Authors: Lily Bishop
“No, I haven’t. And I hope you haven’t.
Can we at least agree that we’re exclusive with each other? Even if we don’t
know where this is going?”
“That I can do.”
“How about this. If you are thinking about
a big life-type decision, will you at least tell me what you are thinking? I
promise I won’t weigh in unless you ask for my opinion.”
“I can try.”
Peace washed over her, the earlier angst
gone. This was the hardest thing about their long distance relationship. They
had separate lives, and when they came back together, she felt awkward for the
first little bit.
Her doubts about him faded. She snuggled
closer, liking his arms around her.
“You should dress casually more often,”
she suggested. Ric looked good in the bright blue shirt with the long sleeves
pushed up.
He laughed. “I know I have a lot of suits.
That’s what my guests expect.”
“But you’re not working now. I’m so glad
you’re here. I’ve missed you.”
“Even if I’m bossy and want to fix your
problems?”
“Even if.” She stretched up to kiss him,
but what she intended as a quick peck became more as he leaned in and kissed
her back.
In the back of her mind, Ben’s words
floated in her subconscious. She should ask Ric straight up what Ben could have
been talking about, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment.
They cuddled for a while and watched
television, but Lindsey couldn’t stop yawning. Finally, she stood up, took his
hand, and led him into the bedroom.
“Wait here,” she said, and she disappeared
into the bathroom. She emerged wearing her new gown, a frothy peach fabric with
lace straps. It was the sexiest gown she saw that didn’t look ridiculous on
her. As she walked, the hem brushed her mid-thigh.
“I bought you a surprise,” she said, her
voice huskier than intended.
Busy draping his pants on the chair, Ric
didn’t answer. When he turned around and saw her, his eyes widened. “Beautiful.”
“It’s hard for me to believe you’re here,”
she said, closing the distance between them in a few steps. “It’s been so
crazy, finishing up the semester, that I feel like my head’s going to explode.”
“Now you can have the relaxing weekend you
deserve. I am going to pamper you like you’ve never been pampered.”
Lindsey smiled, leaning into him. His arms
fell around her as if they belonged. Before, she had shied away from being
touched, but now she craved his skin against hers. She slipped her hand beneath
his undershirt and explored his chest. She let her fingers play in the soft
smattering of hair.
“Mmm, you feel so good. You know you make
me loco, right?” He said the words in her ear, his breath tickling her neck.
“I want you to be crazy. I want you to be
so crazy that you think about me constantly.”
“Already there.”
He nudged her backwards toward the bed,
and she let herself fall back. She pulled him down beside her with both of them
sideways on the bed.
So much for shadows. She had always been
so careful before to dim the lights, but this time, everything was out in the
open.
She handed him her glasses, and everything
except Ric faded away, the rest of the room a blur. He set her glasses on the
nightstand and leaned back into her. He started nuzzling and kissing her neck.
Shivers swept the length of her.
This time, no sounds of banging cabinets
intruded from the other room. She answered to no one but herself. While he
continued to play at her neck, Lindsey ran her hands across his chest and
shoulders. She loved his controlled strength.
“I’ve decided,” she whispered.
“You’ve decided?” he asked, lifting up so
that there was space between them.
“Yes. I want you to be the one.”
Ric looked at her for a long moment,
started to say something, and then stopped. He shifted away from her and sat up
against the pillows. He took her hand and helped her shift up beside him.
“It’s late tonight. Your body needs time
to warm up, and your mind needs time to process the idea.”
Lindsey couldn’t believe he was shutting
her out again. “I don’t need to process it. I need to do it!”
He laughed softly, his fingers rubbing her
palm. “We have tomorrow, remember? Let’s just cuddle tonight. You couldn’t even
stay in the same bed with me in Calliope.”
“That didn’t mean anything. I was just
restless that night.”
“Trust me. This isn’t something that we
want to rush. Come on, let’s turn off the lights.”
Lindsey stared at him, wishing she could
fathom what was behind his dark eyes. Why did his mind work the way it did? Her
whole life, she had heard men would do anything to get in a girl’s pants, and
this one was hesitant.
“It’s me, isn’t it? You want somebody
sexier.” She bit back the threatening tears.
“No,
querida
, there isn’t anyone
sexier. Trust me on that one. I want you. I just think rushing into intimacy
would be a mistake.”
“Promise?” she asked, sinking back against
the pillows and the comforter up to her chin.
“Promise.”
The urge welled up in Lindsey to tell him
that she loved him, but now she worried he would take it that the wrong way.
“I’m going to hold you to that. Good
night.”
“Good night.” He leaned over and kissed
her cheek, and then pulled her into his arms. Lindsey yawned, trying to settle
her mind so she could sleep.
She felt so needy tonight. She had spent
her entire life protecting her virginity. Now tha she had decided to take that next
step, Ric wanted to wait. Maybe he was right. It was late, and she was tired
and overwrought. Tomorrow would be a better day.
Lindsey gaped at the structure ahead. It
wasn't a house. It was a mansion complete with Doric columns and twin wings
extending deep behind the house.
“This is your friend's house?” Lindsey
asked. She had not expected a large estate set well back from the road on
acreage.
“You’ve heard of Buck Sampson?”
Lindsey nodded, recognizing the name of
one of the bigger country stars in the past decade. “This is his place. He
built it as his retreat. He planned to raise reining horses, but his new wife
caught the acting bug, and she wants a house in Hollywood Hills. He is talking
about liquidating this place and moving on to something else.”
“So, we’re house sitting for the weekend?”
“More like trying it on for size.”
Lindsey gaped at him. “You’re saying that
we’re staying overnight here because the owner wants to sell it to you.”
“Sure, why not?”
Lindsey shook her head, laughing. “The
rich sure do things differently.”
Ric shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve met him before,
so we’re not complete strangers. I wouldn’t say we’re close, but he knows me
and is familiar with my business interests. Mostly this place sits empty. The
stable manager lives here on the estate, and his wife cooks and cleans for the
Sampsons when needed. Buck asked her to stock the refrigerator and leave dinner
in the slow cooker. She won’t bother us unless we call the number listed in the
kitchen.”
Ric parked outside the garage and entered
a code on the garage keypad. The door opened, and he pulled the car inside. He
entered a code to get in the door that led to the house, and then another code
to turn off the alarm. They entered through a huge mudroom with a big sink and
space for muddy shoes and outerwear. The room looked like it had never been
used, certainly not for anything muddy.
“Now this is a mudroom,” she said.
“Sorry I couldn’t bring you in the front
door. It’s not set up with an electronic lock.”
In the kitchen, they found a slow cooker
on the counter. Lindsey peeked through the lid and saw a roast with potatoes
and vegetables. A handwritten note detailed instructions to reheat the rest of
the dinner, still refrigerated. Lindsey found green beans and a cobbler, and
fresh rolls on the stove protected by a cloth napkin.
“Well, it looks like she’s taken care of
dinner. I’m glad we’re not vegetarians.”
“Oh, he confirmed that in advance.”
“You know what you’re missing, don’t you?”
she asked, rubbing her hand casually along the granite counter.
“No, what?”
“The hard sell.” She slipped into a heavy
Southern accent. “Over here, we have the breakfast nook. You can spend hours
sipping coffee in the mornings, watching the horses frolic in the meadow.”
Ric laughed and came up behind her,
circling her with his arms and pulling her back against him. “Frolic, eh? The
horses are frolicking?”
“Yes, frolicking.” She laughed when he
leaned down and kissed her neck. “So, how many bedrooms does this place have?”
“Eight, each with a bath. Two half-baths.
Ten thousand square feet heated and cooled. Media room and pool table.” He
sounded like he was quoting a real estate brochure.
“This place is ridiculously big. I’d hate
to know the size of the carbon footprint.”
He laughed. “I’m not thinking about it as
a house, but as a fencing training academy for elite fencers. I want to redo
the rooms with two sets of bunk beds each. They're big enough, and that would
let me host whole teams from other countries. There’s enough acreage to build a
training gym and still have room for the horses.”
Lindsey looked out over the huge lawn and
horse paddocks. She didn’t see a stable, but it had to be out there somewhere.
A fencing academy was the last thing she had expected. “I have heard of a place
like that in Austria.”
“Yes, but it closed a few years ago when
the owner retired, and nothing has risen up to take its place. I hosted a few
people in Calliope, but it’s difficult for teams to get there. It would be much
easier for them just to fly into Atlanta.”
“Could you do that?”
He shrugged. “I have the connections.”
“But why Walhalla?”
“Why not? Come. Let’s take a look at the
rest of the house.”
“Did we step in the pages of a magazine,
or what?” Lindsey asked when they had been through both wings of the downstairs
area. Each room could have been its own designer study in color. The modern
window treatments showcased the mountain views, but did not preserve privacy.
With more than a hundred acres, privacy must not be as big of a concern.
“Buck told me his wife enjoyed decorating
the house, but then didn’t want to live in it.”
“I guess for some people, new is always
better.”
Downstairs sported a large, traditional
library and a small sitting room off the kitchen. “It's called a keeping room,”
Ric explained.
“For keeping what?” she asked.
“I guess keeping an eye on the kitchen? I
don’t know.”
She counted several sitting areas—a
keeping room, a sunroom, a library, a den, and a parlor. The library included a
chess set that stayed set up, and the formal parlor had a big globe that opened
up into a bar.
“I don’t get it. A family would use only
one of these rooms. Why so many spaces?”
“I think for a fencing academy, each
sitting area could be a separate lounge for the teams. That would give the
trainers and coaches space to unwind away from the players.”
The master bedroom downstairs had its own
sitting area and two walk-in closets. The bathroom was as large as Lindsey’s
second bedroom. The closets were almost empty and not a single toiletry graced
the bathroom counters.
Upstairs, another sitting area gave the
gallery a view of the downstairs. On each side, a hallway branched off into the
wings of the house. Each side sported four large bedrooms, each with its own
bath. One bedroom on each side had furniture, but the others were empty shells,
paint and carpet only.
Lindsey waved off a tour of the basement
with its requisite pool table and media room. She could only take so much
opulence in one day.
After touring the house, they donned light
jackets and went exploring. The driveway split when it reached the house. One
path went to the garage and the other continued to the stables. When they
rounded the curve, a large barn and stables came into view.
They found the manager in the office on
one end of the barn. As they closed the final distance, he emerged to greet them.
He stood taller than Ric and so thin that if he turned sideways, it seemed he
would disappear.
“I’m Stan Campbell, the Equestrian Manager
here at Twelve Oaks farms.”
“I’m Ric Salzana, and this is Lindsey
Todd.” The three of them shook hands. Something about the man put Lindsey at
ease. She didn’t know if it was his friendly smile or the way his shoulders
drooped.
“Buck said you’d be saying at the house
tonight. My wife Stella has everything ready for you inside. It’s a shame for
that house to be empty so much, but she does her best to keep it fresh.”
“Yes, it was lovely, thank you,” Lindsey
said. She looked past him to the wide aisle between the two rows of stalls.
“Now that is a set of stables.”
The barn looked bigger on the inside, with
five stalls down each side, and a washroom and tack room at the end.
“This? Oh, this isn’t big. If we build the
expansion like I am hoping, it will double our capacity.”
“How many horses are you keeping now?” Ric
asked.
“We have six, but one of our brood mares
has gone to another farm for a cover.”
Lindsey raised her eyebrows in confusion.
Stan leaned closer with a twinkled in his eyes. “She’s going to get hitched.”
“Oh,” Lindsey said, blushing as if on cue.
“Do you mind if we go for a ride?”
“Buck said he expected that you would.
What should I saddle for you?”
Lindsey thought Ric and Stan traded
knowing glances between the two of them.
Ric turned to Lindsey. “Have you ridden
before?”
Lindsey eyed the horses waiting behind
their half-open stall doors. She didn't know whether she could sit on such a
tall beast. She didn’t know Ric had actually wanted to go riding. She had
thought they had just gone for a walk.
“No—I’ve never been around horses.” She
had never been one of those kids who wanted a pony. Her mother couldn’t afford
such a luxury.
Ric’s hand brushed her shoulder,
reassuring her with his touch. “I’ll help you. We will go slowly. I promise.”
“If you’re sure,” Lindsey said. Ric looked
so excited that she couldn’t say no and let him down.
“I have just the horse for a beginner.
Mama Lynn is one of our brood mares, and she’s gentle. I’m assuming that you
have more experience?” he asked Ric.
“I grew up on an island north of Venezuela
and my family raised Criollo horses. I’ve been around them all my life.”
“Then I’ll let you ride Tracer. He’s
spirited, but he’s not mean.”
Each stall had its own nameplate with the
name of its resident horse. Ric stopped in front of the Tracer’s stall.
“Tracer, it is good to make your
acquaintance,” Ric said. “Are you ready for an adventure today?”
To Lindsey’s surprise, the chestnut horse
nickered and bobbed his head. “I think Tracer and I will get along just fine,”
Ric said. “He is a fine specimen.”
Stan pulled out a map and gave them a
quick rundown of the property boundaries. “For the best view, you’ll want to
ride up this way and come out at the top of the hill.”
While Ric and Stan pored over the map,
Lindsey looked for the horse named Mama Lynn. She passed several empty stalls
before she found the mare in the last stall.
As she approached the stall door, the
golden horse looked up from drinking water to stare at Lindsey. After a long
look, the horse shrugged and returned to her water. Lindsey couldn’t shake the
feeling that she did not make a good first impression.
After Stan saddled the horses, Ric helped
Lindsey mount and adjusted her stirrups. Her hands shook when she first took
the reins. When the horse waited patiently for the group to start, she relaxed.
The trails that Stan outlined on the map
led to a creek that served as the eastern property line. They followed the
creek until it fed into a small pond. After the first few shaky minutes on the
horse, Lindsey gained more confidence. At one point, she almost slid down one side,
then over-corrected, and almost fell. Stan was true to his word, and the horse
ambled along behind Ric, as calm as Lindsey could hope for.
Usually the path was wide enough for the
two horses to walk side by side, with Ric’s mount leading the way. She looked
over at his strong profile and felt a rush of warmth that had nothing to do
with the bright December sun.
“So, you never explained why you left
Venezuela. If you loved your family’s island and enjoyed raising horses, why
did you leave and start the resort?”
“It's complicated. My mother never wanted
me to go to school in the United States. I had intended to move back to
Venezuela and find an analyst job with one of the big oil companies. Then maybe
I would live on the island at least part of the year. Then, when my mother died
while I was at school, I went home for the funeral, but it was too painful to
stay. Everywhere I looked, I only saw my mother’s ghost. My cousin took over
the family businesses, one thing led to another, and over time, he shut me out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lindsey said.
“So if you buy this estate, you want to build a fencing academy and raise
horses?”
“Sure, why not? This place is big enough
to sustain two businesses.”
“But what about the resort?”
“I don’t know yet. Of course, this is all
speculation.”
She smiled. “I understand.”
When they reached a fork in the path, he
led them up a slight incline. “What is this way?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” he said.
Lindsey didn’t know how they had lucked
out with such wonderful weather, but she took it in stride. She loved the feel
of the sun on her face. As soon as they stopped, she planned to take off her
jacket. It had warmed up sooner than they expected. After a gray,
cooler-than-average week, the weekend had turned out to be perfect.
Ric led them down the path that wound into
the copse of trees following a stream. Lindsey heard the water even before they
rounded a curve in the path. When the waterfall came into view, she just
stared, transfixed.