Roman's Choice (Saddles & Second Chances Book 1) (20 page)

“Seriously?”

“I just don’t think I’m cut out to be with someone who believes in such silly notions. There’s scientific evidence for everything.  Every ghost sighting or paranormal activity has an explanation.”

How had she missed his asshole tendencies?

“Want to know something, Willard? I don’t think I’m cut out for being with a narrow-minded, boring prick who has a dick the size of a hot dog!” The words were out and she was stunned. What had she just done? It was too late to concern herself with the outburst. Grabbing her boom box, she stomped toward her exit, refusing the desire to throw something at his head. She’d never, in all of her twenty- nine years, been so insulted that she wanted to strangle someone. If he couldn’t handle the fact that she wrote paranormal stories based on true events, then he didn’t have a place in her life. Good riddance! In fact, if she’d never told him that she wrote under the pen name Kris Fox, he would have never known. No one in Bridge, Ohio knew she wrote bestselling books, and that’s how she wanted to keep it. Living in a small town, she liked her privacy. She’d been the only child of a Baptist minister and loyal mother. Growing up in a house with strict rules, she’d practically gone crazy trying to be the sweet daughter her parents wanted, and she swore she’d only be herself from that point on.

That’s why at eighteen, two days after graduation, she’d packed a bag and left town with her best friend, Maggie. They ended up in Florida, both got jobs at a corner café, and that’s where she’d met handsome, virile Dodge Wyatt. He came through the door, ordered a coffee, and Maggie had to practically peel Krista off the ceiling. At the time, she had no clue who he was or that he played college football for Florida State. All she knew was that he had a smile that would offer her lots of fantasies and a voice that tickled every nerve ending. The small town girl in her had almost fallen over herself when he’d introduced himself and asked if she’d go to dinner with him.

If she’d only known how that one moment in time would change the direction of her life, she would have run as fast as her legs would have carried her. Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t have changed anything. She was hooked on Dodge the second he smiled, showing off deep dimples and penetrating eyes. She’d been head over heels.

Stomping out of Willard’s office building and into the parking lot, glad to see the pouring rain had stopped, she climbed inside of her BMW, but not before she received curious glares from passersby.
Haven’t they seen three inch heels before?

She placed her stereo on the passenger seat, started the engine, and pulled out onto the main street. Once she was headed toward the apartment complex that she’d called home for several years, she’d lost much of her anger. She wasn’t even sure she cared that Willard was a rude jerk.

Grabbing a takeout napkin from the glove compartment, she rubbed her lipstick off and tossed the soiled paper into the ashtray.

Humiliation slithered down her spine, but she refused to feel anything except relief that she’d realized the truth about Willard before she’d made the mistake of sleeping with him. She stabbed the on button to the stereo, turned up the volume and listened to the country song about the cowboy who got away.

“That won’t do.” She turned off the music and thrummed her fingers on the steering wheel in restless energy.

Stopping at a red light, she read a sign in a shop window, “Second chance sale.” The light turned green and she pushed the gas.
Second Chances…who needs them?

Up ahead a beat up old truck was stopped in traffic and she slowed her car, craning her neck to see what was happening. The driver’s door opened and out stepped a tall, broad-backed man wearing a white Stetson. Her heart sped up as her lungs deflated. They didn’t get many cowboys around these parts so this struck her as odd. The man turned and pushed his hat back on his forehead. He looked nothing like Dodge. She blew out a long breath.

Her mind drifted to her ex, his kaleidoscopic charm and the dreams they’d once shared before life got the better of them. They’d never done anything with caution, always jumping into things heart first. Some people arrived in a person’s life like a typhoon meeting a tornado, and Dodge was that powerful of an influence on her soul. She’d definitely been thinking with everything other than her brain when she moved in with him a week after meeting and, a month later, when they made an impromptu trip to Vegas where they exchanged nuptials in front of an Elvis impersonator. Since money was tight, they couldn’t afford a luxury wedding suite so they’d stayed in a rundown motel outside of the strip, shared a ten-dollar bottle of champagne, and snacked on pretzels while lying in the vibrating bed. That night had been the best of her life.

Those seven months as a newlywed had been amazing. She quit her waitress job where she worked for tips and managed to land employment at a newspaper, writing traffic reports. She would have mucked cow manure without gloves if it meant she could come home to her college football player husband every night.

They were happy. Two blissful young adults, loving whole heartedly while aspiring to make a change in the world. What could be more poetic? Who needed money when they could live on love, and the sex was extraordinary.

But every rainbow fades in time.

Dodge anticipated being drafted into the NFL. He worked hard, forcing his body to push even when he was exhausted. He gave the game his all. She’d supported him, even when all she wanted to do was drop kick him on his behind at times.

One evening, they’d gotten into a heated argument. She wasn’t even sure what it was over now, but she’d packed a bag and went to a motel. For two days she’d stayed away, resisting the urge to call him, until missing him had become too great. She’d gone home and waited for him, but when two A.M. had rolled around and he hadn’t shown up, she’d grown concerned. Driving several places where she knew he could be, she found his truck parked outside of the sports bar where he hung out with his buddies on occasion.

She wasn’t sure what thoughts were going through her mind when she walked into the honky tonk looking for her husband, but the second she saw the look on his best friend’s face, Krista had known something wasn’t right. She’d walked straight up to Peter, the brawny linebacker who was sitting wobbly on the bar stool surrounded by a cluster of scantily dressed ladies, and asked, “Where is Dodge?”

“He didn’t go home yet?” Peter had answered in a slurred voice.

“His truck is still out front.”

The man had turned two shades whiter. “I-I…well, he was just here.”

She knew the players had a pact—to watch each other’s back. Getting information from Peter would have been like pulling teeth, so she didn’t try. She’d instinctively checked the men’s restroom.

In that moment, the ceiling could have fallen and Krista wouldn’t have known.

Dodge was pressed up against the sink by a tall, leggy blonde who was kissing his neck. Her hand was wrist-deep his pants.

There were times in life when a woman knew a single event held such significance that it would change her life forever. Her existence seemed to freeze as she’d stood in the doorway of the restroom, hearing the invisible chains of their marriage breaking, one by one. Krista would never forget how Dodge had shifted ever so slightly as his gaze met hers past the blonde’s wildly coiffed hair. Several emotions had flittered across his face before he’d finally pushed the woman aside, but it had been too late. Krista was already flying out of the bar and heading toward her car. He’d caught up to her before she reached halfway, grabbing her elbow and pulling her back into his chest.

“Where are you going?” He’d pinned her with a cold glare.

“Away from here!” She’d tried pulling away, but he held her close. Even then, as her hands trembled and her knees weakened, she’d wanted to sink into his arms and forget all of their troubles. Wanted to wake up from the nightmare. Wanted her husband to assure her what she saw in the bar had been a mistake.

“So you decided you’d just waltz right back into my life after you told me it’s over,” he’d forced the words through tight lips, his eyes madly lit.

“Apparently you’ve already forgotten me, but remember who I am? I’m your wife!” She put great emphasis on ‘wife’ and pointed at the simple gold band on her finger—the one he’d purchased from the bubble gum machine at the grocery store.

“No, it was you who’d forgotten. You left, remember?” he snarled.

She jerked her arm so hard that he had no choice but to let her free. “I wasn’t the one caught with my pants down.”

“My pants weren’t down. What you saw—”

“You in the arms of another woman.” She’d inhaled deeply and wrinkled her nose. “You even smell like cheap perfume.”

“Do you know me at all?”

“No, not in the least bit. What had I been thinking by marrying you?”

“Fine!” He’d kicked up rocks with the toe of his boot. “I don’t owe you any explanation anyway. You gave up the right the moment you walked out of our marriage.”

“Is that right? Well, I sure hope you and the white trash bimbo have a glorious life together.” She slipped her band from her finger and tossed it at his chest. He didn’t bother trying to catch the ring. “I hope she picks up your dirty socks and lets your drunken friends hang out on the sofa all night. Or accepts the fact that you’re never around because you’re always playing football!” She stomped toward her car, jerked open the door, but he wasn’t finished yet.

“At least she won’t try to change me. I am who I am. I have dreams, too! Maybe she’ll stay, unlike what you did.” He turned on his heel and stomped back toward the bar’s entrance.

Krista didn’t have a clue what came over her, even to this day, but she’d been filled with an anger unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Her life had crumbled around her, much like the pea rocks on the parking lot under her feet. Instead of climbing into her car like she should have, choosing the high road and walking away, she grabbed the ball bat. The one she kept on the backseat for protection. That’s where things took a downward turn.

Dodge had loved his new truck, a gift from his parents, and as she lifted the bat high, all she could feel was justification as she shattered the headlights. And when that wasn’t enough, she’d slammed the steel bat onto the candy-red hood. Her breathing had been heavy in her ears as she’d turned, finding him standing on the sidewalk, staring dumbfounded. She would have expected anger, even yelling, but she hadn’t seen one sliver or sign of rage. What she did see had taken her by surprise. His prominent features were filled with sadness and loss of hope. Calm, collected and very slowly, he scrubbed his jaw, then sunk his hands into the front pockets of his worn jeans. “I guess I deserved that.” His voice was even unruffled. “But we’re through. You’ll be hearing from my divorce attorney.” He stepped across the gravel, pulled off his ring, also purchased from a gumball machine, and placed it on the hood of his beat-up truck. “You take care of yourself, you hear?” He winked, turned and disappeared inside of the building.

Krista had stood there for the longest time, holding the bat while gaining her breath. She hated that she didn’t feel better, not feeling vindicated for her rampage on the truck. She’d only felt heartbreak because he’d been her first and only love. Everything they’d shared had disintegrated there in that parking lot on that hot summer evening in July. She’d taken his ring, found hers, and slipped them both onto her finger as she drove away.

Driving for hours, she finally went to the apartment she’d shared with Dodge and found it quiet. He hadn’t returned. She packed her bags and could remember how forlorn she’d felt. Here she was, in a town surrounded by only Dodge’s friends, and Maggie had gone home months before. Krista decided she had no other choice but to  leave town and return to Ohio. She’d tucked her tail between her legs and admitted to her parents that she’d made a mistake. Expecting “I told you so,” Krista had been glad that neither of them had rubbed the break up in her face. Instead, they’d told her they were sorry and that they would help her in any way they could.

The next few weeks had been horrible. She stopped eating. Couldn’t sleep. Even Maggie couldn’t seem to pull Krista out of her depression.

When Maggie bought tickets to a concert to see their favorite band and wouldn’t take no for an answer, Krista went with her. Not wanting to ruin the night, she’d put on a fake smile, danced to the music and pretended she was the carefree girl she once was—before Dodge.

Hours later she came home, exhausted from pretending happiness, and found that her parents had left her a gift.  A box of stationary, a pen, and a note,
“Write it down. It’ll help.”

The words seemed to flow, and when the paper no longer satisfied her craving, she bought a laptop and put her words into a book.  Rejection after rejection later, she finally landed a contract and was published.

As happy as she was now, life wasn’t fulfilling. The circle wasn’t complete.

Parking her car in the garage of her apartment building, she grabbed a longer, heavy jacket from the backseat and pulled it on before getting out. Her heels clicked loudly on the cement as she crossed the lot and climbed into the elevator.

Stepping out into the lobby, she was greeted with a friendly smile and wave by one of her neighbors, Steve. “Hello, ma’am.”

“Hello, Steve.” She could always count on him and his family for brightening her day. “How’s the wife and baby?”