Love at First Sight

by Kelly Elliott

  Ranger nickered.

  “My feelings, as well. I can’t tell her how I feel, though. She’s obviously in love with him. I mean, she’s walking away from Oak Springs to be with him. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

  Ranger walked up and grazed right next to where I was sitting.

  “This was our spot. We would come here and talk for hours. She told me when we were around five she wanted to get married here…to me.”

  Nausea hit me as I imagined Chloe standing under this tree exchanging her vows with Easton.

  Fucking prick didn’t deserve her.

  Taking another drink of whiskey, I leaned my head back. My eyes closed, and I tried like hell to think about anything other than Chloe and that ring on her finger.

  The sounds of a running horse woke me. I jumped up and whistled for Ranger. He was looking toward the north. I turned and saw someone riding up on a horse.

  “Jonathon?”

  He damn near ran me over before he pulled back on the reins.

  “What in the fuck are you doing, Rip?”

  I looked up at him in shock. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re out here getting drunk while everyone is back there celebrating Chloe’s graduation.”

  “And engagement, don’t forget that part.”

  He rolled his eyes and slid off the horse.

  “How much did you have to drink?”

  “Not enough.”

  “Listen, I may be your older brother, but I’m your friend, too. Talk to me. What is going on?”

  I laughed. “What’s going on? Hell, I don’t know, big brother. I’ve fucked up my entire life.”

  “You have not fucked up your entire life.”

  “You do know that I haven’t finished school. I have two classes left. Dad still hardly talks to me.”

  “Then fucking finish the online classes, Rip.”

  Rubbing the back of my neck, I closed my eyes. “Aw, hell. I’m probably going to go home.”

  “No, you’re going to come with me and try not to act like you’re drunk.”

  “I’m not drunk.”

  “Right, then you’re on your way there.”

  When I didn’t respond, he went on. “Chloe is looking for you, Rip.”

  I scoffed. “Chloe has Easton now. She doesn’t need to be ‘looking for me’ anymore.”

  “Is that what you truly believe?”

  “She’s marrying him, isn’t she?”

  He looked away for a few moments before focusing back on me. He went to say something and then shook his head.

  “What? If you’ve got something to say, say it,” I said.

  “Fine. I’ll say what I should have said a long time ago. If you love her, then tell her.”

  “Of course, I love her. I’ve always loved her.”

  “Then tell her, Rip. Tell her before it’s too late.”

  “It is too late, Jonathon! Did you not see the ring on her finger? She’s leaving Oak Springs. If she didn’t love the guy, she wouldn’t walk away from everything she ever dreamed of. What am I supposed to do? Ask her to give him up and stay?”

  “Could you for once stop and think about how maybe she dreamed of those things with you?”

  I smirked and looked away.

  “She’s getting married in her grandparents’ backyard, Rip. They just told everyone. You and I both know when she was younger all she talked about was getting married in this very fucking spot that you’re drowning your sorrows in.”

  My head jerked back toward him. “She’s not getting married here?”

  “No. Why do you think that is, Sherlock?”

  I swallowed hard.

  “Pull your head out of your ass, Rip. If you can’t be man enough to tell her the truth, then be a friend and at least be there for her.”

  With that, he got back onto his horse and pointed to Ranger. “That’s my favorite horse you took, you asshole.”

  I smiled and ran my fingers through my hair.

  “Get on the horse, Rip. Let’s go.”

  I whistled the horse over, got in the saddle, and followed Jonathon back to the main barn. After taking care of both horses, we walked up to the house together.

  “I know you don’t want my advice, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.”

  With a sigh, I said, “I’m pretty sure you’ve been giving it to me since you rode up on the horse.”

  “Stop the drinking. It’s not making anything better. Damn it, Rip. If you love her like I think you do, fight for her.”

  Fight for her. There’s that fucking phrase again.

  As we got closer, I saw Chloe and Easton standing there with her parents. Jonathon stopped me by putting his hand on my chest.

  “Rip, you have to tell her how you feel. She might tell you it’s too late, but you will regret it the rest of your life if you don’t finally admit your feelings to her. I can promise you that.”

  Swallowing hard, I looked past him to Chloe. She was smiling with her hand clasped in Easton’s.

  “I’m happy to announce that I have asked Chloe to marry me and she has said yes,” Easton said. I couldn’t pull my eyes off of Chloe. Of course, I came back just in time to hear their big fucking announcement.

  Everyone clapped, including Jonathon next to me. When Chloe’s eyes met mine, I forced a smile. I knew I couldn’t let her down. If she was truly happy, I would keep my feelings to myself.

  She continued to stare at me for the longest time. That smile plastered onto her face. Was she happy? Was marrying Easton what she truly wanted? Her eyes said something different, and for the briefest moment, hope sparked inside of me.

  People rushed over to Chloe and Easton, hugging and congratulating them. I exhaled a deep breath and made my way over to Mike and Alyssa.

  “Where have you been?” Mike asked.

  “I went for a ride earlier. Time got away from me.”

  “Well, apparently the whiskey didn’t get away from you. I smell it on you, dude.”

  Rolling my neck to get the tension out, I looked over at Chloe again. She was talking to someone and looked up at Easton, who wrapped his arm around her. Before I had a chance to pull my eyes off of them, Chloe’s gaze found mine again.

  Her smile faded, and she tilted her head.

  I turned to Mike. “Can you give me a ride home? I’ve been drinking more than I should.”

  “Now?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I need to get home and take care of something that I told my mom I would handle.”

  “Now?”

  “Did I stutter? Yes, fucking now, Mike.”

  He held up his hands in defense. “Okay, dude. Let me tell Alyssa.”

  Alyssa had started a conversation with some older lady sitting next to them.

  When Mike stood, I handed him the keys to my truck.

  I looked everywhere but over to Chloe. I swore I felt her gaze on me, but who was I kidding? Chloe had moved on.

  “Ready?” Mike said, making me jump.

  “Sure, yeah. Ready.”

  “You okay?” he asked, a slight chuckle coming out with the question.

  “Yeah, just ready to leave.”

  He nodded, and we started to make our way through the crowd and down to the driveway. I could see my truck. We were almost there when I heard her call out my name.

  “Rip! Mike! Are you leaving?”

  “Fuck me, could this day get any worse?” I whispered as Mike hit me on the back. We both turned and looked at Chloe, jogging down the driveway.

  “You weren’t even going to say goodbye?” she said with a sad look.

  “I needed to get home, and Mike is driving me.”

  Chloe frowned. “Why can’t you drive?”

  Mike and I exchanged a look. Fuck it. The truth it was.

  “I drank a little bit too much.”

  Her eyes bounced from me to Mike, then back to me.

  “Oh. Well, thank you for coming. I’m not sure where you were hiding out
. I hardly got to see you. Maybe we can do lunch tomorrow?”

  “I can’t. I’ve got a full day of work. I’m helping Trevor.”

  She smiled. “So you’ll be here on the ranch?”

  Mike looked away, trying to hide the corners of his mouth that were quickly raising.

  “Yeah, but like I said, I’ll probably be really busy.”

  “I’ll call you. If you can take a break, I’ll bring something for you to eat. I’d like to catch up.”

  Goddamn it.

  “Sure, you can give me a call, and we’ll see. Enjoy the rest of the party.”

  She walked up to me and hugged me goodbye. Then she did the same with Mike. “Thanks for being here. See you tomorrow.”

  The moment she turned around, I started walking to the truck.

  When we got in, I dropped my head back against the seat.

  “Rip…”

  “Please, Mike. I already got the lecture from Jonathon. I just want to not talk about Chloe. Please.”

  The truck started. “Sure. We won’t talk about Chloe.”

  And we didn’t. We didn’t talk at all.

  Chloe

  AFTER BREAKFAST I went for a quick run before heading to the main house to see Easton off.

  He was sitting on the front porch swing, staring off down the long driveway.

  “Hey, I heard you were out here. Ready to head on home?”

  “Yeah, but I wish you were coming with me.”

  My face fell slightly. I didn’t want to argue about this again. Easton had started in last night about why I had to stay here until the wedding. He couldn’t understand how hard it was for me to leave. I needed time. I wanted to be with my parents. Spend the summer with my brother. Work for my father and start my career that, unfortunately, would be short-lived. I couldn’t figure out why that was so hard for him to get.

  “I don’t want to fight about this again, East.”

  He scrubbed his hands down his face. “Why can’t you come to Houston after the summer is over? Hell, if it’s a job you want, Chloe, you can get one there.”

  “Easton.”

  He laughed. “I know, I know. You can’t blame me for wanting you with me, Chloe. I love you. I want to wake up every morning next to you. I want you with me.”

  I felt sick.

  Oh, good Lord. Why can’t I say one word of that back to him?

  “Are you okay? Your face just went completely white.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to miss you, too. Please be patient and let me have this time with my folks. I just want that. I’ll see how things feel this September.”

  He smiled and pulled me to him, kissing me. He moaned as he pressed his body to mine. Two nights earlier, when he asked me to marry him, he had wanted to be together, and I couldn’t do it. I was too emotional and couldn’t bring myself to sleep with him. Not when I had so many thoughts racing through my mind, most of them consisting of doubt over saying yes. Easton had been understanding when I told him I was exhausted. I saw it in his eyes, the disappointment, especially since we hadn’t slept together in weeks. For Easton, a marriage proposal and one night of sex would fix everything. For me, all it did was make me even more confused than I was before.

  Ugh. Jesus, Chloe, get your shit together.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear, baby. I need to get going. I’ve got a long drive.”

  “Be careful. Let me know when you get there.”

  “I will,” he said. I walked him to his car and waited for him to roll down the window.

  Leaning in, I kissed him. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “I told my folks you’d be down in a few weeks. They want to have an engagement party of their own and my mom’s birthday is June second. I’ll get you a plane ticket, so you can fly. I don’t want you making that drive all alone.”

  A part of me was angry he would make plans without even asking me. Not wanting to start yet another fight, I smiled and kissed him once more.

  “Sounds good. We can talk more about it when you get to Houston.”

  He winked and pulled down the driveway. I stood there, watching him until I couldn’t see his sports car anymore. Then I continued to simply stare at nothing. An empty driveway. My heart was just as empty, and it wasn’t because of Easton leaving.

  “Chloe?” my grandmother called.

  “Darling? Are you okay?” she asked, wrapping her arm around me.

  “I don’t know, Grammy. I just don’t know about anything right now.”

  Stepping around, she placed her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

  “Chloe, you need to take a few days to yourself and let this all process. I didn’t want to say anything, but you and Easton argued a lot last night over the simplest things. It was hard for your granddad and I not to hear you two.”

  “He wants me to just up and leave, Grammy. Like none of this matters to me. Why can’t he understand I need some time?”

  She simply smiled at me. This was one of those life lessons she was going to let me figure out on my own.

  “Come on, I’m making some cookies…you can help.”

  We walked arm-in-arm back toward the house.

  “I think that is exactly what I needed! I wanted to take some lunch out to Rip today. He mentioned working with Trevor here at the ranch.”

  “Yes, he was here this morning. He’s with Cord and Trevor doing something with the cattle in the north pasture.”

  “Is Daddy here?”

  “He should be in his office. Head on back first if you want. I’ll get everything out and ready for our baking party.”

  With a giggle, I kissed her on the cheek and headed down the hallway to the side of the house that housed all the offices for the ranch. My dad had one. Trevor too, as well as Mitchell and Wade. Granddaddy still kept his office, even though he was officially retired and had handed the running of the ranch over to my uncles and dad.

  My father’s office door was slightly open, and he was on the phone talking to someone. I paused and lifted my hand to knock.

  “Chloe was going to be taking on marketing for the ranch, but I’ll most likely need to start interviewing people for it.”

  My stomach fell. His words made everything feel so real.

  “Yes, I was looking forward to working with her, but she seems happy, and that is all I care about.”

  I took a step back and leaned against the wall. My heart was pounding, and it was hard to breathe. What in the world was happening to me?

  “Business management and marketing, yes. I’d like to start taking a step back from work. Spend more time with Paxton and the kids. Rip Myers has been taking on some of the accounting for me, as well. The kid is smart as a whip. He is working for his brother’s construction company handling most of their business and getting them up to date on some new computer programs. He’s doing the same with Waylynn’s dance studio, but I’m hoping I can talk him into coming to work for Frio Cattle Ranch.”

  It was like all the plans I had made for my future were still happening, except I wasn’t a part of them anymore.

  “We will figure it out, Dan. I think Chloe is staying on until Christmas. I won’t have to worry about filling the new position until fall.”

  Placing my hand on my chest, I forced myself to breathe, but each breath was getting harder and harder.

  I slid down the wall and sat.

  Oh God, what is happening? I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!

  “Chloe!”

  Over my panic, I hadn’t heard Rip walk up. His voice instantly sent warmth through my entire body. Then I felt his hands on my arms, pulling me up.

  “Look at me, Chloe.”

  I did what Rip said. My eyes met his.

  “Take a deep breath in.”

  Shaking my head, I felt the panic returning.

  “Sweetheart, look at me. Look. At. Me. Breathe.”

  “What’s going on?” my father said, suddenly next to Rip.

  “I think she’s havi
ng a panic attack,” Rip stated.

  Rip hugged me, holding me so close. “Feel my breathing, Chloe Cat. Focus on my breathing.”

  I took deep inhales and then exhaled, my face warmed by his breath. Soon, my own breathing began to return to normal.

  “That’s it. Deep breath in, then out.”

  “Bring her into my office.”

  Rip wrapped his arm around my waist, and I could not ignore the way it made me feel.

  I closed my eyes and cursed myself. I was engaged to another man and the feelings Rip evoked were nothing short of sinful.

  “Do you feel dizzy?” Rip asked.

  “No. No. I’m okay.” I sat down on the small sofa on the other side of my dad’s office.

  “Chloe, what happened?” my father asked.

  With a shrug, I replied truthfully. “I heard you on the phone, and all of a sudden I felt this pressure on my chest, and I couldn’t breathe.”

  He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t realize you were there. Please don’t worry about anything, okay?”

  “You’re going to hire Rip?”

  “Me?” Rip asked, pointing to himself. His father’s name was also Rip, so I’m sure he was confused.

  My father looked at me and then over to Rip. “I was planning on talking to you about working here in the ranch office, part time, of course. I know you’re working for Jonathon in the office. He mentioned you got a new accounting program they are using now.”

  “Are you wanting to do the same?” Rip asked.

  “Actually,” Daddy said, a smile on his face. “I’m looking at cutting back some hours. I’d like to spend some time with Chloe before she leaves for Houston. And with Gage leaving for college, well, I was hoping to free up my life.”

  “You want me to do the financial stuff for the ranch?” Rip asked, clearly shocked.

  “Don’t sound so surprised, son. I’ve seen what you can do. Why do you think I’ve been having so many problems lately? I’ve been testing you.” Daddy grinned at Rip, letting him know that he’d obviously passed his test.

  Rip’s mouth dropped some as he stared at my dad. “You were setting me up?”

  “Setting you up, testing you…it’s all semantics.”

  With a lighthearted laugh, Rip replied, “Steed, I don’t see the difference in that.”