"Did
you think I would be interested in something long term with you?" He
snorted, making her want to punch him. "You're a nobody from a small
ranching community in Montana, Elizabeth. I, on the other hand, own a large
international shipping company. I need someone on my arm who can keep up with
me in style, poise and mannerisms. You, although you are hot between the
sheets, are a country girl to the bone. You wear T-shirts to bed. You insist on
doing yard work. You want to own a
horse
!"
She
moved so she stood within arm's reach of him. "I may be a country girl,
but don't fuck with me." Despite the skimpy black dress, primping all day
with hair done just so, makeup perfectly applied,
mani
and
pedi
at the salon,
she'd stood ready to receive the surprise she knew was coming when Ari returned
from New York, not the shock of a lifetime. With her hand clenched in a fist,
she pulled back her arm and let the punch fly hoping she connected with
something—maybe knock a tooth out.
Pain
screamed up her arm as she watched Ari stumble back to land on his butt.
"Shit, that hurt." She shook her hand, grimacing. After she spun on
her bare feet, she headed for the front door of the airport to retrieve her
car.
Let him suck eggs through a straw
for the next couple of days.
Fucking bastard.
"How dare he use me like this."
Tears
streamed down her cheeks, dripping off the end of her chin. She really thought he
loved her and she loved him, didn't she? Real passion didn't exist except in
fairytales. Men didn't illicit those types of feelings in her. She just figured
she couldn't get sexually aroused like most woman. The scrape of a man's hand
over her skin, the brush of his kiss on her lips, his tongue lightly flicking
against her mouth before taking the kiss he wanted, those things might turn her
on if she ever felt them, but so far she just tolerated sex.
Only
one man ever got her blood pumping and her skin tingling.
"I
imagined the whole thing, I'm sure. Yeah, his kiss was nice, but really…"
She shook her head and wiped her face, refusing to cry anymore over
Ari-the-asshole or her mysterious masked stranger—the man she met six months
ago on her last trip back to Red Rock for that fateful Halloween Ball. If she
admitted it to herself, the man had left her with nothing more than a
toe-curling kiss before walking out of her life. She'd never learned his name or
anything about him other than he stood approximately six feet tall with broad
shoulders strikingly emphasized in his tuxedo jacket. Had the most gorgeous
blue eyes she'd ever seen on a man and the softest chestnut colored hair she'd
ever run her fingers through. No one she'd asked the rest of the evening seemed
to know who he was.
"I
left there, turning my back on the toe-curling kiss and went home even though
it was to a man I thought I loved. I played right into Ari's self-centered
attitude by go back to him and his cheating ways."
She'd
flown home the next day. Back to her life, school in Los Angeles—back to the
man she thought loved her and planned to ask her to marry him soon.
Enough is enough. I'll finish my degree before
heading somewhere back toward home to do my residency. When I'm done, I can
open my practice anywhere I want.
Red
Rock was home—had been since her family moved there, helping to establish the
town.
Westons
and
Dunns
were founding families. Everyone knew them and respected their leadership in
the community. She'd been the successful daughter. Moving to Los Angeles,
getting her medical degree had been her dream from the time she could remember.
She wanted the loving husband, white picket fence, two point five kids and a
dog.
Hell,
who was she kidding? Being a doctor wasn't going to allow for a normal life.
There would be long hours, midnight phone calls, extended rotations, but taking
care of people was her life passion. She couldn't imagine doing anything else.
The
moment her car came into view, she hit the button in her hand to unlock the
doors. Once inside, she grabbed a napkin out of the glove compartment to wipe
the mascara from under her eyes. "Great.
Just fucking great."
She
grabbed her cell phone from her purse to dial her sister-in-law. Natalie hated
Ari even though they'd met only once when Cade and Nat had come out to
California to visit a year ago.
"Hey
sis.
What's up?"
After
a huge, noisy sniffle, she said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told
you."
"What
happened?"
"Ari
came home from New York."
The
impatient huff on the other end of the line revealed how much Natalie wanted to
hear the news. "So?"
"He's
been seeing someone else."
"Oh,
Liz.
I'm sorry, honey. I know how much you must be
hurting."
Incredibly,
Natalie actually sounded sorry. "You aren't going to say I told you
so?"
"Of
course I am, but not right now." After a long bout of silence only broken
by her occasional sniffing, Natalie said, "Okay, I told you so, but I'm
glad you found out now. Honey, he's not worth your tears."
"I
know, Nat, it's just I really thought he was the one. You know?
Even if there weren't fireworks."
"There should be. Don't settle for
less." A small snort followed as the words left her mouth.
"I've
never felt scorched by someone's touch before. It's pleasant, but not something
I would write home to mom about."
"If
you're with the right man, you'll have the fire, the excitement.
Though maybe you wouldn't want to tell your mom even if she were
still alive.
A girl has to have her secrets."
Should I ask? The two of them seemed
so happy and so in love, sometimes they make me sick.
"Go
ahead. Ask, Liz. You know you want to."
"All
right.
Is everything all sparks and light up the night sky
between you two?"
"Of
course.
It's been exciting and fulfilling from the moment I
laid eyes on him after so many years. His kiss curls my toes. Everything tingles
like an electric charge."
"I
wish," she murmured.
"You'll
find the right guy, Liz. When you do, it'll be the same for you." Natalie
laughed. "I have an idea. Come home for a few days. It'll be nice to catch
up. You know, spend some time with you."
"I
have two more weeks of classes and graduation."
"Then
you can come home with us after graduation. You know we'll be there."
"I
knew I could count on you, Nat."
"I
love you, Liz. You know I'd do anything for you."
* * * *
Two
weeks later Elizabeth stepped out of her car, stretching her back to relieve
the kinks from the long drive. The trip from Los Angeles back to Red Rock with
all her stuff sucked. Several days with nothing but her own company just
wasn't
a nice trip. Hot, sticky and sweaty, Elizabeth
couldn't wait to stand under the shower to wash the grime from her body in the lovely
spray of water calling to her.
The
expanse of the Double D Ranch stretched for miles in several different
directions, almost reaching the mountains or so it seemed. The question of how
much land they actually had crossed her lips one day as she rode in silence
next to her mother. The woman was feminine to the core but it never stopped her
from being the epitome of a rancher's wife, living her life at her husband's
side, raising their children and loving the land. When the answer came,
Elizabeth couldn't fathom the miles of land stretched in front of her as
belonging to her family.
The
one story ranch house with the wraparound porch called her like a mother's
lullaby, whispering words of comfort and longing to have her home. Tears
pricked the back of her eyelids. Her mother wouldn't be here to greet her this
time. Grief still stung at the loss so early in life. It wasn't fair. She'd
never get to see her grandchildren, never be able to watch her daughters marry—missing
out on all the simple pleasures in life living in God's country.
Sunlight
streamed down from the sky, lighting everything in a soft, yellow glow. Blue
skies with white puffy clouds rolling lazily by, wiped the sadness away
momentarily as she took in the changes since the last time she'd been there. Freshly
painted fences gleamed in the sun and new shutters on the house brought the
homey feeling in as the old rocking chairs on the porch reminded her she was
home. She couldn't wait to gallop across the open fields on a powerful horse
again. It had been too long since she felt the bunch of muscles of a horse
beneath her, the breeze in her hair and the freedom of racing the wind.
"Elizabeth!"
her father yelled from the barn as he walked toward her before he wrapped her
in a warm hug.
"Hi,
Daddy."
The warmth of her father's embrace
began to heal the crack in her heart forged by her mother's passing and Ari's
betrayal.
"I'm
so glad you're home, sweetheart."
"Me
too even if it's not permanent."
She looped her arm
through his as they walked toward the house.
"How
long are you staying?"
"I've
taken a month to be here with you to enjoy everything before I have to be in
Billings for my residency."
"Have
I told you lately how proud I am of you?
My daughter the
doctor."
"Yes,
but you can say it a few more times." They laughed as they stepped on the
porch and he pushed her into the rocking chair.
"I'll
get you some lemonade. You look wiped out."
"I
am. It's a long drive with not much else to do but think."
Her
father shook a finger at her as his lips turned down in a frown. "Don't
even think about that guy. He's not worth the fuss. If I could have gotten my
hands on him, I would have ripped him in half."
Her
deep sigh had to have revealed her turmoil to her father when he studied her
face closely. "I know, Daddy. I just thought he was different, but he
turned out to be like all the other men." She giggled. "Besides, Cade
took care of him for me when he showed up at my apartment demanding his jewelry
back."
He
patted her hand, saying, "I'll be right back. I want to hear all about it."
She
glanced across the open pastures with another heavy sigh.
Home.
Everything would be better at least for the month she planned to stay. Soft
grass under her toes, warm sunshine on her face, cooling breezes blowing her
hair would calm both nerves and heart.
Enough of men.
I don't
need them. I don't want any of them around. I've got my life and my work. It's
enough.
A soft breeze picked up a piece of hair, blowing it across her
cheek. As she pulled the strand back to tuck it behind her ear, she noticed a
pickup truck she didn't recognize near the barn. Dually wheels and shiny chrome
made her whistle through her teeth in a small show of appreciation. She always
was a sucker for a guy with a truck.
Did Dad buy a new truck?
The
bang of the screen door pulled her from her musings. She whispered thank you when
her dad handed her the glass. "Did you get a new pickup, Dad?"
"Oh,
you mean the one by the barn."
"Yeah."
"It's
not mine.
Belongs to the vet.
One of the mares is
getting ready to foal. He's keeping an eye on her for me. Doc Alexander retired
some months back. Doctor Melton took over his practice." Her father took a
seat in the empty chair, sipping from his own glass. "Nice guy. Cade and
Nat know him pretty well."
"Hmm."
She sipped her lemonade, glancing back at the barn.
New vet.
Colleague of sorts.
"I should
probably introduce myself."
"Sure.
He's a few years older than you."
"I'm
not looking for a man, Daddy."
He
held up his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it, Elizabeth.
Just making conversation.
Come on, I'll introduce you."
"Should
we take him some lemonade too?"
"Good
idea. It's pretty warm in the barn."
After
she retrieved a big glass for the vet, she headed to the barn with her father
at her side. The huge white structure housed their prize horses, the tons of
tack required and several stalls for sick cattle. The soft nickering of horses
greeted them when they stepped inside.
"Marcus?"
"In
here."
"How's
the mare?" her father asked as they approached a closed stall to the left.
"She's
progressing nicely. The foal should be here soon.
Within the
next few hours anyway."