When the Heart Falls (12 page)

“
Are you ok?” Dylan asked as he reached for his t-shirt that was lying across the tractor tire. He removed his cowboy hat and slipped the shirt over his head, breaking Misty’s hypnotic trance.

“
Your mother sent me to look for you. She said that if you don’t come now, the other men are sure to devour all the food before you get any.”

Dylan really didn’t care what her reason for being here was. All that mattered was that she 
was
here, standing right in front of him. So close that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted to. She was so unbelievably gorgeous in her red button up dress with her brown cowboy boots. Her lips looked very inviting with the shiny lip gloss she had on. He wanted to grab her, pull her close, and kiss her until both of their heads were spinning from lack of oxygen.

“
Well, I guess we better head on up to the house then,” he said quickly, thinking of anything other than what he’d like to do to her. He grabbed his cowboy hat, placed it back on his head then walked back toward the house with Misty by his side.

“
So you never did tell me why you were here,” he said, trying to start a conversation.

“
Well, I was telling my mother about the carnival and how I ran into Beth. I told her about your father passing away and she wanted to come see how your mother was doing. And I tagged along to visit with Beth, but she isn’t here,” Misty replied.

“
And here I was thinking you drove all the way out here just to see me,” he teased.

“
Why, however did you figure out?” she said in her best southern belle accent as she held her hand over her heart and fluttered her eye lids.

They laughed as they made their way into the yard. She enjoyed this little moment they were having. Dylan was such a nice guy and she felt bad throwing him completely out of the picture. She enjoyed his company very much and needed someone like him in her life. A sudden thought went through her mind that seemed like the perfect compromise. What if her and Dylan were just friends? There would be no harm in that would there? He was her best friend’s older brother, so surely he had to already think of her as a little sister or something. And maybe, if she learned to see him as only a friend, the feelings she felt for him would subside. It was a perfect way to get the best of both worlds.

CHAPTER 11

The next few weeks went by uneventfully. June had arrived bringing the dry, hot summer weather with it. Things in Misty’s life were going more smoothly than she had hoped. She and Beth had had a few lunch dates and gone shopping. Misty enjoyed helping Beth pick out items for her unborn baby. Beth had insisted that she was sure the baby was a girl, so they mostly looked at pink things when they were out.

Her relationship with Vance was wonderful. He came back to her house almost every night, and they either spent that time talking on the porch swing or taking walks down the dirt road. And every night before he left he would kiss her more passionately than he had the night before. She wanted to let herself fall madly in love with him but held herself back. She still hadn’t heard back from her divorce lawyer regarding when her sham of a marriage to Brad would be ended. She wanted to be done with him and never have to hear his name ever again. Just thinking about him made her madder than a swarm of hornets.

Then there was Dylan. Although she still felt that raw sexual tension whenever she was around him, he was proving to be a great friend. They had taken on the routine of spending Sundays together and going horseback riding, either on her family’s ranch or on his. She couldn’t believe how beautiful his property was the first time he took her out on it. Even though Mother Nature had still not blessed them with the much needed rain, the grass in the open fields was still a lovely shade of green.

She had made the mistake of letting her imagination run wild one day. As she and Dylan rode through the tall, green grass she couldn’t help but think of what life would be like if she had ended up with him instead of Brad. Would they have a small cabin style house right out here by the creek? Would they have a yard full of kids running around barefoot in the summer sun? Would Dylan love her unconditionally like he did in her dream world? She put an end to those thoughts that day and swore she’d never let her imagination get the best of her again.

***

Misty rested her back against a hay bale, closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh. She sat still for a few moments and enjoyed the quietness that surrounded her. She had quite the little hideaway there in the loft. When she was a girl, she would sneak up there and rearrange a few of the hay bales and make her own private nook. Today she did the same thing. She had grabbed an old quilt from the house, the romance novel she had been reading, and had snuck out to the barn. She rearranged a few of the hay bales in the corner, laid her blanket down on the flooring, and settled in for an afternoon of reading.

The book was a real page turner set in the medieval period. She read about a young woman whose father had been murdered who was now in the care of her wicked step mother. She is out in the forest one day and comes across a young man whom she believes to be a peasant boy, but later in the story turns out to be Prince Charming. The typical romance stuff happens throughout the book. Boy and girl meet, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl are torn apart by an unforeseen force, boy rescues girl, boy and girl live happily ever after, the end.

She turned the last page of the book, closed it and set it aside. She leaned her head back against the hay bale and imagined herself as the young heroine of the novel. She imagined she was walking through the tall grass down by the creek, waiting for her one true love to meet her in their secret spot. A rider on a white horse came galloping toward her. At last her love had arrived. Prince Vance dismounted from his noble steed and closed the distance between them in three long strides.

“
My love,” she said in a breathless whisper as he swept her into his arms and carried her to the shade of the large willow tree.

He laid her down in the bed of grass and kissed her so passionately that she was sure the heat from their bodies would set the tree ablaze. His lips moved from hers to her jaw and down the side of her neck. She moaned with the pleasure from the sensation it sent through her body. His hand made its way to her bodice and he very slowly started to unlace it. His lips claimed hers again and she wrapped her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. He pulled away only for a moment and stared into her eyes.

The blue eyes staring at her were not the steel gray eyes she was expecting. She moved her hand from the nape of his neck and let her fingers trace over his facial features. She felt the smoothness of his clean shaven face and the firmness of his strong jaw.

“
Sir Dylan?” she whispered. She was confused. What happened to Vance?

“
Yes, m’lady?” he replied in a low husky voice.

“
Why are you here?” she asked as he kissed down her neck and to her collarbone.

“
I’m your Knight in Shining Armor. I’m here to save you.”

“
Save me? From what?” She felt intoxicated from the way he was kissing her.

“
From making a terrible mistake,” he said as his hand slid down the length of her body and hitched her leg around his waist.

She was caught off guard by the action and gasped. What was this terrible mistake he spoke of? His hand slid up her silky smooth leg and the feeling sent shivers throughout her body. All thoughts vanished from her mind at that moment and she wrapped her arms around his waist, throwing herself into the moment.

“
Sir Dylan?” she questioned.

“
Hmmm?” he replied as he continued to kiss her neck.

“
Are you going to make love to me?”

“
Only if you want me to,” he whispered against her lips.

“
I want you to.”

Misty opened her eyes and quickly sat upright. She rubbed her head and assessed her surroundings. She sat there for a moment, staring at the hay bales around her and wondered what on earth had made her dream such a dream. And what was the meaning of it? What mistake was she making? She was confused and flustered from the all too real dream. She got up and cracked opened the loft door and saw that the sun was sitting low in the sky. She had to have been asleep for almost two hours. Quickly, she ran back to her nook, grabbed her book and climbed down the ladder.

She hurried across the yard and ran onto the porch. She stopped when she got to the door and checked herself to make sure she didn’t look like she had been sleeping in the hayloft. Both of her parents looked up at her as she walked into the kitchen and eyed her suspiciously.

“
Where you been, kiddo?” Jack asked. “Your mother’s been looking for you for over an hour.”

Misty sighed and replied, “I’m sorry. I was reading and I dozed off. Did you need me for something, Mom?”

Maggie slid a piece of paper across the kitchen table toward Misty. “Your lawyer called. He wanted you to call him back before four o’clock, but seeing how it’s four thirty now I guess you can’t. You’ll just have to call him on Monday when his office is open because I doubt the man works weekends.”

Misty looked at the piece of paper and had to contain her excitement. Maybe he was calling to let her know that he was done with her divorce papers and that a court date had been set. She bit her lower lip and tried to refrain from smiling.

“
Is Vance still here?” Misty asked Jack.

“
His truck’s still here so he should be. Try looking out by the corral,” he told her.

“
Thanks!” she said as she burst out the door.

“
That girl is gonna give me a heart attack one of these days,” he said as he shook his head to Maggie.

“
What makes you say that?” she asked him curiously.

“
I swear, ever since she hit age fourteen she’s been boy crazy. You’d think she’d wait till her marriage was over before she’d go getting involved with another man,” he explained.

“
I think she’s just excited that she’s found someone who treats her the way Brad should have all these years. I don’t blame her wanting to hold on to that,” she said as she stood up from the table. “More tea?” she asked as she picked up his empty glass. He nodded and she walked over to the fridge and filled his glass with cold iced tea. She joined him back at the table and placed his glass in front of him.

“
Thanks,” he said as he took a sip of the refreshing beverage. “I just worry about her. That’s all, Maggs.”

“
I do to, but we have to realize that she’s a grown woman and she’s going to do whatever she wants no matter what we tell her. She’s a good girl, Jack. We’ve got to trust her.”

“
I do,” he said as he pushed his chair back from the table and walked around to where Maggie was sitting. He kissed the top of her hair, placed his cowboy hat on his head, and walked toward the back door. “I’m gonna go check on the men and get an update on the day’s work. I’ll be back in a few,” he said and sent a wink over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

*** 

Vance and Hank were out in the corral working a two year old colt when Hank caught sight of Misty approaching.

“
Well, now look who’s coming to see me. Guess she couldn’t resist my charms,” Hank said as he chewed his tobacco and spat at the ground.

Vance turned to see Misty walking toward him with an excited look on her face. She waved and he smiled back at her.

“
She give it up yet?” Hank boldly asked.

“
You hush your mouth and stay out of this. It’s none of your concern,” Vance said harshly.

“
What’s the matter little brother? I thought you said you could get any woman to sleep with you with a single look. Maybe I need to step in and show you how it’s done,” Hank menacingly teased.

“
You touch her and I swear I’ll break every bone in your body,” Vance threatened.

“
Ooooo,” Hank said in mocked fright.

Misty walked up to the corral, unaware of the words exchanged between Hank and Vance. She looked to Hank and felt the same uneasy feeling she felt whenever he looked at her. A cold chill shivered throughout her and she turned her attention away from him to Vance.

“
Vance, can I talk to you for a second?” she asked and waved him over.

“
Sure,” he said and walked the colt over to Hank. “Hank, why don’t you take him back out to the pasture for me?” Vance asked and gave him a you-better-do-what-I-ask-or-you’ll-be-sorry look.

“
Sure thing,” Hank said and spat at the ground again. He opened the gate and took the lead rope from Vance and walked the colt through the yard. As he passed Misty he let his eyes look her over from head to toe and he smiled at her. “Ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat and continued walking.