by Anthology
“What about this year?”
“Yeah, maybe I’ll treat myself.” she smiled whimsically.
“What if we were to go, together?”
“Us?” she asked, surprised. “But you’ll be overseas with your concerts.”
“I’ll be done December thirteenth. I can meet you in L.A. by the sixteenth and we can fly together to Hawaii. Better yet, why don’t we take a cruise from Los Angeles to one of the islands? It will allow us to see the ocean, relax and take in some sun.” he grinned.
“Wow, really? That sounds incredible. But what about Kip?”
Luke waved his hand like he was swatting away an irritating gnat. “That should be wrapped up before your performance. My attorneys are already on it and know they need to have this settled before you and Othello do your thing. You’re show is October twenty-eighth, right? It will be done by then.”
She felt her heart skip a beat, pleased that he knew when her competition was scheduled. “Yes, I’ll be driving out to Kentucky on October twenty-second so that we are rested for our ride on the twenty-eighth.”
“See? The timing will be perfect. You can blow the competition away on the twenty-eighth, have time to get back and make arrangements for someone to watch over your ranch, spend Thanksgiving with your family and be in Los Angeles by December sixteenth. It’s perfect.”
Unable to see any flaws in his plan, she sat back and absently took a drink of her shake.
Feeling pleased that she wasn’t arguing, he cleaned up their wrappers and threw them away before coming back and holding out his hand.
“Shall we go? I still have plans for you before I have to leave. My car will be at your place by eleven p.m.”
Placing her hand in his, they walked out of the restaurant, neither one of them noticing the looks that the other patrons gave them.
She stood on the porch, watching the taillights disappear down her road. She felt excitement and disappointment all at the same time. Excitement for the plans they had made, sorrow with the knowledge that she wouldn’t see him for several months. They were both extremely busy with their hectic schedules and she knew the days would go fast but she dreaded the nights. The nights would cause problems for her. Nights were when she fought her insecurities and her loneliness.
Her whole life she’d been taught to control as many aspects in her life as she could and here she was, at the most vulnerable time, completely out of control. Luke’s attorneys were handling the pending lawsuit with Kip, which, as Luke had predicted, had been filed against her and Grayson. She had control of how well prepared they were for her freestyle dressage competition but she had no control over how well received she would be with the judges and spectators. She had no control over how soon she would see Luke again.
She leaned on Megan during this time, bribing her by making supper for her and the kids and Megan was sweet enough to agree. They talked about Rebecca and Luke’s upcoming cruise, what they had talked about and the future plans they had tentatively talked about. Megan was furious when she heard about Kip’s visit and suggested that Rebecca allow Luke to have him taken out next time. They both laughed at that and as the kids ran over and around the hay bales, Rebecca felt some semblance of control and peace.
She was able to talk with Luke every week, staying up late or waking early because of the time difference but she enjoyed every time they talked. He described the country he was in and told her of various restaurants or shops that they would have to visit when they had a chance to go there together. He was always asking about Othello and Chance and making sure the ranch was functioning well. He quizzed her on her day and she often worried that she would bore him with her routine but he always sounded interested and asked endless questions.
She had several regional shows that she went to and showed in, placing first in all but one of them. The show in Arizona they placed second when Othello felt frisky as a mare in heat caught his attention and he decided not to focus on his routine. Instead, he pranced and whinnied, acting like a two-year-old colt.
Luke laughed when she giggled, telling of Othello’s antics. Everyone, including horses, had their days of just being goofs and Othello was no different. He was a young stallion in his prime. Luke asked if they’d performed to his song and she told him no. She wanted to save it for the world championship, to keep it new and fresh, but also because of the litigation. Until Kip’s lawsuit was settled, she didn’t want to give him any more ammunition.
Luke was understanding and supportive and she wished that he was there. To be able to feel his strong arms around her would give her strength but she was content to hear his words of reassurance. All good things come to those who wait, she reminded herself.
It was mid-September as she drove back from another show and her thoughts were mixed between getting home and when she and Luke would talk again. He would be calling her tomorrow night and she was excited to tell him everything that had happened. Not only had she taken first place at another show, she had five bookings for breedings to Othello this coming spring, at the estimated stud fee of ten thousand dollars per mare, if they won the championships. Rumors had been flying around the show grounds that they were the public’s favorite to win and people were eager to book their mares to her now, before she closed the books on next year’s breeding season.
Though she’d only had a few hours of sleep and a full day on the road, she felt exhilarated and excited as she turned onto her road. Those feelings crashed to the ground as her headlights swept across a familiar vehicle parked in front of her house. Kip was sitting on her porch.
She parked her truck and trailer, Othello calling out to his barn mates, excited to be home. She didn’t acknowledge Kip, quietly unloading her horse and releasing him into his paddock. Knowing the other horses had already been fed, she only fed Othello, sliding his stall door shut, turning and giving a yelp as she ran right into her ex-husband.
He stood there, his face blank and unshaven. His bloodshot eyes stared at her and then the smell of alcohol assaulted her nose. She put her hand up to her face and took a step back, running into Othello’s closed stall door.
“Kip. What are you doing here? You look horrible.”
“You know, I gave you everything. My program at cost, paid half of the mortgage every month while I was here, told you I was sorry when I messed up with Tiffany but none of it was good enough for you. I didn’t even fight for rights to this place, just handed it all over and you’re still spitting in my face.”
Rebecca felt her anger flare up and was unable to hold her tongue. “I owned this place long before I met you. You paid rent, your half of the utilities but you never helped me take care of the land, the horses, hell, you never even helped clean the house! You were always at the office, this was a place for you to freshen up. For all I know, there were other women and Tiffany was just another toy!”
He took a stumbling step towards her, anger filling his face. “They meant nothing to me, just an outlet. If you hadn’t been such a frigid witch I wouldn’t have strayed, so you did that, not me.”
She felt along the stall wall, searching for something to defend herself with, seeing the madness in his eyes. “Kip, you’re drunk and you’re not well.” she tried to sooth. “You need to go sleep it off. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
Kip’s bloodshot eyes got wider. “You did this to me. Grayson has more money than a king and all I ask is just a small portion, just the cost of a night on the town as far as Grayson is concerned, and you’re fighting it. I deserve it, I earned it and you’re going to get him to pay. I’ll make you see my way.”
He lunged for her, grabbing her arms and she felt her body being crushed against the stall wall. She brought her knee up instinctively and heard him grunt as she caught his inner thigh, inches away from her intended target.
“You selfish witch!” he screamed, lunging for her again.
She sidestepped, knowing that if he got a hold of her again, she wouldn’t live to see the morn
ing. She stumbled and when she reached out to gain purchase on something, she felt the leather nub leaning against the wall. She grabbed it and swung the leather riding crop around, cracking it against the side of his neck. Even with the numbing effects of the alcohol, Kip cried out in pain, stumbling back.
They both stood there looking at each other in shock. Rebecca stood there shaking, never having hit another human being before, Kip surprised that she had. There was a long, red and angry welt where the whip had caught him and she felt a little stronger. She stood up straighter and holding the whip like she was a batter at a baseball game, ready to swing away.
“Before things get out of hand, you need to leave now and never come back. Do you understand, Kip? I can have you on trespassing and assault. You’re going to get off my land and you’re going to drop the lawsuit. This is over.”
He didn’t say anything, just stood a moment looking at her. Because his face didn’t register anything but shock, she tightened her grip on the whip, ready to attack.
He reached up and rubbed the welt on his neck and turned away. She let him walk to the entrance of the barn before she followed him, the whip still held in a death grip. At the entrance of the barn, she stopped and watched him get into his vehicle and drive away. When his taillights disappeared, she dropped the whip and burst into tears, knowing she had looked into the face of a desperate, mad man and survived. She was tempted to call the police and report a drunken driver but couldn’t find the energy.
She dragged her body up to the house, locked all of the doors and windows, turned on all of the lights and collapsed on her bed. She cried herself to sleep, visions of Kip’s mad eyes filling her dreams.
She squeezed her eyes against the noise that interrupted her sleep. She felt like she’d only been asleep for an hour and she wanted to fall back into her black slumber but once her phone stopped ringing, a moment later it would start again. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at her clock and became alarmed when she saw it was already a quarter till nine.
She stumbled out of bed and threw on her clothes, rushing down to the barn to get her chores done. Othello was pacing his stall, tossing his head in apparent frustration at having to wait for his breakfast.
“Sorry, big guy. I slept in.” She quickly fed him before moving on to the other, equally impatient horses. She moved through the barn, her familiar routine soothing her soul but unable to stop the memories of the night before. Her whole life had been so close to ending tragically and she felt relieved that she was able to enjoy the simple task of feeding her horses and smelling the sweet feed and green hay. She heard a car approach and she felt a panic well up in her stomach. She found the riding crop next to the door and grabbed it as she walked out to see who had pulled up. A mixture of relief and confusion filled her body as she saw the sheriff’s deputy pull up. She walked up to the car as the deputy who had taken her first report, stepped out of the cruiser.
“Hi, Deputy Heather, wasn’t it? Is everything alright?” Rebecca smiled genuinely, relieved it wasn’t Kip.
“Well, you tell me, Miss Gordon. I got a call from a very worried Mr. Grayson and you meet me holding a riding crop like you’re ready to attack. Is everything alright?”
Rebecca looked down and saw her death grip on the whip and she forced herself to loosen her grip on it and dropped it down by her side. “Everything is fine. Just a little jumpy being out here by myself.”
Deputy Heather looked around the property before frowning at Rebecca. “Okay but you might want to give Mr. Grayson a call because he called us in a panic saying Kip dropped the lawsuit this morning and he couldn’t get a hold of you. Funny thing, it just so happens that we picked him up last night for DUI and he had a very nasty lump on his neck. He told the trooper that arrested him that it was from his seat belt when he stopped quickly, trying to avoid hitting a deer. I saw it myself when he was released and it’s a little high for a seatbelt. Kind of looks like something that would occur from being hit by a riding crop.”
Rebecca cringed mentally and wished she’d taken her cell phone with her when she flew out of the house this morning. She could have talked with Luke and eased his mind that she was fine.
It took a moment to realize what Heather had said. Kip dropped the lawsuit. She shook her head and smiled. “Everything is good. Thank you so much for checking on me. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”
“As long as you are fine, it’s not a waste of my time. I would rather pull up and find that a person is all right than have to call in a homicide. I’m here to protect you, regardless of how silly you think a call would be. Do we understand each other?” Deputy Heather smiled grimly.
“Yes, ma’am. I understand. I’m hoping things will be smooth sailing from here on out.”
“I sincerely hope so for both of our sakes but my experience has been that things tend to escalate before they get better. Just be cautious and don’t hesitate to call us.”
Rebecca felt tears threaten her eyes and she blinked them back quickly. “I will, I promise.”
“I’ll let you go then. Oh, and don’t forget to call Mr. Grayson, he sounded pretty worried.”
Rebecca watched Heather pull away and raced back to the house to retrieve her phone. She saw Luke had tried to call seven times and hit the programmed number. She knew the time difference but according to the caller ID, the times he called indicated he wasn’t asleep. She felt slightly guilty knowing she was the cause of keeping him from sleep but when he answered, she felt relief, hearing his voice and she allowed the tears to fall.
“Rebecca, where have you been? Is everything okay? Why haven’t you answered your phone?”
The worry in his voice touched her and she broke down, telling him everything that had happened with Kip. He didn’t say anything as she told him what had happened and she started to worry that he was angry with her for not calling the police last night. She finished with telling him about what Deputy Heather had told her and that’s when she had realized she had left her cell phone in the house.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t answer my phone, Luke. I didn’t mean to make you worry.” She heard Luke sigh before he spoke.
“I obviously have reason to. Kip may have dropped the lawsuit but he’s clearly unstable. You shouldn’t be there by yourself. You shouldn’t be there at all. How about an early vacation? You could fly over here and finish out the tour with me. You can see Ireland, and then Scotland followed up with London. We will have an amazing time seeing part of the world together before heading to Hawaii.”
She smiled, knowing he was trying to protect her and she felt her love growing because of it. “I can’t. I have world championships, remember?”
“You can do it next year. With an additional year of practice, you’re sure to blow the competition away.”
“It’s every four years, not every year and Othello will be too old for this age group. Luke, I know and appreciate what you’re trying to do but I can’t. I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at. If I wait four more years, it will actually set me back and I already have almost half of my stud bookings filled based on my presence at the show. I have to go, my career depends on it.”
“But what about your life? You can’t go if you’re dead and at this point, with everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t put it past Kip.” he argued.
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Grayson, I thought you, above everyone else, would understand. You get one chance at hitting it big and this is mine. Othello and I have worked for years for this show. I’m not going to miss it. I will be careful, I promise.”
“Oh, it’s Grayson now? Is that what you’re going to call me when you’re mad at me?”
She heard the amusement in his voice and grinned. “Depends. Are you going to frustrate me a lot?”
“Probably.” he laughed, then sobered. “At least let me send out some security to keep an eye out on your place. I’ll feel better.”
She paused, thinking about it but felt uncomfortable at t
he idea of strangers lurking around her property. “Thank you, but no. I don’t feel that’s necessary.”
“Rebecca, I’m not letting you stay out there by yourself.”
“Oh, you’re not letting me?”
“Bad choice of words. Let me rephrase. I don’t feel comfortable with you being out there all by yourself. You don’t want me to lose sleep and mess up my tour because I’m worrying about you, do you?”
She laughed, knowing he was turning the tables on her. “No, I don’t want to be responsible for that. Let’s make a compromise. If Kip comes out again or even calls, I’ll call you and you can send out your goons.”
It was Luke’s turn to laugh and she felt her pulse hitch, loving the sound of his laughter.
“They’re not goons but I’m willing to accept your compromise. If he even looks cross-eyed at you or shows up on your property, call Deputy Heather first, then me. Deal?”
“Deal. Now go get some sleep so you can sing your heart out.” she laughed.
“Oh, Rebecca, don’t you realize? You already have my heart. But I’ll let you get on with your day. I’ll talk to you soon.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The day went by as normally as any other day but her mind was on Luke, Kip and how her life had changed so dramatically within the past year. She wondered how much more her life was going to change with the upcoming months. She knew the show was going to change it even further, but hopefully for the best. She’d planned and dreamed of it her whole life and she could finally see it coming to fruition. All of her years of dreaming and planning had never included a man like Luke Grayson. It still seemed like a fantasy but she welcomed the unknown possibilities with him. Her professional and personal life was turning into a living fairytale and she welcomed it. She knew there were no guarantees in life, including her and Luke’s, but she was a dreamer and was willing to risk her heart to see how it played out.
The understanding and compassion he gave her made it easy to risk it. She’d never experienced that before. She hoped it played out in her favor. Right now, though, she had to focus on her closest dream. Winning the world grand championships.
