I sincerely tried to concentrate on my work, but not long after he left, Colt walked past the window outside. I watched him from the safety of the second floor, knowing he couldn’t see me through the glare against the glass. He was absolute perfection in every way: gorgeous, sexy, but most of all, caring and thoughtful. A genuine cowboy, like the kind you always heard about it books.
It shouldn’t have surprised me, but the article just wasn’t happening. I was on edge, unable to think, unable to even form a coherent sentence. Something about being not only at Colt’s house but in his personal office made it all too unreal. I closed my laptop and walked down the stairs, trying to clear my head.
“Oh good, honey, you’re done!” Colt exclaimed when he saw me on the back deck. I shook my head dejectedly.
“No, I just couldn’t get anywhere with it. Did you get a hold of a mechanic?” I asked hopefully.
Colt gave a yes and no kind of gesture.
“He didn’t have the part, but he’s ordered it from a guy just a little piece up the road. He’s gonna call when it comes in. So, if you couldn’t get your work done, I have a better idea. How about a ride down to my favorite part of the ranch?”
“I don’t know, I really shouldn’t be playing hooky right now. Not with such an important article hanging over me,” I was hedging, but I desperately needed to clear my head so I could focus. Hey, I could call it research for the article, couldn’t I?
“We won’t be gone long. And you have to eat, right? I’ll have Mrs. Claire pack us a bag and I’ll go get the horses ready!”
Colt took off before I could answer, probably because he knew I’d find some lousy excuse not to go. I laughed in spite of myself and watched him head to the kitchen. Apparently he hadn’t gotten his fill of the forbidden fruit. I could totally continue on and not get any more attached than I already was. At least that was the lie I told myself.
When we set out on the same two horses from the day before, we headed south to a part of the ranch I don’t think I’d ever seen, not even as a kid bouncing around in the back of his dad’s pickup with the family. It was exciting to think I’d known this place my whole life, but that there was still something more to be discovered.
We ambled along for nearly an hour, talking and telling stories. The horses seemed to know exactly the way to go, and a bitter part of my brain couldn’t help but wonder if Colt dragged women out here all the time to impress them with a romantic horseback ride and a picnic.
I ate my words when we climbed a small rise and a grove of apple trees came into view. I instantly heard the sound of a rushing creek that wound through the trees, giving them much needed water in this hot, dry place.
“Colt, it’s beautiful!” I said softly, looking out over this strange oasis in the middle of a Texas cattle ranch.
“I know,” he agreed, smiling at the sight himself. “My grandpa had the idea. Those trees aren’t wild—he planted them for my grandma. Water’s such a commodity on a ranch when animals need it to live that watering some trees closer to the house just doesn’t make sense. But she was originally from Oregon, and she missed putting up apples in the fall. So he planted these along the creek.
“I barely remember it, but I know we’d all go down for the day and get the apples. Dad would help pile hay up in the utility trailer and hitch it to the truck, and we’d ride out in the trailer. Grandpa would drive slow, only a little faster than we rode out here, and we’d talk and laugh. Mama and Grandma would sing songs and pass around cookies. Then we’d spend the whole day gathering up the apples so Grandma could put up apple butter, spiced apples, all kinds of good stuff.”
I listened to him talk, amazed that there was a story I didn’t know. It made me wonder what other stories there were to this wonderful old place.
We nudged the horses on to the creek where Colt set out our lunch. We ate under the trees while the horses drank from the creek or scavenged the occasional early dropped apple from the tall grass.
It hit me with a sudden force, a feeling that built up in my chest and almost stopped my heart. The horses were standing nearby, Colt was leaning back on his elbows on the blanket, talking about this time we’d all gone out looking for ghosts one Halloween, the water bubbling so softly it was like a steady trickle in the background…and I almost couldn’t breathe.
If I didn’t get out of here, I’d never leave. It was like some fairy tale where the magical place has a spell on it, and no one can ever get out, not that they’d want to. I had to go, or risk my heart getting broken when I accidentally convinced myself that any of this was real, or that any of it could actually be mine.
“Um, Colt, this has been really great. But I have to get back. I’m sorry.”
“What?” he asked, unable to read what had just changed. “But your car… you can’t go yet, hon!” He gave me a worried smile, like he couldn’t tell why I wasn’t understanding.
“I know, I can just… I’ll call for a car service or something.” I started to clean up our lunch and stood up, looking around as though I would find my way back. I knew I was being stupid, but I had to get out of there before I let myself get hurt.
Colt simply wasn’t
mine, and the longer I stayed, the worse it was going to hurt when it all came crashing down on me.
“Meredith, did I do something wrong? Did I say something?” Colt asked, standing up and reaching for my hand. I leaned away from him and he let his hand fall, empty. The pain that flashed across his face made me feel like a monster.
“No, of course not! You’ve been great. But I just need to get back, I’ve got things I have to do and my job and all…” I knew I sounded like a blithering idiot, but I couldn’t explain what was really happening without putting my heart out there and letting him cast it aside.
“Well, okay then.” Colt looked so hurt, and it made me want to grab him and just cry against his chest. Instead I stood still, arms wrapped around myself as if I didn’t trust my own limbs not to betray me. “We’ll head back and get you on your way.”
Chapter 9
Colt
Nothing I said changed her mind, not that I really thought it would. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.