“Yeah, maybe,” I said. But I knew I wouldn’t go to them even if we did. When I got back to New York, I’d be re-entering a world of high fashion, constant shopping, and skinny lattes. When had that started to lose its appeal to me?
“So, Miss Sloan, are you ready to see all the great strength and power I have in my one arm?”
I chuckled, happy that Brady had put me back in a good mood. I wasn’t used to seeing this side of him. I thought back to the Brady that I had met that first day of shooting, quiet, solemn, unimpressed with the world. But here he was, laughing, joking and more talkative than ever before. What was going on?
“Oh, I’m ready.”
We walked over to the stall where a stuffed animal could be won by hitting a button with a rubber mallet. The man explained that as long as the indicator reached the red line, the stuffed animal was ours.
“But let me tell you,” the man said, “it’s not easy to win one. We had to make it hard, otherwise we’d be giving all our stock away.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Brady said.
“Are you sure you want to do that after what you just went through?” the man said to Brady.
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“He’s on happy pills right now,” I explained to the man.
“Ah, well. They might make you happy, but I’m not sure if they’ll make you strong. Two dollars to enter, please.”
Brady handed him the money, and the man handed him the mallet. He looked at me, grinned, and hit the button so hard that the indicator shot way past the red.
“Whoa! Maybe happy pills do make you strong,” the man said. “Congratulations. So, Brady, what animal would you like?”
Brady looked at me. “What animal would you like?”
I looked at the choices on the wall and then pointed to a small stuffed horse in the corner. It wasn’t the most attractive of all the animals, but it was the one with the most meaning. The man looked at me as if I was crazy but didn’t say anything. The horse was clearly not the most popular choice, but he was probably grateful to be getting rid of some of his unwanted stock.
“Thank you, Brady,” I said as I hugged her toward me. “I’m incredibly impressed by your great strength. This is Betty by the way.”
“Wow, Betty has gotten small,” he said.
“Betty is a good horse. She doesn’t throw people off her.”
He laughed. “Yeah, you were right, that bull was mean.”
“You see? You should always listen to me.”
“Oh yeah? Okay, what should we do next then? I am at your mercy,” he asked.
“How about we add an overload of sugar to your already happy state?”
He giggled. He was looking a bit woozy, but it was only making him look cute. So far, he’d been masculine, sexy, hot, infuriating and brooding. This was the first time that I’d ever thought of him as cute. I liked it.
“Sugar!” he said. “Yes. Let’s do it. I like that you’re eating sugar now by the way. You do NOT need to diet,” he said loudly.
I shushed him and chuckled. “Don’t say it so loudly. But thank you. Who needs to diet with all this stress?”
“Why are you stressed?”
“I’m stressed because you fell off a bull and almost got yourself killed. I need sugar.”
He grinned, and when I walked off, I could have sworn I heard him say, “And I need you.” But when I turned to look at him, he wasn’t saying anything. Perhaps I was just imagining it, I thought to myself.
After a fun day out at the fair, I decided to take Brady back to my hotel room for a little while. He couldn’t drive in his state, and I couldn’t drive at all. I got the driver to take us to the hotel. I made us both a cup of coffee, and we sat on the bed chatting. I could see him getting sleepy, and I was just about to suggest that he got some rest when I saw blood seeping out of his shirt. I lifted it up and gasped.
“Brady! Why did you tell me you were still bleeding?”
“Am I?” he said. He honestly didn’t seem to notice it at all. Those must’ve been some strong pills he was on.
“You are.”
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s honestly not a big deal at all. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You’re bleeding, and it doesn’t look good. Come on, let me clean you up. Wait right here.”
I went downstairs to get a few things from the receptionist, who thankfully had an emergency kit on hand to give me. I went back upstairs to the room and spent some time cleaning his wounds. When he was all cleaned up, I told him to lie down.
“Lie with me,” he said.
I smiled, took off my shoes, and snuggled in close to him. As much as I had enjoyed my day out at the fair surrounded by so many people, it was also good to just be alone with him.
“I can’t believe how quickly my time has gone here,” I said. “At first, a month seemed like such a long time. But it flew by, don’t you think? I’m already leaving on Wednesday.”
“What? I thought it was Saturday.”
“Yeah, they’re finished with the shoot. They managed to finish it quicker than they thought they would. So we’re leaving Wednesday now. I can’t believe it.”
“Wednesday. Wow. How do you feel about leaving? You must be excited,” he said. There was a strangeness to his voice that I couldn’t place. Although maybe it was just from the pills.
“I feel odd. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. I didn’t think it would be this hard, to be honest.”
He was silent for a while. “I feel odd too. Sloan?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I sleep here tonight?”
I smiled. “Of course you can.”
We talked for a little while longer, but it didn’t take Brady long to fall asleep. I got up, changed out of my clothes and into some pajamas, and then climbed back into bed beside him. I switched the light off and lifted the duvet up over us. Then I leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.
“Goodnight, Brady,” I whispered.
Chapter Twenty-One
Brady
On Wednesday, I woke up at three in the morning. I lay there willing myself to fall back to sleep, but it didn’t happen. Eventually, I crawled out of bed, made myself a cup of coffee, and pulled out my old laptop. I hadn’t used that laptop for a very long time. The only reason that I even knew it was working was because Ryan had used it when he was here. He’d laughed at how dusty it was, and had made sure that all the connections were still working. He’d called it my ‘fossil piece’ and said I’d be laughed at if anyone else saw it. But despite that, he’d been surprised that it still worked so well.
I took it out and typed in ‘SLOAN HILL.' Millions of pictures and articles popped up about her. I scrolled through them all, unable to match the person on the screen with the person that I’d come to know. It was hard to imagine her as this person, dressed up and hands filled with shopping bags. In almost every picture she was shopping. Why would anyone need to shop that much? But I couldn’t seem to look away. I looked at every picture. Then, I saw a link to a video, and I realized that the last movie that she’d been in was available to watch. I had no idea that I could even watch new movies online. This was the movie that had made her famous. I clicked on it, sat back, and watched.
When the movie ended, it was almost time to go to the ranch. I made some breakfast and another cup of coffee and sat thinking about the movie. It had been a sweet romantic plot, and she hadn’t been the main character. But I could understand why people said she should’ve been. She had a presence about her that was hard to ignore. When she looked into the camera, it felt as if she was looking straight into my eyes. I couldn’t believe how much I was going to miss her.
The more I thought about it though, the more annoyed I felt with myself. The pictures that I’d seen on the computer had shown me that Sloan was not the type of girl that would fit into a place like this. She was a city girl, and she liked the finer things in life. She’d been a great cowgirl, but she was only doing her
job. Why had I allowed myself to get so involved with her? After all, she was just a girl. And one that never had any intentions of doing anything other than coming out to the countryside and getting her fix of a country boy. She’d done it for the role. She’d wanted to immerse herself in a new life. But it wasn’t who she was. She was Sloan Hill, the actress. And I was Brady Maxwell, the man that will forever live alone.
When I looked down, I saw that I had finished my breakfast without even realizing it. I had barely tasted a thing. I sighed. I needed to snap out of it. Before Sloan came along, I’d never let anyone inside my head. I’d always enjoyed being by myself, and I needed to find a way to do that again. I got into the shower and tried to wash away all my feelings along with my body.
When I stepped outside, I saw Grant. He waved me over.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning. Man, things have been so busy. I’ve been meaning to come over, but every day something has been happening. I was away for a week with the boys too. I went on this training week out of town. I’m sorry I haven’t popped in. I have another busy day today. I’m hoping to pop into tomorrow or Friday to meet the film crew.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Anyway, they leave today already.”
“What? Today? Don’t tell me it’s already been a month.”
“Yeah, it’s already been a month.”
“Whoa. Time flies. You must be so excited. You finally get your ranch back to yourself. Imagine the peace and quiet you’re going to get tomorrow.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, it’s going to be good.”
“What’s up? You seem a bit strange today.”
“I’m fine. Sorry, I just had a bad night’s sleep for some reason. Anyway, I better get going. I need to see if I can help them on their last day. And then, like you say, it’s peace and quiet tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“I’m just tired. I’ll see you around, Patriot.”
“Yeah. See you, Shotgun.”
He looked at me a bit strangely but didn’t say anything. He knew I was usually a man of few words and he’d always respected that about me. I was glad that he didn’t know anything about Sloan and I. I thought Ryan might end up telling him but it hadn’t come up. The fewer people that knew, the better, although I figured Grant would find out. The whole town had seen us together at the fair. And Sloan had kissed me in front of everyone. I wondered if she regretted being so close to me. She was more than likely going to go back to New York with a myriad of questions about the two of us. I’m sure that was the last thing that she wanted.
I climbed in the car and made my way to the ranch. The crew was already there, and I watched from the sidelines as they worked. Part of me hoped that they would ask for my help with something, and part of me hoped that they didn’t need me at all. For the most part, they didn’t need me, and I continued with my own work while I kept an eye on them.
It was the early afternoon when I heard Roger shout, “That’s it, guys! Congratulations, team!” and everyone burst into applause. I saw Harold walking up to Roger, and after a few minutes they looked around and called me over.
I’d grown quite fond of Roger, even though he insisted on still dressing like a city boy during his entire stay. It had stopped bothering me after a while. It was simply who he was, just like being a country boy was who I was. Neither one of us was right or wrong. We were just being ourselves. And I admired him for staying true to who he was.
“Brady! Can you believe we’re all done?”
I shook my head. “I can’t. It went so quickly. So, how did it go? Did you get everything you wanted?”
“I sure did. It went well. I have a feeling this movie is going to be great. I don’t like saying that just in case it flops, but I’m usually good at figuring it out beforehand. And my gut feeling is that this is going to be great. I cannot thank you both enough for everything that you have done for us. I was just telling Harold here that I’m not used to dealing with people who are so willing to help. The movie wouldn’t have been the same without you. Especially with Sloan. Brady, you managed to turn that city girl into something completely different. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. It was actually nice having you here.”
Roger laughed. “You sound surprised by that.”
“I guess I am. You know what I’m like—I’m a bit of a loner. I like my space, and I don’t like people in it. I honestly thought I would hate having you all here for a full month. I thought it was going to be the longest month of my life. But it was actually a lot of fun having you all here. The month went by almost too quickly to be honest. And I learned a lot about your business. I was far too quick to judge. I’m looking forward to the movie.”
He beamed. “You’ll get front row seats. Oh, look, you have a crowd of people coming to say goodbye.”
I turned around and saw the rest of the crew. I shook hands with Roger and then made my way through the hoard of people, shaking hands and promising to stay in touch. It was a bit surreal. Even though I didn’t know who most of the people were, I was still aware that I was conversing with people from a whole different world. I never in my life thought I’d be surrounded by movie stars, especially ones that were shaking my hand. I was surprised at how friendly everyone was being. Although, perhaps they were just excited to finally be going back home.
Sloan was the last one to walk up to us. She was still dressed in her cowgirl gear, and my heart did a little jump when I saw her. I didn’t want her to go back to her old life, especially when this one suited her so much. She was a completely different person to the one that I had seen that first day. I still didn’t know which one was more real. She walked up to Harold and embraced him.
“Thank you so much for everything, Harold. You’ve been amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”
I knew she was genuine with her interaction with Harold. Despite their differences, they had gotten along so well.
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’m just so glad I had such a beautiful girl walking around my ranch every day. And you’re such a wonderful woman, Sloan. Remember all the things I said to you.”
She smiled. “I’m going to miss you. Keep in touch, Harold. And please come and visit anytime.”
“I might take you up on that offer. I haven’t been to New York in a very long time. And come back anytime too. You know you are always welcome here.”
Then she turned to me, her blue eyes filled with emotion. “Hey, Brady, walk me to the car?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
“I said goodbye to Betty. I think she knew,” Sloan said.
“Yeah, she probably does. I still believe she’s part human.”
“Look after her, will you? Tell her every day that I miss her. Oh wow, I can’t believe I’m getting so emotional about a horse.”
“I told you. Betty is special.”
“I’m not getting emotional about that bull, though. He’s too mean.”
I chuckled. “I won’t tell him every day that you miss him.”
“Good. So,” she said with a sigh as we got to the car. “This is it.”
I had my hands in my pockets, and I shuffled my feet from side to side. “This is it.”
“Thanks for everything you did for me, Brady. I won’t forget it. We . . . we should keep in touch.”
“Yeah. Well, you have my number,” I said nervously. I tried to picture her in her different life. I tried not to see her cowgirl outfit. Instead, I pictured her in New York clothes and attempted to harden my heart. “I guess this is where our story ends.”
She didn’t argue the fact. Instead, she stood up on the tips of her toes and kissed me on the cheek. Then she climbed into the car where the driver was waiting for her. I watched as she closed the door, and the car drove off. I stood there for a while, just staring at the space where the car used to be. A strange feeling had come over me that I couldn’t quite explain. An emptiness. The place suddenly seemed too quiet.
&nbs
p; I turned around and saw Harold sitting on the porch. I nodded at him.
“It’s so quiet,” I said.
He smiled sadly at me. “Life sure has a funny way of messing with people, doesn’t it?”
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Well,” Harold said. “Why don’t you go home for the day? But I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I nodded again. “Sure. See you tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sloan
It was the second day that I’d woken up in New York. The second day that I’d slept in my king-sized bed. And still, I wasn’t used to it. For a full month, I’d been living in a tiny hotel room, and I thought I’d be excited finally have my space back again. But as I lay there, looking around at the big loft, I couldn’t help but wonder what the point of it all was. I was just one person. Why did I need so much space? Sure, the bed was comfortable. The shower was great. But it all had felt a little fake.
Both nights I’d gone to sleep with Brady’s shirt on. I wasn’t even sure how it had ended up in my suitcase, but when I’d gotten home to unpack, I’d found it in between my clothes. I’d lifted it up to my nose and breathed in his scent. I wondered what he’d think about me sleeping in it now. I pulled it off and threw it over to the side. I needed to get a grip. Nothing was ever going to happen between myself and Brady. We were too different. And he clearly didn’t want a future with someone like me. It had been fun while it lasted, but it wasn’t meant to be. And the shirt was not helping me get over it. But then, as I saw the shirt lying crumpled in the corner, I realized that I wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet. I got up and put it back on.
I was just about to climb back into bed when someone knocked on the door. My immediate thought was that it was Brady, but then I realized where I was and shook my head. I opened the door and smiled at Victoria.
“Vic, it’s so good to see you,” I gushed.
Her eyes widened at the sight of me, and she quickly walked in and closed the door behind her. “Oh my goodness! Look at you. I cannot believe you just opened the door looking like that.”
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