Freedom Ranch

Chapter 16

Colt sat down at the bar next to Dakota. She was still messing with her red knuckles, making him want to kiss them even more. All night he had been having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. He found himself wanting to hold her hand, hold her close, or whisper something sweet in her ear. Every time another girl had her arms wrapped around him hoping he would take her home, he found he was only thinking of how to escape their grips and get back with Dakota. Never has he felt this way. Never had he been so drawn to a woman.

"I need to tell you something I found out earlier," said Dakota quietly as she tapped her fingers on the glass in front of her.

"Sure," he answered, taking a sip of his beer.

"Brett told me Colin was at the bar earlier tonight."

Colt felt the bubbles of the beer tickle his nose when he almost choked on his drink.

"What?" he asked with a cough.

He listened intently as Dakota told him what she knew. It wasn't much information but enough to tell him it was only a matter of time before he finds her.

"Let me ask some of the guys here if they have heard anything," said Colt.

"I know all these ranchers," said Dakota quietly.

"Oh. Well, do you trust them all?" asked Colt as he looked around.

"Yes."

"Great."

Colt stood up and thundered, "Attention Gentleman!".

Dakota groaned and sunk lower in her chair. The seven men scattered among the tables, including the bartender, were now giving him their full attention. The only sound that could be heard was the soft droning of a slow country song in the background.

"We are all aware of Ms. Taylor having a particular man, claiming to be her husband or her ex husband, trying to find her. This has been going on for days and I think we can all agree that enough is enough. If you hear anything, please let me know. He's not taking the hint that he isn't welcomed here so I guess word will have to get back to him that he will have to go through me if he wants to know anything about Dakota Taylor."

A few hoots and hollers of agreement echoed in the bar. Colt looked down at Dakota to see her face was as pink as her knuckles now.

"Why couldn't you just go to each of them individually?" she whispered.

"There's pressure to come forward with information when there is a public announcement. This is the best I could do considering the circumstances."

As if on cue, a gentleman approached Colt muttering he wanted to speak to him. Colt nodded and led him to the corner by the jukebox as the bar went back to business as usual.

"A gentleman came by my ranch yesterday. Name was Colin. He was looking for Dakota."

"Did you tell him anything?"

"Hell no. That boy had a crazed look in his eye and I know Dakota's daddy would come back from the dead to haunt me if I did."

"Well, thank you for letting me know. At least he's still lost I suppose."

"I wouldn't say that. I live on the same country road."

"Oh, so neighbors?"

The old man shrugged as he muttered, "Basically. We are a few properties apart. But, he had to have passed by her place to get to mine."

Colt nodded. He kept his panicked calculations to himself as he returned to Dakota. He wouldn't dare share this with her. She didn't have to know and lose sleep over it.

"Anything?" she asked.

Colt shook his head and took another swig of his beer. She eyed him carefully before returning to attention to a gentleman next to her. He was talking about his late wife and reminiscing about the old times. Colt could see he had Dakota entranced by his animated stories.

"You two remind me of us when we were young," said the man as he set his glass down on the bar in front of him, looking at Colt and Dakota with glassy eyes.

Colt could see Dakota shake her head a little but spoke up before she could, "Really?".

"Yes. My wife was quite the firecracker like Dakota right here. And, I wasn't a bad looking man myself believe it or not. She always found my black cowboy hat 'swoon-worthy' as she would say."

Colt chuckled and looked down at Dakota who was trying to hold back a grin.

"Why don't you two dance?"

Dakota shook her head again and opened her mouth to protest when the man interrupted, "It would make an old rancher happy to see two young ones dancing in this dusty bar. It would bring some life back to it and some happy memories for me."

"Absolutely," said Colt as Dakota struggled with words to say.

He took Dakota's hand and tugged. She slowly stood up and followed him towards the jukebox.

"I'm not a dancer," she muttered.

"Don't make an old man sad," said Colt with too much enthusiasm.

"You or him"

Colt stopped in mid-stride and looked back at Dakota. She was still looking defiant and he couldn't help but laugh at her dry humor.

"Just follow my lead, youngin'."

The sharp sounds of the guitar strummed followed by Josh Turners's deep voice rumbled next to him as he wrapped his hand in Dakota's. He started leading her around the dance floor, their boots echoing softly on the wooden planks underneath them.

"My ass you aren't a dancer," he said with a chuckle after a few strides.

"Well, it was a secret. That way I would never be forced to do this," she replied.

Colt smiled in response and spun her in a circle. He could see the mask she was wearing was slowly breaking the more steps she took. She was enjoying herself for once. As the music slowed to Blake Shelton's smooth voice singing, he took his chance to pull her a little closer. He wrapped his arm around her and continued to two-step around the floor, Dakota keeping up with every step. As the beat sped up with the chorus, he increased their pace and spun her a few times. She smiled so brightly it would light up the sky. As the song came to an end, she was completely leaning on him trying to catch her breath.

"That was fun," she admitted.

Colt wished he could just dance with her the rest of the night but the bar was closing. He could see the sparkle in her eye fade as reality set in. He would do anything to see that flame come back.

"You two made my night. Heck, maybe my whole week. Thank you," said the gentleman at the bar as he tipped his hat to them.

"This place hasn't had that much excitement in years," agreed the bartender behind him.

"You two need to come out here more often. And, dance!" proclaimed another man.

Instead of being embarrassed, Colt was surprised to see Dakota enjoying the encouragement. The light was back in her eyes as she smiled as brightly as the sun.