“I love you, Cassandra, and I don’t care who knows it,” Sebastian said, throwing down his pitchfork. “I want this to work. I want us to work, and I’ll do whatever it takes!”
Cassandra rushed to him and met his embrace. The two kissed passionately for what felt like an eternity, lips and souls intertwined so intensely that some of the cattle backed away, as if there were a barn fire and they didn’t want to be caught up in the flames.
Sebastian had always hoped to find love someday. It wasn’t quite what he expected—or who—but that didn’t matter. Some things were meant to be.
Suddenly, he felt Cassandra’s arms slacken. The kiss trailed off; he stepped back. “What’s wrong?” he said, throat tightening.
She looked him in the eyes. “Sebby, I love you too, and I want to spend the rest of our lives together. But what about all this? Your ranch, your dream of running a Christmas-themed coffee shop right here in a small New Mexico town? And what about the people of Elephant Butte?”
Sebastian smiled. “Dreams change, Cass. We’ll figure something out for the cattle. And as for my friends and neighbors…”
“Your friends and neighbors will just have to pick up the slack!” Sebastian turned to see Mayor Howard step out from behind the barn. A single tear dripped gently down his cheek.
“We all will!” said another voice, as Deputy Clayton appeared from behind the barn as well, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and handing it to the mayor. Others joined the growing crowd: Shay Abara from the Chamber of Commerce, Roy Chen from the farm supply store, Pastor Brouwer from the United Church, Dean Dominguez from the school, and so many more. Sebastian and Cassandra both stared in shock. Practically the whole town was here—even Hobo Dan!
Cassandra looked at Sebastian. “You’re going to leave all this…for me?”
“It would be a sin if he didn’t!” said Pastor Brouwer, and the crowd laughed.
“He’s certainly earned an A-plus in dreaming big!” said Dean Dominguez, earning a smaller chuckle from the gathered throng; they were getting tired of puns. He walked closer to Cassandra and lowered his voice. “He did get a C-minus in small business management his senior year of high school, though, so just be aware of that.”
Mayor Howard cleared his throat. “You know, Sebastian, you’re a member of this community—this family—and you always will be. You’ll always be welcome back here. But a chance like this doesn’t come along every day. Certainly not to Elephant Butte!”
“What Bobby’s trying to say,” Shay said, putting her hand on his shoulder, “is that we’ve got you covered. The whole town is going to come together to manage your ranch!”
“I’m extending your line of credit at the farm supply,” Roy added. “Just a nominal interest rate increase. You’ll have it paid off by the time you retire! Or the creditors seize the ranch! Either way!”
Sebastian gave a wan smile. “I appreciate that, all of you, I really do, but ranching’s a tough business. Where are you going to find someone who knows which end of a lasso is which, especially on such short notice?”
“You’d be surprised,” said none other than Hobo Dan, a telling grin spreading across his stubbled face. Sebastian and Cassandra both gasped. “I wasn’t always Hobo Dan, you know. Why, once upon a time I went by the name…Dan Diamond.”
Sebastian’s eyes grew wide. “Dan Diamond, the famous cattle rancher? But he disappeared after his whole herd was wiped out in a freak pickleball accident!”
“He sure did,” Dan said somberly. “What most folks don’t know is that Dan Diamond lost not only seven-thousand head of prime cattle in that accident, but also his beloved husband, Cliff.” He sighed heavily, remembering. “I needed to get away for a while, to find myself, to find a new dream. The people of Elephant Butte gave me that time and that grace. And now, you might have just made that new dream come true.”
Sebastian ran over to Dan and shook his hand. “I can’t believe it!”
“Believe it!” Shay said. “Just don’t let us down when you go off to the big city. You’d better build the best Christmas-themed coffee shop the Big Apple has ever seen!”
Sebastian turned back to Cassandra. “An urban area with a high population and a thriving tourist trade really is the best chance for a quirky seasonal concept in a traditionally low-margin business to survive,” he said. “And now you can keep pursuing your dream too: to be the best high-powered attorney in the five counties!”
She smiled. “That’s the five boroughs, dear. We’ll make a New Yorker out of you yet!” She turned to the crowd. “Thank you so much for believing in Sebastian, for believing in me, and most of all, for believing in us! We won’t let you down, we promise!” She frowned. “Also, nobody calls it the Big Apple, so don’t do that. But come visit us anytime!” she said, smiling again.
“I guess there’s only one last thing to do,” said Mayor Howard. “To the airport!” A shiny green tractor pulled up with Sebastian’s Ukrainian neighbor, Farmer Vitaliy, in the driver’s seat. It was hitched to a wagon containing a pair of suitcases. The crowd cheered as Sebastian climbed up onto the wagon, reaching down to help Cassandra up as she adjusted her pencil skirt and balanced a stiletto heel on the tire.
Sebastian turned to Cassandra as the tractor accelerated, bumping along the dirt road and onto the highway as diesel fumes and blue smoke swirled around them like clouds. “To the city,”’he said softly.
“To the city,” she replied. “By way of Chicago O’Hare. No direct flights,” she said with a shrug. She tugged at his sweat-stained T-shirt. “Also, we’re stopping at the Johnston & Murphy in the concourse. We need to get you some outfits.” She smiled.
He smiled back, and they embraced again, lips locking in a kiss, thinking of nothing but each other and decent bagels and underground jazz clubs. The traffic began to back up behind the tractor as they drove up Route 25 at 18 miles an hour towards Albuquerque, just a 145-mile tractor ride and two airport connections from a new life.
