Page 60 of Christmas at the Ranch
“I am hungry,” Samantha wavered. “But I look awful and I think I’m coming down with a cold.”
“Nonsense, you look lovely: like Joan of Arc when she returned from battle.” Beatrix stood up. “A real cowboy breakfast is just what you need to make you feel better.”
Beatrix borrowed Arthur’s SUV and they drove into Teton Village.
Samantha sat across from Beatrix at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que. Almost every booth was full. Waitresses carried old-fashioned coffeepots, and there was the smell of sausages and fresh-baked muffins.
“Aren’t you eating anything?” Samantha asked when the waitress brought their plates.
They had ordered sausages, and biscuits with gravy, and homemade granola. Beatrix was only toying with her food.
“I ate earlier.” Beatrix shrugged. “All I want is coffee.”
Samantha was beginning to feel better. The warm biscuits and hot coffee took away her chill.
“At least have granola,” Samantha said, pushing the bowl across the table. “You’re getting married tomorrow, you need to keep up your strength.”
Beatrix opened a packet of sugar. She stirred it into her coffee.
“Actually, I have to go back to New York.”
That’s why Drew wanted to talk to Samantha. Drew and Beatrix were going back to New York.
“When are you and Drew leaving?” Samantha wondered.
Beatrix took a long sip of her coffee. She placed the cup on the table.
“Drew is staying here,” Beatrix said. “There won’t be a New Year’s Eve wedding.”
“It’s a good idea to wait.” Samantha nodded. “Arthur would love to host an engagement party, and you can plan a summer wedding. You can honeymoon somewhere warm and exotic: the Amalfi Coast or Costa Brava in Portugal.”
Beatrix pulled off her gloves. The diamond ring was missing.
“There won’t be a wedding,” she confessed. “Drew and I aren’t getting married.”
Samantha put down her biscuit. Her heart beat uncomfortably and she looked at Beatrix.
“What do you mean, there won’t be a wedding?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Beatrix began. “Drew is handsome and intelligent and he’s one of the kindest people I know.” She sipped her coffee. “I’d have the life I always dreamed of, with a house in the country and a couple of children. They’d join the pony club and take sailing lessons in the summer. There would always be a few bicycles in the driveway and we’d have a cocker spaniel or a golden retriever. During the summers, we’d travel to Japan or South America to show them other cultures.”
Samantha had an odd feeling in her chest. Those were the same things she had wanted for herself. Then Roger left, and she developed so many fears, she couldn’t see past the double-bolt locks on her apartment door.
Perhaps Charlie was right. There was more to life than celebrating her latest book deal with a new pair of fuzzy socks and takeout from the Italian place nearby. But she couldn’t imagine doing the things Beatrix described. The arrowhead pendant was gone, and the old feelings of anxiety had returned.
“A house and children really aren’t important in a marriage,” Beatrix was saying. “The important thing is to be happy without them.”
“I don’t understand.” Samantha frowned. “Arthur is giving you a house, and Drew wants children. Isn’t the point of marriage to find the person who wants the same things as you do?”
“That’s what I thought too, but I was wrong.”
Samantha had never seen Beatrix look so serious. Her perfectly smooth forehead was furrowed and she ran her long red fingernails over her coffee cup.
“It’s like when I chose my gown last year for the Met Gala. The saleswoman at Saks wanted me to buy a Zac Posen. It was a straight white sheath; it would have looked gorgeous with a jeweled pendantor a tiara. I tried it on a few times, but I knew it wasn’t right for me.” Beatrix paused. “I finally chose the dreamiest Alexander McQueen instead. The fabric had this whimsical fruit pattern and the skirt was tiered with a small train.”
“I didn’t know you and Drew attended the Met Gala,” Samantha said.
The Met Gala was one of Samantha’s favorite events in New York. She studied the photos every year to get inspiration for Sloane Parker’s gowns. In her latest manuscript, Sloane wears a stunning fuchsia Versace like the one Amal Clooney wore a few years ago.
