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Kim awakes to a dark room with Jimmy lying next to her, smiling softly and stroking the hair from her face.
“Hey,” he whispers.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kim croaks, “Jimmy, what time is? Why are you already up?”
“Well good morning to you too…and happy birthday!” Jimmy grins. “I’ve got a surprise planned, but it requires us to get up early.”
Kim groans and pushes herself up to a seated position. She leans against the headboard and looks at the clock. It reads 5:07am
“What could you possibly have planned that would be good at this ungodly hour?”
Jimmy still smiling brightly, points across to her side of the bed, “Just look over there.”
Kim shifts to peek over the side of the bed and sees a large box—wrapped light blue paper with a pattern of festive red and yellow balloons and ‘Happy Birthday’ written in a rainbow of colors, tied neatly with a green bow.
She narrows her eyes. “A gift? This couldn’t wait until later in the morning…like when the sun is actually up?”
“Come on! Open it!” Jimmy laughs, throwing his hands out to his side.
Kim swings her legs over the side of the bed and reaches for the box, untying the bow and peeling off the paper. She takes the lid off of the box to reveal a pair of tan leather boots, in the classic western style with golden stitching, and a western hat in the same color made of wool. The hat has a thin leather band around it stitched with white arrows and teal studs. She takes the boots out of the box, running her hand over the smooth, supple leather, feeling the interruptions of the detailed flame embroidery. “What’s this for? Some kind of weird role-play…”
Jimmy snorts, “Hmmm…that may come later, but no. I’m taking you horseback riding out at The Red Horse-Riding Company in Corrales!”
Kim tilts her head, “Horse-back riding, Jimmy?”
Jimmy waggles his eyebrows, “Yeah! Just because we don’t have that big ol’ house in Corrales yet doesn’t mean we can’t fulfill your dream of going horse-back riding with me.” He gestures toward the gifts, “Come on! Try ‘em on.”
Kim pauses a moment, shifting to back toward Jimmy, “Ok, but why so early?”
“Well, I was told by the owner of the place that the best time to ride is at sunrise.”
Kim thinks back to her childhood in Red Cloud, riding horses with her father in the early mornings…one of the few positive memories she has of growing up there. Her eyes soften a bit, “Yeah, I guess it is.”
She leans over and pecks Jimmy on the lips. Then she rolls out of bed and plods over to the closet to throw on a pair of jeans and pearl-snap shirt with a blue, teal, and yellow plaid-pattern. After changing out of her pajamas and into her clothes, she walks over to the bathroom mirror to put her hair in a loose ponytail before returning to the bed. She sits on the edge and puts on the hat and slips on the boots, one at a time, tugging at the ear pulls as she pushes her feet in. The familiar feeling of them transports her back to Red Cloud, riding across the vast, rolling plains as the sun rose, painting the sky in every color imaginable…
“Wow…you look great!” Jimmy’s voice snaps her back to reality.
Realizing what he said, she lets out a short laugh, “Please tell me I won’t be the only one wearing these.”
Jimmy raises his eyebrows and holds out his hands to his side in a shrug, “You don’t think I’d let you be the only one having fun, do you?” He drops his hands, “Mine are in the closet.”
Kim laughs brightly, “Ok, I’ll wear them if you will.” She winks “Just call me Calamity Kim.”
Jimmy’s eyes widen as he gulps. “Ok, yeah…role-play will definitely be happening later. But before we can do that, we should probably actually leave for Corrales. The sun rises around 7:00, and I did make a reservation, ya know.”
“Alright, cowboy. Get dressed and let’s go!”
Jimmy walks to his side of the closet and puts on a pair of jeans and off-white button up shirt. Then he pulls out his own western hat—sandy in color with a thin, dark leather band—and his dark brown leather boots. Jimmy pauses, and his eyes light up. He rummages through the closet pulling out a brown leather bolo tie with a golden armadillo for the clasp. He holds it up for Kim to see, “Heh, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have a reason to wear this again.” He gives a light shrug and grins, “I guess I do now!”
The Esteem putters up to the dirt parking lot next to the gate, and Jimmy puts it in park. He looks over at Kim as he turns off the engine, “You ready?”
Kim answers by opening the door and stepping out of the car. Rays of light are just creeping over of the edge of the horizon revealing a corral, stables, and a few trail heads leading into the brush. The air is cool, and the smell of hay fills her nose as she takes in a deep breath. Several horses stand in the corral, nickering, neighing, and stamping their hooves at irregular intervals, but everything else is quiet. Jimmy follows suit, and they make their way up to the gated entrance. A rancher spots them and walks up to greet them,
“Howdy y’all! I’m Rex, you must be McGill.”
Jimmy nods, “Yes, that’s me!”
“And who is this fine young lady you’re with?”
Kim extends her hand “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Kim Wexler.”
Rex shakes her hand then tips his hat, “Mighty nice to meet ya, Kim. And Jimmy, it’s nice to put a face to the name. I’ll be your guide today. As discussed, the ride will last about two hours. We’ll go up the trail to a clearing and have a light breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast before coming back down. You can expect the sun to rise in about an hour, so we’ll want to get started soon. Either of y’all have experience ridin’ horses?”
Kim nods “Yes, I used to ride often growing up in Nebraska.”
Jimmy looks over at her and raises an eyebrow.
“And you Jimmy?” Rex asks.
“Huh…oh yeah, I’ve ridden once or twice.”
“Ok great. So, no need to teach the basics before we go since the trail is pretty easy. We’ll start out walking, but if you feel comfortable, we can increase to a trot later on. Y’all ready to get going?”
Kim just nods and Jimmy answer with an enthusiastic “Yes sir!”
“Great, let's head to the stable. Your horses are ready to go. I’ve already got them tacked and saddled.”
They follow Rex to the horse stable, and he leads them over to two horses that are out of their stalls and tied to a post.
“Jimmy, you’ll be riding this one here.” He pats the horse on his left—dark brown with a black mane. The saddle is two-toned leather, and the saddle blanket is a deep blue with a southwestern pattern in black and white. “Her name’s Belle. She’s a steady, reliable girl. You shouldn’t have any problems with her.
Rex leans his head over toward the horse on his right—a palomino, golden with a white mane. The saddle is dark brown, and the saddle blanket is green with thin white stripes. “Kim, you’ll be riding this one. He’s named Brazos. He can be a little fiery, but you sound like you can handle him.”
Rex helps Jimmy and Kim mount their horses and unties them from the post before walking over to his own horse. He grabs a large pack on the ground next to him and slings it up behind the saddle, securing it in place. Then he leads his horse up to the gate and opens it before mounting his horse. “Y’all just follow me!”
They start up a trail with a slight incline, surrounded by thinly disbursed trees and brush. About quarter of a mile in, the trail widens enough for two horses to walk side-by-side, so Jimmy gives Belle a little kick to catch up with Kim and ride beside her. He tips his hat toward her, and she smiles softly at him. They continue to ride together in companionable silence for a while, taking in the scenery, following a few yards behind Rex.
Eventually Jimmy turns to Kim, “I didn’t know that you rode horses as a kid.” He grins widely, “You really are Calamity Kim.”
A smile begins to form in the corners of Kim’s lips, “Sure, but let’s hope there’s no actual calamities during our ride. We both want to make it back in one piece”
Jimmy let out a short laugh. “I’d kinda wondered where you got the idea for riding horses back when I was still working at Davis and Main, but now it all makes sense. What do you enjoy most about it?”
Kim stares ahead at the trail, “It’s one of the few good memories I have of Red Cloud…and of my dad.” She pauses, gathering her thoughts. The only sounds are the clop of hooves on the trail and Belle softly nickering as she shakes her head. Kim turns and smiles warmly at Jimmy “but what I love most about it is the feeling of freedom. It’s hard to fully describe, but the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair, breathing the fresh air…it untethered me from all my stress and worries, even if it was just for that moment.”
Jimmy’s eyes soften as he looks at Kim, and is silent for a beat before he cracks smile, “I totally nailed your birthday gift then, didn’t I?”
As he says this, they come over the top of the hill and into the clearing where they can see the sun rising. Streaks of blue, orange, purple, and yellow paint the wide canvas of sky and clouds in front of them. Kim softly gasps at the sight, and then turns toward him with bright eyes, “Yes, Jimmy. You really did.”
The moment is interrupted when Rex stops his horse and hollers back to them, “This is the end of the trail, so feel free to ride around the clearing for a while before we eat breakfast and head back.”
Kim does not hesitate. Before Jimmy can even respond to Rex, she kicks Brazos forward into a quick trot that turns into a gallop, riding toward the brush-stroked horizon. The air whips around her face, cool and crisp, waving the tendrils of hair around her face and watering her eyes. She throws her head back and lets out a peal of laughter before pulling back on the reigns, slowing Brazos to a stop. Kim sits silently with her eyes closed for a moment, chest rising and falling as she breathes in the fresh morning air. Brazos neighs and stomps one foot against the ground. She opens her eyes and lets out a large exhale as a wide smile spreads across her face, and she basks in the growing rays of sun, soaking in the scene in front of her.
A few minutes later, Jimmy trots ups behind her on Belle. Kim can’t help but feel warm in the cold morning air as she watches him approach, wearing his hat, boots, and armadillo bolo.
He laughs, “Whoa there, Kim. I could barely keep up! I thought you were gonna ride off into the horizon, never to be seen again! You tryin’ to leave me?”
Kim pulls the reigns to the left, turning Brazos back to face him and quips back. “If I’d wanted to leave you, Jimmy, you would have never caught up. Don’t you remember? I’m Calamity Kim”
Jimmy’s eyes crinkle in a soft smile.
Kim looks over Jimmy’s shoulder and sees that Rex has started a campfire next to a small picnic area and is cooking breakfast. “Come on, we should ride back over to Rex for breakfast before the food gets cold.”
They ride back together in a slow trot, the sun to their backs. As they approach the campfire, the faint smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs is in the air. There’s a small wooden table near the fire where Rex has already set out plates of food. His back is turned as he stoops over fire, heating up toast in the pan.
Kim and Jimmy dismount a few yards away near a horse post and tie up their horses. Jimmy begins walking toward the campfire, when Kim grabs his hand and pulls him into an embrace. Jimmy circles his arms around her waist as Kim moves her hands to his face, kissing him.
She pulls back after a moment and moves her hands down to play with the strands of his bolo tie.
“Jimmy, thank you for this. It truly was incredible.”
“Hmm, getting up at that ungodly hour was worth it, huh?”
Kim snorts, then pulls him in to steal another quick kiss.
Jimmy looks in her eyes, “But seriously, I’m glad I was able to make your birthday special, Kim.” He pauses, then raises his hand up to move a loose tendril of hair behind her ear as he smiles, “Now, let’s hurry up and eat so we can get back down the trail.” He steps back and grabs her hands.
Kim raises an eyebrow, “It’s so beautiful out here. Why such a rush to get back home?”
Jimmy looks down and her hands in his and twists the toe of his boot into the ground before looking back up. “Uhh…well, I remember you saying something about some weird type of role-play with our hats and boots…”
Kim smiles brightly and closes the gap between them, kissing him once more. “Ok, cowboy. Let’s go.”