She had blushed and thought she was having a heat flash.
They looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Some kind of pool of
energy stared back at her. When he smiled at her, she felt the sun
rise.
Wow again.
She knew she’d see him again. That was a
certainty…
“Oh, would you
look at our handsome grandson, Sam? He looks just like Sandy with
Lily’s wavy black hair. Maybe a little bit of Montgomery Clift
without the angst. Or maybe Warren Beatty, Sam? Mmm…some young
filly is going to want to make him the co-star of her film.”
Jeanne, Colt’s grandmother, was a cookies-and-milk kind of
grandmother, although a real movie addict. She tended to sum up
situations in movie-ese.
Sam laughed.
That was so Jeanne. “I thought you said Sandy looked like Robert
Redford.”
“Well, he does,
but with black hair, that changes things.”
“Okay, if you
say so…” He tried not to laugh, but it slipped out anyway. Colt
smiled. He knew his grandmother had said something funny, probably
about movies.
“Colt! Great to
see you, son. How was your drive?” Colt walked up to give them both
hugs.
“Good. No
problems. I stopped in Old Town Sac for lunch.” Colt studied them
for a moment. They didn’t seem to change—all concern for him and
the family. Jeanne still had a trim figure and Sam looked a bit
like the fictional Marlboro Man, a rugged individual. Their obvious
affection for him flowed over him like a warm river. He felt
wanted. Loved. Nice feelings…
“Well, come on
in and tell us what’s going on with the family,” said Sam as they
walked into the house. “Want some iced tea?” He didn’t wait for an
answer and started pouring him a glass.
“Now Sam, you
just spoke to Lily yesterday.”
“Sure, but now
I want Colt’s point of view. Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s not
the same as his parents’.” Sam laughed.
Sam and
Jeanne’s ranch just outside of Sonoma was not only a working ranch,
where Sam trained horses, but was also a small winery. Sam Cable
produced a nice Chardonnay and a few barrels that he sold to local
restaurants. He was always experimenting with his wines. It was
well known in the Cable-Johnson family that Sam was a
perfectionist. Colt smiled. Walking inside their spacious home, he
experienced many pleasant memories swirling around his head like
butterflies. They were so numerous, that he couldn’t flick them
away if he wanted to.
The kitchen had
some good aromas emanating from the oven. “Mmmm…that smells
wonderful, Grandma. Is it banana bread?” Heavenly smells filled his
nostrils.
“You bet. Sit,
sit, sit, and tell us everything,” Jeanne laughed. She took the
bread out of the oven to cool. Colt’s senses were flooded. They all
sat down at the kitchen table, where, naturally, all good
discussions take place…
“Okay, where to
start? Well, we just celebrated Dad and Mom’s 24
th
wedding anniversary, but you know that. Remember you were down for
the event.”
“Yes, sweetie,
we are not so riddled with dementia that we forgot the drive down
and the whole celebration. My God, I think the entire town turned
out for it!”
Colt laughed.
“You probably know more about sister Meg than I do. She landed that
assistant chef job at a chic restaurant in San Francisco. She wrote
Mother that she loved the job and the City. And you know how Mom
feels about San Francisco.”
”Indeed. It’s
her favorite city and has been for a long time. Meggie will do
well. But no boyfriend yet?” She sighed. “How about Jesse? He and
Audrey haven’t set a date?”
“No, and Mother
is getting impatient with him. They like Audrey very much—jeez, she
and Jesse grew up together, but he’s taking his sweet time.” Colt
smiled at the thought of his older brother with children. That –
would be interesting…
Sam laughed,
knowing his daughter Lily and what she might be saying to Jesse.
“How about the boys? What kind of trouble have they been up
to?”
Trouble seemed
to follow Colt’s younger brothers, but he always assumed they
brought most of it on themselves. “Miles is at home right now and
has a new book out. Mom is pleased to see him, of course, but you
know Dad is always wary. After Miles spooked his favorite horse
goofing around last time, Dad watches him out of the corner of his
eye.” Jeanne and Sam laughed.
“I hope one of
his books gets made into a movie. That would be so exciting,
wouldn’t it, Sam? We could go to a premiere in Hollywood or New
York.” Sam gave her a sour look and turned his attention back to
Colt.
“Sure. But what
about Joey and Janie? Janie especially seems to get forgotten about
with all the excitement that the twins cause.”
“Very true,”
said Colt. “Joey’s home too, painting in Nevada for a while. He had
a small exhibition in New Mexico a few months back. Can’t believe
Mom didn’t tell you about that. He’s a gifted artist.”
“And
Janie…”
“Yes, my
youngest sibling, but certainly not least. You know she attended
the University of Nevada, Reno for a year in the teacher education
program, but then she bailed on it.”
“I know your
mother was upset she didn’t continue. Since Lily had been a
teacher, she was hoping one of her children would be as well,” said
Jeanne.
“She just
didn’t like it that much. Now she’s following Sheriff Bud Moody
around town in some kind of job shadow program. I guess she wants
to be a deputy sheriff. That will mean a college law enforcement
program.”
“
Wow,
and to think she was named after Jane Austen, your mother’s
favorite author. That’s the least likely profession we ever would
have picked for her.” Sam looked at Jeanne quizzically.
“Bud’s retiring
soon and laughed when Dad called him about it. He recounted some
story about Mother fainting in his office, when she and Dad were a
new couple. When she was new in Naples? Ever hear that one? It’s a
great family story.”
“Yes, dear,
we’ve heard that one. Evidently, Lily thought she was being stalked
and went in to the Sheriff’s office to talk to Bud about it. Bud
apparently pooh-poohed the whole idea, so she jumped up, hit her
head on a low-hanging shelf and knocked herself out cold. Your
mother has a thing for physical comedy which Sandy dearly
loves.”
“Let the boy
eat, Jeanne dear. We don’t get him up here nearly enough and I have
grapes and horses to show him. Pack it in, son, and let’s do a
tour.”
Donner Summit
was breathtaking. There were no other words for it, thought Amanda.
Elevation was over 7,000 feet, which alone was incredible. She
stood at the scenic lookout on old Donner Pass Road looking at
sparkling Donner Lake. It sat in the center of a bowl surrounded by
tall pines, juniper and mountains with a steep approach from the
east and a gradual approach from the west. People said the lake
glimmered from the gold flakes and mica in it.
Breathtaking
…
She had visited
the State Park Museum and learned more about the doomed Donner
party who had tried to get over the mountains before the winter
snows, but were too late. As a counselor, she could empathize with
those who lost loved ones, but she could only wonder what last
hours were like for those who perished. What extraordinary measures
some took to stay alive… Amanda shuddered. Frightening
thoughts…
Climbing onto a
rocky shelf to get a different perspective, she caught sight of
people on horseback and knew she had to get back up on a horse. She
had been hollowed out in Sacramento. What was that expression?
She was as far from herself as a hawk from the moon.
That
seemed appropriate. Too much city life, maybe…Too much from a
clingy mother and ungrateful boyfriend. She took a deep breath.
Maybe she could figure a few things out up here. It was a good
place to start.