When the Heart Falls (11 page)

Maggie placed a reassuring hand over her daughter’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I know it’s rough right now, but you did the right thing, Mis.”

“
I know, Mom. It’s just hard to believe that this is the way my life turned out. I never thought I’d be twenty eight years old, childless, and divorced.”

“
You’re still young, sweetie. There’s plenty of time for all of that.” Maggie, seeing the look of depression spread across Misty’s face, decided to change the subject. “So, you never did tell me how the rest of the carnival was.”

Misty looked to Maggie and smiled. She knew what she was doing and was thankful for the topic change. “It was really nice. I had a fun time.”

“
What all did you do?”

“
Well,” Misty said, swallowing the piece of sausage she had just placed in her mouth. “We walked around mostly. We did ride the Ferris wheel and Vance entered the bucking bronco contest.”

“
Oh? How did that go?” Maggie asked while cutting into her egg.

“
Not so good.” Misty giggled. “He got thrown off about four seconds in; landed face down in the dirt.”

“
Oh my.” Maggie laughed in return. “Well, I’m glad he didn’t get hurt.”

“
Yeah me too. Oh, and I saw Beth McCoy,” Misty added excitedly.

“
Oh really? How is she? She was such a lovely girl. I always did like the two of you being friends,” Maggie said.

“
She’s doing really well. She’s married now, so I guess her last name isn’t McCoy anymore. Come to think of it I don’t even remember if she told me what her husband’s last name was. Anyway, they are expecting their first child toward the end of the year.”

“
Well that’s wonderful. I’m sure her parents are ecstatic to become grandparents.”

“
Oh, well, that’s something else I needed to tell you. Her father passed away about a month ago.”

Maggie stopped eating and looked at Misty with a shocked expression. “Wesley McCoy died? How did that happen?”

“
Beth told me he was in a bad accident. He was driving home from the feed store when his brakes went out and he lost control of the truck. It flipped and landed in a ditch.” Misty stopped the story there and shuttered.

“
Oh my. I wonder how Katherine is holding up? I think I’ll make a pie and go visit her today,” Maggie said, pushing her chair back from the table and placing her plate in the sink. She went to the pantry and started pulling out the ingredients for a pecan pie.

Misty’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach did a somersault. If she went with her mother to the McCoy’s she was sure to catch a glimpse of Dylan. Maybe they would even be able to have a decent conversation this time. There was no harm in a simple little conversation. She had to put her mind at ease and find out if Dylan really was worth fanaticizing about all the time and potentially ruining anything she might have with Vance. 

“
You’re walking a fine line, Misty,”
 she imagined the cricket saying. “
You should give Vance the chance he deserves before you go tossing him aside for another man,”
 he continued to tell her. 

“
I am giving him a chance. But it doesn’t hurt to see what else is out there. I can’t explain why I feel that way. It’s almost as if something is telling me to do this,”
 she continued with the imaginary conversation in her mind. 

“
Well it sure as hell isn’t me telling you that and I’m your conscience,”
 he berated her. 

“
I’ve had about enough of you and your advice!”
 she thought and imagined stomping her boot on the ground and hearing a satisfying crunching sound. “
Pesky little bug,”
she thought and smiled.

*** 

Misty sat in the passenger seat of her mother’s old Chevy truck as they drove to the McCoy ranch. She had insisted on going with her so she could visit with Beth. Hopefully her mother hadn’t seen through her false reasoning. Not that it was entirely false. She did hope to see Beth and have some girl talk. But she hadn’t quickly run upstairs, put on one of her cutest sundresses, combed her hair and put on lip gloss just to see Beth.

The sundress she chose was a pretty shade of red with little pink roses scattered throughout the pattern. It was short sleeve with buttons going all the way down the length of the dress in the front. She had left the top three buttons undone, exposing just a hint of cleavage. The hemline hit a few inches above her knee. And in true country girl fashion, she finished the outfit off with none other than cowboy boots.

They hit the dirt road that led to the McCoy ranch and Misty had to balance the pie on her lap as the truck ran over a few potholes. The hot midday sun was bouncing off the hood of the truck sending a glare every once in a while. The coming of June was evident with the weather being as hot as it was today. The weatherman had predicted the temperatures could reach the ninety degree mark. 

Thank God for air conditioning,
she thought.

Maggie pulled the truck under the wooden entrance and proceeded up the driveway. Misty scanned the yard hoping to catch a glimpse of Dylan, but had no such luck.

All of a sudden she started to feel bad about what she was doing. Vance was a good guy and she had barely given him the chance he deserved. He was a gentleman and very attractive. So why was she having doubts about where the future would lead with them? An uneasy feeling of panic swam through her body. She wanted to ask her mother to turn the truck around and take her back home. She was stupid for coming here today. A knock on the window from the outside of the truck startled her and she looked to see who it was.

“
You gonna sit in there the whole time or are you coming in with me?” Maggie asked.

“
No, no, I’m coming,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out of the truck.

Katherine was standing on the porch wiping her hands on a dish towel as the two women approached. She walked to the steps and used her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight as she tried to make out who her visitors were. A welcoming smile spread across her face as she recognized Maggie and Misty.

“
Maggie Donovan, what brings you out this way?” Katherine asked as she welcomed the ladies onto the porch.

“
Hi, Katherine. It’s been a long time,” Maggie said as she wrapped an arm around Katherine and gave her a gentle hug. “Misty here ran into Beth at the carnival in town yesterday and she told her about Wesley. I’m so sorry, Katherine.”

Katherine gave Maggie an approving smile. “It is what it is,” she said and took a deep breath. “We’re just taking things one day at a time. It’s an adjustment that’s for sure.”

Maggie nodded and had to swallow back the lump that was rising in her throat. She couldn’t imagine being in her situation. Jack was such an important part of her life and if something were ever to happen to him, well, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to handle it as well as Katherine was. She collected her feelings and cleared her throat.

“
I made you a pecan pie,” Maggie said as she handed it to Katherine.

“
Oh how thoughtful.” Katherine smiled and accepted the pie. “Oh my, this smells delicious. Won’t you come in and visit for a while? We could cut into this pie and have some iced tea.”

“
I would like that,” Maggie warmly responded.

“
Mrs. McCoy is Beth here?” Misty asked.

“
Oh no I’m sorry she’s not. She comes here during the week to help out with things and spends the weekends with her husband. I’ll tell her you were asking for her if you’d like.”

“
Sure, thank you, ma’am,” Misty replied with a heavy heart. Great. What was she going to do now that Beth wasn’t here? She wasn’t comfortable with her original idea of seeking out Dylan anymore.

Looks like I’m stuck gossiping with the ladies,
she thought.

The women walked into the kitchen and Katherine set the pie down on the counter. Maggie and Misty took seats at the table while Katherine took care of slicing and plating the pie. She handed the slices to Maggie and Misty on mismatched plates then went to the fridge and pulled out a cold pitcher of iced tea. She poured each of them a glass and then joined them at the table.

“
Well, this is nice,” Katherine said. “It’s not often that I get visitors. My, Misty it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. I think the last time was right after you and Beth graduated. How have you been?”

Misty quickly chewed and swallowed the piece of pie she had just placed in her mouth and said, “Yes, ma’am, I believe that was the last time we saw each other. I’m doing well, thank you.”

“
Are you just in town visiting your folks?” Katherine asked.

“
No, ma’am. I actually just moved back little over a month ago.”

“
Oh, are you and your husband living in town or in the country?”

“
My husband didn’t come with me, Mrs. McCoy. It’s actually kind of a long story so I won’t bore you with it. I’m staying with Mom and Dad for the time being.”

Katherine looked at Maggie and saw her wink. She knew she would fill her in when Misty wasn’t around.

“
Well, it’s good to have you back, Misty,” Katherine said and glanced at the clock on the stove. “Oh my, the time has flown right by. I have to be fixing lunch for the boys.”

“
We can help if you’d like,” Maggie suggested.

“
That would be great, thank you. Are you sure you don’t need to be getting back to your ranch?”

“
No, I prepared stuff before we left. Jack and the men are plenty covered for lunch. What would you like us to do?”

Katherine showed Maggie where the pantry was and had Misty pull ingredients from the fridge. In no time the ladies had prepared sandwiches and cookies for the six ranch hands. Misty set the table on the porch and went back into the house to grab the pitchers of iced tea. Katherine set the plate of sandwiches on the table and rang the bell hanging from the porch. Five minutes later six dirty, sweaty, ranch hands came piling into the yard. They each took turns washing up at the sink located on the end of the porch, then grabbing their plates and filling it with the food the ladies had prepared.

“
Where’s Dylan?” Katherine asked one of the hands.

“
Oh, he said he was just going to finish up with the tractor and then he’d be up,” the man replied with a mouth full of food.

Katherine let out an annoyed sigh and walked over to Misty. “Misty, would you mind fetching Dylan for lunch. I’m afraid if he doesn’t come now there won’t be any left for him.”

“
Sure, Mrs. McCoy.” Misty nodded and reluctantly headed off to find Dylan. She walked through the dirt driveway and a little cloud of dust followed her. It hadn’t rained since she had arrived home and they were in terrible need of it. The heat of the day was making her more miserable than she already was. She longed to be back at her parent’s ranch. She imagined what she would be doing if that’s where she was. Vance would be on his break along with the other men at this time. Maybe she and he would have taken their lunch to a quiet spot in the yard, under the shade of one of the many trees. They’d be enjoying every minute until it was time for him to return to work. Maybe he would even kiss her again.

Her thoughts stopped there as she made her way around to the back of the barn where she caught site of the big green tractor. She stood on her tiptoes and reached her neck looking for Dylan, and then she dipped down to look under the tractor and saw his boots from the other side. She felt her heart skip and quickly told herself to stop it. She had already made up her mind that Dylan was a bad idea. 

Don’t be a ninny,
 she told herself.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked around the front of the tractor.

She stopped mid-step when she caught sight of him. He had his bare back turned to her. The sunlight was glistening on his moist, golden skin. She watched as the muscles in his shoulders and back tensed as he turned and tightened a bolt on the tractor. The thoughts that proceeded to run through her mind at that moment weren’t at all lady-like. She bit her lower lip and let her eyes wander over his all too perfect body.

“
Damn,” she whispered.

Dylan glanced over his shoulder and saw Misty staring at him. He quickly stood up and turned toward her which really seemed to startle her.

“
Misty,” he said, confused but happily surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Misty, still mesmerized by the vision before her, had to quickly shake her head and collect herself. She searched for the words to say but couldn’t make her mouth say them.