by Rachel Hanna
Paige loved talking to her friend on the phone, but they texted more often than not since Sandi had recently fallen in love with some wanna-be actor. She spent most of their conversations talking about Conrad - a strange name for a twenty-something - and his off-off Broadway production of what Paige could only surmise to be a story that mixed Hamlet with the zombie apocalypse.
“It’s not like it sounds. He owns a ranch about thirty minutes away, and he’s taking his ninety-something year old great aunt to spend a few days there. I’m just going along to give him some advice on using the ranch as an event venue.”
“Uh huh…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Paige. A woman has needs, and it sounds like a hot cowboy would be the perfect way to fulfill those needs.”
“Sandi!” Paige said, turning around and looking behind her at Jolt to make sure no one was listening. She only had a few more minutes left on her lunch break, and Brett was watching the store in her absence until the temp could get properly trained. “I’m nowhere near ready for romance. With anyone, even a hot cowboy.”
“So you admit that he’s hot!”
“You’re impossible.”
“Look, Paige, it’s been months since Daniel died. I know you’re still grieving, but at some point you’re going to have to move on and be open to new things.” Paige knew her friend was right, but she’d never admit it out loud.
“Now is not the time. Daniel has barely been gone four months.”
“Might I remind you that you hardly knew Daniel longer than that before you got engaged to him? I’m just saying that time keeps moving whether we like it or not, and you’re going to have to allow Daniel to become a memory at some point. He’s gone, Paige.”
“I know,” she said softly, taking in the words. He’s gone.
“So when do you leave?”
“Friday morning.”
“Are you nervous?”
“There’s nothing to be nervous about. This is a business meeting, basically.”
“Okay, sweetie. You keep thinking that. But if it were me, I wouldn’t turn down a sexy cowboy who wanted to take me for a test ride…”
“Oh my gosh! I’m hanging up now, you nympho!” Paige could hear Sandi cackling with laughter as she ended the call. She couldn’t help but laugh too, but it was more of a nervous laughter on her end.
After all, this was the first time she had been around a guy near her age in months. She’d purposely stayed away from men in general, opting to focus on rebuilding her life instead of finding new love. Daniel had burned a place in her heart, and she didn’t believe there was much of a chance of anyone getting past the barriers she’d erected during the last few months.
But Brett was definitely handsome. And kind. And funny. And all of those facts meant she needed to keep her wits about her because she just couldn’t - actually, wouldn’t - risk her heart again.
Chapter 6
“Good morning!” Brett said as she swung open the door. She could see Elda sitting in the back seat of Brett’s extended cab truck. It was big and black with shiny silver wheels and not a smudge anywhere on it that she could see.
“You’re a little early,” she said, her hair still damp from the shower.
“Sorry. Aunt Elda has been rushing me along all morning. You know how she is.”
Paige nodded and laughed. “Yeah, she’s always early. Give me a minute, and I’ll be right out.”
A few minutes later, she was out the door with her duffel bag in hand. Brett grabbed it from her and placed it in the back of the truck. Paige reached for the door handle to open it, but his hand covered hers quickly. She looked at him in confusion.
“In the South, a real man opens the door for a woman,” he said with that sexy crooked grin of his.
“I can open my own door, Brett,” she whispered, trying desperately to calm the crazed butterflies bouncing around in her empty stomach.
“I’m sure you can. But you’re not going to.” His eyes were piercing, but soft. Intense, but kind.
“Fine,” she finally said, relenting to his need to be a true Southern gentleman. She climbed up into the seat, struggling to make it up there. For a moment, she wondered how in the world Brett had managed to get Elda into the truck in the first place. “Good morning, Miss Elda.”
“Good morning, sweetie. Did you eat some breakfast?”
Elda was always worried that Paige wasn’t eating enough, especially given her petite size. Paige had always been on the smaller side, although she was a full eight pounds at birth. But in her world, food had been scarce, so she wasn’t ever overweight even slightly.
“No, ma’am. I sort of woke up late,” Paige said with a smile as she turned and looked at the old woman. Elda barely fit the tiny seat she was sitting in, her frailty becoming more apparent each day.
“I made some muffins. Have one… Wait, have two,” she said as she pulled two blueberry muffins from a bag beside her. Paige knew it would do no good to decline, so she took the muffins and thanked Elda before buckling into her seat.
“And off we go!” Brett said, a grin on his face. He backed out of the driveway and headed toward Savannah.
“You seem excited,” Paige finally said as they drove through town. She tried to hide the fact that she was licking the blueberry remnants off of her fingers.
“I am excited. This is the first time I’ve had visitors at the ranch in awhile.”
“Aw. That seems kinda sad.” A sarcastic wit was one of the blessings Paige definitely had. She often wondered who she got that from - her birthmother or birthfather? Or maybe it was more of an environmental thing she’d picked up along the way. For all she knew, her birthparents were as dull as butter knives.
Brett chuckled. “Yeah, probably. I just don’t get out much.”
“Why’s that?”
“I spend most of my time working. Not that I don’t love running the ranch, but it can be a lonely existence. Horses only talk so much. That’s why I took some time off to visit my friend in Colorado, at least until Aunt Elda said she needed me to come home.”
Paige turned and noticed Elda already dozing in the back seat. “How many horses do you have?”
“Three of my own, but we board them too so we have about twelve right now.”
“And you have a staff working the ranch?”
“Just four people. I have Randy who takes care of the horses. Phil handles most of the work around the ranch, fixing fences and stuff. Lou handles a lot of the financials, along with me, of course. And then there’s Amira.”
“Amira?”
“She’s my… assistant.”
The way he said it was odd, like he was trying to hide something. She decided not to dig further, but she was definitely interested in meeting Amira.
“I don’t get why you decided to buy The Cove then. I mean, if you’re so busy?”
“Well, Aunt Elda can’t continue like this, and she couldn’t bear the thought of selling it to a stranger. So, I agreed to take it off her hands and see if I could help get it back on track, so to speak.” He glanced quickly at his aunt, who had her mouth hanging open and was snoring slightly already. “Between you and me, it was really just to ease her mind, if that makes sense. I’m not sure The Cove is going to be a money maker or if I’ll continue it on after…”
He didn’t need to finish that sentence. And Paige could understand what he meant. Keeping a non-profitable business wasn’t a good idea for anyone, but the fact that he’d done such a nice thing for Elda warmed her heart.
“You know, you don’t look like a cowboy.”
“Oh yeah?” He smiled at her and then looked back at the road. “And what does a cowboy look like?”
“Tight jeans, dirty boots, a big cowboy hat, outline of chewing tobacco in his back pocket, big mud-caked tires on his truck… Instead, you have hiking boots, a baseball cap and the cleanest truck I’ve ever been in.”
“Oh no. They might revoke
my membership in the Cowboy Club now.”
Paige giggled. “I mean, can you really ride a horse?”
Brett looked at her, his eyes serious. “Oh, I’ll show you just how good I ride when we get to Clover Lake.”
Chills rose from her feet to her head, and Sandi’s voice floated through her mind.
It only took about forty minutes for them to arrive at Clover Lake, and Paige was astounded when they pulled down the long dirt road leading to the property. It was lined with huge moss-covered trees like something out of a Civil War era movie. Scenes from Gone With The Wind played in her head as the land suddenly opened up before them.
What stood before her looked more like a beautiful dollhouse than a real home. White with a sharp, peaked roofline, it was the most beautiful building she’d ever seen. The front porch spanned the whole face of the house, and over the doorway was a curved window with stained glass that made the home look almost church-like.
Paige could actually feel tears starting to sting her eyes, so she turned quickly to survey the land to the right of her. The property was magnificent, like something from a fairytale. The land was mostly flat with just enough of a hilly quality to allow her to see the back parts of it.
Horses dotted the pasture which was interspersed with those same mossy trees and pecan trees. Shade covered parts of the front yard, with the sun peeking through and creating a whole pattern across the the lawn.
“This is your home?” was all she could manage to breathe out. Never in her life had she seen something like this place, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why Brett would ever leave. If she lived here, she would have someone do her grocery shopping for her just so she never had to leave.
Brett stopped the truck in front of the house and smiled. “This is my home.”
Paige turned to make sure Elda was still sleeping. She was full-on snoring now.
“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Paige said softly as she continued to stare.
“I don’t know if I’d agree with that,” Brett said even softer. She had no idea what that meant, but by the time she looked at him, he was starting to get out of the truck. Before she could reach for her handle, there he was opening her door again. Maybe she could get used to this, after all.
Paige hopped to the ground and turned around slowly, taking in as much of the property as she could. It felt like her eyes weren’t big enough to take it all in.
She turned to see Brett carefully lifting his aunt from her seat and placing her on the ground. Elda was smiling at him, her love for her nephew apparent. She looked at him like he was a superhero, and it occurred to Paige that he probably was in Elda’s eyes.
“Welcome home, Aunt Elda,” he said with a grin.
Elda looked at the home and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. A smile spread across her face. “It feels good to be back.”
“How long has it been?” Paige asked as Brett started gathering their bags.
“About a year.” Brett said.
“Why so long?”
Elda spoke up. “Because even this short trip is tiring for me, my dear. But I couldn’t wait any longer.”
For some reason, the way that Elda said it concerned Paige, but she put that worry aside for the time being.
“Come on, let’s get you both settled in.” Brett grabbed all of the bags himself and led them toward the front door as Paige helped Elda up the five stairs.
Paige stood at the window of the bedroom and stared out over the land. Her room was upstairs and looked over the horses grazing in the pasture behind the house. She had never ridden a horse, but she wanted to. Those Tennessee roots of hers were stirring in her gut with thoughts of her New York life seeming to fade more each day. Maybe she was a Southern girl at heart.
Her room was the epitome of Southern grace and old world charm. The large four-poster bed was covered in a handmade quilt, and thick moldings anchored the walls on top and bottom. There was white painted beadboard stretching halfway up the wall.
The hardwood floors were original, but gorgeous, and she had a rock-faced fireplace in her room - although it might be too warm to use it this time of year.
But it was the bathroom that had her mouth gaping open when Brett showed it to her. With a deep clawfoot tub, all she could imagine was sinking down into a warm bubblebath each night before sliding under the quilt and falling asleep to the sound of crickets chirping outside of her window.
This place was peace on Earth.
“Knock, knock.”
She turned to see Brett’s nose inching its way through the crack in her door. “Come in.”
“Need anything?”
“No. Thank you. This place is just… I don’t even have words.”
“Want to take a tour?” he asked, smiling as he held up some keys.
“What are those?”
“I have a golf cart.”
Paige laughed. Of course he did. This place was far too large to walk the land all the time.
“Sure. Let me get changed, and I’ll meet you downstairs?”
Brett nodded and shut the door behind him.
When she came walking down the front steps, he couldn’t help but stare at her. She was the most adorable woman he’d ever seen, but she had a strength about her that most women didn’t. From the short amount of time he’d spent around her, he knew a few things. She was sarcastic. She was private. She was hurt. She was still grieving. But she was special.
The spring air smelled of flowers. He had always loved that smell, although it often mixed with the aroma of horses and manure. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a pink T-shirt and sneakers, but she was still as beautiful as if she’d been in a cocktail dress.
He had to get his mind straight. Maybe he needed a good whiff of manure right now.
“So, what would you like to see first?” he asked.
She smiled. “I want to see it all. Can we start with the house itself?”
“Sure. This house was built in the late 1850s by my great-great grandfather. He was a wealthy man and very well thought of in this area. It took years to build it, but he was involved in every step of the construction, right down to the moldings in the house.”
“It’s just a magical place, Brett. And you grew up here?” They continued to walk around the front of the house and over to one side.
“Yes. Most people in my family grew up here. In fact, Aunt Elda’s family had a house on this property when she was young, but it burnt down about fifteen years ago in a brush fire.”
“Wow. That’s so sad…”
“Want to see the stables?”
She nodded and they both hopped into the golf cart. As they drove over the grassy hills, Brett couldn’t help but take the occasional glance at Paige. She was smiling and looking off in the distance, and it occurred to him that it was the first time he’d seen her look truly at peace. There was an easiness on her face that he hadn’t seen before, and he felt pure happiness that he was the one who was able to give that to her.
But not looking at the path in front of a moving golf cart, even for a few seconds, can be a recipe for disaster. Brett turned to see the stump of a small tree that he knew was there - since he’d cut it down months ago - but had forgotten about for a moment.
When the golf cart hit the edge of the stump, it jerked to the side just enough to cause him to lose control and send them careening into a small patch of woods. When they hit a tree, the cart leaned and sent them both toppling out of the side.
Trying to keep her from hitting the ground, he somehow managed to grab her as they fell out one side, which landed her squarely on top of him.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” he asked as soon as they landed in the crunchy patch of dead leaves.
“I’m… I’m fine,” she said. He was lying on his back, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Her cheek was still planted against his chest. When she raised her head to look at him, their faces were almost touching, and he quickly
realized she needed to be off his front side before she thought he was some kind of a pervert. In 3…2…1…
Brett shifted quickly, moving her to the side just enough to not be embarrassed at how his body was reacting to her being there. On top of him. He tried to conjure the smell of manure, but it wasn’t working. She could’ve been covered in the stuff, and he would have hugged her anyway.
“Brett?” she said softly.
“Yes?” Was his voice shaking?
“I can’t breathe.”
He released her from his tight grip and helped her sit up. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to almost kill you.”
Paige started laughing. “I guess we’re even now. I’ve almost killed you with a taser, and you’ve almost killed me in a golf cart.”
“In all fairness, both situations were your fault,” he said without thinking as he stood up and reached a hand down to pull her up. She took his hand, sending an immediate shockwave through his body, and pulled herself up to standing.
“Excuse me? How were either of these situations my fault exactly?”
Now he’d done it. “Well… You tasered me.”
“And you shouldn’t have been lurking around on a dark porch…”
“Okay, fine. I’ll accept half the responsibility for that one.”
She put her hands on her curvy little hips and cocked her head to the side. “And how am I remotely responsible for this little mishap, Mr. Larson?”
Why did her calling him “Mr. Larson” make him want to push her up against a tree and kiss her?
Honesty. He was going to try honesty.
“Because I couldn’t stop looking at you, and it distracted me.”
She shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat. She stopped looking at him, opting instead to stare off in the distance.
“You were looking at me? Why?”
“Because you looked so… peaceful.” He wanted to say beautiful. Sexy. Drop-dead gorgeous. Edible. But he said peaceful instead. Mainly because he didn’t want to scare her, but also because he was scaring himself.
“I did?” Oh good. She was making eye contact with him again. Maybe he didn’t totally scare her off.
