Claire's Story: Chapter 8

The ride into town was uneventful. Sean’s four-wheel drive truck handled the snow and ice with ease. With the two Aussies perched on the seat in between them, Sean and Claire arrived at Morena’s Mexican Café just after noon. “Hope Mexican’s ok, this place is one of my favorites,” Sean said as they climbed out of his pickup.

“Love Mexican food. And I’m starving, hope we don’t close the place down!” she joked.

After seating themselves, a pretty, auburn-haired waitress brought them chips and salsa. As she took their drink orders, Claire was appalled with how shamelessly the woman flirted with Sean. She had laid her hand casually on Sean’s shoulder, and her back was turned to Claire, completely ignoring her. “Uh, we’ll just have a couple of cokes, and some queso to start with. And that’ll be all for now, unless you’d like something else Claire?” Sean said, reaching across the table and squeezing his lunch date’s forearm.

With his gesture of affection towards Claire, the waitress was forced to acknowledge Sean’s date and cease her blatant flirtation. “Is that all?” the woman asked in a snooty tone.

“Yes, that’s all you can get us for now. Thanks.” Claire retorted with a smug smile.

“Sorry about that,” Sean apologized, as the waitress stormed off to the kitchen. “She’s always a little too touchy-feely, been that way ever since high school.”

“Not a big deal, I thought you handled the situation with a lot of class, actually. Just hope she doesn’t spit in our food or something.”

“Nah, we should be fine. I’d think she’d be used to my reaction to her by now anyway.”

“So you went to high school with her? Was that here in Canyon?” Claire questioned, interested to know more about Sean’s past. He elaborated, stating that he had in fact grown up in Canyon and gone to school there since junior high. When he was a kid his parents had lived in Wyoming near his maternal grandparents. His dad was an architect there, and they had moved to Texas when Sean was eleven to be closer to his dad’s mom who had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Sean had a brother who was two years older, and the sister from whom Claire had borrowed the clothes was ten years younger, just a baby when the family had made their move across the United States.

Sean had been a gifted athlete, excelling in basketball and football, in which he continued to play through college at West Texas A&M. His coaches had encouraged him to try to play football at the professional level even, but Sean was more interested in running his granddad’s cattle ranch. So he had moved onto the ranch and lived with his grandfather until three years ago, when the old man unexpectedly died in his sleep. The cattle, land, and enormous ranch house had all been left to Sean, and he was more than happy to keep the ranch in the Burnett family name. Claire could definitely relate to Sean’s story, having grown up a hometown hero, and then continuing to work in the same town she’d lived her entire life.

The haughty waitress brought their ticket and left it on the table without interruption. Both reached for the tab, but Sean was faster. “Please allow me Claire, I’d consider it an honor.”

Shocked with his choice of words, Claire gave in with little more than a sincere “thank you.” He had sounded like one of the noble warrior characters straight from her romance novels!
How this successful, honorable, handsome cowboy was not yet married was beyond her. Before she could think of a tactful way of asking about past relationships however, she saw her dad’s white truck pull into the parking lot.

They walked outside and met Claire’s father just as he was stepping out of the truck to stretch his legs. “Hey Dad,” Claire said, giving him a quick hug. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Sure thing, the roads weren’t as bad as I first thought.” The attractive older man said with a tired smile. “Guess you’ll owe me one now though!”

“Dad, this is Sean Burnett. He gave me a ride and a place to stay last night.” Claire said with appreciation. “And Sean, this is my dad, David Williams.”

“Nice to meet you sir,” Sean said, shaking his hand. “I’d like to compliment Claire, she was a big help to me this morning. She’s quite the horsewoman.”

“Well, she pretends to be anyway,” Claire’s dad said with smile, giving his eldest daughter’s shoulders a tight squeeze.
Claire rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. She knew that her dad’s playful sarcasm was his way of saying he loved her and was proud of her.

“Ready to head home?” he asked. “Your animals are all waiting for you.”

“Yeah, guess we should get going,” Claire replied, her eyes finding Sean’s.

Sean walked her to the passenger door and opened it. They stood there in silence for an awkward moment, neither seeming ready for their time together to come to an end. Finally, Sean extended his hand and took hers politely. “It was great meeting you Claire. Hope we see each other again sometime,” his voice quiet but deep.

“So do I. And thanks again for everything,” Claire managed, a knot rising in her throat. With a slight nod and a gentlemanly tip of his hat, the kind cowboy shut the door and turned towards his truck. Claire sat in silence as her dad drove away, waiting for the lump in her throat to subside, afraid if she tried to talk her voice would give away the emotion she was feeling. It had upset her to tell Sean goodbye; she was afraid that they would not see each other again. He lived several hours away, and what was more, he hadn’t even asked for her phone number.

Claire’s father broke the silence by commenting on how polite Sean seemed. He had obviously made a good first impression, which was not an easy thing to do with Claire’s dad.
She was relieved that her dad had somewhat given his approval, but was also torn that this was the first man she’d had any interest in whatsoever in what seemed like an eternity. And now Sean was just a memory.

***

Sean drove back to his ranch with mixed emotions. There was the slight clench of his gut after saying goodbye to Claire, but also the excited butterflies that appeared whenever he thought about her. Had he really just met her less than twenty-four hours earlier? It was hard to believe. He hadn’t felt a spark like this in years. It felt more than just good, it felt amazing. He’d wanted to hug her goodbye, and he was afraid that their parting handshake had been somewhat cold, conveying none of the affection he felt Claire deserved. However, they had just met, and a handshake was appropriate in front of her father. Turning up the radio to drown out his thoughts, he decided he’d give Darla a call when he got home to ask for Claire’s number.