by Cara Roman
Still Yours
Written by
Cara Roman
Copyright 2018 by Cara Roman
All rights are reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are a product of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, whether living or dead, events or locations are entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author. Except by a person reviewing the work to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, journal or blog. Published in the United States of America.
Other works by Cara Roman
Without A Wolf
Running From The Wolf
Definitely Memorable
To my own fleeting first love all those years ago, these scars you left in your wake as you burned brilliantly through my life taught me more than I could ever explain. For that I will always be grateful. And to the voices that sang on repeat in my earbuds while I wrote this love story, thank you for flooding my soul with so much inspiration. You will never know how much you have given me.
Prologue
It was a muggy night, the stickiness lingering even after the sun went down, and off in the distance there were fireflies dancing in the dark. Sitting on the front porch steps Leigha didn't notice their blinking lights though. She kept staring at the old beat up truck idling rather loudly in her driveway. Feeling like her heart was disappearing inside of her chest. Even as naive as she still was at eighteen years old she had always known deep down that Ridge wasn't really meant for this tiny Midwest town. His dreams were far bigger than everything else around here, and even she felt them constantly pulling on him. She was starting college next month, and had figured she at least had that long. They were on borrowed time though, and she could admit to herself that she would always be wishing for another day with him no matter when he left.
Leigha had tried her very best not to fall in love with him two summers ago when Ridge started coming around all the time to flirt with her. But she had tumbled over the cliff into that swirling abyss despite all the warning bells going off in her head. As she fought the tears burning behind her eyes she remembered that very first kiss. Sitting on the tailgate of that very same truck staring into his clear bottle green eyes because they were infinitely more beautiful than all of the colorful fireworks shooting up into the July sky up above. Ridge had softly tucked an errant strand of her deep brown hair behind her ear, and leaned his head slowly down towards hers giving her plenty of time to turn away. Instead she had closed her eyes and tipped her head up to meet his. His lips had felt warm and soft against hers, and Leigha had opened her mouth eager for more. As soon as his tongue had touched hers the rest of the world just melted away, and in that moment she was irrevocably his, forevermore.
Now that the end she knew was always coming was finally here Leigha was completely powerless to stop it. Staring up into the eyes that she knew better than her own she couldn't let him see her heartbreak. All Ridge had ever wanted was to move down south to Nashville and chase his dreams of being a country singer. He had worked the last few years delivering pizzas, baling hay, milking cows, even cleaning out stables. Basically doing whatever he could to set aside enough money to leave. It wasn't some spur of the moment decision, his whole life had been marching up to this.
The bed of his truck, the one that she had given up her innocence in on a folded up flannel blanket last summer, was stacked with everything he owned in this world except his guitar. That was in the front seat, sitting in what she had always considered her spot. Even love couldn't compete with a dream like that. Whenever Ridge's hands weren't on Leigha, they were on the strings of that guitar. Leigha couldn't even muster up any jealousy for that instrument, because it was half of the reason she finally agreed to go out with Ridge in the first place. Sitting in a plastic lawn chair across a blazing bonfire she stared at him, as he sang song after song. She could still see his face lost in the music he was making, and she was mesmerized. Her heart fell at his feet in that moment, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The moonlight was bathing Ridge's profile as he sat next to her, his hands tucked into his front pockets. The faded red t-shirt with their high school logo stretched tight across his broad shoulders. His golden brown hair, shades lighter than hers, was flopping mischievously down into his eyes like usual. Leigha leaned over, laying her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath, pulling his fresh scent with the hint of spice deep into her lungs. Ridge pulled a hand out of his pocket and laced his calloused fingers with hers.
"Once I get settled you can transfer to a school down there. It shouldn't take long, you'll see. Only be a few months, then we'll be together again Sugar." Ridge said. His deep voice rumbled softly.
She could hear the hope clear in his voice. He was trying to convince the both of them. "You're going to make it, Ridge. I know you will."
Ridge stood up, pulling Leigha up off the porch steps with him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, his hair tickling her fingertips. He stared down into her eyes for what felt like hours, but Leigha knew was only just moments. Ridge leaned down, kissing her, his arms holding her body tight up against his. Pulling back he sent her a lopsided smile, the one he knew was her favorite, tugged the ends of her hair playfully, and walked across her front yard to his truck. He climbed into the drivers seat, slamming the temperamental door behind him. He stuck an arm out the window in a wave, and pulled out of her life as the tears she couldn't hold back anymore finally streamed down her face.
Leigha sat out on the porch steps for a long time after Ridge left, feeling as if the moment she actually stood up and walked inside it was all going to be real. He was really going to be gone. When she finally walked brokenly into the house both of her parents were sitting in the dim living room. There were tears pooled in her Mom's eyes, and when her Dad looked up at her she saw the helplessness echoed in his eyes. He couldn't fix this pain for her, no matter how much he wanted to. Leigha kept moving past them, needing to be alone. Heading up the stairs to her bedroom. Laying down on her bed she curled into a ball and emptied her soul out one tear drop at a time.
Chapter 1
The overhead bell dinged as she walked in the front door. Leigha really loved that tinkling sound greeting her every morning. She pulled chairs down from atop tables as she walked towards the counter in the back. Snagging her apron from the hook she always kept it on Leigha wrapped it around her waist twice tying it neatly in front. Pulling her long hair back in a low pony tail with the elastic always on her wrist, she booted up the computer to the cash register. Grabbing a bag of coffee beans off the shelf stacked with them she turned on the grinder. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans filled the place, and Leigha smiled, inhaling the scent deep into her lungs. That deliciously intoxicating smell had never gotten old for her, and every single day of the last five years it never failed to bring a smile to her face. She was nearly done setting up for the morning when Dani rushed in, late as always. Her blonde hair high up in a pony tail bouncing as she rushed past Leigha, her arms loaded with bakery boxes.
They had been best friends as far back as either could remember. There wasn't a memory from her childhood that didn't have Dani in it. "Sorry, Silas couldn't find his other shoe this morning, even though it was exactly where I told him it was." Dani shrugged her shoulders and reached for her apron.
"That boy would lose his head if it wasn't attached." Leigha said with all the love in the world. Silas was Dani's eight year old son, which made him her honorary nephew. Dani scooted past her, and made her way back into the kitchen. Leigha heard the radio switch on, and automatically winced as the achingly
familiar voice floated out front towards her. Dani was quick to turn the volume down, but Leigha had already heard it. The pride she felt at hearing Ridge's songs playing on the radio constantly warred with the gaping hole he had left inside of her. A few minutes later the volume turned back up when a new song came on. Shaking her head at Dani's kind, but wasted effort Leigha yelled back, "whatcha got today? I'm about to make the specials sign."
"Blueberry streusel cookies, along with all of the usual assortment." Dani shouted back out.
Leigha wrote the special flavor of the day on the counter top chalkboard she had made herself. Five years ago this was just a terrifying dream of theirs. This little spot squeezed between a salon, and a pharmacy down town was in rough shape. The diner that used to be in the space had been closed for years. The two of them had scrubbed, peeled, painted and patched it all up themselves. They had both worked their fingers to the bone that first year desperate to keep their heads afloat. Things were easier now, and they had even managed to hire some part time help.
Leigha was just turning over the open sign at 8am, when Dani carried out a tray with her beautiful cookies ready to be loaded into the display case in the front counter. The first customer of the day was Mrs. Bowman. She has been coming in three days a week like clockwork, since the very first day they opened. Somewhere north of seventy, nobody dared ask, she used to teach second grade at the elementary school in town. She was everyone's favorite teacher, whether you actually had her or not, and while she sat in front of the front window eating her cookie and drinking her coffee, people inevitably came in off the sidewalk to say hello and chat with her. Leigha had always wondered if Mrs. Bowman did that on purpose, drumming up business for them, or if it was just a lucky happenstance.
Just before lunch time Tina came in to help run the front counter. As usual Tina got the cash register and Leigha filled orders. At only twenty years old Tina was full of energy and exuberance. Leigha could still remember babysitting her not too long ago, but that was the way it went in small towns. Everyone was connected to each other through a string of memories. Her life was consumed by her boyfriend, and social media. It always made Leigha feel old and brittle somehow, but she could admit that wasn't really Tina's fault.
Filling coffee orders was second nature to Leigha by now, working all those years through college as a barista. Thinking back, at the time it was just a job so she could afford the gas to get to and from classes. She spent more time waiting on calls from Ridge than on her studies freshman year. She was still so full of hope for his dream, and love for him. But as the time went on he called her less and less. He always seemed so busy that even when they talked it was all about his life, what gigs he was booking, or who he was jamming with down in Nashville. By her sophomore year his name had stopped appearing on her phone, and Leigha realized that Ridge was finally lost to her. He'd gotten swept away by his dream, just like she had always feared he would be.
With nothing else to do Leigha buckled down and concentrated on her classes, finding time to study was easy to do since she had no social life to speak of, and couldn't sleep most nights either. Ridge's big break came during the fall semester her junior year, and suddenly he was absolutely, unavoidably, everywhere. They hailed him as country music's next big thing. The radio stations played his song every single hour, catapulting him into stardom like he had always dreamed of. Their small town was understandably very proud of him, and it was all anyone could talk about. At first Leigha all but burst she was so full of happiness for him. But he felt so far out of her reach now, and that first glowing rush she felt at his success couldn't patch up all the holes that kept appearing in her heart.
When Leigha graduated with her degree in business and got a job at the bank in town she figured this was her life now. It only took two years for Leigha to completely and utterly loathe working at the bank. Even the sweater sets and blazers she had to wear made her skin crawl. But the big wake up call had been sitting behind her boring desk one morning seeing the big front page newspaper story announcing Ridge's engagement to the pretty blonde country sweetheart Suzy Cordell. Not that settling down at 24 years old was shocking, I mean Dani had been married for a few years herself at that point. But deep down Leigha still always thought of Ridge as hers. That tiny, but bright spark of hope had been lighting the darkest corners of her despair until it sputtered out as she touched his smiling face in the picture. They were the 'it couple', blazing up the country music charts together, and the whole industry, and world, was in love with their picture perfect fairy tale romance.
That night as Leigha drove home from the bank stuck on autopilot she saw the empty diner and figured, what the hell. Feeling like there was only one way from here, and she decided that it was going to be up. Leigha turned towards Dani's little house instead of her own. Sitting on her friends couch she told her she was going to open a coffee shop. She had been so much happier back when she was fixing other people's coffee than she ever was at the bank. After she was finished with her big plans Dani quietly confessed that her husband Jason was cheating on her, and he told her he was leaving to be with the woman he met online. They cried together over a bottle of wine, and knew it was time to take control of their lives. This was not who they were meant to be! And Caffeinated Sprinkles was born somewhere in the wee hours of the night.
The very next day Leigha filed the paperwork for a loan, and they never looked back. Working all day at the bank, then pulling an all-nighter getting their space ready gave Leigha something to focus on as the frenzy of Ridge and Suzy's wedding reached its fevered pitch. Dani baked cakes in the grocery store she worked at during the day, picked Silas up from daycare and baked cookies all night trying out recipe after recipe.
It took them almost a year to get the doors opened, that was five years ago though. At thirty Leigha finally felt like she wasn't living in the cold and empty shadow cast by Ridge Bradley anymore. She figured it was about damn time too, since it had been twelve years since his truck had roared out of her life.
Chapter 2
Leigha was back in the kitchen helping Dani box up a couple dozen special order cookies scheduled for delivery after they closed for the day, which was in about a half of an hour. Tina was out front probably bored with nothing much to do, it was basically dead when she walked back to help Dani. The over head bell dinged, and Tina let out a rather loud giggle, and a breathlessly shaky "Oh my god, hi! Umm, what can I get for you?"
Confused, Leigha glanced over at Dani immediately who said, "oh, he wouldn't dare."
"Who?" Leigha asked, even more confused, but Dani was already storming out of the kitchen into the front. Leigha followed along, though not with Dani's anger fueled burst of speed.
"You sure have got a lot of nerve Ridge Bradley! Thinking you can come in here, after not setting foot in this town for over a decade! I heard you were coming back, and hoped it was just a nasty rumor, I'm real sorry to see I was wrong." Dani said heatedly.
Leigha stopped in her tracks with her hand up, ready to push the kitchen door open and felt the world grind to a shuddering stop beneath her feet. Ridge was here, in her shop, on the other side of that door, after all this time. Standing there frozen in place, barely daring to breathe, she listened to his response.
"Hey Dani. Guess I deserved that, God knows I probably deserve even more." Ridge said. His voice was deeper than it used to be, finally settling into the husky rumble it had only hinted at back when he was eighteen years old.
"You've got no idea how much more." Dani stubbornly tossed back.
"I didn't mean to start anything by coming in here, honest, I was just wandering around town, and before I knew what I was doing I was walking through the door. Its really nice to see you though Dani, and this place looks really good."
"You seem to have a habit of not knowing what you're doing until its too late. Tina's already got your coffee, and its on the house, if you get the hell out before she wonders whats going on and comes out front." Dani said.
Leigha turned away from the door, pressing her back to the wall, desperately needing to feel something solid.
"Fair enough, you two always did look out for each other. Can you tell her that I said, well that I was, just tell her that I'm..." Ridge couldn't settle on what he wanted to say. Leigha could almost see his expressions as he struggled to find the words. But the face she pictured was stuck 12 years in the past, and not what she knew him to actually look like now. But there was not enough curiosity in the whole world to make her peek through that window at him, and take the chance he would spot her.
"Uh-uh. Nope. I'm definitely not going to tell her anything for you. And you really shouldn't either! Don't you think that you said plenty a long time ago? Go on back to your picture perfect life with your picture perfect wife, and leave her the hell alone. You've done it so very well all this time." Dani shot back.
"My divorce was final a few months ago." Ridge said quietly. "This is a small town Dani, we're going to end up running into each other." Leigha barely heard what Ridge was saying, her mind kept repeating first part on an endless loop as she tried to process the information. Divorced? Divorced! Divorced.
"What are you playing at Ridge?" Dani asked.
"Absolutely nothing. It really is nice to see you again Dani." Ridge said just before the bell dinged and he walked out of the door.
Leigha was still leaning up against the wall when Dani walked back into the kitchen. Dani took one look at Leigha, and walked over pulling her in for a hug. Leigha rested her head on Dani's shoulder like she had so many times in her life before. "You knew he was back in town?" She whispered.
"Yeah, well I heard he was coming back. Didn't know he was already here. Thought I would have time to let you know before hand." Dani said pulling away shaking her head.
