I followed on another horse as Ava rode Dancer at a full gallop through a meadow of short grass that stretched half a mile or so behind the ranch house. Her dress flew up around the tops of her smooth, sun-tanned thighs as her hair floated behind her in silky, chocolate waves. She rode with such ease and grace, it was hard to take my eyes off of her. Sitting atop a black-spotted white horse in her floral dress and almost black hair, Ava looked like a painting in motion. Some artist, some god I hadn’t believed in before, was proving his existence to me. I could smell her in the air like wildflowers.
I rode up next to her and shouted over the wind, “You’re beautiful!”
She giggled and then tapped Dancer with her heels and took off. I tried to keep up beside her. After wrapping the reins around the horn, she let go and threw her head back and her arms out, palms facing outward, feeling the world rush toward her. How freeing, I thought. Her body was open toward the sky in a seraphic gesture. I watched her in awe until the horses naturally slowed as we came to the end of the grassy field.
“That felt good,” she said. “The hot spring is here. We’ll let the horses graze.”
She jumped down. I followed her to the rocky edge of a very small cliff. We climbed down a few feet and before I could see any water I could smell the sulfur. We went down a short bit farther until we saw a clear-blue pool of naturally steaming water.
“How hot is it?”
“It’s perfect,” she said as she removed her boots and set them on a rock. I did the same and then took my shirt off. We were standing on opposite sides of the small pool. She looked me up and down and then reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head. I swallowed hard, expecting to see a swimsuit, but I was wrong. She stood in a white lacy camisole and matching panties, which might have actually covered more than the typical swimsuits I was used to seeing on the beaches of L.A., but this was much sexier and delicate.
Without her usual shyness, she made her way into the hot spring. “Ah, this feels good.”
I removed my jeans and got in wearing only boxer briefs. She watched me intently as I maneuvered over the rocks and into the water.
“Do you run?”
“Yes.”
“I thought so,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because you’re muscular but not bulky.”
“Oh.” I wanted to compliment her but found myself tongue-tied because there were so many things I could say. “You’re . . . very um . . . fit.”
She laughed. “Thank you . . . I think.”
“No, you have a fantastic body, and I see a lot of bodies,” I blurted.
“Oh?”
Nervously, I began to stammer again. What was happening to me? “I . . . I’m a doctor.”
“Yes, I know.”
“That’s why I’ve seen a lot of bodies.”
“Oh, okay,” she said. Her smile was sympathetic.
A sound came from the bushes and suddenly a man and a woman appeared carrying two towels. I splashed across the hot spring to cover Ava with my body.
“Oh, excuse us,” the woman said. “No one’s ever up here.”
I heard Ava laughing quietly against the back of my neck. When I turned to face her we were mere inches apart. “You think this is funny?”
She shrugged, still smiling. “Ask them if they want to join us.”
“Really?”
“Why not, it’s big enough.”
I turned back to the couple still hovering over us. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”
“Thought you’d never ask,” the man said instantly. He quickly pulled off his jeans and shirt and was in the water in his tighty-whities within seconds.
“You don’t have to cover me, this looks like a swimsuit,” Ava said in my ear.
I looked back at her and opened my eyes wide. “That does not look like a swimsuit.”
She pushed me away gently. “It’s okay,” she said.
“I’m Jimmy and that’s my wife, Brenda.” Brenda was stripping down to her bra and underwear. The scene playing out in front of me was shocking, if not mortifying, and every time I looked at Ava she seemed amused.
“Nice to meet you Jimmy, Brenda.” I waved to her without letting my eyes glance at her stark-white body as she entered the hot spring. “I’m . . .”
“This is Tom and I’m Darlene,” Ava blurted out.
What the hell?
“You two live around here?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes, just down the road,” I answered ambiguously because I wasn’t sure why Ava gave him fake names.
“Yeah, us too. Brenda and me, we live over past R&W Ranch. We work together at Smith’s Food and Drug. You two ever go there?”
“Oh yeah,” Ava said. “All the time.”
“Y’all got kids?” Brenda asked. She was fully submerged so I could finally make eye contact with her. The couple looked to be in their thirties. Brenda was slightly overweight with dishwater blond hair and small, plain features. Jimmy was completely bald but had a youthful face.
“Yes, we have five. All boys,” Ava said.