Jenna spent the next few minutes giving Michelle the condensed version of her life in the juvenile detention system. She only highlighted the major events of the last seven years, but before she’d even gotten through the first year, Michelle was sobbing.
“Jenna, I’m so sorry. If I had only minded my own business, you would have never gone through any of that.”
Jenna looked at her friend in shock, “What?! Michelle, if you hadn’t called Trey to come get me that night, my father would have killed me before he could get the help he needed.”
“How can you say that so calmly?” Michelle cried, tears still flowing from her eyes.
Jenna took a breath and handed Michelle some fresh tissues, “Michelle, when I arrived here a few days ago, I didn’t want to be here. I spent the last seven years thinking that nobody loved me or cared for me. My life didn’t really mean that much to me, until I talked with Trey and he helped me see that not only did my dad get his life together, but that everyone here mourned me when I was gone.
“That meant so much to me. I’m not entirely sure I won’t slip back into the old ways of thinking, but I do know that I’ve found my faith once again. I can’t live in the past anymore. I don’t want to be that woman.”
Michelle dried her eyes, “I wish I could turn off the past so easily.”
Jenna looked at her, reaching over and clasping her hand, “You can. I’ll help you. Trey will help you. Tyler will help you. We’re all here to help you. Tell me what happened.”
“It all started a little over a year ago. Tyler and I had been spending some time together whenever he could get to town. I didn’t realize that I had fallen in love with him until I watched one of the bull riders die. He got stuck in the ropes and the bull’s thrashing broke his neck and killed him. Tyler had already ridden and dislocated his shoulder during that same competition.
“Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was his broken and bleeding body. I was working with a client who had just lost both her husband and her son to a stupid accident. Her husband was reckless and liked to take risks. It destroyed her.”
“What happened to her?” Jenna asked softly.
“She killed herself.” Michelle swallowed and then rushed to tell her the rest, “In my bathroom. She was living with me while I tried to find her a place to go, and I came home from work late one night. She was in the bathtub…”
Jenna grabbed Michelle around the neck, tears streaming down her own cheeks, “Shush. You don’t have to tell me the rest. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“I couldn’t help her. She completely fell apart when her family died. I realized that I loved Tyler and was afraid that if something happened to him, I’d fall apart like her.”
“Michelle, that would never happen to you. You’re stronger than that. And Tyler’s fine. I heard he was retiring.”
“That’s what he said, but we had a terrible fight a year ago. I basically told him that if he wanted to be with me, he had to quit riding.”
“Did you tell him about your client and the fear you were living under?” Jenna asked.
“No,” Michelle shook her head, crying once again, “I couldn’t. So much of my work was horrible and I never wanted to taint our time together by talking about it.”
Jenna pulled away from Michelle and looked her in the eye, “Did you ever think that you weren’t being fair to him? You never gave him a chance to step up and understand your point of view.”
“We were starting to talk before you guys got home. I told him about Celia, but I didn’t get a chance to tell him how scared I was. He says he wants me back.”
“What do you want?” Jenna asked. “Don’t you think it’s time you figured that out and went after it?”
Chapter 12
Jenna’s question lingered in Michelle’s head over the next few days. She was never left alone, she never wanted for anything, and by the time Sunday night rolled around, she was longing for a little peace and quiet.
“So, I’m going to run over to Missy’s and pick up Jenna. Are you sure you’ll be okay while I’m gone?” Trey asked his sister once again.
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I promise I won’t move from the couch until you get back.” Michelle rolled her eyes at her brother, wondering when he’d become such a mother hen.
The girls had descended on the house the morning after her accident, while the men and her parents had overseen the closing down of the Camp Red Bird. Normally, they would wait until a little later in the fall, but with heavy snow forecasted, it was imperative they beat the storm in getting the cabins and wells winterized.
She’d only seen Tyler briefly on Friday, and then yesterday he had stopped by to check on her, but only for a few minutes. The men had transferred the herd down to his family’s ranch and he had been busy arranging everything. She had been fine with that, not feeling strong enough to handle another emotional conversation while still on the pain pills.
The girls had drawn straws to see who was going to stay with her during the Sunday morning church service, her mother having declared her unable to attend the service and still follow doctor’s orders. Missy had drawn the lucky straw, and Michelle had spent the morning helping her make a list of possible baby names.
Missy’s husband had been killed in Afghanistan, and she was looking at raising their only child by herself. Michelle felt badly for her, but after spending the morning in her presence, she had to admire her strength. Missy had lost the love of her life, but she hadn’t folded or given up. She was doing the best she could to live each day to its fullest and make the best possible home for her unborn child.
Trey came back through the room, “I’ll be back shortly.”
“Go away. I will be fine.” Michelle loved her brother, but sometimes he really got on her nerves. She waited until she heard the front door closed before she tossed the blanket she had been using over her lap aside and slowly lowered her injured leg towards the ground.
She slowly put her good foot under her and then used her arms as leverage to push herself upright. So far, so good! She looked towards the kitchen and calculated the distance between the various furniture pieces that would help stabilize her on her way to the kitchen sink.
Her ankle was starting to throb again, but she had declined another pain pill when Trey had offered it to her a few hours earlier. They made her feel fuzzy in the head, and she figured if she could just keep some ibuprofen on board for the next few days, she’d be fine. She wanted to try her theory out, without having Trey hovering over her as he waited to see if she was going to need the stronger stuff.
She leaned over and used the coffee table to help balance herself as she made her way to the other side of the couch. Wish I knew where Tyler had stashed those crutches. They’d sure come in handy right now. Trey hadn’t mentioned them, which told her he was completely on board with keeping her from moving around too much. Well, ha ha brother. I can move around just fine without them. Or at least, I’ll tell him that if he finds out I left the couch.
She used the arm of the chair to hobble her way around it and then came the hardest part. She gauged the distance to be approximately ten feet from where she currently was, to the doorway leading into the kitchen. No other furniture pieces were in a position to aid her trek, and she knew better than to even try to put weight on her ankle.
That only left two options: hop, or crawl. She attempted an awkward hop on one foot, but the jarring motion sent a new surge of pain through her ankle and had her gasping to catch her breath. Okay, make that one option. Crawling it is.
She slowly lowered herself down to the carpeted floor, being careful to keep her injured ankle elevated and safe from hitting anything. She found herself smiling as she navigated her way towards the kitchen door. When she reached the doorway, she continued to crawl, even though she could have used the kitchen counters to navigate her way towards the sink in a standing position. Crawling was infinitely easier and she was already on the ground…
“What in blue blazes do you think you’re doing?”
Michelle froze and then hung her head, spying Tyler’s boots standing in the kitchen doorway. She took a breath and then tried to decide if she should continue her crawl to the kitchen, turn and sit down on the floor, or try to get herself to her feet in the middle of the room. She didn’t have long to think. Before she knew it, Tyler was standing over her and pulling her up to her feet by placing his hands beneath her arms.
“Michelle, where’s Trey? Why are you crawling on the floor? Are you okay?”
Michelle felt her head spin as she was scooped up in his strong arms and carried back into the family room. “Tyler, put me down.” She inhaled and suddenly his scent reached her and she wanted nothing more than to ask him to keep holding her.
“No! Why were you crawling on the floor?” Tyler loved having her in his arms, and wondered what she would do if he kept her in his arms while they were sitting on the couch.
“Because I was bored! I was trying to reach the kitchen sink.”
Tyler stopped and turned around, carrying her back into the kitchen and sitting her down next to the kitchen sink. “What do you need from here?”
Michelle sighed, “Some ibuprofen. It’s in that first cabinet on the bottom shelf.”
“Wouldn’t you rather take one of your pain pills?” Tyler asked, reaching for the prescription bottle.
“No! I wouldn’t. I want to try some ibuprofen and see if it’s enough to take the edge off. I can’t think straight when I’m on that stuff.”
“What do you need to think about? You need to be resting…”
Michelle shook her head at him, “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I came to see how you were doing. Your doctor ordered sabbatical from walking and moving around ends tomorrow. I thought maybe you’d like to come over to the ranch and see the horses. My own arrived this morning, or I would have come by sooner.” Tyler located the bottle of medicine and handed it to her. He located a clean glass and filled it with water for her as well.
“Thanks.” Michelle downed two of the pills and then finished the glass of water. “I’d love to come see the horses, but I don’t know how I would get around.”
“Don’t you worry. I have it covered. So you’ll join me?”
“On one condition. You get me back to the couch before Trey comes home and you don’t tell him how you found me.”
“Agreed. I take it Trey’s being a little overbearing?”
“A little? More like an avalanche. He won’t leave me alone. And now he’s got Jenna helping him badger me as well.”
Tyler chuckled, but dutifully delivered her back to the couch. Hearing a truck pull up outside, he grinned at her, “Just in the nick of time. They’re home.”
Michelle grinned at Tyler, “Remember, this is our little secret.” It felt so good to smile with him once again, she let her fears of the past fade away for a little while and just enjoyed the present.
He nodded and then turned to seat himself in the chair next to the couch. “I won’t say a word.”
Chapter 13
Jenna was amazed at how much the ranch had changed in the years since she’d been gone. Trey had insisted on driving Michelle over to Tyler’s, and she had tagged along as thoughts began to take place in her head.
Michelle had mentioned wanting to start up a horse therapy center, focusing on those with disabilities and younger kids. Tyler was taking over the horseback riding at Camp Red Bird, and was also going to be starting a training center for the Little Britches Rodeo in the area.
He’d been offered use of the rodeo arena in Ridgway, but had declined after seeing the ranch. He had all of the room he could ever need right there at his fingertips.
Jenna wandered around the large courtyard, looking at the larger bunkhouse and wondering how badly in need of repairs it was. At one time, the Jameson’s had managed the largest cow herd in the county. Over time, they had switched out their cows for horses, and then slowly dwindled the herd down to the dozen or so horses that were used at the camp.
Michelle was currently sitting on the front porch swing, listening to Tyler tell her and Trey all of the amazing things he had planned for the ranch. From the sounds of it, bull riding had been a very profitable venture for him, and he had most of the resources needed to make his dreams come true.
“Hey, Tyler?”
“Yes?” he hollered back from the porch.
“What’s up with the bunkhouse?”
“Not sure. It hasn’t been used in almost ten years. I can almost guarantee it’s needing some repairs. Why?”
“Just wondering is all.”
Tyler looked at her and then at Trey, “What’s going on in that mind of hers?”
Trey smiled, “She wants to start up a facility that caters to kids, teens and young adults. Kids that find themselves in situations like she did. She wants to get them out of the system and into a loving environment where they can flourish and grow up normal.”
“Amen! She told me some of the stuff she went through, and I can’t believe places like that still get state funding.”
Tyler let the conversation between the siblings go on around him as he began looking at his property. There was plenty of acreage to do what Jenna was dreaming about. The horses could be a vital part of that, and he’d seen facilities where caring for the livestock was part of the therapy process and teaching responsibility. “I’ll be right back,” he murmured to his other guests. He needed to know more about what Jenna had in mind.
Michelle watched Tyler approach Jenna and then smiled. “Things are about to get real complicated if the old Jenna’s still in there.”
“She is. Did she tell you why she came back here?” Trey asked.
“Something about her parents estate.”
“There was a life insurance policy, but the paperwork got messed up at the bank. Anyway, when it’s all said and done, she’s going to have a nice chunk of money to invest somewhere. She’s planning on setting up shop elsewhere, but she told me yesterday after church that she really feels led to set up here in Cathedral Hills.”
“Really? So she won’t be leaving any time soon?” Michelle asked with a smile.
“No. In fact, I’m hoping she won’t ever want to leave.” Trey looked out over the yard where Tyler was giving Jenna a tour of the bunkhouse. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Michelle giggled, “Sounds like love, big brother.”
“Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?” He heard himself and then grimaced. Way to sound like a lovesick puppy dog, there Trey! “She agreed to go to the harvest dance with me.”
“That sounds awful serious. You haven’t been to one of them since you got out of high school.”
“Well, I’m going this weekend, and Jenna’s going with me.” Trey looked down at his watch and scowled, “Duty calls. I’ve got a meeting at the bank in thirty minutes.”
“What’s Jenna up to today?” Michelle asked, hoping she already had plans. The thought of spending the day with Tyler, alone, was very appealing.
“She’s meeting up with Stephanie and Taylor at the diner and then they’re going to tackle the nursery some more. I understand there is both paint and wallpaper involved…I’m staying at the bank until their finished.”
Michelle chuckled, “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Suzy Homemaker, you’re not!” She fondly remembered when they had tried to decorate the house together. She’d finally kicked Trey out, telling him he was more of a hindrance than a help. He’d laughed all the way out the front door and she’d realized he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. Her doing all the work!
“Hey, Jenna! Time to go.”
Jenna waved at him as he stepped off the porch and headed for his car. Michelle watched as she jogged to join him a few moments later with a wave for both her and Tyler before the car drove off, leaving her alone with Tyler.
She watched as he sauntered back across the yard and climbed the steps
to bring him right in front of her. “You ready for the tour?”
Michelle nodded her head, but then glanced down at her ankle, “Not sure how far I’m going to make it on those crutches. I hate to admit it, but I’m not very good at using them.”
Tyler squatted down and looked at her, “Not to worry. You aren’t actually going to be using them much. Give me a second and I’ll be right back.
Michelle watched as he took off towards the barn. A few minutes later, he threw the doors open wide and then led a team of two horses out who had been hitched to an old wagon.
Michelle smiled and clapped her hands, “Really? I didn’t think your parents still had that old thing.” The wagon had been lovingly restored, with fresh paint, new wood where needed, and carriage springs added. Years earlier, Tyler’s parents had taken a trip back to Pennsylvania, and his father had fallen in love with the Amish mode of transportation.
Upon returning, he’d spent all of his free time refurbishing an old western wagon. She remembered fondly the times he would hitch the team up to it and bring his wife to Sunday church. It had always seemed like a page out of history to her.
“Dad loves this old thing. Now, I packed up a picnic lunch. If the weather doesn’t turn on us, we might be able to do both a tour and lunch.” Tyler looked up at the sky and the dark thunder clouds that were starting to roll in. They looked ominous and were the beginning of the winter storm that was headed their direction.
Michelle pushed herself up and grabbed the crutches. Before she could get them under her arms, Tyler was there, picking her up in his arms. “Let’s do this the easy way.”
“Ty, you’re going to hurt your back carrying me around like this.” Too late, she realized she had used her nickname for him. She looked up at his face and then swallowed. The look in his eyes was so full of warmth and caring, she couldn’t resist laying her palm against his cheek.
Michelle and Tyler: Christian Romance (Cathedral Hills Book 2) Page 6
