Love In The Wild West

Chapter 4

Lila awoke the next day feeling extremely fresh and happy. She knew that this day was going to have a lot in store, especially due to the fact that Kurt was going to get real riding horses today.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!” she said, nudging Louise awake.

Lila’s best friend opened a single eye and said groggily, “Why are you so cheerful today? This is awful.”

“Maybe because it is a ridiculously beautiful day outside,” said Lila, “a day that you will start to miss if you do not get your butt out of bed!”

“It’s too early to get out of bed,” moaned Louise.

“It’s eleven in the morning!” said Lila.

“Oh come on, Li,” said Louise. “I have to get up early every single day back home. Let me sleep in while I am on vacation, let me relax.”

“You have a point there,” said Louise, “I think I am going to go down and get myself some breakfast. I will come and wake you up in a few hours if you are not already up by then.”

“Cool,” said Louise, covering her face with the quilt. “You do that.”

Lila practically skipped downstairs, humming to herself as she did so. She was feeling extremely cheerful, mostly due to the fact that she knew that today was going to involve a lot more authentic cowboy activity than what she had been expecting during her stay at the ranch.

She went to one of the restaurants on the main floor of the hotel and got herself some buckwheat pancakes. They smelled amazing, and she drizzled butter and pancake syrup all over them and started to enjoy herself. She looked around as she ate, observing all of the people that were staying at this hotel. They all looked relaxed, but they looked bored as well. There was nothing really to do in this hotel, nothing that would excite people. Lila was sure than when Kurt got back with the riding horses, people were going to flock to see what was going on. Even if just a dozen people tried it out the first time, this would be enough to help Kurt coax his investors into making the horse riding a regular feature at the ranches. Lila was excited to see how all of this would pan out. She had a feeling that she would be able to see the rise of this ranch, see it turn into something a lot greater than what it already was. She honestly could not wait to see it happen. She saw so much potential in this place, she saw the potential for greatness. She saw a place that could give people what they truly needed: a break from reality, something that was different from the usual grind that people were trying to escape from back home.

As she ate her pancakes, she felt a presence next to her. She looked up and saw that it was Kurt.

“Hey!” said Lila, “you are here early! Have you found the horses already?”

“I placed the order first thing in the morning,” said Kurt excitedly. “I can not wait for them to get here. They are such beautiful beasts, but sturdy as well, not like those beauty queens we have right outside the ranch. These horses are made to be ridden, and I am sure that people are going to want to get a piece of the action.”

“How many horses have you ordered?” asked Lila.

“Well, I have ordered about two dozen for now,” said Kurt, “and I feel like that is too optimistic as well. I would consider us lucky if a dozen people went for this, because most people are not very likely to try something new. We are going to have to work hard to get people to try it.”

“That is okay,” said Lila. “After the guests at the hotel see so many people trying horse riding out they are going to want to try it out for themselves as well. It’s going to end up getting very popular very quickly, just you wait and see.”

“I hope you are right,” said Kurt.

“So when are the horses getting here?” Lila asked.

“In about an hour,” said Kurt. “I pulled some strings and talked to a guy I know at the stable. He agreed to expedite the process for me.”

“Really?” said Lila excitedly. “You mean that I can ride a real horse in an hour?”

“Well no,” said Kurt. “The horses will get here in an hour, and then they are going to be fed and washed and allowed to relax a little. I think you are going to be able to go for your very first ride in about four hours. Sorry, I know how excited you are about all of this.”

“It’s perfectly alright,” said Lila, and she meant it. “I am looking forward to it, but I understand that I have to wait before I can do this. I do not mind at all, this way I will be able to enjoy it more when it actually happens. Besides, if the horses are going to be ready to ride three hours after they get here, that will give you three hours to entice people into going for a ride. That is a really important thing, it will allow you to maximize your chance for success.”

“I think you mean we,” said Kurt with a smile. “I am going to need your help to get all of these people interested in the horses.”

“What do you need me for?” asked Lila.

“Well, you really seem to be interested in this sort of thing,” said Kurt. “You have a passion for pretty much everything that has anything to do with cowboys and ranches and all of that. So I think that if you were to talk to people, you would be able to get them far more excited than I would be able to. You just seem to believe in all of this a lot more.”

Lila was surprised. She had not expected Kurt to want her help. After all, he was a big shot ranch owner and billionaire, she was just a bank clerk. And yet, he wanted her help and that made her feel really good about herself. It felt good to know that there was somebody that actually expected something from her, someone that felt like she could help out in any way.