Blackhill Ranch (13 page)

“Okay sounds great! I was
just thinking this past week how much I'll miss doing morning
classes. I was thinking maybe I could do a 6:30 a.m. and an 8:00
a.m. class. Then, I could work on the ranch account the rest of the
day and then maybe offer a 3,4, or 5:00 p.m. class?” She looked
hopefully at me and I just nodded my head with a huge grin on my
face.

“I love it! Whatever works
for you, I'm sure the guests will love having this option.” I said
as Chloe clapped her hands and mentioned how much she loves yoga.
“Thank you Carol.” I gave her another small hug and she gave us a
wave and headed back inside.

The rest of the day flew
by quickly. We didn't see much of Cole or Rhet, and Ricky took the
bachelor party out on a small one-day trail ride to a large lake to
go fishing, so they weren't around. They were also going on an
overnight trail ride on Wednesday with Cole as well. Chloe tried to
talk me into letting her go with them, but when I mentioned there
were wild animals out there, she quickly changed her
mind.

Later that afternoon, when
all of our chores and responsibilities were finished, we decided to
head over to the pool and swim. When we got down to the pool house,
we were the only ones there. “This is the life. Well, besides
shoveling shit which I can't believe I did that, this is amazing.”
Chloe said, and then quickly flipped to her back to float a little
bit.

“Mmm hmm...” I replied and
dove off the stairs. Just then the door flew open and the whole
bachelor party came running in and starting removing shirts and
hollering.

Chloe and I popped up and
went over to the ladder. “Sorry guys I didn't realize you would be
coming down here. We will get out of your way.” I said quickly as
Chloe and I started to climb out of the water.

“No, o, you girls are
fine. Please, stay and swim. It doesn't bother us right guys?” Greg
said as the other guys nodded and gave their approval for us to
stay. I looked over at Camden and he was practically undressing
Chloe with his eyes.

I turned over to Chloe and
she gave me a pleading look, “I'm going to go see what Rhet is up
to, but Chloe if you want to stay I don't mind at all.”

She gave me a huge smile
and a quick hug and whispered, “I love you!” I laughed and grabbed
my bag and headed to the changing room so I could slip out of my
suit. When I came back out with my jeans and a tank, I looked
around and it seemed like everyone was having so much fun. The guys
were having a chicken fight in the pool and Toni, the cousin, was
dominating.

Chloe was in the hot tub
with Camden and a couple other guys. She gave me the thumbs up, so
I waved and told them all to have fun and I would see her later,
but then she jumped out and whispered in my ear, “Go find Rhet and
have fun, I'll stay out a little late.” She winked and headed back
to the tub. I shook my head at her and headed out the door to find
Rhet.

I figured they might still
be with the horses so my first stop was the barn. I would never
look at the barn the same way, and instantly I thought about last
night and I got myself all worked up. Rhet made me feel crazy, and
I kind of liked it. When I got to the doors I pulled them open and
it was dark. They must have already finished and it looked like the
horses where all put away for the evening. We had a huge pasture to
the side of the barn for the horses to run and play during the day,
but at night we liked to make sure they are kept in the barn. I
then remembered Rhet texted me yesterday and I had his number in my
phone, so I sent him a quick message.

“
Hi handsome, where are you? Lex”

I waited a few minutes
outside on a bench but didn't hear from him, so I decided I would
see what my dad was up to and see how Carol's first day was. I
headed over to the lodge and went in the back to where our house
was. I closed the door quietly and heard him talking with another
woman, which right away I could tell it was Tina. I felt kinda
guilty, but I was curious so I didn't make any noise and peeked in
on their conversation.

“Tina, she has probably
changed. You have to get over your feelings towards her. My God it
was from high school!” My dad yelled, which I rarely have ever
heard him raise his voice.

“I know, but I just don't
trust her, Byron. I feel like she's going to do it to me again.”
Tina said in a quiet, sad voice.

“Well, from what little
she has told me it sounds like her ex wasn't very nice. It sounds
like he isn't happy she left him and took this job.”

Tina made a grunting sound
and turned around to face my dad, “Oh come on! He wasn't bad, and
she is just trying to get a sympathy card from you.”

My dad grabbed Tina by the
waist and pulled her to him. I shut my eyes for a moment and
thought, 'Yes!' in my head and slowly opened my eyes
again.

“Tina, you know I have
feelings for you and I would never hurt you. I didn't hire her to
cause you to in pain,” my dad said softly and brushed some hair
behind her ear. “Maybe you two should talk, I think you would learn
some things that may change your mind about her.”

Tina laid her head against
my dad's shoulder. I felt like I was interrupting a special moment
between them, but then I didn't care and was just excited to see
them being intimate!

“I know, Byron, she just
brings up all these horrible feelings and memories,” Tina said and
put her arms around my dad's waist.

Kiss! I screamed in my
head.

My dad looked down at Tina
and pulled her face up to his, “Maybe it's time we tell everyone
and quit pretending we aren't something. I love you,” my dad said
quietly and brought his lips down gently to Tina's.

Tina pulled away and had a
look on her face I have never seen before. “I love you, too, so
much. You know how scared I am though if we make this official and
something bad happens. I couldn't live without you
guys.”

“Then don't.” My dad said
sweetly and I felt like that was my cue to sneak back out the back
door. I was so giddy I barely felt my phone vibrate in my back
pocket. I pulled it out and saw I had a text from Rhet.

“
Hey beautiful, at the cabin. Want to meet at our
tree?”

I smiled and replied
quickly.

“
Yes, on my way.”

I skipped, yes skipped,
all the way back to the barn. I hadn't felt this happy, well pretty
much ever.

Chapter 12

When I reached the rock,
Rhet was no where to be found so I sat down and zipped up my thin
coat. I was looking up at the stars when I heard a rustling back
behind the trees. I sat up straight and became completely aware of
every sound and noise around me. We do have bears up here, and
sometimes they will venture into the ranch, but they are usually
harmless. We have had our fair share of scares though, and I really
didn't want to come face-to-face with a huge black bear, or
worse... Grizzly.

Then, when I had my heart
rate back down to normal I heard a loud snort and grumble. That for
sure was a bear sound! I pulled my legs to my chest and prayed Rhet
would get here soon. Just when I had enough courage to jump off the
rock and make a run for it, a large dark figure came out around the
tree. I screamed and started running as fast as I could, but before
I knew it I was being thrown to the ground and started yelling out
for Rhet. Then, a soft 'roar' was placed in my ear and I quickly
turned to see Rhet hanging over me with a huge grin on his
face.

“What the hell!” I
screamed, and pushed him off of me. He was laughing so hard he fell
backwards and grabbed his stomach. Then my lovely brother stepped
around the tree and held up his phone and played the loud bear
sound I had just heard. “You assholes!” I shouted again, and
grabbed my chest for a more dramatic effect.

“Oh, Lexi, if you could
have seen your face!” Cole said, and slapped his knee with tears in
his eyes.

“You jerks,” I said firmly
as I stood up and started brushing leaves and twigs off my legs.
“And you, not ever getting a chance to scare anyone.” I glared over
at Rhet and tried not to let a smile slip by because he looked
adorable rolling around on the ground.

“That was hilarious. I'm
sorry we scared you so bad, but come on, Lex!” Rhet said laughing
in between his words.

I grabbed a small stick
and threw it over at him. “That was mean, I thought I was going to
die!”

Rhet stood up and cleared
away the moisture from his eyes, apparently almost killing me was
down right hysterical. “I thought I was going to die when I flipped
out of that office chair, but this was priceless!”

“An office chair and a
bear are hardly a comparison. Nice job, fellows, now this means
war.” I said and started to head back towards my cabin, but Rhet
ran up and grabbed my shoulders to spin me around. He winked at me
and helped me brush off some debris.

Cole told me to quit being
a baby and started to look around. “Where's Chloe? Did she finally
call it quits and go back to her promise land?” Cole joked and
slapped me on the back.

“No, she is at the pool
house with the bachelors. They invited her to swim with them,” I
said as Cole and Rhet both shot me a look like 'what the hell.’
“She's a big girl, and they asked. I don't see any
harm.”

“Right, well knowing Chloe
there is always harm,” Cole said in a stern voice. What was that
all about? “I am heading to the cabin, I'll stop by and make sure
everything is going okay,” he said over his shoulder and was
already heading that direction.

“What's his problem?” I
asked and looked over at Rhet.

“I think Chloe drives him
a little crazy.”

“Do you know what happened
with them over Christmas? They got along so well before, but ever
since then he only says snarky remarks about her.”

“That's a story Chloe will
have to tell you,” Rhet said as he walked over and pulled me to his
chest. I nuzzled my face in his shirt and breathed him in. I was
expecting that rugged Rhet man smell but I got kind of a bad work
out smell.

I pulled my face away.
“Man you smell!” I said and scrunched up my nose and him. He
laughed and tried to put his nasty armpit over my face. “OH MY GOSH
RHET!” I yelled and tried to pull away from him. He was laughing
uncontrollably now. Finally, I broke away from him, “And you've had
girlfriends before? Just a little hint here, they do not like
smelly man pit in their face.”

“Oh come here.” He said
and grabbed my hand. “I couldn't resist, I've missed you today.” He
smiled and kissed my cheek right by my mouth. Okay, I don't really
care what he smells like... “Wait, Did you say you were my
girlfriend?”

I stopped and looked up at
him, “Do you want me to be your girlfriend?”

Rhet took my chin and
lifted my face up to his. He closed his eyes and gave me the
sweetest kiss, and then looked back up. “I have wanted you to be
mine for a while, so yes. If you would be okay with it, I would
love for you to be my girlfriend.” He smiled with his 'how can you
say no' dimples.

I wanted to scream to the
mountains and straddle him right there, but this nagging feeling,
aka Brian, kept popping into my head. “Rhet, I think you are funny,
obviously ridiculously good looking, and over all pretty amazing,
so I would love to say I'm your girlfriend. Only, I need to tell
Brian it's completely over first.” I looked down and felt like I
just killed the moment.

“Call him.”

I looked up and wasn't
sure if he was serious. “Now?”

“Yup, here's my phone.”
Rhet said and reached in his pocket for his cell phone.

“Okay, sure... But I can
use my phone.” I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket and looked
over at Rhet one more time. Was I sure about this? Rhet gave me a
small smile and I knew I would kick myself if I ever passed him up.
I opened up my phone and pressed Brian's name.

On the third ring he
answered, “Hey Lexi, what's up?” Brian said in a nonchalant
voice.

“Brian, hi. How are
you?”

“I'm better now that you
called, is everything all right?”

“Yes, it is Um... So I
need to tell you something,” I said quietly and looked back at
Rhet. He turned and headed for the barn, I'm assuming to give me
some privacy. “ I have met someone, someone that I'm falling for.”
I waited and just heard Brian breathing.

“Who is it?”

I paused for a minute and
took a deep breath, “It's Rhet, my brother's friend from
college.”

“Hell, Lexi it's only been
a little over a week!” Brian said loudly into the phone. Brian
rarely yelled so it took me by surprise.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean
for it to happen. It just did.”

“Well, if you were calling
for my permission then, sure why not. You have it. I just didn't
expect you to forget about us so quickly.” And with that he hung up
the phone.