Ronnie Deschaines and her cousin Caroline were having lunch at the Cowboy Café when an elegantly dressed woman walked in, scanning the room. When she approached the cashier and spoke to her, Isobel Sims pointed to Ronnie and waved to catch her eye.
The stranger approached their table and addressed Ronnie. "I went to the sales office. There was a note on the door saying you'd gone to lunch and I could call your cell or come here. I'm Dana Beaumont. We've spoken on the phone. I'm here to look at property."
Ronnie stood, extending her hand and introducing her companion. "This is Caroline Jamieson. She recently moved to Riverwood. Have you had lunch? We're just finishing, but if you haven't eaten, we can have a cup of coffee while you eat. Then I can show you around."
While Dana went back to the counter to order, Caroline turned to Ronnie. "I'll clear out so you can discuss business. Call me later."
"Your friend didn't leave on my account, did she?" Dana inquired a moment later. Isobel placed her small salad on the table and set down a glass of water with a slice of lemon.
Ronnie kept her expression neutral. "If that's all you're having, you'll have room for dessert," she said. "Isobel does the baking, and she usually has something special every day."
"I'm sorry to barge in," Dana apologized again. "I actually intended to make an appointment with you, but I decided to spend a few days looking at property, and my plans were pretty fluid. I looked at a few places in Virginia and then went to North Carolina to see Southern Pines and Tryon. Then I went to South Carolina to take a look at Aiken. Tennessee is actually my last stop."
"Have you seen any of the other equestrian communities here?" Ronnie asked. "There's Split Rock and Seven Oaks and, a little farther down the road, there's Trail's End."
"I haven't," Dana said. "I'd love a tour."
"Let's start with Riverwood since we're right here," Ronnie suggested.
After Dana finished her salad and declined dessert, she followed Ronnie back to the sales office and left her car in the parking lot while Ronnie ran in to get copies of the plat and the restrictive covenants.
"Take this with you," she said, handing Dana a folder bearing Riverwood's distinctive logo on the front. "There's a pen and a pad inside if you need to make notes."
Dana nodded approvingly.
Ronnie spent that day and the next with Dana, taking her through the various equestrian communities. She drove through Jamestown and showed her a map of the area so Dana could orient herself.
"Big South Fork is shaped like an amoeba," Ronnie told her real-estate prospect. "It sticks out here and sticks out there. There are a number of trailheads, and people usually trailer to them in order to ride different sections of the national park: there are hundreds of miles of trails."
"How many acres does the park encompass?" Dana queried.
"As national parks go, it's one of the smaller ones―only about a hundred twenty-five thousand acres―but it straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border."
"How rough are the trails?"
"The terrain is quite varied, and there's something for everyone. Some are woods roads, wide and flat, with sandy footing, where you can ride side by side. Some are single-track trails through the woods; others include stretches of gravel road. Some go deeper into wilderness areas, and one, in particular, is quite a challenge."
Dana nodded, absorbing this information.
