Covered in Coal (5 page)

It feels so good to finally be home. I’m used to working eight hour shifts at the hotel, so twelve hours at the mines has me totally busted. Climbing the stairs to my bedroom, I place my iPod on the dock, and press play. Trudging to the bathroom, I turn the shower to hot as hell and begin to undress.

Pulling off the stiff suit I had been sporting all day, soot sprinkles the floor. Maybe a suit isn’t the best attire for the mines. I climb into the steaming hot shower, letting the hot water cascade over me. The water soothes my achy muscles, tired from sitting at a desk all day. At least working at the hotel I was constantly up on my feet doing something. I may just go stir crazy as CEO, trapped in that office.

Stepping out of the shower, I dry off, toss my hair up on top of my head, and pull on some comfy UK sweats. I go downstairs to the kitchen to find something to eat, but decide on take-out instead. After calling in an order to my favorite Mexican restaurant, I decide to go through some of Daddy’s old things for donation. I was glad to take over my old homestead, but having constant reminders of Daddy everywhere I turn in this house will break me down even deeper, if I don’t erase his presence now.

Starting in his bedroom, I go through the drawers and closets, pulling aside all of his clothes and shoes. In the back of the closet, I find a large oak chest, bound by lock and key. It’s a gorgeous chest, full of mystery, as I had never seen it before, despite the countless times I had played hide-n-seek in this very closet. I look all over the bedroom for the key, but come up empty handed. So I turn my search to the home office. I search all of the desk drawers, behind picture frames, under knick knacks, and I still can’t find a key. The doorbell rings, stopping my search.

I race down the stairs in hopes that my favorite Pollo Bandido awaits me on the other side of the heavy steel door. The doorbell rings again, just as I approach the living room. “Damn give me a second will ya,” I yell. 

“Hurry the hell up, Carly Jo, it’s chilly out here!”

What the hell! I know that damn ass hole seriously ain’t standing on my front porch! I swing the door open in a rush of excitement and anger. Yep, Colton came to visit. Can I fire his ass for harassment yet?

“Alright, Colton, obviously I wasn’t blunt enough for your stupid ass this morning. I don’t have a damn thing to say to you, so you can leave now, and don’t bother coming back. If you do, your job is on the line!” I yell. Just as I slam the door, he sticks his foot in the jamb, and forces himself in the entry. “Damn it, Colton, I’m not kidding with you! Get the hell out of my house!” I scream.

“Carly Jo, relax. Damn I just wanna talk to ya. Now chill your sweet ass out. We have some catchin’ up to do.” Colton says.

“Catching up, huh? Colton, what exactly is there to ‘catch up’ on? You left me, remember? We haven’t spoken in seven years, and now all of a sudden you wanna catch up? Hell no! Now GET OUT!” I scream, shoving him to the front door. Just as my palms contact with his chest, he wraps my wrist in his large hands, and pulls me into a deep, passionate kiss. His lips are full and soft, and taste sweet like mint. He licks gently, and teases my tongue with soft flicks. Running his fingers through my hair he pulls my head back, and works his lips down from my mouth to my neck.

The connection I feel with Colton’s lips on my body is undeniable. He can sense my wanting. I am so carried away by his lustful ambush, I barely notice the doorbell ringing again. Kissing his way back up to my lips, Colton sucks away at my bottom lip and whispers, “I’ve missed your sweet lips, Carly Jo, I’ve missed you so damn much.”

Breaking from his embrace, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and stare up at him with my mouth agape. I straighten my clothes, and open the front door. With the stunt Colton just pulled, Pollo Bandido is the last damn thing on my mind. I pay the delivery guy, take my food and shut the front door. Turning around, Colton is nowhere in sight. What the hell’s up with him!?

I go to the kitchen to see he’s set the table with two plates, two forks, and two bottles of water. He’s sitting at the table with his arms crossed, acting like a dog waiting for a bone. Placing the take out on the counter, I put my hands on my hips and begin tapping my foot on the ceramic tile, hoping that he senses my irritation.

“Let’s move it, baby, I’m starvin’, and I know you ordered enough food for a damned army, so let’s eat!” Colton says with a sly grin on his face. I roll my eyes in defeat. I know I can’t run this animal off.

I take a seat across from him, placing the take out trays on the table. Not being shy, he helps himself. I sit back, and huff out a deep breath of air. Colton just munches away on tortilla chips and salsa like it’s his last supper. Piss me off enough, it just damn well may be. Just sayin’!

“Okay, Colton, you’ve made it clear there is something you need to get off your chest. So say your peace, then get your ass out of my house!” I glare straight through him, as he chews away, not bothered at all by my frustration. He’s seriously pissing me off. He continues eating, pondering what it is he wants to say. Irritation and anxiety set in, and I feel like I could just beat the hell out of him for ruining my dinner.

“You better eat, Carly Jo. You didn’t leave the office any, so I know you haven’t eaten all day. Don’t want your dinner to get cold.” He smirks. Smartass.

“No, I didn’t want my dinner to be ruined, but you obviously had other plans, so out with it already, what the hell do you want?”

Colton wipes cheese sauce from his delectable lips, and smirks. Sitting back, he laces his fingers to rest on the back of his head, like he’s getting relaxed. Nice, looks like we may be here a while.  He exhales a deep breath and smiles.

“Darlin’, I’m an ass. You know that by now I’m sure, and I’m sure you hate me with every bone in your fine ass body. But you don’t know the whole story. You only know what I told you when I broke up with you, and that was all lies. I had to cover things up, I had to protect you. Not
a day has went by that I haven’t thought of you, missed you, worried about you. Big John never told me where you went, said he didn’t know. I thought that was bullshit. That man always knew everything about everyone, including me. But that jackass stood in our way long enough, and he ain’t around now to stop us from being happy. Carly Jo, please, let me make all of this right. I’m beggin’ you.” 

I sit there, chewing on my lip, stewing over what he has just said. All be it vague, I can tell there is a lot he wants to share. But do I want to hear it? Do I want to feel that heartache he left me with once before, all over again? Do I want to be broken? I pulled myself from the trenches of his affliction and became whole again, all on my own. I had nobody, but fought for me.

“No.” My voice barely a whisper. I’ve come too far, all on my own, to be broken by him again.

“Carly Jo, please hear me out. You need to know the truth. We can be fixed, sweetheart, please.” Colton pleads.

Standing from my seat, I turn away from him, and leave the room. Colton follows right on my heels until I stop him by the front door.

“Colton, you left us seven years ago. That can never be forgiven. Don’t ever come back to my house again. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, unfortunately. Goodnight.”

He steps out on the front porch, and looks up at me with shock in his eyes. I hold my head high, and refuse to show him any of the hurt I am feeling deep down inside. Just as he begins to speak, I close the front door, and turn the lock, tight. As the lock clicks, I hear Colton yell,

“What do you mean, us?”

I turn the front porch light off, leaving him in the cold dark night, just as he left me those many years ago.

Colton

Carly Jo Simon is the most frustratin’ woman I know. We grew up together, since we were knee high to a duck’s tail. She was the pesky little girl of my dad’s business partner, Big John Simon. Damn she was annoyin’ as hell, always tryin’ to get one up on anybody in sight. She always had to be the strong one, best at everything. Annoyin’ little shit.

It wasn’t until we were older though, that I understood the essence of her beauty. She is a petite five feet three inches tall, with a perfect curvy tone and a thick, tight ass. Her dark brown hair hangs in wavy curls to the middle of her back. Her skin is a soft porcelain with light freckles splayed across her pug nose. Her eyes are a mesmerizin’ hazel, but if you look deep enough, you can see a sunflower around the iris.

But it wasn’t just her looks that caught my attention. Carly Jo wasn’t like most girls. She had a humble heart, though she was the daughter to the richest man in Williamstown. She was strong minded, tough, and would knock you on your ass if you pissed her off.  She loved to go fishin’ and muddin’. She was a rare beauty, inside and out.

We started datin’ when we were in high school, she was a sophomore, and I was a junior. We fell in love hard and fast. You couldn’t keep us apart. We planned our lives together. I planned to attend the University of Kentucky on a football scholarship, and Carly Jo would join me the followin’ year in Lexington once she graduated high school. I hadn’t thought much about what I wanted to study in college, my focus was football and Carly Jo.

All of that changed though, when I tore my ACL during the homecomin’ football game, my senior year. Unable to play football, I lost my scholarship. I was a dumbass jock, with no chance of survivin’ college on academic merit alone.

After I graduated high school, I decided to get my underground minin’ certification. Carly Jo didn’t care if I was a business man, or a miner, she was just happy to be with me. I got a job at Simon Energy, and started out shovelin’ the coal belt. It was a back breakin’ job, and my knee hurt like a bitch. The doctors wanted me to undergo surgery, but I wasn’t havin’ that shit. I sucked it like a man, and just popped a few Oxycodone.

I worked sixty hours a week, bustin’ my ass. I was determined to build a life for Carly Jo and me. But we barely had any time together. She was always busy with homework, or her friends, livin’ out the final days of her youth. I was either workin’ or kickin’ back a few with the boys after work. We began to grow apart. We both knew we wanted to be together, but what would happen once she went off to college? We just hung on the best we could to the threads of our ravelin’ relationship.

Just after Carly Jo graduated high school, I broke things off with her. It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s hard to believe one night could determine the fate of our relationship. It wasn’t that we weren’t tryin’, we loved each other deeply. I had to cover up the
lies and secrets, before I was exposed, or Carly Jo could have been hurt. But I had no idea that she would lose her shit and run.

My heart bled when I found out she was gone. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just come up f
rom underground, when Big John called me into his office. I just assumed he was checkin’ to see if his dirty deed was done. Instead, I walked in on his crazed rampage. He was so erratic, and cold. He fired my ass on the spot. It didn’t make sense to me, seein’ as he was the reason we broke up. But it didn’t matter if he had found my secret out or not, there was no way I could have hid it from Carly Jo, no matter how hard I would have tried.

These last seven years have been pure hell. I worked for my dad for a few years, haulin’ coal for his company, Dalton Truckin’. When I wasn’t workin’, I was out at the bar with my boys, gettin’ shitfaced. It was the only way to manage the heartache of losing Carly Jo. Oxy for the knee and Jack Daniels for my wounded heart. It wasn’t long, that those two concoctions weren’t workin’ well enough, so I started snortin’ coke to ease the pain. Mixed with Jack, it was one hell of a high.

It took nearly losing my life, for me to open my eyes, and realize my mistakes. Damn, if mistakes could be erased from our past. But they can’t. All I do now is right my wrongs.

Carly Jo is home now. I know she is broken, she just lost her dad, and her life is changin’ again. But I can make her whole again. She deserves to know the truth about why I let her go, even if it means breakin’ her heart, all over again.  I love that woman with every damn breath within me, and plan to make her mine, soon.

When she walked into the conference room yesterday, I could see the tension rise in her as soon as our eyes connected. When I touched her, I could feel that same spark of electricity flow between us, just as it always had. When I kissed her, the heated passion I could feel between us made me confident that she wants us as much as I do. She’s stubborn, and bullheaded, but worth the fight.

I went over to her house tonight, to try to talk to her, and she threw me out on my ass. She said something just as she closed the door in my face, that made me wonder.

“
You left us seven years ago
.”

What the hell does that mean? Hell, she can close me out all she wants, but I’ll pry my way back into her heart, or die tryin’.

Carly Jo is so damn cute, thinkin’ I will give up my pursuit of her heart, so easily. I laugh at the fact. She obviously don’t remember I’m Colton frickin’ Weston, I get what I want, when I want it and how I want it. I don’t take no for an answer. But the little show she put on, rejectin’ me, was real cute. Sure, it broke my heart, and I damn near came home and drank myself into oblivion, but I resisted temptation.

I woke up this mornin’ with renewed positivity. Gettin’ dressed for work, I grab my thermos of coffee, then climb into my Silverado, and head to the mines. The dawn sky is breakin’, welcomin’ the sun, as the moon dips below the horizon. I pull into my parkin’ space, and see that Carly Jo is already in the office. Eager little lady, as usual. I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t resist seein’ her beautiful smile this mornin’, so I make my way to her office. I notice Shelly hasn’t made it in yet, but it’s only six-thirty.

I walk into her office, and take a seat, proppin’ my feet up on her desk. Yeah, I like to get comfortable, I may be here a while. She releases a loud huff of annoyance at my presence. I can’t help but chuckle. At the sound of my humor, she cocks her right eye brow at me with that screw off look.

“Superintendent Weston, what do you want?” She asks, tryin’ not to make eye contact.

“You, darlin’.” My statement causes her to pause in her work, as she removes her glasses from her face, and pinches the bridge of her nose. The first sign of defeat! This is gonna to be easier than I suspected. I walk around her desk, and lift her chin with my finger, so she has to make eye contact with me.

“Why are you fightin’ so hard against this? You deserve to hear the truth, and I’m the only person who can give you that. Please, Carly Jo?” I stare deep into her mesmerizin’ hazel eyes, searchin’ for any sign that she is relentin’.

Just as I see the mist build up in her eyes, she breaks free from my contact, shovin’ away from her desk to stand. She begins to pace back and forth, rubbin’ her temples, then I notice that tears are fallin’ freely down her soft cheeks. That sight alone stills my heart. I can’t stand to see her hurt for one more minute. Within two strides, I am by her side, wrappin’ her up in my arms. I expect her to reject me, but she holds on to me, and allows her cries to break free. I hold her tight against my chest, as I run my fingers down the length of her dark brown hair. God, it rips my heart out to see her hurt like this. Stupid bastard, why did you have to break the only woman to ever truly love you?

She pulls away from my embrace, and reaches for a Kleenex. I go to her, but she turns her back on me. She is dryin’ her face, as she takes her place back at her desk. I sit back down in front of her, and wait for her to speak. It feels like eternity passes, before the silence is finally broken. Carly Jo locks her eyes with mine.

“Colton, I’m so sorry that I had that little mental breakdown. As you can imagine, I’m under a lot of stress with everything changing in my life. I appreciate that you feel the need to explain whatever burdens you’re carrying over our past relationship, but I assure you, there is no need to it dig up. I know I was a bit of a bitch to you yesterday, and I apologize,” Carly Jo says, wringin’ her hands in distress. “It’s just a lot to take in, seeing you, touching you again after all these years. To be honest, I hate the thought of being your boss but I know that you’re a valuable asset to Simon Energy, or my daddy would never have wasted his time on you. You are the Superintendent of the main mines, Colton. We have to work side by side. So please, let’s keep our relationship as professional as possible.”