Moving On (Ghost Of The Past Book 1)

by Trisha Grace

  “Hungry? Tyler asked, pulling her up to her feet.

  She nodded.

  “Happy birthday, Tyler. And congrats.” Evelyn smiled at him. “But nothing changes. If you ever hurt her, I’ll still hunt you down.”

  “You won’t believe the grin he had on his face. He actually spoke to a sales staff at the grocery store; he was actually polite,” Dan told Evelyn and Marianne as they walked ahead of them.

  “We’ll go horse riding later,” Tyler said, slowing their pace further.

  “All of us? Eve can’t ride.”

  “Dan will take care of that. The rest already had basic lessons, so it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

  “Oh, the horror! Being stuck with a polite man.”

  He laughed and pulled her close, draping his arm over her shoulders. “Find a place where there’s joy …” He left the sentence trailing, smiling to himself.

  “And the joy will burn out the pain.” She looked up at him. “Joseph Campbell.”

  “Pretty and smart.” He grinned, then stopped walking. “You are my joy,” he whispered in his deep voice, leaning in to kiss her.

  When she got back to the cabin, she tried calling Lydia on the phone, but it kept going to her voicemail. She sighed, understanding why Evelyn was always so frustrated with her whenever she didn’t pick up her call.

  “You can call again later. If you’re worried, we can head back tonight or tomorrow morning,” Tyler said.

  “No. It’s your birthday, and you have wanted to come here for quite a while. We’ll stay as planned.”

  The guys waited for Evelyn, Marianne, and her to finish up their lunch before heading over to the ranch.

  “Ty, we know you normally go riding on your own. But since Kate’s here, are you joining us in the race?” Ryan asked.

  “I don’t think she appreciates speed on the horse.”

  “You can go ahead without me. Eve and I can watch.”

  “There isn’t a point. I’ll definitely win if I join. I might as well accompany you.”

  Evelyn turned to Tyler. “Cocky much?”

  Tyler shrugged.

  “Actually, he is the best rider among us so I rather he doesn’t join us. There is fifty bucks at stake.” Ryan cracked his fingers and gave Joseph and Dan a sly grin.

  The guys dove into a debate, which lasted all the way to the ranch, on who was better and had a higher chance of winning.

  When they got to the ranch, a middle-age couple came out of the house with broad smiles on their faces. “You must be Kate.” The lady wearing a light blue shirt with jeans stepped forward. “Congratulations.”

  Kate took her hand with a smile, slightly confused with how fast the news had spread to people whom she didn’t even know. “Thank you,” she said uncertainly.

  “This is Jenny and Matt Clark. They help me run the ranch,” Tyler said.

  Matt nodded when she gave him a polite smile.

  “Can you prepare a horse for each of them? Kate will ride with me.”

  “How did they know about the proposal?” she asked as they turned from the Clarks.

  “They helped me with the flowers.”

  When the Clarks brought out the horses, Tyler led her over to his gray stallion. He held on to the reins and gestured for her to try getting up.

  She still remembered how it was done. Bouncing off her left leg, she swung her right leg over easily.

  “Good,” Tyler commented.

  “You sound surprised.”

  “You were the one who said you aren’t good with animals and sports.”

  Tyler got up behind her. Along with Joseph and Ryan, they went for a ride on a nearby trail, leaving Dan to teach Evelyn how to ride.

  Halfway down the trail, Tyler told the guys to go ahead. Alone with Kate, Tyler taught her how to ride on her own.

  At first, he gave her instructions while he was seated right behind her. After a few rounds of that, he hopped off the horse and urged her to give it a try.

  She bit down on her lips and hesitated.

  Following his instructions was easy when he was right behind her. She knew that if anything went wrong, he would take over immediately.

  But it was a different matter when she was alone on the horse. She didn’t quite dare to move or even shift her weight. She was afraid that she would do something wrong.

  “You’ll be fine. Ash won’t hurt you.”

  She licked her lips nervously and let out a slow breath.

  Tyler didn’t rush her; he merely stood by the horse, smiling warmly and waiting patiently.

  “All right, here goes.” She pulled the reins back, a little too far, causing the horse to start moving backwards. She panicked, tightening her hands on the reins.

  “It’s all right. Relax your arms,” Tyler guided.

  Hearing his voice, she relaxed her arms a little. Then she made the same click-click noise that Tyler had taught her and squeezed her heels gently. The horse moved forward obediently and she yelped, “I did it!”

  He laughed at her excitement. “Now try to go a little faster.”

  Her delight faded, and she gave him a nervous smile. “I think this is good enough.”

  “Try it. You’ll do fine.”

  She sighed but did as she was told. Ash trotted forward smoothly and her anxiety quickly disappeared.

  She turned back to Tyler and beamed at him.

  Tyler grinned as she turned the horse back toward him.

  “Let’s head back to the ranch,” Tyler said, getting up behind her.

  “But you told Ryan and Joseph that we’d catch up with them.”

  “We will. We’re just going back to the ranch first.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll see.”

  She shook her head. Some things never change. “Okay. I guess I can check on how Eve’s doing, too.”

  When they got back to the ranch, Tyler helped her off the horse. “Wait here,” he said before heading toward the stables.

  She didn’t know what Tyler was up to, so she stood where she was and glanced around the ranch.

  Evelyn and Dan weren’t too far away from her. A wide grin was plastered on Dan’s face while merriment and distress interchanged on Evelyn’s.

  Kate chuckled. She understood exactly what Evelyn was going through.

  A series of slow clip-clop caught her attention, and she turned back to the stables to find Tyler walking alongside a white horse. “She’s so pretty.”

  “And she’s all yours.”

  “You got me a horse?”

  He nodded. “I told Matt to start scouting for a horse when we got home from the North Dakota trip. After running the errand for Marianne, I came here to take a look and picked her.”

  “When we got back from North Dakota? That was before we—”

  “I know. But you looked like you enjoyed yourself, and I was intending to teach you how to ride anyway. So I figured you should have your own horse.”

  “Do the guys have their own horses?”

  “They are free to ride any of them, except these two.”

  She smiled and shook her head. According to the guys, they used to come up here whenever Ryan and Joseph could get a weekend off, but they didn’t have horses. Yet before she even stepped onto the ranch, Tyler had already gotten her one.

  “Why?”

  His brows furrowed. “What why?”

  “Why did you get me a horse when I was only going to stay with you for a year? And I would probably not step back here more than once.”

  He shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I wanted to get you a horse, and I just knew that you‘d be back here more than once. I was right.” Releasing the reins, he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her hair and stepped behind her. Running his fingers through the ends of her hair, he asked, “So what do you want to name her?”

  “Um …” She cocked her head to the side and racked her mind for a name. “She’s white like snow; I know it severely lacks
creativity.”

  “She’s yours. You can name her whatever you want. So, Snow it is.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and nudged her forward. “Give her a try.”

  She nodded, but her lack of confidence was making the horse jittery.

  Tyler placed his hand over hers and said softly, “They can feel it when you’re nervous. It makes them nervous as well. I chose her for you because she’s really gentle and tame. She won’t move unless you guide her.” He helped her off the horse and gestured for her to try again.

  She nodded; her confidence in the fact that Tyler did know plenty about horses. She shook off the fear and tried again.

  Snow was gentle with her. She waited patiently while Kate adjusted her weight and took the reins, and she moved only when guided.

  “She’s perfect.”

  “Good. You want to ride over and ask Evelyn and Dan to join us?”

  “Really?”

  “Go slow.”

  Evelyn wasn’t quite as ready to ride on her own, so she rode with Dan.

  Kate was getting better and more confident with each passing second, but Tyler made sure he kept the pace slow and was always beside her.

  “Am I slowing you guys down?” Kate asked.

  “Please do slow us down. I have no wish for the horse to go any faster,” Evelyn answered.

  Kate and Dan laughed while Tyler grinned.

  “You’ll be fine. I’m sure Dan won’t let you fall.”

  Neither Evelyn nor Dan gave any reaction. Dan fell silent while Evelyn stared ahead.

  Though she maintained her smile, Kate knew something was wrong.

  Not long after that, they saw Ryan and Joseph sitting beside their resting horses.

  “Finally. You guys took long enough. We’re going to race back.”

  “You guys go ahead,” Dan said.

  Kate knew Dan was rather excited about the race, but he didn’t want to leave Evelyn alone. “Actually, why don’t all of you race back. I’ll walk back with Evelyn and Snow. I need a break from riding.”

  “I walk back with you,” Tyler said to her.

  “No, it’s fine. They’re betting, right? I’m putting my money on you, so make sure you win.” She tiptoed and gave Tyler a peck on his lips.

  Tyler scanned the surroundings and looked back at her. “It’s quite a distance back, and I don’t want to leave the two of you alone. I’ll ride slightly ahead. Shout for me if you need anything.” He lifted her chin and kissed her.

  She shook her head at his protectiveness. “All right.”

  As Tyler rode forward, she pulled Snow beside her and turned to Evelyn. “So, what’s wrong with you and Dan?”

  “Nothing, we’re just friends. Friends having fun.”

  “Eve, you have great instincts. Dan isn’t just one who has fun and then move on.”

  “I told him. I told him right from the start that it wasn’t going to lead to anything else. We hang out, have fun, and that’s it,” Evelyn said, the exasperation clear in her voice.

  “He said he wanted more?”

  “No, I just feel that he does.”

  “And you? Still feel the same about relationships?”

  Evelyn pursed her lips into a thin line.

  “That’s hesitation. Whenever I asked you this question, you never hesitated. You’d tell me ‘yes’, then go on about divorce rates, about how love stories belonged to Disney and that as adults we should know better.”

  Evelyn cleared her throat. “Seeing you and Tyler, seeing how happy you are, seeing how protective he is of you,” she said. “I mean look at him. We’re not too far behind him, but he has to keep turning back to check on you.”

  They broke into a smile as Tyler glanced over his shoulder to check on them again.

  “It makes me wonder if I’m wrong.”

  “And I assume you’re still wondering.”

  Evelyn sighed. Her eyes swam with a pain that Kate would never fully understand.

  “At least you’re beginning to wonder. May I know your definition of fun between you and Dan?”

  “We talk, watch movies, and have dinners.”

  “You’re going to start running, aren’t you?”

  “Not literally. But I think it’s better to put some distance between us.”

  Kate sighed softly. “And there I was thinking that you were having a great time with him.”

  Evelyn didn’t answer.

  Kate understood Evelyn’s skepticism. Having grown up in the foster system, Evelyn had seen so many broken and screwed up families. It was difficult for Evelyn to imagine being in something she thought was bound to fail.

  “So do you think Ty and I will come to one of those inevitable ends?” Kate asked.

  “Of course not. You’re different; you’re a good person.”

  “As opposed to you?”

  “Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s Tyler’s birthday and you just got engaged. I don’t want to be talking about my issues this weekend, okay? Ty, join us!”

  Tyler pulled back on the reins the moment he heard Evelyn shouting his name. He turned the horse back toward them. “Yes?”

  “Walk with us,” Evelyn suggested. “Are you guys going to continue staying at the mansion after the year is up?”

  Tyler got off the horse and took Snow’s reins from Kate so that he could walk beside her. “Do you want to stay there? We have quite a few properties, I can take you to all of them and you can choose whichever you like. Then you can rent out your house as well.”

  “And you? Where would you prefer?” Kate asked.

  “Anywhere you are.”

  Evelyn shook her head and laughed.

  As they strolled back, they chatted about the wedding. Tyler was fine with everything except the suggestion to return the following year to have their wedding at the cabin. He was adamant that there were other scenic areas, and he didn’t mind flying everyone to the ends of the earth for Evelyn to enjoy scenic views.

  Evelyn laughed so hard at his speech and declared that it was the first time he’d said so much to her at one go. When she stopped laughing, she took a good look at both of them. “You two will work.” Then she gave Kate’s arm a squeeze before stepping into the cabin.

  Instead of trailing in after Evelyn, Tyler took Kate’s hand and strolled toward the lake. “I know you don’t like the mansion, but we can still redesign it then find somewhere else to stay. We can buy a new place if you want.”

  She leaned against his arm. “Actually, I don’t mind staying there. It doesn’t seem that scary now. Besides, you love the place.”

  “I want a place that we both love.”

  “We still have to stay there for a while anyway. I’ll let you know again?”

  Tyler nodded and sat on the wooden bridge with his legs hanging just above the surface of the lake. She sat beside him and folded her legs in.

  “What is it about the lake that you’re afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid. It’s just that you don’t know what’s underneath, and it feels as if something may grab me any time.” She laughed at her own silliness.

  He laughed softly and pushed her hair behind her ears. “I won’t let anything get you. And if you do get pulled down, I’ll go after you.”

  “I’d rather just avoid the getting pulled down part.”

  He shook his head. “You have an overactive imagination.”

  She realized that after watching The Ring. She remembered how every creak would send a crazy image of a ghost crawling out of her computer screen. “Which is why I stay away from horror movies. But I can’t help that I still remember those I’ve already seen.”

  Giving her a grin, he hooked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to kiss her on her forehead. “Is everything all right with Dan and Evelyn?”

  “Not really. She’ll probably start giving him the cold shoulder soon.”

  Tyler didn’t reply to her statement, and she felt the need to clarify for her friend.

 
“It isn’t that she’s coldhearted; she went through a lot. I want to explain it to you, but it isn’t my story to tell.”

  “I understand.”

  They sat in silence for a while, watching the sky turn orange before the darkness took over. “This is a beautiful place,” she said as she gazed up at the starry sky. Without the city lights, the stars were so much more prominent. Thousands of dazzling stars lit up against the dark backdrop, accompanying the lone mood hanging in the sky.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of getting married here, too.”

  She laughed at his dismay. “Why are you so against it?”

  “Because I don’t want to wait one year for you to become my wife.”

  “We can discuss that later. We should go in for dinner.”

  That night at dinner, everyone threw around ideas on where Tyler and Kate could have their wedding. When they heard from Evelyn that Tyler was willing to fly everyone anywhere, ideas like Fiji and Bahamas started popping up from the guys.

  They joked around, but each time one of the them tried to push Kate into choosing a particular location, Tyler would step in and tell them to stop it.

  He gave them a stern warning that no one was to sway her decision, or the guys would be barred from wherever they would be staying.

  Since where they stayed equated to where Marianne would be, everyone was quick to shut up.

  While everyone was still trying to finish up all the food that Marianne had whipped up, Dan cleared his plate and headed out of the kitchen.

  Evelyn had chosen to sit between her and Ryan, ignoring Dan throughout the conversations they had around the table.

  Kate knew Evelyn would do that. It was classic Evelyn; she always ran whenever an issue about relationships was at stake.

  Giving Tyler a squeeze on his hand, Kate stood and followed Dan.

  “She told me right from the start about what you said and how she’s the kind of person who doesn’t want more,” Dan said as he switched on the television.

  “She’s dodgy when it comes to relationships and all.”

  “If Tyler can change so drastically for you, so can Eve, right?”

  She sank onto the couch, pulling a cushion up against her, and considered her answer. “I guess anything is possible, but you have to be patient with her. If you push her, she’ll either run or push back. Either way, you won’t make any progress.”