It was dinnertime before they made it back to the hotel, exhausted but energized after their day in Fairplay. “I didn’t think we’d have much fun in this little place, but I had fun today,” Joslin said, throwing her packages down in the corner.
“That’s because you just went on a shopping spree,” Annabelle said, adding her bags to the pile. “You’re always happiest when you’re spending money.”
“Just because you don’t take mom and dad’s money doesn’t mean I shouldn’t,” Joslin said, bringing up one of the other major differences between them. “By the way, how did you pay for all this? I know you don’t have this kind of money.”
When Annabelle didn’t answer, Joslin figured it out. “Dad gave you the wedding money, didn’t he?” she asked, shocked.
“I guess he felt guilty about everything that happened,” Annabelle said. “When he gave it to me, he promised that he’d never meddle in my life again.”
***Justin***
Justin tightened the cinch one more notch then checked it again, “That ought to do it,” he said, looking up at the woman in the saddle who gave him a sultry smile.
“Thanks, that was really nice of you,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
“No problem, just doing my job.”
He gave the horse a slap on the rump. The last thing he wanted today was to spend the day fending off that woman’s advances; it was one of the things he hated most about the outfitting part of their business. But it paid for the horse rescue they sponsored and gave some of those rescued horses a place to be useful, so he put up with it. Today he just couldn’t cope though. The scent he’d smelled in town the other night was still with him, emblazoned in his mind, a memory that wouldn’t seem to leave him. Even a day later he could still smell her.
He’d promised himself that he’d stay away from town and the temptation that had shown up there so unexpectedly. It was the smart thing to do, the best way to protect both himself and the woman because he knew without a doubt that if he smelled her again, he’d have to find her. The feeling, the attraction he’d felt was primal, an urge that was beyond his control, and he’d long ago promised himself that he’d never be that out of control again. If he just waited it out, she’d leave town after a few days like most of the tourists did, and if he was lucky, she’d never come back again.
That thought made him a little bit sad; it had been a long time since he’d been anywhere with a woman, especially one that made him feel the way this one did. But it wasn’t going to happen; he wasn’t going to break his promise and go into town, no matter how much he wanted to see the woman who could inspire such deep feelings from him without his even seeing her. Mounting his horse, he pushed the unknown woman from his thoughts and joined his group for the trail ride.
As he rode over to the group, he raised his nose and sniffed the air, trying to detect any hint of rain, but it wasn’t moisture he detected in the air: it was the same scent from the other night. Shocked, he reigned in his horse and turned in the direction the scent had come from, then scanned the barn for the woman whose smell had him twisted inside out. He couldn’t see her, couldn’t tell which one of the dozen or so people milling around in the yard she was, so he ramped up his gift just enough to enhance his sense of smell and sight until he spotted her.
She looked nothing like he’d imagined she would. He let his eyes skim over her at first, thinking she was a child, but his sense of smell was never wrong, so he focused on her, watching as she struggled to carry the saddle to her horse. With her hair pushed up under a baseball cap and the ratty jean jacket she was wearing, she had an air of innocence that didn’t match the feelings he was getting when her scent washed over him.
He could hear his group beginning to talk behind him but couldn’t pull his eyes from the woman. When she stopped, set down the saddle and pulled off her jean jacket; his heart almost stopped as a wave of desire washed over him. Now that the jacket was gone, he could see that she was nothing close to a little girl; curvy and round in all the right places, her tight jeans made his imagination go wild and when she pulled her hat off, letting her long black hair fall free, he knew that he was lost.
Behind him, he could hear the other guide calling his name, but nothing could have torn him from the sight in front of him. His instinct was screaming at him to ride over and talk to her, to take what was so clearly meant for him, but his brain was still in control, and he knew where that might lead. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t indulge himself just a little, give himself just a few more minutes of feasting on the sight of her, then he’d ride into the hills and try to forget she was only a few miles away from him.
***Annabelle***
Annabelle had the uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching her, had been feeling that way for the last few minutes, but it had intensified in the last few seconds to the point that she could no longer ignore it. Setting down the saddle, she stripped off her jacket, then looked around her and finally spotted the cowboy across the yard staring at her. She didn’t look at him directly, wanting to make sure she was right, but after a few minutes when he didn’t move, she turned and faced him.
When their eyes met, a shock of electricity ran through her, and a wave of raw desire froze her in place, making it impossible for her to pull her eyes from his. They stared at each other, something primal passing between them, a connection that neither wanted to break but was so intense that Annabelle had to force herself to look away. When she looked back to where the man had been sitting on his horse, he’d turned and headed up the trail, but the feeling hadn’t eased.
Her heart was pounding, her palms were sweaty, and every instinct was telling her to go after him, to throw herself into his arms and never let go of him again. “What are you staring at?” her sister asked, setting her saddle down next to Annabelle.
“That cowboy was staring at me like… Oh, never mind,” Annabelle said, not wanting to explain to her sister what she’d just felt. “We’d better get these saddles over there to the horses; looks like we’re holding up everyone else.”
Chapter Three
***Annabelle***
Annabelle and Joslin were stretched out on the bed in Annabelle’s room, a stack of fashion magazines between them. After their ride the day before, they’d both woke tired and sore. They’d managed to make it down to the dining room for breakfast but both were still so tired they chose not to venture outside the hotel. So, they’d gone back to bed, Joslin leafing through the magazines and planning her spending spree in Las Vegas while Annabelle read a book.
But lying in bed all day wasn’t something Annabelle normally did, and she was beginning to get restless. “I think I might go take a walk, see if I can stretch out some of my sore muscles,” she said, swinging her legs off the bed. “If the mechanic hasn’t called by the time I get back, we’d better call him.”
Joslin stretched, “Maybe I’ll take a shower while you’re gone. I still feel grimy from yesterday.”
Before Annabelle could make it out of the room, however, Joslin’s phone rang and they finally had some good news. “He says that he’ll have the car ready tomorrow,” Joslin said, a big grin on her face. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get out of here.”
“I guess so,” Annabelle said, a strange feeling of loss washing over her when she thought about leaving Fairplay. “I’ve kind of enjoyed our time here.”
“Not me, I’m ready for the big city,” Joslin said, jumping out of bed, her sore muscles forgotten. “I’m starving; let’s go find something to eat.”
After a lunch they both devoured like they hadn’t eaten in a week, they found themselves sitting at a table outside the ice cream parlor, huge dishes of ice cream in front of them. “I should feel guilty about this, but I don’t,” Joslin said, taking a huge bite of hers. “I’ll go to the gym when we get to Vegas.”
Annabelle was only half listening as Joslin laid out her plans for their time in Vegas; she’d heard it all before and
wasn’t really all that interested. The promise of a trip to the glittering city had been the only way she’d gotten her sister to agree to this trip at all, and although she was excited to see it, she would have been happier someplace like Fairplay. There was something about the little town that appealed to her; everything seemed so much simpler here than in the city where she’d grown up, like it would be possible to lead a quiet life here.
The houses were small, but they all had little yards, the kind of place you’d want to spend a summer night. Across the street, she could see the school, so small compared to the huge place where she’d done her student teaching last year that she doubted that even one grade would fit. It was the kind of school she’d always dreamed of teaching in: big classrooms, with high ceilings, and huge windows that would let in a lot of light.
Suddenly she got an urge to see the school up close. “Come on. Let’s walk over and look at that school; it has to be over a century old,” she said, grabbing her ice cream and getting to her feet.
Joslin groaned, but followed her across the street. “This place is tiny; there can’t be much more than ten classrooms in there,” she said, when they were standing in front of the building.
“I know, and look up there,” Annabelle said, pointing to the date etched into the bricks above the front door. “I told you it was more than a century old. Just think of how many students have come through here in all that time.”
They wandered around the corner, and that’s when Annabelle saw the new sign in front of the school, with its message board glowing brightly. “Look,” she said, pointing to the sign.
Joslin looked at the sign not sure why it was so remarkable, then said, “Well, I guess even an old building can have a new sign.”
“Not the sign, look what it says. They’re hiring teachers,” Annabelle said, then headed for the front doors.
Joslin stared after her sister, still not sure what she was doing. “Annabelle, what are you doing?” she asked, then watched horrified as Annabelle disappeared into the school.
When she came back out ten minutes later, Joslin was sitting under a tree, her empty ice cream container beside her. “Where have you been?”
Annabelle waved an envelope in the air, “Getting an application for a teaching position,” she said, clearly pleased with herself.
Joslin jumped to her feet. “What do you mean? You can’t possibly be thinking about living here.”
“I am and I might,” Annabelle said with a big grin on her face. “I like it here.”
Joslin shook her head; she could tell that her sister’s mind was made up and that nothing would change it. “Mom and dad are going to have a fit.” Then something else occurred to her. “We are still going to Las Vegas, aren’t we?”
Annabelle laughed. “I don’t have the job yet. We’re still going to Vegas.”
***Justin***
When Justin got back to the barn after his trail ride, he was disappointed to find that the other group had made it back almost an hour before and there was no sign of any of them. He’d hoped to see the woman again, had, in fact, promised himself that if she was there he’d talk to her, but fate had different plans. Now he was faced with a choice: walk away and pretend that he’d never seen her or find out who she was and track her down. Neither choice was perfect, but he’d always followed his instincts in the past, so he headed for the barn.
He found Joe, the barn manager, in the office. “I saw a woman on the other trail ride I thought I recognized. She was petite with black hair, looked almost like a little girl.” Just said, hoping his excuse sounded believable.
“Which one? There were two of them,” Joe said, with a leering grin. “Twins.”
“Oh, well...” Justin wasn’t sure what to say; he’d only seen one woman. “I guess either one of them,” he finally said, hoping Joe wouldn’t notice how nervous he was.
Joe flipped open the reservation book for that day. “Looks like it was a booking through the hotel: Annabelle and Joslin Simons.”
Justin knew that if he stayed any longer, Joe would begin pestering him with questions, so he said a quick thank you and left the barn. Once he’d taken care of his horse, he got into his truck and started it up, not sure what he should do next. Part of him wanted to head straight into town, but he knew that it was a bad idea, so he turned the truck in the direction of the ranch and floored it. As soon as he got home, he was going to pack a bag, saddle another horse, and head for the high country and the herds grazing up there. If he didn’t, he’d end up in town, hunting that woman down like prey, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Hours later he finally felt like he could take a breath and know for certain that he wasn’t going to get an intoxicating whiff of that woman. High up in the mountains, looking over the forest and the peaks covered in snow, he began to feel like his old self again. He just wished that he could block the memory of her like the distance between them had blocked her scent, but that wasn’t happening. She was still on his mind, still driving him wild, especially now that he’d seen her.
There were so many other things he needed to be concentrating on: his daughter one of the most important. At nearly twelve, he knew that her time as a child was quickly coming to an end, that sometime in the next year she’d begin the painful process of growing up. In many ways, it had already begun, not just physically but mentally, and he wasn’t sure that he was ready to lose his little girl. But ready or not, it was going to happen in the next few years, and he wanted to be around when it did. He wanted to make sure that the little girl that loved him became a young woman who still loved him.
This summer was supposed to be the first step in Chloe’s education about her gifts, a time when he would explain what she was facing, both the good and the bad, but that woman had him so distracted he’d barely given her a glance when he’d gotten back from town. If he’d been smart, he would have brought her with him; it would have provided a distraction from the desire that continued to boil in his blood. Turning his horse around, he headed back the way he came; if he rode fast, he’d be able to make it home before dark, and then in the morning, he and Chloe would set out together.
***Annabelle***
After only two weeks in Las Vegas, Annabelle got the call she’d been waiting for, as well as an invitation to join the Fairplay school as their new third-grade teacher. When she told Joslin, she wasn’t very happy.
“What do you mean you’re moving to Fairplay? I thought that was just a joke,” she said.
“I wasn’t kidding, Joslin; I need to get away from everything for a while, and I think Fairplay is the perfect place to do it,” Annabelle said, stuffing her clothes into her suitcase. “I’m going to rent a car and leave today.”
As soon as she officially took the teaching job, she began looking for a place to live, but after days of looking, she found herself disappointed with what was available. But then she found the perfect place; it was a bit unusual, but so was she.
“Stop here!” Annabelle said, looking out the window at the old church, feeling it pulling at her.
“Here?” the real estate agent asked, then pulled the car over when Annabelle nodded.
She jumped out of the car and stood in front of the church and looked up at the spire, a sudden feeling of coming home washing over her. The agent got out of the car and came up behind her, confused as to why they were standing in front of a church, but before he could say anything, she pushed open the gate and walked up the steps onto the little porch.
He followed her but only to the bottom of the stairs. “Umm, this is a church,” he said, looking up at her wondering if he’d just wasted an entire day showing this woman every available property in town.
“But it is for sale, isn’t it?” she asked, clearly excited.
“Well, yes, but you can’t live in a church,” the agent said, shaking his head.
“Why not?” she asked, already planning the renovations in her mind.
“People don’t live
in churches, I mean…it’s just not done,” the man said, clearly getting tired of the discussion.
Annabelle put her hands on her hips becoming equally annoyed. “If I remember my history correctly, lots of preachers and ministers lived in the churches they served.”
The man had to think about that for a second. “But that was different,” he finally said, beginning to wonder who exactly this woman was.
“I don’t see how. I’m interested in this property if it’s for sale; what I do with it is my business,” Annabelle said, wishing the man would just cooperate.
He gave her a weird look, then sighed and climbed the stairs. When he opened the big double doors, and she stepped into the vestibule, the church seemed to sigh, and she almost laughed out loud, thinking that she felt the same way. Inside, the huge windows cast a warm, healthy light across the floor and the soaring ceiling made the church seem much larger than it was. Spinning around, she knew that this was what she’d been looking for, and with only a few simple modifications, she could turn this into the kind of home she’d always wanted.
“Who owns this building?” she asked, when the agent finally joined her in the sanctuary.
“We built a new church a few years back but we haven’t been able to sell this one, so it’s still owned by the church.”
“I’d like to buy it,” Annabelle said, looking up at the high sloping ceiling again. “I’ll pay asking price plus ten percent, and I have cash.”
The agent staggered back a few steps and sank into one of the pews, “That’s a very generous offer,” he finally managed to say. Then added, “Welcome to Fairplay.”
Chapter Four
***Justin***
Justin dusted off his hands and stood up to stretch his back; since he was a boy, he’d hated breaking summer camp, knew that it meant school would start soon and his freedom was coming to an end. He could remember how devastated he’d be when the call came down, the physical pain in his stomach when he heard that it was time to bring the cattle down for winter. But as he’d gotten older, he’d learned to cope with the end of the summer, but this year he felt that same kind of devastation as they collapsed the tents and packed up their gear for the long trek down the mountain.
Justin (Fairplay Shifters Series Book 1) Page 2
