A Courting Conundrum

by Kara

Cory Blake stepped off the train that had just screeched to a creaking halt into the Fresno train depot. He took a deep breath and smiled, He was back. Just as he had gathered up his suitcase when he heard a friendly voice calling his name.

“Cory! Cory Blake, over here!”

Cory turned to see a brown-haired girl of nineteen running towards him. He grinned and dashed forward. The two hugged each other.

“Andi, it’s wonderful to see you again. I’ve missed you.”

Andi stepped back and inspected the twenty-year-old, “Boy, Cory, you sure have grown in the last two years.”

Cory shrugged, “I haven't grown taller much, but I did have some athletic experience during college. I heard that Riley Prescott has also returned to Fresno.”

Andi nodded, “That’s true. Riley came back about a year and a half ago. Three months after you left.”

Cory started to walk off the platform with Andi following, “Sounds like a lot has been happening.”

Andi nodded as the two made their way off of the platform and onto the dirt of the road.

“So what's our form of transportation, Andi?” Cory asked glancing around. “I take it that you know since you are the only one who met me here.”

Andi laughed, “Oh, yes. Justin brought me into town and then I stopped by your father’s livery to pick up a wagon.”

The two were climbed into the Blake’s coach when Cory asked, “Andi, do you mind if I drive? It would be completely my pleasure to escort you back to your ranch.”

“Oh, but don’t you want to go back to your house?”

“Yes, but I’d rather give you a ride home.”

Andi blushed at this, “I don’t mind.”

Cory all grown up.

Cory helped Andi into the buggy and then climbed into the seat beside her. As they rode out of town, Cory glanced over at Andi. She was, as he had remembered, small and brown-haired except she seemed more mature than when he left. She was becoming a gorgeous woman and Cory felt like they could be more than just friends. 

Before he left Cory had gotten permission from Justin to court Andi when he returned. He decided that the best place to ask Andi of her interest would be the creek, her favorite spot. He had arranged for Justin to bring Andi to the creek tomorrow afternoon at four-thirty in the afternoon.

*****

“Jack Goodwin, you have a customer. If you’re going to be this distracted, I’ll have to get someone else to watch the counter.” Paul Goodwin boomed to his son as he came over to the desk to serve the customer.

“Wha…? Oh, sorry. I was busy… thinking.” Jack stuttered awkwardly.

Mr. Goodwin finished helping the shopper and then sighed, “What were you thinking about?”

Jack sat up straight trying to shake the unsettling thoughts out of his mind, “Oh, uh, nothing, Pa.”

“Now,” Mr. Goodwin sat down on a chair, “when my twenty-year-old son calls me ‘pa,' that usually means something is very unsettling.”

“Oh,” Jack felt his face turn red, “I was just thinking about someone who passed by. It was Andi Carter.”

Mr. Goodwin raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, Jack?”

“I just realized how beautiful she’s getting.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think she’s a stunning girl, and she’s the only girl I like.”

Mr. Goodwin chuckled, “You love her?”

“No!” Jack almost shouted defiantly, “Well, kind of.”

“If you are interested, you should talk to Mitch or Justin.”

Jack nodded slowly, “I guess that’s a good idea. Do I have…”

Just as Jack started to speak, the door opened, and Mitch Carter stepped inside.

“Mitch!” Jack yelled, “I’ve gotta ask you something.”

Mitch laughed and raised an eyebrow, “Well, what is it?”

“I want to have your permission to ask Andi to court me!”

Jack Goodwin

Mitch chuckled, “You’re serious, right?”

Jack nodded frantically.

“Well, yes, you can court my little sister. I think you are a nice man…”

Jack grinned, “Thanks!”

Then Jack started to think about ways he could ask Andi to court him. Not far into his thinking, he came up with an idea.

“I’ll take her to the creek, her favorite place!” Jack exclaimed. “Mitch will you ask Andi to come to the river at four fifteen tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, Jack. I will do that.”

*****

“Johnny Wilson, watch out!” Peter Wilson shouted to his younger brother.

“Whoa, sorry Pete!” Johnny pulled his horse to a stop, “Didn’t see you, brother.”

Peter frowned, “Well, watch where you’re going. And don’t call me Pete.”

“Sorry, Peter,” Johnny dismounted. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Peter shook his head and then jerked his head towards the bank, “Not much, but you’d better get inside soon or dad will be mad. Get inside quick, Johnny.”

As the two brothers went in and got behind the desks, Johnny asked, “So how’s my sister-in-law, Melinda?”

Peter smiled, “Oh, she’s okay.” Then Peter inquired, “So, why were you late?”

Johnny felt embarrassed, “I was talking with Cory Blake and Andi.”

“And?” Peter drawled.

“I noticed how lovely Andi looks now. I can’t believe how much older she looks now that she’s nineteen.”

Peter laughed and punched Johnny’s arm, “What do you expect when someone gets older?”

Johnny Wilson

Johnny rubbed his arm, “Hey, what can I say? I like her.”

Peter snorted, amused. “I could see that when you saw her yesterday. Is that why you’ve been so distant?”

Johnny looked away, “Yes. I want to ask dad if I have his permission to court Andi.”

“Aren’t you courting Virginia Foster?”

“I was,” Johnny replied reluctantly, “but then I found out that Mr. Foster wanted Virginia to marry a rich man. I’m not that guy, I guess.”

“Well, Johnny, since my wife’s sister is the one you want to court, I think that I have some say in the matter. I think that you’d be the best suitor Andi could ever have.”

“Great! I gotta ask dad now.” Johnny leaped up and dashed off to find Mr. Wilson.

Peter raised an eyebrow. “I wonder what that was about.”

Johnny took Peter’s words as a yes, and he immediately began to think about ways to ask her. He came up with what he thought was the perfect idea. “How about the creek? I heard from Cory that it was her favorite place. That’ll be the best place. Hey Pete, would you ask Andi to meet me at the creek at four?”

Peter shrugged, “Sure.” Then he realized what Johnny had just called him, “Hey Johnny!”

But Johnny had already disappeared into the back room. Peter sighed and got back to work.

*****

“Bye, Andi!” Cory told Andi as he slapped the reins over the pair of carriage horses.

Andi waved. “Bye Cory! See you later!”

The wagon rolled away as Andi went to say goodnight to Taffy. When she went in, she found Riley standing by the stalls, leaning on a pitchfork.

“Howdy, Andi-girl.” Riley grinned as he called her his personal nickname for her.

Andi smiled back. “Hi Riley.”

“Who brought you home? It wasn’t Justin.”

Andi blushed. “Oh, that was Cory Blake.”

“I haven’t seen that fella in awhile.” Riley scratched his head.

“I suppose not. I came in to say goodnight to Taffy. Then I’m going to go in for dinner. Bye.”

Riley tipped his head again and watched as Andi kissed Taffy goodbye for the night. He smiled when he saw the affection between Andi and Taffy. Then Andi went inside in a hurry. Just as Riley got back to work, Chad came in.

“Howdy Boss, what’s up?”

Chad gave him a so-so wordless look.

Riley set his pitchfork up against the wall and rubbed his dirty hands on his pants. “I want to ask you something.”

Chad leaned against a post, “Okay, shoot.”

Riley inhaled sharply, “I wanted to ask permission to court Andi. I’ve been noticing how sweet, kind, and pretty she is and I like her more than us just being friends.”

Chad raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Whoa, boy. I wasn’t expecting that kind of a question.” Then Chad smiled, “Well, actually, yes I give you permission to court Andi.”

Riley

Riley’s eyes went wide. “What? Are you serious?”

Chad laughed. “You expected me to refuse?”

“Well, I guess not. But, you are serious?”

“Yes, you can court her.”

“YES!” Riley whooped. “Now I’ll have to come up with a creative way to ask her. Like, the creek. Chad, will you ask Andi to meet me at the river at five?”

Chad nodded, “Sure thing Riley. I’ll make sure she gets there.”

Riley chuckled, “Thanks!”

*****

The next day at noon, when the Carters had just finished lunch, Andi walked over to Peter Wilson.

“It’s good to see that you and Melinda could finally make it out to see us and have lunch with us.”

Peter nodded. “It was good for Melinda and me to get out of banking for a day, especially with our baby on the way.”

Andi nodded and turned to her sister and hugged her, “So, how is my little niece or nephew?”

Melinda smiled, “We are both doing very well, Andi. We expect it anytime.”

“Well, hopefully not now while you’re one hour away from town.”

Peter and Melinda both laughed. “Indeed.”

Peter’s face suddenly went somewhat severe. “Hey Andi, you don’t have plans at four do you?”

Andi raised an eyebrow, “No, why?”

Peter shrugged, “Oh, nothing. I was just informed to tell you to meet someone down at the creek at four.”

“Huh?” Andi was confused.

“Someone wants to meet you at the creek at four,” Peter repeated.

“Oh, well I guess I could go. But I don’t know who I’m meeting.”

Peter smiled, “Oh, you’ll understand once you see him.”

“Him?” Andi inquired.

Peter turned pale. “Well, yes, he is a man.”

“If you want me to. I guess I’ll go. I’ll see you two off, but I want to go down to the barn for a bit. Be right back.”

Andi rushed out to the barn to get some private time to think. She was sitting in Taffy’s stall stroking her horse’s mane while thinking about why a fella would ask her down to the creek. Just then she heard somebody come in.

“Hello?” Andi peered out of the stall.

Riley glanced up, “Oh, sorry, Andi-girl. Didn’t mean to startle you. I just forgot my handkerchief over here.”

Andi smiled when he called her the nickname, and she replied, “That’s alright. But you did scare me.”

Riley smiled in return. “I noticed.” He turned to go. “See you later.”

Andi watched the tall, brown-haired and brown-eyed man leave the barn and sighed dreamily. Just as she had exhaled, Mitch walked into the barn.

“What was that, Andi?”

“Oh.” Andi stood up straight. “Hi Mitch.”

Mitch laughed and walked over to Andi. “You had a pretty big sigh there, sis.”

Andi laughed, “I guess so.”

“What were you thinking about?”

Andi shrugged, trying to distract Mitch from the real reason, “Oh, nothing much.”

Mitch’s brow furrowed and Andi exhaled sharply, “I was just thinking about Riley.”

“Riley? What about him?”

“I was just thinking about how different he is since we last met, way back when we were little kids. We're both so different now with us being so much older.”

Mitch nodded, “I should think so. He’s twenty-one, anyway.” Mitch noticed that Andi didn’t seem to want to talk about Riley, “Well, I came in to get Peter’s wagon ready.”

Andi smiled, “I’ll help you.”

“Oh, by the way,” Mitch walked over to the wagon, “I was asked to tell you to go to the creek at four fifteen tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay,” Andi managed to say.

Andi was confused because Peter had asked her to go to the creek at four. The two siblings quickly hooked the Wilson’s wagon up to their horses. Just as they finished, Melinda and Peter came out with Justin.

“Thank you two for that,” Peter smiled.

Mitch shook his head, “No problem, Peter.”

Peter helped Melinda up into the wagon and waved, “Bye. See you later.”

Everybody waved, and the Wilson wagon rolled off, out of the barn and onto the road. After the wagon was gone, Mitch left the barn and Justin and Andi were left. Andi went back to Taffy’s stall to say goodnight.

“Oh, Andi.”

“Yeah, Justin?”

Justin came over and leaned against the stall door, “Somebody wants you to meet them at the creek, you know, your favorite spot at four-thirty.”

Andi shook her head, “What?”

Justin gave her a confused look, “Um, somebody wants to meet you…”

“No, no,” Andi went over to the door. “I was already asked to go to the creek at four fifteen.”

“By me? No, I never said that.”

“No, not you. Mitch just told me that I was supposed to go to the creek at four fifteen.”

Justin looked even more confused, “What? How would Mitch know?”

Andi slammed her palm on her forehead. “Never mind, I’ll go at four thirty.”

Justin gave her another odd look and then shrugged. “Alright if you say so.”

“This is so confusing. How many times is somebody going to ask me to come to the creek?” Andi muttered under her breath.

****

Unbeknownst to Andi, Chad had heard the previous sentence that Andi had just spoken. He rushed off to find Riley, and when he did, Riley was standing at the corral watching the ranch hands train a new horse.

“Riley, I need to talk to you privately,” Chad demanded.

Riley walked after Chad for a few paces away from the corral and asked, “What’s wrong? You sound worried.”

Chad gave Riley a solemn look and proclaimed, “You must ask Andi to the creek at five and not a minute sooner. You must ask her in person, not through any message through me.”

“Why?”

“Well, I heard Justin ask Andi to meet someone down at the creek at four forty-five.”

“What? Who would that person be, do you know?”

Chad shook his head, “No, I don’t know. But you must get to talk to her privately.”

Riley glanced around nervously. “I guess I have to ask her in person. But what will I say? My mother used to say that I stutter an awful lot when I’m nervous.”

Chad rolled his eyes. “C’mon, man, you can speak for yourself.”

Chad turned and walked away without another word and Riley stood quietly in thought. 

 ****

Riley slowly walked to the barn and found that Andi had started to go back to the house. He saw her halfway back to the house and ran after her. “Andi, wait!”

Andi turned to see Riley approaching her rapidly. “What’s wrong Riley?”

Riley slowed down and looked down at Andi, “Look, I just wondered if you could come to the creek at a different time.”

“Huh?” Andi asked, confused.

“Ah, look,” Riley put one hand on the back of his neck, “I was wondering if you could come to the river at five, not four or four forty-five.”

Andi looked down at the ground and kicked a stone, “I guess I could. But how do you know about four forty-five?”

Riley glanced around nervously, “I… it was me who wanted you down there fifteen minutes before five. I changed my mind, and I want you come down at five.”

Andi looked back up into Riley’s face, “I can come if you want me to.”

Riley smiled, “Yes, I do.”

“But did you change the time all three of the other times?” Andi inquired.

“I guess,” Riley replied and then saw another confused look on Andi’s face, “I mean, sure, yes.”

Andi shrugged, “Okay, I’ll get ready to ride down and meet you at five. Bye, see you later.”

Riley stood still and watched as Andi walked into the house. He sighed and then went back to the corral to return to his work.

 *****

 Johnny Wilson pulled his horse to a stop and dismounted. He adjusted his itchy collar on his expensive new suit coat and scratched his neck. He glanced down and noticed that his coat was already dirty. He quickly slipped the jacket off and shook it out, and dust went flying. 

Johnny sighed and looked over at his horse who was grazing. He had gotten to the creek three minutes early, and he waited for at least five long minutes before he started to wonder. He assumed that she was just late and stuck to that assumption until thirteen more minutes passed and he finally heard the approaching hoofs of a horse. He stood up from the log he had been sitting on and straightened his collar again. Just as the horse and rider can into view, he realized it wasn’t Andi. 

Instead, Jack Goodwin slid off of his horse and stared at Johnny. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Johnny shook his head viciously. “No, what are you doing here?”

“Well,” Jack squinted at Johnny, “I’ll be polite enough to answer; I’m here to meet Miss Andrea Carter.”

Johnny glared at Jack. “No, I’m here to meet Andi.”

Jack’s eyes went wide. “Why would you meet her here?”

The two continued to exchange their furious stares as Johnny replied, “None of your business, Jack. Why were you going to meet her?”

Jack gritted his teeth angrily, “I had a critical question to ask her. At least I have the decency to reply to your question.”

The two argued for a long time until they heard hoof beats. The two men stopped their arguing and turned to see who it was. Just as they turned, they saw Cory Blake dismounting from his horse.

“What are you doing here?” Johnny and Jack both exclaimed in unison.

Cory raised an eyebrow. “Um, I was here to meet Andi. What are you two doing here?”

Johnny and Jack both exchanged glances and then Jack pointed a finger at Cory. “Same thing, Blake!”

Cory held his hands up in the air as if Jack was aiming a gun at him, “Whoa, sorry. What’s gotten into you two? You haven’t gone back into your old ways have you?”

Johnny glared, “No way, Blake. But I was here first, so I should be able to talk to Andi privately.”

Jack turned to Johnny and growled. “No way, I asked before you!”

“What?” Johnny shot back, “No way!”

Cory, Johnny, and Jack continued to argued for awhile after that.

 *****

 “Hey, Andi-girl. You ready?” Riley asked when he met Andi in the barn.

“Yes sir,” Andi grinned, “I’m ready.”

Riley walked over to Dakota and Taffy, “I already got Taffy saddled up. Here, I’ll hold the reins while you mount.”

Andi nodded her thanks and mounted. Then Riley climbed onto Dakota next to her, and they rode towards the creek. When they were still almost a quarter of a mile away, they heard voices coming from the direction of the river.

“What in the world is that?” Andi asked, tightening her grip on Taffy’s on reins.

Riley shook his head and drove his heels into Dakota’s sides, “I don’t know, but it sounds like someone is in trouble. Come on, let’s go!”

Andi and Riley raced to the creek and found Cory, Johnny, and Jack pointing fingers and raising the occasional fist without striking. Riley slipped out of the saddle and stumbled a few feet to regain his footing.

“What’s going here?” Riley yelled at the top of his lungs.

The three men stopped arguing and stared at Riley.

“What are you doing here, Riley?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, what are you doing?” Jack glared.

Cory stayed silent, so Riley spoke up again, “I’m here to talk with Andi…” he glanced at the three others and then added, “privately.”

Cory glanced up and saw Andi standing on the ground with her hands on her hips, “Andi, you’re finally here!”

“Andi!” Johnny and Jack both tried to shove each other in the opposite direction of Andi and both failed.

Jack broke loose from Johnny’s tight grip and stepped over to Andi, taking her hand, “It’s so good to see you here finally, Andi.”

Andi looked down at Jack’s fist clamped on hers. “Um, sure.”

Riley stepped over to Andi and saw that she looked uncomfortable with Jack’s hand secured around her’s. Riley immediately grabbed both Jack and Andi’s wrists and pulled then apart. Jack stared up at Riley and glared. Riley gave him an ignorant glance and then looked back at Andi. Andi smiled briefly.

Cory walked up slowly and spoke, “Hey Andi, I’m glad you’re finally here.”

Andi looked at Cory, Jack, and Johnny, “Can you tell me why you all are here?”

Johnny spoke up, “I wanted you to be here at four to ask you an important question.”

Jack stepped forward, “I wanted you here at four fifteen to ask an important inquiry also.”

Cory nodded, “Me too. All the same, I guess.”

Andi turned to Riley, “What did you want me here for?”

Riley chuckled, “Well, actually, the same.”

“What would that question be exactly?” Andi glanced at everybody nervous.

Riley and Cory both spoke at the same time, “You go first.”

Johnny and Jack both spoke at the same time, “You go first.”

With all of the confusion, everyone thought that they all were the first to say something.

“I wanted to ask if you want to court me,” All four men spoke in unison.

Andi’s eyes went wide, “What did you say?”

All the men replied at the same time again, “I asked if you would allow me to court you.”

Andi was so confused that she turned around and mounted Taffy. She would’ve ridden off if Riley hadn’t come over and grabbed Taffy’s bridle.

“Come on, Andi-girl, don’t leave,” Riley looked up at Andi with a tender glance. “Come on, stay here and work things out, okay?”

Andi looked down at Riley and his affectionate look, “Sure Riley. I’ll stay here.”

Riley courteously held Andi’s horse as she dismounted. Then Andi slowly cracked a one-sided smile at Riley and then they turned to face the other three desperate man. Andi looked from one man to the other with confusion.  

What should I say? Andi thought as she looked from man to man. “I… um… I think… oh…” Andi stuttered and stammered nervously. She looked over at Riley, who gave her an encouraging smile, and she gathered up her courage, “I have made a decision.”

Johnny bobbed his head eagerly; Jack ran his hand through his hair anxiously, and Cory clasped his hands in front of him and stood patiently.

Andi walked over to Johnny and straightened herself, “Johnny, I cannot court you. I won’t. I feel as if you aren’t a suitable man for me, and I must admit that I don’t think that you’ve changed much from when we were kids. I couldn’t bear having you court me, I’m sorry.”

Johnny’s head fell to his chest in despair, and he felt crushed. He thought that Andi would’ve given him a chance.

Andi stepped over to Jack, “Jack, I want to apologize for declining your offer. I think you have improved since childhood, but I don’t think that you like me. Besides, I’ve seen the way to talk with…”

Jack had been looking down at the ground until this point where he looked up at Andi and glared.

Andi chuckled, “Okay, I’ll leave that name…” she smiled, “…a secret.”

Jack looked stern, but when Andi said this, he laughed and smiled, “Thanks, Andi.”

Andi turned to see Cory, “Cory, do you think that we are more than friends?”

Cory squinted down at her curiously, “I suppose so, why?”

Andi shrugged, “Because if you didn’t, that would be a hint to a refusal. But Cory, I will answer straight forward. I must say that I refuse.”

Cory inhaled sharply in a disturbed manner, “Oh.”

Andi blinked rapidly, trying not to cry in front of one of her best friends, “Cory, I’m sorry. I just don’t think we could be more than good friends.”

A long silence pursued Andi’s speech, and the two friends stared dramatically at each other. Cory finally looked away and, surprisingly, grinned.

“You know, Andi,” Cory chuckled, “I thought you might refuse me. But I still have a surprise for you.”

Cory reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, wriggling object. Andi reached forward, and Cory dropped the thing in her hands. Andi glanced down and laughed. It was a snake.

“That's a great gift, Cory.”

Cory smiled wider, “I thought you’d like it. Remember Andi, we’re still friends.”

Andi nodded, “Always, Cory Blake.”

Riley cleared his throat, “And your last answer, Andi-girl?”

Andi laughed as she put the snake in her pocket and came over to Riley.

“I’m sorry, Riley, I forgot.”

Riley chuckled, “I noticed.”

Andi sighed and gazed up into Riley’s hazel eyes, “I do have an answer for you. I…” She glanced around at her friends, “I accept your offer of courtship.”

Riley exhaled, “What? Really?”

Andi smiled and nodded, “Yes, actually.”

Riley still looked shocked, “But, why me and not Cory? Or… or…”

Andi laughed, “The reason I accepted your offer, Riley, is because you have always taken care for me. And since you live on the ranch, you’re always very close when I need someone. You have an affectionate nickname and you're always looking out for me.”

Riley’s shock had ceased at this point, and he smiled, “And I will always do those things, Andi-girl.”

Andi smiled, and both of them laughed. Then Cory and Jack came over to congratulate them.

“Where’s Johnny?” Riley asked glancing around.

Both Jack and Cory shrugged, and they turned to see Johnny riding off slowly towards town. An idea burst into Andi’s head, and she quickly knew what she had to do.

“Riley, I’ll be right back,” Andi dashed over to Taffy and mounted.

Andi galloped to catch up to Johnny, and when she did, she slowed Taffy down.

“Johnny, wait, where are you going?” Andi asked breathlessly.

Johnny stared at the grass parting in front of his horse, “I’m going back to town and back to… Virginia Foster.”

Andi raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean ‘back to Virginia Foster’?”

Johnny shrugged, “Well, honestly, we had been courting for a while until we found out that Mr. Foster wanted Virginia to marry a wealthy, successful man. We stopped courting, and now, I guess I’ll try again.”

Andi pursed her lips together momentarily, “I wish you luck, Johnny. The sincere luck of a friend.”

Johnny looked over for the first time, “What? You want to be my friend?”

Andi nodded, “Yes sir, I do. I think that you, Jack, Cory, Riley and I will always be friends.”

Johnny nodded slowly, “I think I get your point. I wish you and Riley the best.”

Andi laughed suddenly, “Hey, we’re only courting, partner.”

Johnny smiled, “Who knows? It might not be too long before…”

Andi reached over and shoved Johnny, “Slow down. Besides, I want to know who gave you permission to court me.”

Johnny tilted his head to one side, “Peter gave me permission.”

Andi was dumbfounded, “Peter? My brother-in-law?”

Johnny nodded, “Yup, my brother.”

Surprisingly, both Johnny and Andi laughed and then said goodbye. Then Andi went back to Riley, Cory, and Jack.

“Can anybody tell me about why everybody came to meet me at the same times?”

Jack smiled, “It’s a long story…”

*****

 Little did anybody know that Andi and Riley would get engaged three months later. And when they did, Johnny, Cory, and Jack were all there to congratulate their friends. Andi and Riley were married five months later with Johnny, Jack, and Cory attending, each happy for their friends. There was great happiness for the new Prescotts.