[WS02] Taming Alex (15 page)

G
rant rushed out of the building, not really seeing where he was going. When he ran
into someone, he apologized quickly and continued walking until he ended up at the
lake under the tall oak tree where he and Alex had picnicked the day before. He sat
down in the shade and thought about the turn of events.

Where had he gone wrong? He folded his knees up and placed his elbows on them, watching
two young boys throw rocks into the water.

“Hey.” He jumped at the voice behind him. When he looked, Haley stood looking down
at him. “Can I sit with you?”

He nodded, and she sat next to him, crossing her legs and watching the kids.

“I heard about what happened between you and Alex,” she said, not looking in his direction.

He turned to her, and the scene that he'd just witnessed of Alex in Travis' arms as
they’d laughed at him played over in his head.

“That she'd broken it off with you this morning,” she said, letting him know what
she'd been talking about.

He nodded and looked down at his hands.

“My sister can be stupid.” She smiled at him and placed a gentle hand on his arm.
“Listen, I know her and can tell you without question that you're the best thing that
has ever happened to her.”

He laughed, harshly. “I doubt that.” He shook his head, looking back at the water.
To think he'd been thinking about settling down with her. Raising a family.

“I know it can be hard to understand”—she pulled his arm until he looked at her again—“but
she needs you. Travis broke her. Not physically, but emotionally. She was so rundown,
she didn't think she knew what she wanted. In the last few months since she's been
seeing you, for the first time in a long time she has a purpose. She's been focused.
She was hurt when Travis cheated on her, but because of you, she forgot about him.
Forgot about any other man that had come before.”

“Apparently not enough. I just caught them together.”

“What?” Haley's hand jerked on his arm. “Alex and Travis?”

He nodded.

“You idiot!” Haley stood up and looked towards the barn. She looked down at him with
a scowl. “I suppose you just left her there to defend herself.”

He stood and thought about it. Closing his eyes, he remembered how they'd been standing
in the stall and the truth hit him full force. Travis had had Alex cornered. Her arms
had been up against his chest in defense, trying to push him away. Anger and fear
had been written on her face.

Haley was right; he'd been such an idiot.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at Haley. “You know, you're pretty smart.” He pulled
her braid and rushed off towards the barn, hoping he wasn't too late for an apology.

When he didn't find Alex in Sophie's stall, he rushed to the goat corral and asked
around. She'd been there five minutes before he had. Following directions from a few
people, he rushed out to the parking lot to look for her.

He was just about to give up when he spotted the wire horse brush. It had been crunched
under a tire, but he knew it was hers. It was the same bright pink one she'd been
holding against Travis' chest.

He started yelling for her. He couldn't explain the urgency he felt to find her, other
than the fact that he wanted to apologize for being a fool and to see if she was okay
after being left alone to deal with Travis. He'd called her a few more times when
Haley, Lauren, and Chase all rushed out to the parking lot.

“Did you find her yet?” Lauren asked, looking around.

“No. Someone said she came out here about ten minutes ago. I found this.” He held
it out.

“That's Alex's,” Haley said, then called out to her sister. They spread out, calling
her name until Chase finally yelled, “Over here. She's over here.”

Everyone rushed over. Grant was breathless when he arrived at the trailer. His trailer.
He saw her in an unconscious ball with Buttercup snuggled next to her. He would have
thought the scene was endearing if it hadn’t been for the large bump growing on her
forehead. A bruise was forming there and there was a trickle of blood dripping slowly
down her forehead.

He rushed to her side. Chase was there checking her vitals. He swatted him aside and
pulled her into his lap, calling her name over and over again. Her eyelids slowly
opened as he watched her. He saw her try to focus on his fingers as he pushed a strand
of her hair aside.

Looking up he realized they had an audience, now. The sheriff, the mayor, and the
mayor’s family stood just outside his trailer, looking in on the scene.

“What's going on here?” The sheriff jumped up in the back of the trailer and looked
down at Alex.

“It looks like someone knocked her over the head,” Grant said, then noticed the tire
iron lying next to him. “Probably with that.” He nodded.

“Has someone called an ambulance?” the sheriff asked.

“I did,” Lauren said with a shaky voice. Haley and Lauren were sitting on the other
side of their sister, as Alex focused on them.

“What?” she asked, trying to sit up.

“Don't,” Chase said, holding her still. “Hold still, sweetie. Where does it hurt?”

“I feel like I've been bucked off a bronco and landed on my head. What happened?”
She grabbed her head with her hands and moaned.

“We were hoping you could tell us.” Lauren leaned over her sister.

“I don't really remember. I came out here to find Grant and heard Buttercup crying.”
She pulled the goat into her lap again where it snuggled up to her. “Then I don't
remember.”

“Well, isn't it obvious?” It was Travis that spoke. Everyone turned to look at him.
Grant hadn't even noticed that he'd been standing right there with his family. He
looked around and shrugged his shoulders and nodded towards them. “Everyone knows
they had a fight earlier today and broke up. Plus, he caught us in the barn just a
while ago. It's obvious Grant couldn't take it and he followed her out here, hitting
her over the head. She is in his trailer. It is his tire iron.”

“You've got to be kidding me!” It was Haley who spoke this time. She slowly stood
up. “First of all, we all know you've been stalking Alex since your break up four
months ago. Not to mention all the terrible things you've done to Grant here. Second
of all, Grant was with me fifteen minutes ago, across the fairgrounds by the lake.
He was a minute ahead of us walking into the parking lot.” She looked to Lauren and
Chase for confirmation, and they both nodded in agreement.

“Well, I'm not taking the blame for this one. Not this time. I was in line to get
some barbeque just a few minutes ago. My dad and the sheriff here pulled me out, saying
we were heading to Mama's with the sheriff instead.”

“He's right,” the sheriff piped in. “We all saw him standing in line. He was second
in line to be served out of around ten. He'd been there a while.” The sheriff looked
down at Grant. “Well, for now, let's get Alex checked out and we can debate who took
part in what later.” They all looked up as the ambulance drove up.

Grant rode with Lauren and Chase in their truck, while Haley road with Alex in the
ambulance. The entire drive to the clinic, everyone sat in silence, the same question
running through everyone's mind. Who had done this?

It took almost an hour for Alex to come back out front after seeing the doctor. Grant
had sat in the small waiting room with Chase since the doctor's room was too small
and only family members were allowed back with the patients.

When they wheeled her out, she had small white bandages over her forehead. Her eyes
were closed, but when Grant said her name, she opened them and frowned a little.

“I can't…” She shook her head and moaned. “Please.” She looked up at Haley, who nodded
to her sister, then walked towards him. Taking his arm, she steered him out the door
and told him.

“Grant, I tried to talk to her, but she won't listen.” She looked back inside and
shook her head. “Stubborn.” Then she sighed. “Listen, I'll try again later. It's best
if you give her some time. Just give her a day, let her head get clear of all this.”

He nodded, not really taking it all in. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” She sighed again. “No stitches, just a slight concussion. We're supposed to
watch her for a while.”

“Can I do…?” he started, but stopped when she shook her head no.

“No, she doesn't want anything right now.”

They both looked up when Grant’s parents walked up. “We just heard.” His mother rushed
to his side. “Is Alex okay?” she asked Haley.

“Yes.” Haley took his mother's hand and walked her inside to see Alex, who was still
sitting in the wheelchair, waiting to be released.

“What a shame. Sounds like someone's gone too far this time.”

“Hmmm.” He was only half-listening to his father.

“I heard they stole your goat, the one that won the blue ribbon.”

“What?” He looked over and watched as her family wheeled her out to Chase's truck.

“Your goat. I know it's not the time, but do you think someone attacked her to steal
your blue ribbon goat?”

“My goat didn't win,” he said, absently.

“Sure it did. That little one they found in the trailer with Alex. Everyone's saying
it won the highest award, best in show.”

He turned and looked at his dad. “Buttercup won?”

His dad nodded and smiled, then when he looked over at Alex, his smile fell away.
“I sure hope that had nothing to do with your goat.”

By the time Grant got all four goats home, including his award-winning Buttercup,
trophy and all, he was so tired he couldn't see straight.

He'd messaged Alex several times, but hadn't heard anything back. He'd been such a
fool and he knew that he had to make it up to her. By the time the sun finally rose,
he thought he had a plan firmly in hand. There was no way she could say no, not after
what he had planned. Now he just needed to convince her to talk to him.

Alex lay in bed and watched TV with the sound off. She looked down at her phone when
it beeped for the hundredth time since last night. She hadn't even read Grant's first
messages, and quickly avoided looking at this one as well.

She thought about turning it off, but she wanted to know that he was suffering like
she was. Not just physically, but emotionally.

Oh, she knew she was the one who'd called it all off, or tried to. She'd been a fool
trying to think she could have a normal life. She wasn't good enough for someone like
Grant. She'd done some real soul searching last night after she’d gotten home and
had laid it all out. She was a waitress at a greasy diner. She had no real skills
and no idea what she wanted to do in the future. Grant was a Harvard graduate with
a law degree and a smart business plan. Not to mention a house of his own and definite
plans for his future.

The only thing she had in her future was… well, nothing she could think of. That's
why she'd decided that she was leaving to go see her cousins. She could stay with
them for a while and make up her mind as to what her next step was. She had a little
money saved up; it might even be enough to take some night classes.

She'd started packing up her things early that morning so she could move back into
her old room. They could redecorate the larger room for the baby. She was thinking
about just storing all of her things up in the attic. That way she would only have
to take a small suitcase with her.

Getting off the bed slowly, she tested the waters to see how she felt. When her vision
grayed just a little, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her head
had hurt her most of the day and her sisters had locked her in her room, delivering
her food and checking up on her. Haley had been upset when she'd seen her packing
boxes. She said that Alex was supposed to be resting, but Alex had ignored her and
only stopped when she felt dizzy. Now the sun was setting and she was getting tired
of being in her room alone. When she opened her eyes again, she let out a loud scream.

On the other side of her window was a face. She didn't stop screaming until she realized
the face belonged to Grant. Then she rushed to her window and opened it quickly.