Against the Odds: A Love Story (4 page)

“I'm glad.”

I stayed for another hour or so, soaking up amusing conversation with Hayden. We could talk about absolutely nothing and still wind up laughing about something. I loved that he could always make me laugh, even when I didn't feel like it. He had a way about him that made me feel so comfortable, it was like we had known each other for years.

The sun had gone down and the sky was dark when I finally said goodnight and headed back to the main house.

“Sorry I was so long with the truck,” I said to David as I entered the kitchen. He and Caroline were at the table having a piece of apple pie.

“Oh, that's all right, darlin'. We weren't worried.” He smiled at his wife. “Were we, honey?”

“Not at all,” Caroline responded, smiling at me. “Did you have a good visit?”

“I did.” I took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water, smiling as I lifted it to my lips. I had come to recognize Caroline and David's smiles and I was on to their matchmaking efforts. However, I decided to go on ignoring their subtle attempts. I would just pretend to remain oblivious, because when it came to contemplating another relationship, that's what I wanted now, to be oblivious.

“He got the leak fixed,” I finally said.

“That's good,” Caroline remarked. “It would have been awful if it had gotten any worse, especially with all the work he already put into that house.”

“I'm sure he feels the same.” I finished my water and put the glass in the sink. I stared out the kitchen window for a moment and watched the moths fluttering in and out of the light shining from the back porch. My gaze moved up to the curtains hanging over the window. “Are you still planning to wash some of the curtains tomorrow?”

“If I can get everything else done first.”

“Why don't you let me take care of it for you?”

“Well, if you don't mind. It would sure be a big help to me.” Caroline paused and grinned. “I always knew that height of yours was good for more than just modeling.”

I laughed. “I guess so.” I stretched and yawned, suddenly very tired. “I think I'll turn in early then. I'll see you both in the morning.”

“All right, honey,” Caroline said with a smile. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I left them then, and headed to my room as my mind anticipated another tiring, yet productive morning to come.

I was tired, but I knew it was going to take a little time for me to wind down. I figured a little relaxing music would probably do the trick. I walked over to the dresser and grabbed my portable CD player and my case of CDs. Sitting on the bed, I flipped through the selection and tried to decide what I was in the mood for. My music taste ranged from Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and Barbara Streisand, to Josh Groban, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley. I just loved good music.

After a moment of contemplation, I pulled out a Nat King Cole CD and put it in the player. I skipped ahead to one of my favorite songs.
Unforgettable
has always relaxed me and made me smile. I put the headphones on, lay back against the pillows, and closed my eyes as the sultry sound of Nat's voice mellowed my thoughts.

As I began to softly hum along, my thoughts wandered back to my senior year in high school. Back then I had two good friends who were as close to me as sisters, and Nat King Cole was one of our favorite singers. He was before our time, but he was timeless, and still is. The three of us often got together for karaoke parties at Keisha's house and Nat's songs were usually the first ones we would perform to. We were quite the group; Keisha with her long micro braids, Rhonda with her relaxed locks, and me with a head full of long, barely tamable curls. We were so alike. We even shared the same skin coloring and our tastes in clothes were similar. And we
all
wanted to be models.

We were dubbed by our friends as the S.S.S.–the Singing Sister Society, because that's what we loved to do. We thought we would always be that close. We thought we would hang out together forever.

We had been wrong.

Rhonda never became a model. She became a drug addict instead. She died of an overdose at twenty, and I was devastated. Keisha modeled for a few years in Atlanta before experiencing a downward spiral with anorexia. Thankfully, she overcame it. She eventually married and moved to Florida. The last I had heard from her, she had just given birth to a little girl. That was three years ago. People say I was the successful one, but as far as I was concerned, it was Keisha who had truly succeeded. She had the love of a good man and she had her child.
That
was success. All I had was a full bank account and an empty heart. Older and a little wiser now, I would gladly trade one for the other.

As the last strains for
Unforgettable
filtered softly in my ears, I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, suddenly feeling very alone. The feeling was unwelcome and I had no desire to let it dwell.

I turned the player off and turned out the light.

“Tomorrow is a new day,” I sighed as I pulled the covers over me and closed my eyes. “Tomorrow is a new day.”

I spent the next morning and part of the afternoon washing all the curtains and dusting around the windows. Caroline's home was actually filled with more country decor than southwestern. The curtains were floral, gingham, and lace. All the beds in the house were covered with country quilts and the tables were draped in handmade lace. Each and every room was cozy and inviting. The whole home was definitely Caroline and David.

As I stood on a chair in the kitchen to hang a pair of freshly washed curtains, my thoughts strayed to Hayden's home.
It
was definitely
him
, rugged yet beautiful. The colors in his home were neutral, which gave it a masculine feel without being overly so. The contrast in the two homes was stark, but they were equally beautiful.

I leaned over the sink a little more, trying to snap the curtain rod in place. My arms and legs were long, but at the moment I was really stretching them to the limit. I almost had the rod snapped in when I felt the chair begin to tip and I gasped. Just as I was preparing for a painful fall, two large hands circled my waist and steadied me, accompanied by the deep voice that had become as familiar to me as my own name.

“Careful, darlin'. Can't have you breaking that pretty little neck of yours.”

I turned and looked over my shoulder to see Hayden smiling up at me. I took a deep breath and smiled back. My heart was still racing, but not from losing my balance. “Good thing you were here. A moment later and you would have found me sprawled on the floor in pain.”

“Let me help you down.” His hands tightened on my waist a little, almost fully encircling it.

I put my hands on his massive shoulders, feeling the hard muscles beneath his shirt and felt instant heat rise to my face. I shook my head slightly and stepped down from the chair.

“You all right?” he asked, releasing me.

“I'm fine, just a little clumsy today.”

“I could stay in here and spot you while you put the rest up if you'd like.” His voice was teasing, but surprisingly, his eyes weren't.

“I'll be fine,” I assured him. “You just go on about your manly duties.”

He chuckled. “Manly duties, huh?”

“Yeah, you know, cowboy stuff.”

“Cowboy stuff?” he repeated with a grin.

“Yeah. Riding, roping, wrangling. That stuff.”

He laughed. “Well, I'll tell ya, if that's all there was to ranching, I'd be a boring old soul. But don't you worry none. I'll make sure I take care of my manly duties, starting with keeping you safe from bodily harm, all right?”

“All right,” I agreed with a chuckle.

“I'll come back and check on you in a few.”

I smiled widely. “Well, knowing you'll be around will make me feel a lot safer.”

He smiled back and went to look for David. I watched him as he left the kitchen and couldn't help chuckling to myself again. He had brightened my already bright morning without even trying. Truthfully, he never had to try, he just did. That thought stayed with me through the rest of the day.

A laugh is as soothing as stargazing. And love can be as subtle as a runaway freight train.

Seven

A
s the weeks continued to pass, I found myself feeling more and more content with life. I took Caroline's advice and tried to familiarize myself with every aspect of ranching. I even got to know the ranch hands better and occasionally spent time casually observing them in their work. From helping them feed the cattle and horses to watching an injured animal being doctored, it was all interesting to me. I almost felt like a kid being let loose for the first time in an amusement park, anxious to take in everything I could.

There were a few times when Chris, one of the younger ranch hands, even asked me if I wanted to help him in the barn with one thing or another. I always said yes, but I was never with him for very long because Hayden usually came in and told me he or Caroline needed me for something else. After the third time, Chris stopped asking, which didn't bother me too much. He talked and stared more than he worked anyway. It was kind of sweet in a way.

But the most exciting thing for me to do around the ranch was watching Hayden break horses. It was a little frightening sometimes and I feared for him, but I always reminded myself that he knew what he was doing. He told me he loved having me around because it made him feel like he was doing something important, and he joked that he was going to make a cowgirl out of me yet.

Thinking about that always made me smile. Living life on a ranch was never on my list of dreams and aspirations. Of course, marrying an unfaithful man and being divorced at twenty-six wasn't a part of my plans either, but this was my life now. And as crazy as it might seem to some people, I loved it, and I was okay with it.

I grew to absolutely love horses and went riding whenever possible. I loved the feeling of freedom that came whenever I went riding. Every now and then Hayden would even join me.

On one particular afternoon Hayden got his work finished early, saddled a horse, and headed out with me. We rode for a while then we stopped and talk while the horses rested. Hayden said he was impressed that I had taken to riding so quickly. I told him I went riding a couple of times when I was thirteen. A woman my mother worked for at that time invited us to her home one summer afternoon for lunch. Her fifteen year old son took me riding and I really liked it.

We sat underneath a large tree and Hayden flashed a teasing grin. “So, was it just the riding that was so much fun or the boy who took you?”

I grinned slyly. “Both actually.”

He took his hat off and leaned back against the tree, stretching out his long legs. I casually let my eyes roam the length of him. He had no idea just how incredible he was, and I had no doubt he'd broken a lot of hearts without even realizing it.