The Long Ride Home (Cowboys & Cowgirls) (4 page)

Chapter 6

“
S
o, you and Elena are getting married?” Joe Thomas asked as he started looking over Holton’s stock in the big red barn on his property.

“Yeah, next weekend.”

“Next weekend! That was quick.”

“Yeah,” Holton said, nodding. It was what was needed. He needed to get a move on with selling off some of her Herefords and she needed the money for her last year of college. The whole thing was very stressful, but it had to be done.

“Man, you are so lucky. Elena is a beauty.”

Holton looked over at Joe and noticed his expression. “Stay away from
her; she is way too young for you.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Of course I’m going to stay away from
her; she’s going to be your wife!”

“Yeah…”

“Dude, you do know you are going to be married to her, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course I do. It’s just, well.
Never mind.”

“Hey, Joe! How are you?” Elena said as she came into the barn. She had a big grin on her face and carried a large pitcher of lemonade in one hand with a few cups underneath the crook of her arm
, and in the other hand she had a tray full of sandwiches. “Hey, baby,” she then said to Holton as she leaned in to kiss him. His face turned red and she smiled. “I brought you some sandwiches. Joe, there is plenty here for you, too. I saw your truck out front. How’s your parents?”

“They are—great. This is a surprise. I’m pretty hungry. Isn’t this great, Holt?” Joe asked as he took one sand
wich and put it in his mouth. “Mmm…”

Elena smiled and then poured each of the men a glass of lemonade. “I’m glad you like it, Joe. Holt, I just wanted to remind you that we have to talk to Pastor Mike tomorrow afternoon. He just called.”

Holton smiled and then took one of the sandwiches into his hands. “That’s right. I’ll be there.”

“Okay, well…I’ll just leave you two at it. Nice seeing you again, Joe. Holt, I’ll have dinner ready at five if you want to come over.”

“Congratulations on the engagement, Elena. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Joe said, grinning.

“Me, too,” she replied. “It seems like my entire l
ife has been centered on Holton.”

“That’s too bad,” Joe joked.

Elena laughed as Holton smacked Joe in the arm. “Hey!”

“What? She is much better looking than you, Holt.”

“Why thank you, Joe.”

“What did I just get done telling you, Joe?” Holton seethed.

Elena looked at Joe and he winked. “Maybe I should just get going,” Elena said as she started out of the barn. “Don’t forget about Pastor Mike, Holt. See ya.”

Holton nodded and then turned to Joe, not answering Elena.

“Dude, she is fantastic. These sandwiches are amazing.”

“Yeah, she’s okay.”

Joe shook his head. “What’s wrong with you? She comes out here and makes you lunch, brings me food, is cooking you dinners and she’s
okay
?”

“What do you want to hear? I don’t want to get married. You know what happens when you get married, right?” Holton asked. He didn’t know it, but Elena was standing just outside the barn.

“What’s that?”

“One of us will die. Then what? I learn to live with her, love her and then something will happen and she will die. Then what? I have to learn how to do all of this shit all by myself. Look at what happened to
her dad! Look at your dad when your mom died. They had to learn how to do it all on their own—I’m just not really into that.”

“Then why did you ask her?”

“I promised her dad. I don’t know what I was thinking—honestly. There has always been something…I don’t know.”

Elena slumped down against the back wall
of the barn, listening to their conversation.

“Everyone knows there something—we’ve had bets on you two for years.”

“I’ve been trying to fight it. I shouldn’t have asked her, but she needs me. I don’t want to lose her either. She is important to me, Joe, it’s just I don’t think I can be that guy for her. I don’t want to lose her as a friend, though, and if I end this, it’ll take care of the friendship and I don’t want that. We have so much history. There is so much of my life that has been just Elena. Everything has been Elena.”

“Dude, Elena is wonderful; she’s not like other girls. You’ll see that she is perfect for you.”

“What did I tell you earlier? Stay away from her, Joe. You are way too old for her.”

“She is only 7
years younger; besides, all is fair in love and war. If you don’t marry her, someone else is going to snatch her up.”

Holton sighed, “I know. Just remember that I’ll break you if you even try.”

Joe laughed and lifted his cup of lemonade to his lips. “What are you going to do, break every guy that comes near her?”

“Something like that.”

“So, you don’t want her, but nobody else has a shot either?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Holt, man, it’s me. I know you love her.”

Elena listened to the conversation wi
thout moving. She hoped that Holton would just admit that he cared for her, anything.

“I don’t have to admit anything to you, Joe.”

Joe laughed. “Man, you’ve got it bad and you don’t even know it. Listen, I’ve gotta get out of here now; think before you do anything stupid.”

“I know,” Holton
said dejectedly.

Outside, Elena stood up to leave just when Joe was walking out of the barn. He caught her eye and they both stared at one another. Elena brought her finger up to her lips, silencing him. She closed her eyes and then walked toward her house.

Joe followed her. “He loves you, Elena.”

“Sure he does,” she said, smiling sadly.

“He just has a lot of hang-ups for some reason.”

“He has been breaking my heart for years, Joe. It’s time I do something about it.”

Joe looked at her nervously, and then nodded. “Take care, Elena. I know how it is.”

She nodded her reply then continued her walk to the house.

***

At five o’clock, Holton was at her home and knocking on the front door, ready for dinner. Elena answered the door with a smile and led him into the dining room. The table was set with her mother’s fancy china. The aroma of
pot-roast and potatoes and vegetables filled the air as Elena filled two glasses full of wine.

“T
his is nice, Elena, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Holton,” Elena said quietly as she took her seat. Taking a deep breath, she placed a napkin on her lap and
filled her plate. “Did you get everything you needed to get done finished?”

Holton looked up and nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t too bad today. How
‘bout you?”

“Yes…I talked to Jacob Weston this afternoon.”

Holton froze. Jacob Weston was the manager at The First National Bank. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I ask
ed him about taking a small loan out for school this semester,” Elena said quietly. She reached over and took her glass of wine and lifted it to her lips. The amber liquid went down smoothly.

“Why?”

“Well, I go back to school next week, so I thought it would be a good idea to get things paid for before I go back, and besides, I don’t want to have to worry about coming up with the money once I get there.”

Holton’s eyes widened and he put his fork down. “
What are you talking about?”

“School.”

“I know, but I thought you were going to Dallas?”

“N
o, I decided to go back to Sunnybrook.”

“But…”

“This is our last dinner together, Holton. I just wanted to thank you.”

Holton looked over and just noticed that the box that held Elena’s engagement ring was to the right of her hand. Elena grabbed it and slid it across the table. “I shouldn’t have accepted this, and you shouldn’t have given it to me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You. You were right, you aren’t ready, and I’m not going to be the one that you make a huge mistake with. You can have the land, Holton. I signed the loan papers today and my last semester of school is now officially paid for—well, on loan. I’ll pay it off once I get a job. I’m keeping the house—it’s all in the paperwork. If you just sign where the x is, then we can get this ball rolling. Could you please pass the corn,” Elena said with as much muster as she could.

She handed over the paperwork and waited for him to pass the corn. His hand shook and he picked up the casserole dish and handed it to her. “Why are you doing this?”

“I told you. I figured out a way t
o get what we both really want. I want to finish school, and you want my family’s land.”

Holton flinched.

“That’s not all, Elena.”

“Ho
lton, please don’t treat me like an idiot. I heard you today—in the barn with Joe. You don’t know why you asked me. You freaked out over a promise to my father, a promise you made to a dying man to appease him. It was a nice thing you did for Dad. He left this world thinking that his only daughter would be taken care of and loved. It’s okay that I’m not.”

“Elena, no. That’s not at all…”

“Save it, Holton. Just sign the paperwork. Do what you have to do in order to get exactly what you want. When I’m finished with school I am coming back here. I am going to get a nursing job close and I will get married someday and raise my children here in this house. I don’t want to fight with you. What I want is for us to continue to be friends, because it would be a damned shame if I couldn’t count on you to be there for me as family. You are all I have left. I don’t want the friendship gone, too; I just can’t keep fooling myself. I have been fooling myself for years. I thought…when I was 14, I thought for sure you and I were going to marry someday. And then again at 16…and then again at 18. My whole life, Holton, I thought we would be together. I have kept you in line and you have kept me on the line like a damn fish that you would eventually go back for. The thing is is that you were never interested in me that way. I am tired…tired of the whole thing.”

Ho
lton shook his head and let it fall into his hands. “I have screwed up everything,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I just told
you what is going to happen, Holton. I am done.”

Ho
lton looked up and, for a moment, Elena thought he was going to take back everything that happened…everything he had said, but he didn’t.

“Well, I’m really t
ired. I think I am going to go to bed; please, finish your dinner and when you’re done, just put the dishes in the sink. I’ll get them in the morning. I didn’t get that much sleep last night.”

“Elena—”

“Don’t be a stranger, Holt,” Elena said and then stood up and left the room quickly, cutting Holton off from further conversation.

***

The next morning, Holton went over to Elena’s to
talk to her. As soon as he arrived he realized that she had already left. Her car was gone. She went back to school without even glancing back.                                            

Holton was immediately pissed. He went into his barn to do his morning chores and couldn’t concentrate worth a damn. Later that afternoon, Pastor Mike called and he had to tell him that they no longer needed his services. That, of course, prompted Pastor Mike into coming to the house and having a talk with him. Holton was now more confused more than ever.

“Have you talked with her—actually had a conversation as to why she ended the engagement?”

Holton
nodded his head, feeling foolish. “She ended it last night. I thought she just needed to sleep it off, but then when I got up this morning, she was gone.”

“Maybe she thought it best.”

“Well, obviously, Pastor Mike, she did or she wouldn’t have left.”

“Now, Holton, I know you’re upset, and I know I would too if the love of my life left me…”

“Love of my life?”

“Well, isn’t she?”

“I hardly think that…”

Pastor Mike shook his head and looked at Holton with an odd glare. “Now I know the problem. You don’t marry someone, unless you love them, Holton.
You don’t marry someone unless you know them. You don’t know each other well enough.”

“I think you have us mistaken for someone else. I’ve known her nearly my entire life.”

“Yeah, you know of her, and you know of me, but you don’t know me. Don’t you think you should know the woman you are about to marry?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Well, tell me something about Elena…something personal.”

“Why would I tell you that?”

“Because I want to know that you know your fiancé.”