Finding Abigail (27 page)

I was afraid to
look at him; instead, my gaze stayed fixed in front of me. We were still in a
field, but were headed to a wooded area where I could see a dirt trail. “I
don’t know, I’m too busy worrying I’m going to fall off.”

“You’re doing
fine, just relax and enjoy the view,” he said, pointing to the trees in front
of us. The leaves were just starting to bloom on the branches along the path.

I shifted my
head slightly in his direction, still afraid of making sudden movements. “So,
why was Cindy here?”

He frowned,
looking ahead of him. “Ugh… she knows I come here every Sunday. She lives down
the road. She comes by with the excuse to visit Cheryl, Wade’s wife, who can’t
stand her, by the way.”

I huffed and
nodded my head. “She does come on a little strong.”

Now he turned
to look at me, his eyes wide. “You think?”

“Why you?” I
asked with a grin. The fear in his eyes made me want to laugh.

He turned away
again, gazing ahead of him. “It’s not just me. Any guy her age she considers
good looking is fair game.”

I glanced down
at my hands. My knuckles were white, clenched around the reins. “Don’t you have
a girlfriend? I mean other than her. You’re kinda cute and nice enough, at
least when you’re not being so damn pushy.”

A soft chuckle
came out of him; it was a nice sound. “Was that a compliment?” he asked, glancing
at me. I nodded. “I had a girlfriend. That’s why I moved to Philadelphia. She
was following her dream, and I followed her.” His eyes that had been relaxed
turned sad.

“I’m guessing
things didn’t turn out as you’d hoped.” I loosened my fingers a little, getting
used to the rhythm of Midnight’s steps. I wasn’t bouncing as roughly.

“It did for a
few years, until I found her in my bed boinking my business partner.”

I couldn’t help
but smile at his choice of words, how old was he twelve? “Seriously? What did
you do?”

A hawk
screeched above us, and he looked up. “I left the next day, sold my shares of
the company to his ex-wife for a dollar.”

I gaped at him,
my eyes wide. “A dollar, why would you do that?’

“I didn’t need
the money. I wanted to screw him, like he did my girlfriend.”

I laughed, and
couldn’t stop. It was such a spiteful thing to do. I wish I had thought of
something like that for Nick. Leaving him wasn’t enough. I should have cut all
the right sleeves off of his shirts. I saw that in a movie once. “So you came
back here and started over?”

“Not at first.
I moved back, but starting over implies that I did something constructive.
First I drank a lot. I stayed in the cottage for days without coming out, until
my grandma came down and told me if I continued to waste my life over some
woman who didn’t deserve me in the first place I would have to find somewhere
else to do it. But if I wanted to move on with my life I could have the house
if I fixed the cottage. I did it, and she gave me the house.”

My heart warmed
just talking about his grandmother. My own died when I was a baby, and I
suddenly missed what I never had. “She sounds like such a wonderful woman.”

He narrowed his
eyes. “You know she is. You just won’t admit you know her.” Dread plunged in my
gut—he was going to bug me about my past again. But then he smiled and I
breathed a sigh of relief. “But yes, she is a great woman,” he said
thoughtfully, looking off in the distance. All I could see were trees and
fields, no buildings in sight. It was so peaceful. The only sounds were birds
chirping and the sounds of bugs flickering, in the grass. “That’s why when she
tells me to take care of you, I listen.”

“Don’t start.
Remember our deal, you’re not supposed to pry.”

He steered his
horse closer to mine, so we could enter the trail through the trees. It was
darker in here but the sun shone brightly above us, lighting our way. “I’m not,
but that doesn’t mean I won’t look out for you.”

A branch
brushed up against my bare arm, leaving a light scratch along my skin. I barely
noticed as I glanced at him. “So, now you don’t trust women?”

“Well, I
haven’t met anyone that I’d want to risk getting hurt again for. I’d like to
think that when I do, that I can trust her. Just because Becca was a cheating
bitch doesn’t mean all women are.”

I nodded. His
words were wise, but they didn’t apply to me. I knew just because Nick was an
abuser didn’t mean another man would hurt me, but since I couldn’t tell the bad
from the good, I wasn’t going to take that chance again. It just wasn’t worth
it. The fake relationship I had with Noah would be the closest I’d get to a
real one again. Love was too painful. “Whose wedding did you go to when I first
arrived?”

“Becca’s.”

Feeling a
little steadier, I reached out and rubbed Midnight’s neck. His velvety soft fur
felt so smooth against my hand. “She married the business partner?”

“Yep.”

“Why did you
go?”

He shifted in
his seat. “I wanted them to know that I was over it, and I no longer care what
they did.”

“Wow, you’re
stronger than I am. I would never have been able to do that.”

He turned to
face me, his bright blue eyes serious. “It wasn’t easy, and I drank a lot of
alcohol afterward, but I did it and now I can forget about it and move on.”
Light shone ahead of us, where the tree line ended. We emerged out of the
darkness onto a grassy knoll that led to a small little pond. It was pear
shaped, and clear, and the sun shone on the water, making the surface shimmer.
The air smelled of leaves, dirt, and grass.

Noah jumped off
of Steve, leading the horse to the water for a drink. I slowly slid off of
Midnight, the edge of the saddle digging in my stomach. I followed Noah and
tied Midnight to a bush. He drank the water in big gulps. While the horses
drank their fill, I sat on a large boulder and watched Noah skip a few rocks.

“I told you
something very personal, now it’s your turn.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke.
The long grass beside him that bordered the pond swayed in the wind.

He was right,
and it was only fair, but what could I tell him? I didn’t want to talk about
Nick. But I had had other boyfriends and lots of stories. “My senior year of
high school, my boyfriend of two years stood me up and took Samantha Patterson
to the prom. She was a major sleaze.”

His hand froze
in the air as he was about to throw a rock. He turned his head to glance at me.
His eyes were shadowed under his cap. “Did you get even?”

“I didn’t have
to. Samantha gave him gonorrhea. He suffered enough.”

He laughed,
turning back to throw the rock. “We should head back. I have some things to do
before I make dinner.” We both untied our horses and hopped on, one of us more
graceful than the other.

“Like what?”
Once I was up, I wobbled, finding myself tipping off the other side. Noah
grabbed me just in time, before I took a nose-dive into the dirt.

“You okay?” he
asked as he let go of my arm.

I steadied
myself, spreading my legs. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Noah and Steve
started back toward the woods again, and thankfully, Midnight followed without
any prodding from me. “What do you need to do?” I asked again.

He ducked under
a branch as we started through the trail. “Well, if we want to eat, I need to
get food.” He smiled. “And I have an order I’m starting tomorrow so I want to
go over the plans.”

A brown
squirrel launched across the path barely missing being trampled by a big hoof.
My heart leapt, for a second, as I worried the rodent would make me fall, but
Midnight didn’t even notice. “An order for what?” I asked when my heart slowed.

“Kitchen
cabinets. I’m a cabinet maker. My shop is on the other side of my house.”

“I thought that
was a barn.”

“It was at one
time, but I converted it when I renovated Grandma’s cottage. Now I use it for
my shop.”

“You don’t
renovate anymore?”

“I can, but I
chose to specialize. I enjoy making cabinets. I have a website and I get a lot
of orders off of that.” He gave me a sideways look. “What about you? You said
you were a writer. Have you sold anything?”

“Yeah, I write
articles for magazines.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I had done it at one time,
just not in years.

We were almost
back at the barn. We grew quiet taking in the view, and enjoying the
peacefulness of the day.

“How was your first ride, Anna?” Wade asked
me as we loaded the horses into the stalls. Nick showed me how to brush them
after we removed their saddles. I really like doing it; it was relaxing.

“Great,
Midnight is such a gentle animal, and the view is breathtaking. The only
problem is my butt’s going to be sore for days.” I couldn’t help rubbing my
abused backside.

He laughed.
“Yeah, that tends to happen the first few times. If you keep coming down here
with Noah, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”

I wasn’t not
sure if that was a good idea. Any more days like this and I was afraid I’d get
attached. And that was not a good thing.

A Good Meal

Noah dropped me
off before going shopping. I offered to help him, but he declined, saying I’d
just be in his way. He was in a hurry to get back home.

Maybe it was
the fresh air, but when I stepped inside the cottage I felt inspired. Even
though I had been writing, it still wasn’t flowing as well as it used to. So I
had to start whenever the urge arose. I whipped my hat off and cringed; my hair
smelled of horse. Okay, writing would have to wait—shower first.

Two hours
later, I was really getting into the plot of my book. Sammy had just told his
friend Jimmy that he found a little world in his back yard. Of course Jimmy
didn’t believe him so Sammy introduced him to Ernie, the chipmunk.

“Hello?” a
women’s voice called from the other room. Damn, I forgot to lock the door.

I didn’t get up
to see who it was. I couldn’t stop my train of thought. I had to get the words
down before I forgot. “In here,” I yelled, typing as quickly as I could.

“Hi, what are
you doing?” Kathy asked from the doorway of my office.

I finished the
sentence and pressed save. “Just writing a letter.” I closed the file and
turned around. I couldn’t tell her I wrote children’s books. Since she had
kids, she might recognize me.

“I’m sorry to
intrude. I know you have plans with your boyfriend, so I won’t keep you.” I
narrowed my eyes at her, about to argue. She laughed. “I know you’re just
helping Noah out, he told me about your deal. And it’s working; Cindy’s already
told everyone in town you two are an item. I’ve seen her face when she’s said
it and I love it. I’m so happy you got her off of Noah’s back.”

I leaned back
in my office chair, the springs groaning in protest. “She is a bit pushy, isn’t
she?”

She yanked her
purse strap up higher onto her shoulder. “That’s an understatement. Anyway, I
came to invite you to come to the diner for lunch tomorrow. My break is at one,
so I thought we could eat together and get to know each other better.”

There was no
way I could do that; my mind told me to keep a safe distance. “I’d love to.”
Damn, that slipped out; too bad my instinct never listened to my mind. If it
had, things might have been different with Nick.

“Okay, I’ll see
you then. By the way aren’t you supposed to be at Noah’s for six?”

I nodded.
“Yes.”

“It’s five to
six now. See ya tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder as she headed out.

Shit, I was
late. Thank god I had a shower after our ride this morning; I wouldn’t want to
show up smelling of horse. I yanked clothes out of the closet, not even looking
to see what they were, what did it matter? It wasn’t a date, just a payment for
my part of the deal. After I dressed in what turned out to be a black silk
blouse and dark skinny jeans, I fluffed my hair and added some more makeup.

I knocked on
his door at six fifteen; not too bad. It was very handy that he lived right
next door. I heard him yell, “Over here,” from the back of the house. I
followed the voice along the wrap-around deck and found him flipping steaks on
the barbeque with a beer in his hand. He looked up at me. “You’re late,” he
said with a grin that showed a dimple.

“Well, if we’re
going to eat together three times a week, you’re going to have to get used to
that. It happens often.” He reached into a cooler and handed me a beer.

“Thanks.” I sat
down on one of the chairs in front of the patio table, popping the top off and
taking a sip. I dropped the cap onto the glass table. It spun for a few seconds
then slowed to a stop. “Did you get your work done?”

Smoke billowed
out of the grill as he flipped a steak. The smell of the smoke and meat made me
hungry. “Yeah, tomorrow I’ll start on the kitchen island. I like to build the
biggest first and work my way down.”