Indigo Road (5 page)

I smiled,
trying to ease the tension I felt directed toward me from across
the table. “Elephant. I’ve heard
rhino
is a bit tough.” My attempt
to lighten the mood fell flat and I saw the flash of anger in
Alex’s eyes.

“
Dammit
, Josh. Is everything a
joke to you? I’m trying to talk to you about our budget and trying
to see if our money can last for the next…” Alex punched a couple
of keys on his laptop, harder than they deserved. “Forty-three
weeks. We may have to cut our adventure short if we keep eating
fast food. Not to mention we’ve both put on weight and I feel like
shit. I need some real food. Why can’t you… Jesus!”

Alex stood
abruptly, his chair toppling over in the dirt, making one of the
legs snap in two. “Motherfucking piece of fucking shit!”

My anger,
born of frustration
, bubbled to the
surface, and I stood quickly, knocking my bottle of water into the
dirt of the campsite.

“
Why can’t I
be what? More like you? Have
every
single thing planned out
and organized into a tight schedule?”

Alex’s need
to plan and organize had never bothered me before, and to be
honest, it had helped a lot during college. He set up an entire
semester’s study plan to keep me on track and ensure I didn’t fail.
It helped that he studied with me and he wouldn’t let me go to a
party unless we had studied for at least an hour beforehand. I used
to cram the night before exams and always risked falling asleep
during the tests, but once Alex set up the schedule for me, I was
always prepared.

So I knew my outburst was unfair, but it
didn’t stop me.

“
Why do you
have to keep such a tight timetable? Isn’t part of this trip doing
what we want, when we want? And why do we have to have Christmas in
San Diego? Why can’t we have it in Canada instead?”

Alex threw his hands up. “One of the points
of this trip is so we don’t see snow for an entire year. What’s the
freaking point of going to Canada?”

“
But
that’s
my
point. We can if we want to. We don’t have to be on a
schedule. We don’t even have to
go to San
Diego
if we don’t want to. We can go to
Vegas directly from Seattle and skip California
entirely.”

“
But
we
have
to be in San Diego for Christmas.”

“What the hell for?”

“
Because I
have something
planned
!”

We stood on
either side
of the pullout table, our
breathing heavy with anger and frustration. A vein in Alex’s temple
throbbed.

This was one
of those times
we spoke about and I
should have walked away before my irritation got the better of me.
We were arguing about something more than San Diego, I just didn’t
know what.

Alex’s
eyes
flashed
with disappointment and hurt before he clenched his already
tight fists. He kicked the now broken chair before storming off
toward the showers, toiletry kit in hand.

I dropped my head and looked at the ground
between my feet. “Fuck.”

AFTER
ALEX
fled to the showers, I didn’t see
him for three hours. I stayed with Maude, cleaned up the breakfast
dishes, and stored everything away. I wasn’t angry anymore, I
wasn’t even annoyed; I was miserable we’d fought in the first
place. The worst part was, we hadn’t even argued about anything. So
much for having a fight plan.

I picked up
Alex’s chair and had a look at the broken leg hoping I could
somehow fix it, but the wood had snapped clean
off. I didn’t know if it could be repaired and the only tools we
had belonged to a mechanic, nothing to mend a broken chair
leg.

I sat on the rear bumper and sighed
heavily.

“Need some help there?”

I looked up
and saw the old man from the next campsite standing near our fire
pit, toolbox in hand.

“
Got
anything
to repair a busted leg?” I
asked, holding up the broken pieces of wood.

“
Sure, I used
to be a carpenter back in the day, I can fix it up just like new.”
His voice was as rough as gravel, which came with age, but his
smile was friendly.

“
I’m Ernest,
and my wife over there is Audrey,” he said, pointing to his
van.

“
I’m Josh.
It’s nice to meet you.” I shook his hand, then waved to his wife,
who appeared to be packing up. She smiled and waved but didn’t come
over. “Do you really think you can fix it?” I asked, handing Ernest
the pieces.

“
It’s a
relatively clean break,” he told me as he examined the pieces of
wood. “I have some wood glue and with a few screws it should be
fine. Just don’t go making your boyfriend angry again,” Ernest said
with a soft smile.

I didn’t correct him.

AFTER LEAVING
South
Dakota, we headed southwest along I-90 before turning north on I-15
and into the mountains of northwestern Montana. We decided to spend
a day hiking through the Glacier National Park, following an
elderly couple on the trails. We weren’t hiking with them, per se,
just following a little behind. We figured if we came across a
bear, we could outrun them. Bears notwithstanding, hiking was hard
work when you weren’t used to it and I was a little ashamed we were
outdone by old people. We collapsed
in
the back of Maude late that
afternoon and didn’t wake until the next morning.

My legs were
still a little stiff when we
stopped in
Whitefish for lunch a couple of days later. We were sitting in a
diner after starting a load of laundry when Alex said, “Thanks for
fixing the chair.” It was the first mention of our fight since he’d
returned from his three-hour ‘shower,’ apart from a brief apology
from each of us. It had taken a whole day for the tension to
disappear.

“You should be thanking Ernest. It was lucky
he used to be a carpenter.” I smiled at him, knowing this was
another apology.

“Ernest?”

“
The old man
who was in the van next to ours. He fixed it. Said we have to be
careful or it may not last the year, so no more kicking it around
it, okay?”

Alex’s eyes gleamed. “Yeah, okay. If we’re
annoyed with the chair, we take a breath and find a tree to assault
instead. The chair doesn’t deserve it and a tree can handle the
abuse better.”

“
Trees are
stupid anyway. They deserve everything they get.” I reached over
the table
and patted Alex’s hand, letting
him know I understood we weren’t talking about the seat anymore.
“We need to look after the chair better.”

“
You’re an
idiot.” Alex
laughed
before his smile softened. He brushed his fingers over my
knuckles. My heart thumped in my chest at the touch, but I didn’t
move my hand.

Alex
’s
eyes grew wide and he pulled his hand away
quickly,
like he’d
realized he was doing something he shouldn’t be. “Can you pay the
tab and grab the laundry?
There’s
a couple of things I want to check out in town.
I’ll meet you back at Maude in thirty minutes.” He was out of his
seat before I could respond.

Thirty minutes later as I was putting our
laundered clothes away under the mattress, I heard Alex’s voice in
the distance. After lifting the legs and sliding the storage box
back into position, I turned to see him walking up the sidewalk
with a middle-aged woman with short brown hair and a friendly
smile.

Alex was
smiling from ear to ear as he approached. “Here he is. Josh, this
is Elsie May from the Bar None, a ranch not far from here.” Alex
turned his attention to his companion. “This is my best friend and
travel partner, Josh. I’m sure he’ll be able to do what you’re
looking for.”

“
It’s nice to
meet you, Josh,” she said, her smile growing bigger as she looked
me up and down. “I think you’ll be able to handle the work, judging
by the size of you.”

“
Umm… work?”
I looked to Alex, hoping he’d fill me in on what
work
I’d
be doing.

“
Elsie May
and her husband run a dude ranch just out of town. One of their
regular housekeepers and her husband, who works with the horses,
are down with the flu and they need help. We started talking in the
fresh fruit aisle in the grocery store and she’s kindly offered us
the jobs for a week. Full room and board.” I knew Alex was thinking
about not having any expenses for a week, but I never even made my
bed at home, so how was I supposed to do it for guests? When I
voiced my concerns, Alex looked at me with a shit-eating grin.
“I’ll be doing the housekeeping, you’ll be mucking out
stables.”

WE FOLLOWED Elsie May’s directions to the ranch,
and to say we were awestruck would have been an understatement.
Alex stopped the van at the top of a long, winding gravel drive but
remained silent.

The large
expanse of lush green grass seemed to go on forever. It was dotted
with a few deer lazing in the sun or under the shade of a large
tree. Some were munching on the grass, probably thinking they’d
found heaven.

At the end of
the drive was a massive three-story stone-and-wood lodge that
appeared to rise out of the earth like it was supposed to be there,
just like the massive pine and fir trees that stood proudly at the
rear, protecting the structure from the elements. Cozy patios with
various deck chairs surrounded the entire structure. To the north
was a mountain range with permanent snow glinting in the sun at the
peak, and at its base sat a glassy lake with a huge wooden gazebo
next to it. In the distance, dotted at varying intervals, were
smaller log cabins, which I assumed were for the guests. At the
right of the lodge were the stables and a large white-painted
corral with numerous horses being ridden by young and old, the
sound of their hooves hitting the dirt a dull thud in the distance.
I knew Montana was Big Sky Country, but this ranch was something
else.

Alex rolled
down the window and stuck his head out, the scent of fresh pine
filling the van. His smile was huge as he took a deep breath. “Even
the air is fresher here,” he whispered.

We followed the driveway to the back of the
lodge and found the staff parking. No sooner had Alex cut the
engine than two women appeared at his window.

“
Hi, I’m
Sally May,
Elsie May’s daughter. Which
one of you two lovely gentlemen is Alex?” Sally May was tall, with
mousy brown shoulder-length hair and big hazel eyes.

“Um, that’d be me,” responded Alex.

Sally May
smiled widely, turning her attention to me. “You must be Josh. It’s
great to meet you both. We can’t thank you enough for agreeing to
help us out.” She turned to the blonde beside her. “This is Josie.
She will be your go-to person, Josh. She’s one of our senior horse
trainers and will set you up with a uniform and explain what’s to
be expected here at the Bar None. She’ll give you a quick tour of
the ranch so you don’t get lost.” Josie was shorter with curly
blonde hair pulled back in a severe ponytail and light blue eyes.
She looked like she belonged on the beach, not a horse ranch. Her
smile was warm and welcoming and I liked her
immediately.

“Hi,” Alex and I said in unison.

It seemed
there was no time to waste,
and as soon
as we’d exited the van, Josie led me away from Alex and Sally May,
giving me a quick tour of the main area of the ranch and what was
to be my room for the next week. It was like being back in college,
a long hall with rooms on both sides and communal bathrooms at both
ends. Obviously not as big as college, though.

“
These are
the quarters for the seasonal staff,” Josie said, leading me down
the long corridor. “We have an influx of tourists
leading into summer, so we hire more staff from
late April to October. This is where most of them stay if they
don’t have family in town. All meals will be provided for you as
long as you show up on time to the staff kitchen. If you’re late
for any reason, you may be able to sweet-talk the chef into making
you a sandwich, but I wouldn’t count on it.” Josie finished with a
giggle as she unlocked a door.

“
This is your
room. It’s not much, but the beds
are
comfortable.
There’s
a common room
and small kitchenette at the other end of the dorm to help wind
down at the end of the day.”

“
I’m sure the
bed’s fine. To be honest, I’m looking forward to sleeping in a
normal bed; we’ve been sleeping in Maude for weeks.”

“Maude?”

“Sorry, the van.”

Josie
laughed. “Elsie May told us you’ve been traveling together. How
long have you been on the road?”

“
A couple of
months now; we plan on getting to California before the end of
fall. Our goal is to not see snow for a year.”

“
Wow, I can’t
imagine what that would be like. It snows pretty heavily
here
but I can’t
imagine being without it. Where are you from?” Josie tilted her
head like she was trying to figure something out.