When Love's Gone Country - By Merri Hiatt Page 0,30
it out first. It might not even be legit,” Purity said.
“There’s only one way to find out. I’m willing to take the gamble. I thought I’d be more limber now after repairing fence posts, but I’m in more pain,” Bobby said.
“We’ll all go to the spring together,” Alex said. “We’re meeting our guide at ten.”
“That’s only an hour from now,” Brad said. “Just enough time to let our food settle.”
Promptly at ten, the group descended upon the fire pit.
“What part of ‘Don’t tell anyone’ didn’t you understand?” Sam asked.
“It’s a long story,” Alex said. “Will you show us the way?”
“I have a feeling I’m making a big mistake, but yes. I have one of the golf carts, but I don’t think we can all squeeze into it.”
“We’ll squeeze,” Meg said.
“It’s like Jenga!” Jeremy shouted as Meg sat on Bobby’s lap and Purity sat on Alex’s lap. Brad chose the floor of the cart and Courtney scrunched in next to him. Jacob and Jeremy were half lying, half sitting next to Bob and Alex. Diego took up the entire front seat next to Sam.
“Hang on,” Alex said. “We don’t want anyone falling off.”
Sam drove slow and steady, taking a longer route that she hoped would be more private. When she rounded the last bend by the largest wheat field, she stopped the cart. “Everybody out. We’re here.”
They untangled themselves and followed Sam into the woods.
“How come there isn’t a trail?” Court asked.
“It’s supposed to be a secret,” Alex said.
“Not a very good one if everyone knows about it,” Jacob said.
“If you look closely, you’ll see the tree the Double Y is named after,” Sam said.
“I thought the website said it was named after the river. It split twice, making a double y. Since the split happened here on the property, they named the ranch after it,” Meg said.
“That is what the website says. Take a look at this tree.” Sam pointed slightly to her left.
“It has two trunks,” Jeremy said.
“It just looks that way. It’s really one trunk, but it split twice.”
“Making a double y!” Jeremy said, jumping up and down with excitement that he was the first one to realize it.
“This is the only tree on the ranch that makes the double y. The only tree in the world, I suspect.”
They headed into the dense woods, following Sam’s lead.
“Is someone counting how many steps we’re taking?” Meg asked. “How will we find our way out again?”
“I’ll come back for you in an hour,” Sam said. “Just stay put until you see me again.”
“I think I see it,” Courtney said as she watched steam rise from behind a fallen tree.
“That’s it,” Sam said. “You just walk around the tree on either side and you’ll find the hot spring.”
“What makes it hot?” Jeremy asked.
“I don’t know,” Sam said. “Something about where the main water source comes from.”
“There’s a waterfall somewhere around here. Jeremy and I heard about it yesterday when we were riding fences.”
“We heard it,” Jeremy said.
“Maybe there’s some channel from the falls that leads to this spring. I don’t know. Like I said, I’ll be back in an hour. Have fun.”
Sam retraced her steps as the others began stripping down to shorts and t-shirts.
Meg was the first to put a toe in the water. “Oh my gosh, this feels amazing. The water is, I don’t even know how to describe it… soft.”
“And hot,” Courtney said as she slipped in beside Meg. “The bottom is gushy, like mud.”
“It’s gonna slide into our underwear,” Jeremy said.
“We can always take a shower afterward,” Meg said, stretching out and resting her head on her rolled up shirt.
“I should have brought another shirt,” Purity said.
“I’m a Girl Scout, always prepared.”
“Just take your t-shirt off,” Courtney said. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
“We can’t sit here in our bras.”
“It covers the same thing as a bathing suit, actually more.”
“She’s got a point,” Alex said. “We’re all friends here. Besides, no one’s looking. They’ve all got their eyes closed.”
Purity shrugged, then removed her shirt, rolled it into a ball and placed it behind her head. She, too, sunk into the soft bottom of the hot spring and felt her muscles relax.
Within minutes, the group fell silent. Their bodies felt heavy, almost as if the water held sedative powers. They never fell asleep, but time seemed to be suspended as one by one their muscles lost tension.
They were surprised to hear Sam’s voice telling them to wake up. “Can any of you hear me? Wake up. Get up!”
Brad