Nova (26 page)

There was silence for several seconds while I thought about his apology. It was decent—it felt sincere—so I really did feel obligated to accept it.

I turned around to face him again, ready to make amends
, but also completely on the def
ensive. I didn’t want to be burned by him a second time.

“Okay, fine. Apology accepted. And I also apologize for saying things that you weren’t
man enough
to hear.”

I turned back to my work and he chuckled, which made me smile to myself.

“You’re
a brat
, you know it? Just like that horse of yours. I think you were a match made in heaven.”

“We must be kindred spirits,
”
I replied sarcastically.

He lightly laughed
again, and when he said, “Maybe that was the connection you were feeling out there,” it was my turn to laugh.

I faced him again and we both laughed some more.

Then he said, “That vibe must have just been floating around out there
with the sweltering heat
, but I surely hope the other vibe wasn’t coming from the horse, too.”

I laughed even harder and threw a box of tissues at him, and that’s when Austin came into the office. I could tell he wasn’t happy, and he just stared at the two of us. I was kind of surprised that he didn’t say anything though, but Ben made a
quick
exit without a word
either
.

I picked up the box of Kleenex and set it back on the counter. Austin came across the room slowly, and I could tell he was going to say something so I decided to wait for it.

“Are you working?” he finally asked.

“Uh, yeah, just filling out some paperwork.” I sat down at the desk but turned my chair to face him. “Are
you
working?” I smiled, knowing he’d been doing bookwork for his dad.

“So you’re working—getting paid—to have a few giggles with Ben?” he asked instead of answering my question.

I stared at him fo
r several seconds, unsure of how to respond
.

“I mean I’m used to seeing you and Jack have a blast with each other,” he continued, “but I’m not used to seeing
that
. You know…having good times with the one person I’ve asked you to stay away from.”

“Don’t do this, Austin,” I
pleaded
quietly.

“Don’t do what?
Don’t be the boss?
”

“Oh, so now this is business related? Okay then, I’m sorry,
s
ir
, for socializing while I’m on the clock. It won’t happen again.”

“Nova, don’t be a smart ass.”

“What?” I asked with disbelief.

He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Are you sure?” I asked carefully. “Because you seem really upset with me.”

“With Ben.”

“Why? He only apologized to me for being a prick to me last week.”

“So what were you laughing about? What a total asshole he is?”

I rolled my eyes
, but I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I guess I just had to make things worse by saying, “I’m working, Austin. If you’re going to get on my case for fraternizing with Ben, then you’ll have to scold me for spending time on my personal life right now
with you
—”

“Don’t be like that,” he scoffed.

“Be like what? You challenge the one thing that I take pride in—my work ethic—and use it against me.”

“That’s not—” He stopped short and then sighed. “I only said it out of frustration. It was stupid and I’m sorry.”

“But it’s how you feel,” I stated.

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds as we just stood there, looking at each other. Finally his shoulders dropped and he shook his head. He sat down at the counter and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Ben’s not even allowed in here,” he said. “After stealing so many of the drugs and stuff in here over the years, he’s not allowed
to come in here. He knows that
.”

I took a moment to consider that and then sat down at the counter across from him. “I understand. But I don’t believe he was even thinking about that when he followed me in here.” Austin gave m
e a curious look so I added, “At first I refused
to
talk to him.”

He slightly raised an eyebrow, but then chose to let it go. He reached across the counter to take my hands in his and said, “I’m sorry I reacted like that. It had nothing to do with you and it was very unfair of me to talk to you that way. Professionally
and
personally.”

I smiled because of his words
and
because of the warmth I felt after hearing them. “
How do I know you’re serious?” I teased. “You know, about the
personal
part of the apology.”

He slowly smiled but took the bait, and he was around to my side of the counter to kiss me in three seconds flat.

“I love you,” he said softly, holding me close.

“And I love you, too.”

He leaned his forehead against mine for a few seconds and then gave me one last kiss. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said as he left the office.

I waved as he shut the door and then sat down at the desk again.

I thought about the past week since that day on the mountain. Austin and I only talked about Ben once, and that was the day after when he
again
asked
what had made me upset while talking to Ben. I only said that Ben wouldn’t open up to me about his past, and that he’d tricked me into revealing some of mine.

Austin did end up filling me in about a few things, and I could see where all the different emotions were coming from, especially Clara and Heath. Apparently Ben had been stealing more than just the drugs in Jack’s office, but also money from the petty cash fund, and he’d even hocked a few items no
w and then. That all happened two years
after Amy’s death, and Austin didn’t even know about it
at the time
. Dave and
Marlo
kept it quiet because the family was already going through so many struggles. Austin was
still friends
with Ben at that point, and he was for a few years after, but
all Austin would say was that they “drifted apart.”

I didn’t want to be in a tricky situation by siding with one or the other so I promised myself I would stay out of it.

I was feeling pretty anxious after getting off the phone with my Aunt Meryl the next day. I was already registered for school, but she called to let me know she got my books for me. I was very grateful and promised I would pay her back, but she insisted that she wanted to help me with it. The good news was that the diner was doing incredibly well, and I was very happy about that. Austin had spent
some
time wi
th Meryl
over the summer
to finalize the deal
, and she
was very pleased about everything he had done for her.

The bad news was that my Uncle Scott was having health issues. Meryl wasn’t able to spend the same amount of time at the diner like she used to, and
she
had to hire a bookkeeper to take on some of the workload so she could get Scott to his doctor’s appointments.
I offered to help her out as much as I could, and surprisingly she did take me up on a few minor things.

I had still been visiting my family on a regular basis, usually on Wednesdays. Austi
n came with me most of the time
and he and my Grandpa Clark had formed quite the friendship. Gramps loved Austin, and he loved listening to Austin’s racing stories. I tolerated the stories only because I liked hearing them have such a good time together. My grandfather
had always
told me to stop being such a turd about going to the races
, and once he said th
at out loud in front of Austin, my boyfriend had a good time using the same line on occasion
.

I had a hard time when I paid for my fall classes. Austin was with me, and even though I knew what my schedule was going to be since I’d already scouted my classes online, I had such a dreary feeling about it. It was almost like my vacation was coming to an end and it was back to the grind again.

I
also
didn’t like my schedule since it was totally inconvenient to my current wants and desires. I had classes on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Way to limit my time at the ranch, right? I
figured
I could head north on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and then again on Saturdays and Sundays, but even though Jack offered me the hours, he suggested it might take away from my studies. He told me to just do one or the other to start off with, and then see how I feel about adding more.

And then there was the issue of Austin’s racing. He still wanted me to attend his races
,
and I had agreed
to put his last three on my calendar: Spokane in September, Roseville in October, and Phoenix in November. The All-Star Showdown that he was shooting for was in January, and although that seemed so far away to me, Austin talked about it like it was just around the corner.

I was just barely getting all the series straight and what meant what, but I did understand what the Sprint Cup Series was, and the Nationwide Series. That level of racing was Austin’s goal, and I knew he wasn’t going to stop until he made it there. Shoot, even if he did make it to the top, I wasn’t sure he’d ever quit.

Those kinds of things made me nervous, but it wasn’t a subject that we talked about anymore. I guess once “I love you” got added to the mix, we both just continued to encourage each other in the goals we were reaching for, not wanting to take anything away from the other. We did whatever we could to make everything else work in between, but the bottom line was that I loved seeing Austin so happy, and unfortunately, racing was what did that for him. I wished it was something else, like golf or
even
baseball, but those things didn’t give my boyfriend the rush that he looked forward to every week. He loved things like snowboarding and surfing, but nothing gave him the feeling he got from racing cars. Motocross was a close second, as was skydiving and hang gliding, but he lived to race, and I knew it was always going to be in his blood.

Yes, I was in love with an adrenaline junkie.

August 29
th
was my first day of classes. The week went by pretty steadily, especially since I was helping out at the diner again. Meryl let me schedule my own shifts, so I put down just sixteen hours for my first week. Even with that my week seemed kind of empty, and I realized I needed to get used to the change of scenery. It was weird being in a classroom again; it was weird waiting tables again. I missed the ranch and all of the people there, and I especially missed being there whenever Austin was able to be home.

The
amount
of time we saw each other that week wasn’t much different than it was before
,
but the times were just a little different. I mainly missed seeing him in the evenings, so I really missed those goodnight kisses. He actually came down to Santa Clarita on Tuesday and Wednesday (even though I worked four hours on Tuesday) so that’s what gave us a lot of time together
that week
.

That Friday evening
I flew to
Spokane, Washington for his next race. It wasn’t so much the race that I was excited for like Austin was, but just that time with him was what gave me satisfaction. Minus the time he spent with his team and at the track, he and I were stuck to each other like glue.

I met a few of his relatives that Saturday. His aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins had traveled from Boise to see Austin race. I sat with them during the race, and after Austin
finished
second that day, we all went out to dinner.

We were back in B
akersfield by noon the next day
and I was content spending the
afternoon
with his family. It felt like I was
home again
and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to feel that way or not. I guess I’d gotten really comfortable at Harmony Acres, and I finally understood what Austin meant about feeling like he was on vacation whenever he came home. It really was that type of atmosphere.

I especially missed all the horses, and I had to make my rounds to say hello to everyone. I’d only been away for a week, but it felt like a month. Born To Be Wild looked great, and even though his leg was still healing, he was hobbling around just fine with the cast. He sure let out a long and loud whinny when I said, “Hey there, Wild Thing,” from around the corner.

I also had a few other creatures following me around. Max and
Tilly
seemed to miss me, as did Goldie and Chap, her
pokey
pup that
Marlo
decided to keep.