Cowboy Country (61 page)

***

The next four days seemed better. She never mentioned his painful words, deciding to let it drop and get on with their lives. He’d been more attentive and called her more frequently through the day so she had let it go. He had even come home at five o’clock to have dinner with her. He always left to go back to the office, which she found annoying, but he was making the time to be with her at a meal, which was important to her.

He also showed interest in her trip to LA, asking when she was planning on leaving and when she was coming back.

“My meeting with Luke Grayson’s managers is Tuesday at twelve-thirty, it’s a lunch meeting. I’m not quite sure when I’ll be back, if I can convince them to let me use this song pro bono, then I’m sure I’ll have to sign legal paperwork and I don’t know if they’ll have it ready or if they’ll have to draw it up but…”

Kip impatiently cut in. “Okay, honey. I was just wondering. Just give me a call and keep me informed. You’ll do great and you always get what you want.”

Rebecca knew the details bored Kip, he liked the big picture of a situation, so the small details of
what
she was going to do in Los Angeles caused him to get frustrated, feeling like the trivial details were wasting his time. Rebecca was just the opposite. She reveled in every little detail, planned for every conceivable way a situation could happen, so that she was never caught off guard. As her daddy had told her, she could convince a tornado it was spinning in the wrong direction, if she put her mind to it. She always had her bases covered and usually won her arguments.

“So when is your flight?” he asked.

“My flight leaves at six tomorrow evening. I hope you don’t mind, I wanted to get to my room and go over my notes before I get some sleep.” she explained.

He had been so good about coming home for supper and here she was, leaving around the time they usually ate. “I could make your dinner before I left and leave it in the oven.” she offered.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “I think I can manage, babe. I’ll probably just work late tomorrow night. Do you think you could meet for lunch before you go?” He saw the tears welling up in her eyes and quickly spoke up again. “Sorry, Babe. I know you’re probably busy with packing and the horses. We can go out when you get back.”

“NO! It’s not a problem at all! I would
love
to meet you for lunch. I think it’s wonderfully sweet that you asked. Is eleven-thirty okay or is that too early?” she smiled and cupped his cheek.

“Eleven-thirty is perfect. I love you, Becks.” he leaned in and kissed her, so soft and sultry that she felt her belly tingle in a way that it hadn’t done in a long time. He hadn’t called her his pet name since their fight, though she despised it, and now asking her to meet him for lunch? Maybe the fight they’d had was just what they needed to get back on track.

***

She quickly packed the last of her personal bathroom supplies and looked around the bedroom to make sure nothing was missed. Lunch with Kip had been wonderful. He had ordered large chef salads from the local deli and had a dozen red roses waiting for her. He’d ordered the salads for both of them out of consideration of her trying to lose weight and she didn’t have the heart to tell him that the huge salad had as many, if not more, calories as a sub sandwich and chips. His gesture was touching and she didn’t want to ruin it.

They spent an hour talking about his software project and she could tell he was pleased and proud of how quickly he was working out the bugs in the system. When he apologized for talking so much, she kissed him to hush him and reassure him that she
was
interested. She softly told him how proud of him she was and he smiled appreciatively. He continued to explain how this software could elevate his position in the company. They ended their lunch with a long and lingering kiss and she promised to call him and keep him informed. When she told him she would call as soon as she got to her room, she noticed his eyes darken.

“You don’t have to check in with me, Becks. I’m not your father.”

Confused at his sudden change, she hastily tried to sooth him. “I don’t think that, honey. I just thought I’d let you know that I arrived safely, that’s all.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Just don’t panic if you only get my voice mail. I don’t get very good reception in the lab.”

“I promise, no panicking!” she laughed, trying to lighten up the mood and gave him a final kiss goodbye.

“I
do
love you, Becks.” he stated seriously.

“Oh, honey. I love you too. I’ll see you in a few days.”

She was just getting ready to load her bags up in the truck when her phone rang. Rushing to the living room to answer it, she breathlessly picked it up on the fifth ring. “Hello?”

“Hello, Ms. Gordon? This is Jake at the Sweetwater Airport. I know how busy you are and so I am calling to let you know there’s been a delay in your flight leaving today. Everything has been pushed back two hours so your flight won’t be leaving until eight this evening. I apologize on behalf of the airport for any inconvenience.”

“No, thank you, Jake. I appreciate this, I have been busy so now I can catch up on some paperwork.” she laughed.

She said goodbye and hung up, wondering what she was going to do with that extra time. She loved living in a smaller town. These kinds of courtesies were small blessings that saved time and money. She went to call Kip to let him know her flight was delayed when her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Rebecca! Glad I caught you.” Megan’s frenzied voice came through the phone. “I needed to ask you a favor.”

“No problem. I just got a call and my flight doesn’t leave until eight now. What’s up?”

“I know you’re just supposed to be meeting with Luke Grayson’s managers but just in case you happen to meet him, could you get his autograph for me?”

“Oh, my gosh. You’re serious? I’m supposed to be presenting myself as a professional, to ask to use his music and you want me to ask for his autograph? Like some star struck fan?”

“I know, I know! But this is
Luke Grayson
! I wouldn’t be asking if it were anybody else!” Megan pleaded.

There was a moment of silence before both woman blurted out at the same time.

“Yes, you would!”

“Yes, I would!”

They burst out laughing and began talking about Rebecca’s trip.

“Have you told Kip that your flight has been delayed?”

“No, I was just getting ready to call him when you called.”

“Oh, wait. Don’t! You should totally show up at his office wearing a teddy and an overcoat. That would knock his socks off and he would
love
it!” Megan squealed.

“I can’t do
that
. What if something happened, like I got a flat tire or something? That’s too embarrassing.” Rebecca giggled.

“Ok, what about that little black dress you have, with high heels? Then you could give him something he’d
never
forget. He has been making the effort to do things for you, why not do a little something something for him?” Megan’s suggestive tone left no doubt as to her implications.

“It’s an interesting idea but I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Exactly! That’s why it would make it even more special. Just make sure you have your bags in the truck, and then you can leave for the airport from his office.”

Rebecca liked the idea of doing something out of the ordinary for Kip and was anxious to get changed. “Ok, I’ll do it. I’ll call you tomorrow after I wake up.”

“Have fun, my dear! Love you.” Megan laughed and hung up the phone.

“This is crazy.” she chuckled to herself as she went to get dressed.

Forty-five minutes later, she was standing in front of Kip’s closed office door, panicky filling her chest. What if he was busy? What if he was in a meeting with other people in there?

She took a deep breath. It would be alright. She was his wife, after all, just coming to say goodbye to her husband. She tightened the belt to her overcoat, softly knocked on the door before turning the knob and walking in.

She stood in the open doorway, her mouth gaping at the scene before her. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to make her mind believe that what she was seeing was a hallucination.

Kip was leaning over his desk, pinning a beautiful brunette underneath him. Her blouse was around her waist and her lacy, taupe bra was pushed down below her exposed breast.

The three of them were frozen for a moment before the woman screamed. “Oh, God!” and began to hastily pull her blouse up around her shoulders.

“Rebecca!” Kip shoved himself away from the woman as if she were on fire and began tucking in his shirt.

Dumbfounded, Rebecca began to ramble, unable to take her eyes off of the other woman. “My flight was postponed for two hours. I wanted to surprise you. I gotta go.” She blindly turned from the room and ran back towards the front doors.

“Rebecca, Becks! It’s not what you think. I was saying goodbye to her! I was breaking it off.” Kip was yelling at her, trying to button up his shirt but Rebecca was already flying out of the door and towards her truck.

  She fumbled for her keys, trying to open the door with her shaking hands. She didn’t hear any approaching footsteps but she flung herself into the cab and locked the doors. She glanced back towards the building but didn’t see any sign of Kip. She allowed her pent-up sobs to break through and felt her body rack with pain. She placed her head on the steering wheel, nausea starting to fill her belly. How could Kip do this to her, to them? They had exchanged vows; they made a commitment to each other. How could he act as if those vows were nothing? She had believed that they were doing so well.

Her thoughts were broken by her cell phone ringing. She dug it out of her purse and looked at the caller ID. Kip. She angrily wiped her tears away and hit the ignore button. Screw him. She couldn’t deal with this now. She had a plane to catch.

Her stability and her future was now solely dependent on her horses and her ranch. She needed to focus on that now, more than ever. Feeling strength and determination she had no idea where it came from, she put her key in the ignition and fired up her truck. Her future was in Los Angeles and her plane was waiting.

***

Sunlight seared through her eyelids as the blaring alarm brought her to consciousness. She forced her eyes open, looking around for the source of intrusion of her sleep. She found the ancient alarm clock and pounded on the snooze button.

Kip had continued calling her cell phone and left pleading, then threatening messages. She finally shut her phone off shortly after midnight, realizing she needed her sleep and couldn’t be distracted by her cheating husband. She knew that she couldn’t keep her phone off forever, aware that if there was a change in the schedule today, her cell phone was Grayson’s managers contact number.

“I just need a shower and a cup of coffee.” she mumbled to herself as she shoved her covers back. Because she had cried herself to sleep, her body felt achy and tired, her mind foggy. She couldn’t let her emotions cloud her focus today. This was about Othello and the future of her stables. If she and Othello could perform an emotional dance routine to a popular musician’s work, clients would flood to her stables to book Othello as the stud to breed to their mares, or pay top dollar for his foals. In addition to selling Othello’s foals, she could book lessons on freestyle dressage and board her client’s horses. All of that added up to a very comfortable income doing something she loved.

She turned the small coffeepot on before entering the shower. She let the hot water flow over her head to help clear her mind. She had gone over every possible argument the managers could possibly come up with on her flight to L.A. She was surprised and pleased that she had been able to focus on her task. Every time the image of Kip and the brunette popped into her mind, she remembered her stable and all of the years of blood, sweat and money she had put into it. That image allowed her to find the strength to concentrate on the task at hand.

She went back over her responses to each possible argument Grayson’s managers could come up with as she shampooed her hair. She would not allow herself to be caught off guard. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the luxurious robe she had brought from home, relishing in its softness. The shower and smell of fresh brewed coffee heightened her senses and she realized she actually felt good. She lingered over her first cup of coffee, taking in her room’s décor, realizing she had been too tired and distracted to notice it the night before.

  The rust-colored carpet had a visible path worn from the door to the bed. The curtains appeared to have been cut from the same cloth as the bed’s comforter, a heavy, polyester that may have once been a chocolate brown when it was new but had faded to a color that now resembled that of dried dog poop. The wall paintings were cheap prints that reminded her of what she found at garage sales in her town and the one window that was in her room faced a decrepit, brick building with laundry hanging out of a couple of the windows. It was definitely not a place that she would prefer to stay at but her budget for this trip told her it was her only option.

Once her make-up and hair were done, she dressed in a soft, black, mid-length skirt and fitted, royal blue, silk blouse. She had spent a fortune on the outfit, with the help of Megan, but knew it would be worth it if she was able to seal the deal. Her hope was that Grayson’s people would see that she was hip, stylish and meant business. She put in the diamond stud earrings that her father had given her as a present when she graduated college with a double degree in business management and horse husbandry. She looked in the mirror and smiled at herself. Not bad for a woman who less than twenty-four hours ago, found her husband cheating on her.

Stop it!
she chided herself. Kip has nothing to do with this. Not anymore. Because she didn’t want the distraction of a grumbling stomach during the lunch meeting, she decided to grab a light breakfast. Making sure she had her cell phone and briefcase, she wandered downstairs to grab a quick fruit salad and glass of iced tea at a little café she had noticed across the street of her motel. While she was eating, her phone began to ring, causing her to jump. Picking it up, thinking it was Grayson’s manager, Patrick; she felt her heart drop to her stomach when she heard Kip’s voice.