Whisperer (17 page)

Finally,
morning rays peeked through the curtains and Mandy began to wake.
This time, Colt didn’t get up early to shower. He wanted to be
there when she opened her eyes. He wanted to be the first thing she
saw every morning of every day.

She stretched
without opening her eyes and her arms bumped into him.

She felt his
head, neck and arms. Then she opened her eyes…”Well, this can’t be.
The Colt Johnson I know is up at the crack of dawn to slop the
hogs, feed the chickens and shear the sheep. Who is this strange
man in my bed?”

He smiled. She
was fun – “The same man who did things with you all night that I
hope weren’t too strange. You seemed to like them…”

“You’re not
bad, but obviously in need of much practice. A bathroom break first
and then…” She hopped out of bed and went into the bathroom. He
could hear water running. She came out and dashed back into bed.
“Damn, it’s cold!”

“You didn’t
finish your sentence. “And then…” he coaxed.

“I think we
need to practice some more tangling, Mr. Johnson.” She looked at
him through her dark lashes. He was putty.

“Yes, ma’am,”
and started kissing her again.

Sitting at the
breakfast table, they were finally able to talk. Last night wasn’t
for talking, it was for re-establishing the need they felt for each
other. This morning, knowing there would be another night, they
could talk. Colt scrambled some eggs and made the coffee. Mandy had
showered and came out with wet hair barely combed. Colt
laughed.

“Don’t you want
me to see you at your best, Miss Evans?”

“I think you
did last night, Mr. Johnson,
and
early this morning,” she
yawned.

“I stand
corrected. Hungry?” She started hungrily eating the eggs and toast
he had made her.

“We didn’t have
dinner last night, remember?” she said between mouthfuls. “We were
kind of in a hurry to do other things.”

“Hey, slow
down. There’s nothing planned for today. We need to get
reacquainted, I mean, besides the lovemaking.” He started eating
his own eggs and toast. Best meal he ever ate…

She finished
breakfast and sipped her coffee. He watched her as he ate his eggs.
She looked up at him and took a breath.

“Ready?” He
knew what was coming.

“Yes.”

“Which first?
Mother or ex-boyfriend?”

“Mother.”

“What did you
say to her?”

“I told her she
had to get her shit together, if she wanted to be invited to the
wedding. She told me she had started drinking when Gary left and
she was going to AA. I told her she had to do counseling as
well.”

“How did she
take it?”

“Actually,
pretty well. She promised she would, so we’ll see. She has to prove
that she’s going before she gets the invite.” He knew Mandy could
be quite determined when she wanted to be. Her resilience came as a
surprise.

“And Eddy?” She
looked pensive at the name.

“He isn’t a bad
guy. He took it well and wished us ‘congratulations’. I think he
actually meant it.”

“Do you think
he’ll stop trying to contact you?”

“I think so,
but if he doesn’t, he’s all yours. I had my shot and did what I
needed to do.”

“I’ve got to
tell you that I was pretty nervous about your meeting with him
alone. I don’t know him, so I wasn’t sure if he would try anything.
It caused me some anxiety, I gotta tell you.” He looked at her
pretty face.

Mandy traced
his lips with her finger. “I love the protective part. It does make
me feel loved.”

He leaned in to
kiss her. “And I do love you so…” She kissed him back.

She pulled back
to look at his handsome face.

“What happened
with Miles? Did you talk to him?”

He got up to
get the coffee pot and refill their cups.
Thoughtful.

“Yes. It was
interesting – he was in the media room watching ‘
To Kill a
Mockingbird’,
of all things. We started talking about the movie
and then we were suddenly talking about ourselves and our lives.
Funny how movies are us and we are the movies.”

She smiled at
him. “He was sorry?”

“Absolutely. He
even said he would chip in for our wedding gift.”

She perked up,
“Wedding gift?”

“Well, I
haven’t had a chance to tell you anything yet. Let’s get dressed
and go for a walk. It’s a crisp, clean morning and I have so much
to tell you. We have plans to make as well.”

They walked
through the woods by his cabin. There was a good trail and it was a
mile around, then it headed back towards his place. They needed
actually two miles to talk out all that had happened when she was
in Sacramento.

Colt told her
about the horse training business he was starting on the Johnson
Ranch and that Sandy and Lily had given them fifty acres for a
wedding gift. Currently, a house, barn, stables and corrals were
being built for his business and for their residence.

“Your business
sounds exciting… I’m so happy that you were able to work that out.
And your parents have given us fifty acres of their ranch? Isn’t
that expensive?” Mandy’s mouth dropped open.

“Ah…yes. It’s
worth quite a lot. Land values fluctuate, but it’s still a
substantial amount.”

“My God. How
generous of them… I’m excited to see the house. When are we
going?”

”Soon. I have
to finish up with the camp and the last horse I was seeing. Even
though I had terminated my contract, I still want to do this last
job.”

“Yes, and I
want to say goodbye to my clients and turn in my resignation. I
want to invite Kim and a few people to the wedding, so I need to
get addresses.”

“If you want to
continue working, sweetheart, I think we can work that out. Naples
isn’t far away – about five miles – and you could open a small
practice there if you want. We could even build you an office at
our place, if you would prefer.”

“I may want to
at some point, but not right away.”

“Why not? I
thought you loved your job.”

“I do, but I
may love something else more.”

“You’re being
cryptic,” Colt stopped and looked over at her. He took her hands.
“What?”

“I don’t know
for sure, it’s only been a little over a month really, but I’m late
and I never am, and I probably should have told you first thing,
but we grabbed each other and took off in that direction, so I…”
She kept rambling.

“Sweetheart,”
he started to smile, “tell me what you’re trying to tell me.”

She took a deep
breath. “Honey, I might be pregnant.” She shyly looked up at him,
wondering what his reaction would be.

“Really?” His
smile became bigger. He lifted her up off the ground and swung her
around, then gently put her down. He lifted up her face and kissed
her sweetly. She had no illusions about his feelings.

“Yes.”

“That’s
wonderful… I guess we really do need to get those wedding plans
going now, don’t we? When we see the house, let’s pick out a good
room for the nursery. I’ve got to tell you that my parents and
grandparents will be absolutely thrilled. Like I am...” He beamed
at her.

“Colt, I fell
into a big bowl of lucky when I met you. You are incredible. Not
only are you handsome and smart, but you’re in love with me. That
makes you really sexy to me…” She laughed. “Maybe we should wait to
tell anyone though. It’s early yet and I haven’t even taken a
pregnancy test.”

“Let’s pick one
up today, okay? I’d like to know and I want everyone else to know
too.” He took her face in his hands. “You’ve made me the happiest
man on the planet, do you know that, sweet Mandy Evans?”

She leaned up
to kiss him. “I do love you, Colt Johnson. That’s always and
forever.” They kissed a lingering kiss. Then Colt took her hand and
headed back to the cabin.

“Come on. Let’s
take a ride to the drugstore.” He smiled at her and she laughed.
Guess what the test results were?

Colt and Mandy
spent the next five days packing up both their cabins, terminating
leases and saying their goodbyes. They were actually sad to leave,
since Donner Lake and Soda Springs had brought them together. It
might just do as a great vacation place…

The horse that
Colt had stayed to help was in pretty bad physical shape. He and
the vet had decided it was probably best to ship the horse to
Sacramento, where it would get more advanced medical treatment at a
large animal clinic. The camp administrator was sorry to see him go
-- His success rate at training the mustangs was 100%. All of his
horses were now good ranch horses that the camp children could use.
Working up at the Soda Springs camp had definitely enhanced his
reputation as a hard-working, successful horse trainer. He was
receiving more referrals than he could manage. Jeanne was eagerly
fielding the requests and letting them know where Colt’s business
was going to be set up in Nevada. They would have to take their
horses to him, but no one complained. He was that good…

Mandy was sad
to be leaving her young clients there at the camp, but made good
strides at transferring them to other counselors. The administrator
had also hired someone to take her place, and she worked to train
him as well.

To her great
delight, Colt’s newly trained mustangs would participate in a new
horse therapy program, which had been her idea. It was already in
progress when she came back to the camp and she was able to see how
well it was going. Everyone gave her kudos for her great idea, and
wished them the best of luck.

Early one
morning, Colt’s phone rang. He was awake anyway and thought he’d
try to get it. Colt gently disentangled himself from Mandy, but he
couldn’t get to his phone fast enough. He tripped over his boots,
and by the time he found the phone, the call had gone to voice
mail. He leaned over to kiss a sleeping Mandy on the cheek, and
took the phone into the bathroom. Seeing it was Sandy, he played
the message.

“Colt, this is
Dad. How are things going up there?” He could hear the smile in his
dad’s voice. “Listen, give me a call. I need to get your ETA and
talk about a few things. Bye.”

Colt called him
back immediately. His dad was still close to his phone and picked
up. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“No, that’s my
question. First, your mother wants to know how you and Mandy
are.”

“Tell her we’re
fine -- Great, even. We’re packing up here, turning in
resignations, and all that.”

“When are you
heading home?”

“Probably by
the weekend. I’m hoping we’ll be ready to go by Saturday.”

“By the way.
Did Jesse call you yet?” Sandy laughed.

“No.”

“He proposed
finally to Audrey.”

“No kidding!
Great… Did she say ‘yes’?” Colt laughed with him.

“Apparently,
she did. Your mother wants to plan an engagement party for you,
Jesse and your fiancés. I’ll let her talk to the girls when you are
back here.”

“Sounds great!
Thanks, Dad. I’ll call Jesse later today. See you soon.”

“Bye, son.
Drive carefully.” He clicked off.

What to
do?
No way was Colt going to drive home without Mandy. His
vehicle was newer and bigger, so they decided to leave her car with
Kim, Mandy’s friend from the camp, until they could come back for
it. Believe it or not, they managed to get all of her belongings
and his into Colt’s truck. Luckily, it had a camper shell on it,
and they put everything in the back. Neither of them had any
furniture to speak of, and had rented furnished cabins. Basically,
they had personal belongings and clothes. Lily would never believe
that Mandy could travel so light.

The drive was
fun… They talked and laughed, and discussed some future plans.
Being young and in love has many advantages. One is that your life
is all spread out in front of you – like a series of highways. You
just have to decide which road to take.

Coming into
Verdi, a small town about ten miles out of Reno, Colt got a phone
call. Mandy took it.

“Hello?”

“Mandy, is that
you?” It was Lily.

“Hi Lily. Yes,
it’s me. How are you?”

“Fine, sweetie,
but Jesse isn’t.” Lily sounded upset.

“What’s
happened?” Mandy looked at Colt who mouthed, ‘What?’ at her.

“Can you get to
the hospital in Reno? Jesse took a fall off his horse and was
air-lifted there.” Mandy put the phone on speaker so Colt could
hear.

“Hey, Mom,
you’re on speaker. What’s going on?”

“From what
Audrey said, Jesse rode out to do something and his horse was
spooked by a snake. The horse bucked him off and he fell hard on
his shoulder. I don’t think anything is broken, but it’s bad. We’re
heading there now – Can you meet us?”

“Sure, we’ll be
there in probably twenty minutes. Oh, Mom – which hospital, there’s
a couple.”

“Washoe
Medical, where they take trauma cases. Thanks, you two. See you
soon.” She clicked off.

They had been
poking along, really, not trying to get anywhere in a hurry. They
were just enjoying the ride. Now, Colt speeded up, wanting to get
to his brother at the hospital. Going through town, he stayed on
the freeway to get quicker to the center of town – Where the
hospital was located. Mandy had called Audrey, who was already
there and told her pretty much the same as Lily had. She said he
was lucky to have not landed on the angry snake. He had gotten out
his cell phone and called her. Then she called 911 and the
helicopter had to go get him. She didn’t sound upset or frantic,
so, hopefully, Jesse wasn’t in bad shape. Audrey said they were
waiting for x-rays to come back to determine the course of
action.

By the time
they arrived at the hospital, parked and found his room, Sandy and
Lily were there, discussing the situation with the doctor. Nothing
was broken, but he had badly sprained his shoulder and arm. He’d be
in a sling for a while. Jesse was already grumbling about what he
wouldn’t be able to do.