Serenity Falls (4 page)

“Thank
you,” I whisper.

As
my vision starts to come back, I step out of his embrace, embarrassed by my
reaction to him. I pull open the screen door and look back over my shoulder at
Wes. “You comin’?”

I
lean against the stall with my arms folded on the ledge, my chin resting on top
of them, looking at Lucy and Jane. I can’t help but think what the bonfire
tonight is going to be like. It’s not as if I’ve never been to one before. I
have. The last one I went to was graduation night. It was the night my high
school boyfriend and I decided to end our relationship. The beginning of high
school had been rough, but in my junior year, I pulled myself out of my funk
and started living again. I met Jarred Daniels, who later became my boyfriend.
We had a good relationship, but were more like friends rather than anything
else. When it ended, neither one of us were actually all that upset.

“What
are you thinking about?”

Pulled
from my thoughts, I look to my left to see Wes standing in the doorway of the
barn. His shoulder rests against the doorframe with his hands tucked into his
pockets. His vibrant blue eyes sparkle as he looks at me intently.

A
slow smile spreads across my face. “So, I take it you haven’t been home in a
while?” I ask, changing the subject. Even though Jarred and I ended on
reasonable terms, he’s not what I want to be discussing.

“Yeah.
I haven’t. It’s nice, you know, to be back in my element,” he replies, walking
over to stand next to me. He reaches into a satchel and pulls out a few carrots.
“Are you from around here?”

“Nope.
I was born and raised in Conroe, and now, I go to the University of Texas San
Antonio.”

Lucy
walks up to us, taking the carrots out of his hand. “What are you studying?”

“I’m
still undecided, but I’m leaning toward nursing,” I reply, reaching for the
cheek strap on the bridle and pulling Lucy toward me. When she starts to
protest, I slowly reach out with my other hand, and gently run it up and down
in a soothing manner along her forehead. “Shh… It’s okay. Nobody will hurt
you,” I soothe. Her eyes find mine, and she immediately begins to settle.

“What
made you choose nursing?”

“I
haven’t chosen, yet, but I like to help people,” I reply. “It’s seems fitting,
I guess.”

“You
seem really good with horses, too.” Wes nods at Lucy who seems much more at
ease with me now.

“And
how do figure that?”

He
smirks at me as he taps his finger against his temple. “I can tell. I’ve been
raised with horses. Trust me, I’m good at reading people and you seem to be good
with them.”

I
nod, contemplating his answer. “I love horses. I’ve been around them since I
was thirteen. Once I learned how to ride, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“I
can understand that. Mom and Dad didn’t start Operation Love until five years
ago. You know?”

You
can hear the love he feels for his parents just from the way he looks and talks
about them. I turn to look at him, but he’s looking at Lucy when I reply, “I
do. It’s a good organization and I believe in what they’re doin’.”

“Do
you know what made them start it up?” he asks, looking at me.

I
give a slight shake of my head. I never asked. I just assumed they did it
because they love kids.

“
My
cousin had cystic fibrosis and the only thing that
seemed to make him happy was when he was here at the ranch. We all knew he
wasn’t gonna live to see eighteen. When he’d come here on weekends or spring
break, we would both go riding. It was like nothing else mattered, not his
sickness, not his inevitable death—nothing. He could be so sick, but when he
came here, he would wear the biggest smile.”

“I’m
sorry about your cousin.” It’s all I can say. I know it doesn’t change
anything, or take away the pain that his family has suffered, but it’s all I
know to say. After my parents passed away, all I ever heard was ‘I’m sorry’. It
bothered me, but I learned to accept it, because I eventually realized that my parents
weren’t only loved by me, but by a whole lot of other people, too.

I
can tell that Wes and his cousin had a close relationship. Compassion rings
through his tone. His eyes look so far away, like he’s traveled back in time
and is here with his cousin again.

“Shall
we?” he asks, nodding towards the horses while looking at me.

Snapping
my eyes away from him, I turn away answering hastily, “Yeah.”

A
soft chuckle escapes him as I back up, allowing him to open the stall. “What?
Are you laughing at me?” I ask.

“I
would
never
laugh at you.” He laughs even harder.

With
my jaw agape, I playfully slap him on the arm. “Yes, you are.” I know a blush
has just taken over my entire face from being caught staring at him. Willing it
away, I say, “Just get in there so we can get to work on these horses.”

“Yes
ma’am,” he says, throwing his head back in laughter.

I
shake my head at him and can’t help but laugh, too.

“And
there it is.” He stares back at me, his laughter subsiding.

No
longer laughing, my eyebrows dip down. “Huh?”

“Your
laugh.” Is all he says, as if it’s obvious.

“What
about my laugh?”

“I
like it.”

Well,
hell, I’ve never had anyone say that to me before, not even Jarred, and we
dated for a year and a half. There’s a weird feeling in my stomach that I can’t
name, but I think I could get used to it. Deciding to leave his comment up in
the air, I walk over to the side of the stall and grab a brush off the wall.
“Why don’t you take Jane, and I’ll take Lucy?”

Without
waiting for him to reply, I slowly approach Lucy, gauging her reaction to me.
When I realize she’s not going to startle, I reach out to rub her forehead
again. Cautiously, I lift the brush and softly begin to stroke downwards on her
dark brown mane. “Now, that’s not so bad, is it?” I ask softly, mesmerized by
how well Lucy is taking to me.

I
don’t know how long I spend brushing Lucy, but when I look up, I see Wes’ eyes on
me. I don’t know why he keeps looking at me, but I kind of like it. With a need
to break the silence, I ask, “What time is the bonfire tonight?”

“We’ll
probably head over there around nine. That’s around the time it usually gets
dark.” He’s still looking at me, but I continue to brush along Lucy’s
hindquarters.

“Do
you know everyone who’s gonna be there?” I don’t look up at him because I’m
afraid I’ll get sucked into his gaze. Instead, I concentrate on taking off
Lucy’s bridle.

“Mostly,
yeah. It’s gonna be a lot of people I went to high school with.”

“That’ll
be nice for you to see everyone,” I reply, looking over at him with a faint smile.

“Yeah,
it’ll be good. I haven’t seen anyone in a while.”

“I
don’t mean to pry, but what do you do that has you living in Dallas?”

“I’m
a professional bull rider. I can pretty much live anywhere, but I like Dallas,”
he answers with a shrug.

“Do
you miss living here?”

“Yes
and no. I miss being close to my family, but I don’t miss the small town life.
What about you? Do you miss home?”

I
don’t know how to answer him. I don’t talk about my parents or that fateful
night often. I remember them, and what they were like, but even seven years
later, it’s still hard to talk about them. “Sometimes.”

“Do
you see your family often? I mean, I know it’s gotta be hard with you in San
Antonio for school.”

“I
go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it’s not too bad.”

“And
you come and spend the summers here.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement.
It’s as if he knows that I’d rather be here than at home partying with my
friends.

“I
like it out here. It’s nice, peaceful, and quiet. I love it when the kids come,
even if it is only for three weeks. Plus, you have really awesome parents.”

“Yeah,
they are pretty cool. And I can tell that they really like you. I’ve never
known them to let a volunteer stay in the house.”

I
don’t know what to say, so I just continue unstrapping Lucy’s bridle. I have no
clue why they let me stay in the house this summer either, but I won’t
complain. Last summer, I shared a room with Jackie. She’s not bad or anything;
she’s actually really nice, but that girl can talk. When I asked her why she was
here, she said she has a little brother with muscular dystrophy, and that their
mom got him involved with horse therapy and it helped raise his spirits. Being
an only child, I wouldn’t know how it would feel to watch a sibling suffer.

Changing
the subject, I say, “Do you know Jackie? She’s coming in next week.” By his
wide set eyes, and suddenly pale expression, I can tell he knows whom I’m
talking about. “Oh, so you do know Jackie, huh?” I can’t help, but laugh.

“Keep
that girl away from me.” His stern expression only causes me to laugh harder.

“She’s
not that bad. Yes, she talks a lot, but she really is a nice person.” I puff
out my cheeks a couple of times to ease the ache, as I attempt to calm down
from my outburst of laughter.

“Let’s
just say that when I was here last, which was three summers ago, she stayed
glued to my hip. I didn’t want to be rude, but after a while, it became
annoying.” He pauses for a second. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting
hungry again.” Wes plays my own game of changing the subject against me.

I
reach into my back pocket and pull out my cell phone to check the time. I can’t
believe that we’ve been out here for three hours already. Slipping my phone
back in place, I answer, “Yeah we should probably get back in the house. I’m
sure your momma is gonna want some help cookin’ dinner.”

I
walk over to the cabinet where the brushes are and replace the one that I used
on Lucy. Next, I hang the bridle on the corner of the cabinet. I reach my hand
into another satchel filled with oats. Turning back to Lucy, I walk up to her,
holding out the oats in my outstretched hand. As she bends down to eat them, I
give her a pep talk. “So, tomorrow, Lucy, we’re gonna work on putting the
saddle on ya. So, don’t give me a hard time. Okay, girl?” I rub her forehead once
more before walking out of the stall to see Wes waiting patiently for me.

“Thanks,”
I say as he closes the stall door behind me.

As
the warm summer wind blows, I sweep my hair to one side so the air can cool my
neck while we walk toward the house. “How long are you here for?” I ask.

“The
summer. I told Mom and Dad that I’d stay. When they said that we didn’t see
each other often enough, I realized they were right.”

I
inhale deep breaths when I realize how close he’s walking next to me. Close
enough for me to smell his cologne, but not close enough that he touches me.

“Do
you come home at all?” Although I haven’t been home since Christmas, I couldn’t
fathom not going home at all.

“Yeah,
but it’s normally only for a week here and there.”

“Well,
I know they’re glad you’re here,” I say, playfully nudging his arm with my
elbow.

“Me,
too.” The husky tone, mixed with the way he’s looking at me, makes my heart
beat faster. All of a sudden, the easy, playful banter is gone and replaced with
something else. Something I can’t quite make out. I look up at him. My breath
catches when I realize our faces are mere inches away from each other. With his
face so close to mine, I take a couple of quick steps back to put some distance
between us.

“I’m
sorry… I didn’t mean to… You know… How close…” I stop talking. The recognizable
heat from my blush creeps up from my neck to my face, making me feel like a
blubbering idiot.

 “It’s
okay, but you should know we have all summer,” he replies, looking me in the
eye.

“What?”
I ask, with a nervous chuckle, tearing my eyes away from his.

“Let’s
just say, Kenleigh, that I’ve heard a lot about you, and now that I’ve met you,
I intend to get to know you,” he answers before he turns away from me, leaving
me out on the front porch looking utterly dumbfounded.

He’s
heard a lot about me.
What the hell does that mean
? Out of nowhere, it
hits me.
Sandy
. I wasn’t imagining things when I saw that look on her
face earlier. Seems like she’s been planning this for a while.
Well, Sandy,
you may get your wish, because I like what I see, too.