Where Forever Lies (21 page)

“Yeah,
I guess he has.” Paige knew things were changing with her since
she’d met Tyler, but she didn’t think it was something
that people would take notice of.

“Well,
tell me how it all goes and don’t leave anything out. I’d
better go check on Mr. Branson. It’s time for his meds and I’m
sure he’s going to be cranky.” Kyleigh sighed as she
jumped up and headed down the hall to the east wing.

A wave of
unease shot through her as she thought about Tyler’s surprise,
but she pushed those thoughts away for now, she’d worry about
that when she got there.

♥♥♥

Pulling
into his driveway, she felt her heart begin to race. Her palms were
sweaty as her fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly, and she
considered turning around and making up an excuse as to why she
couldn’t make it. But she knew that would be a terrible thing
to do and she didn’t want their relationship to start off with
lies.

As she
came to a stop, she looked around at his property. It was
breath-taking and she found herself wondering what it would be like
to live out here. She giggled at that thought. She would be bored in
a day.

She heard
the screen door slam and looked over to see Tyler standing on his
porch, smiling as he leaned against the railing. She waved at him and
got out, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. Once she got to the
steps, he instantly pulled her in for a kiss. It had only been a
couple of days since their last date, but she thought it felt longer
than that and by the way Tyler was kissing her, she knew he felt the
same.

She pulled
away quickly, placing her hand on his chest as she asked, “So,
what’s this big surprise? You know that I hate surprises.”

A
mischievous smile slowly formed on his face and Paige cringed. She
knew that wasn’t a good smile. He was up to something and it
somehow involved her. “Today, you will do something that will
absolutely terrify you,” Tyler stated as he continued to smile
at her.

Fear rose
in her throat, causing her to choke her question out. “What?”

Tyler
rubbed her shoulders as he turned her in the direction of the barn.
“See those beautiful horses out there? I’m gonna get you
on one today, and I have a feeling you will love it.”

Paige
looked up at him, her eyes rimmed with fear. “Oh, no, I’m
not. There’s no way in hell I’m getting on one of those
animals. They have a mind of their own and are unpredictable.”

Tyler
laughed, “You will and you’ll have fun. Now come on,
let’s get you into some cowboy boots, you can’t ride in
those little sandals.”

She
watched him walk back to the house and stood there as fear took her
over. She knew she was not getting on a horse, but it was obvious
Tyler had another idea when she saw him come back out carrying those
damn brown cowboy boots she’d worn before.
He’s
actually serious,
she
thought to herself.

“Come
on, Paige, sit down, put these on.” He thrust the boots into
her hands as he kept smiling.

She
absently took them but instead of sitting down and putting them on,
she said, “Tyler, I’m not getting on a horse. Are you
crazy?”

He ran a
hand through his hair and sighed, looking somewhat frustrated,
“Paige, you can’t be scared of everything. Life is all
about getting out and doing the things that scare you. That’s
called living. Do you want to go your whole life scared of the
unknown? Or would you rather jump in and try new things, even if they
might be a little intimidating at first?”

Remembering
her vows to explore change, she squeezed her eyes shut and slightly
nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this,” she said between
clenched teeth. She knew she’d probably regret this later.

Tyler
leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, smacked her hard on
the ass and said, “Let’s go, then.”

She felt
the sting from his hand and rubbed the spot as she glared at him.
“Well, I think that was a little unnecessary.”

With his
hands in his pockets, he stood there with a cheeky grin splayed
across his face and gave her a shrug. “Just trying to get you
moving, we don’t have all day.”

Paige
huffed and sat down on the porch step, pulled the dirty cowboy boots
on and dusted her hands off on her jeans. “Well, here goes
nothing,” she grumbled as she pulled her hair back into a low
ponytail.

As soon as
she was ready, they headed to the barn. The summer heat was intense
and she felt sweat beginning to drip down her back, already.
Remembering she had a tank top on under her shirt, she took it off
and draped it on fence.

They got
to the barn and she waited as Tyler rounded up the two horses they’d
be riding. Even though he swore they were completely broke and
gentle, she was a nervous wreck. Her mind kept racing to images of a
runaway horse, she was on its back screaming, as it galloped full
force into the woods. She shuddered, hoping that wasn’t going
to be the case. Surely Tyler knew what he was doing by putting her on
one of these things.

Apprehension
filled her as she saw him leading two horses up to the barn. She
stood back and watched him tie them up to the post, wringing her
hands together nervously. She took deep breaths, wanting to calm
herself down so the horses wouldn’t feel her tension. There was
no way they couldn’t. She couldn’t make herself be calm.
This was one time she couldn’t control her emotions.

Tyler
studied her for a moment before saying, “You’ll be fine,
Paige. I promise they won’t hurt you. Now, come here so I can
show you how to put the saddle on.”

He waved
her over, and for a moment she just stood there. But then she shook
her head and told herself to stop being a wimp. She could do this.
She walked over and put her hand on the horse’s neck, gently
rubbing him.

“Now,
first you put the saddle pad on,” Tyler began, throwing the
blanket on the horse’s back. “Then goes the saddle.”

She
watched him swing the saddle onto the horse with ease and couldn’t
help but notice the way his muscles flexed. His arms were slightly
dirty and he already had a thin coating of sweat forming on his
forehead, but Paige thought he looked incredibly sexy.

“And
then you make sure it’s on straight before you tighten it up
like this.” She watched how he tightened the saddle and looped
a strap into a knot around a piece of metal that was attached to the
saddle. She thought it looked simple enough and figured it was
something she could learn to do, if she ever had to.

Tyler gave
the horse a pat on the neck as he looked at her. “So, what do
you think so far? Feeling a little better about all this yet?”

Paige
pursed her lips together and crossed her arms. “I don’t
know what you’re getting me into, Tyler,” she said as she
stared at him, a small smile threatening to form.

He took
her hand and squeezed it, “You’ll be fine, don’t
worry. Now,” he began, “Let me get my horse saddled and
then you’re going to get your first riding lesson.”

He gave
her a wink and walked away. A few seconds later he pulled out another
saddle from the tack room and tossed it on his horse’s back.
She decided to take the moment to get better acquainted with her
horse. She reached her hand out and let it sniff her and then she ran
her hand along its jaw. The horse was pure black and she had to admit
it was beautiful and seemed extremely calm. As she continued to rub
its neck, she noticed its eyes begin to close as it started to relax.
As she gently rubbed the horse, her mind drifted to her life. Never
in a million years would she have seen herself standing in a dirty
barn getting ready to get on a horse. Her life had been taking sharp
turns for the past year and she was praying she was finally heading
in the direction she was supposed to be going.

The rustle
of hay behind her brought her out of her thoughts and she felt
Tyler’s fingers trail lightly down her arms. “Hey, you
okay?” he asked standing just close enough that his chest was
pressing against her back. She leaned against him and he bent down
and lightly kissed her neck, whispering softly, “If you don’t
want to do this, we don’t have to. I just thought it might be
fun, you know, for us to take a ride together. The riding trails are
pretty amazing and I thought you’d enjoy it once you got more
comfortable on the horse.”

She turned
around and faced him and said, “No, Tyler, it’s not that.
I’m oddly excited to do this for some reason. I’m scared
as hell but I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”

“Then
what’s on your mind? You were standing there daydreaming for
several minutes,” he said, looking amused.

She looked
into his face, and not wanting to drag the day down with her deep
thoughts, she settled with, “I was just thinking about how
happy I am right now to be here with you.” She wasn’t
lying. Being out here with him never felt better. It just wasn’t
the right time to get all emotional about her life. Today was a day
to learn new things and let go of some old habits.

Showing
nothing but dimples, he said, “Good, I was beginning to worry.
Come on, we want to get out on the trail before it gets dark. Let me
get the bridle on and then I’ll show you the basics.”

They
headed out to the small arena and she shoved a stray piece of hair
back behind her ear. The wind was picking up, making dust fly
everywhere, and she looked over at Tyler and cringed as he gestured
for her to step closer. She did and felt her boots sink slightly in
the loose dirt in the arena.

“Now,
these are the reins which are like your steering wheel. When you want
to turn left, drape the right rein on the horse’s neck and
he’ll turn. Same for the other side. When you want to stop,
just pull back softly, not hard or you’ll hurt the horse’s
mouth. And to go forward, you gently squeeze with your legs. It’s
simple as that,” Tyler said, shrugging his shoulders.

Paige had
made sure she paid attention this time. She didn’t want to be
left alone on the horse to her own devices not knowing what to do.
She thought it looked pretty simple and shook her head that she
understood.

“All
right then, why don’t you hop on and I’ll lead you around
first, let you get the hang of it,” Tyler said. He had one of
the reins in his hand and his other hand was casually resting on the
horse’s neck, making him look like he was posing for a photo
shoot. Paige tore her gaze away from him, but her thoughts wouldn’t
stop thinking about how sexy he looked standing there in his worn
Levis, fitted white shirt and those dusty brown cowboy boots.

She stuck
her foot in the stirrup and smiled when she felt Tyler’s
fingers lace around her thigh for balance. As she swung her leg over,
she prayed the horse didn’t move.

Once she
was up in the saddle, she looked down at Tyler and gave him a half
nervous smile. “Well, so far so good. I’m still in the
saddle.”

Looking up
at her, he gave her thigh another squeeze, letting his fingers trace
the seam along her pant leg as he watched her reaction to being on
the horse.

She felt
the tingle of his touch roll up her leg, making the heat settle deep
inside her. Watching his eyes travel across her bare shoulders, she
gripped the reins tighter. He blatantly let his eyes linger on her
body for a few more seconds, and then pulled his attention back to
her face. The passion in his eyes slowly died away and he took her
hand that was holding the reins in his own calloused hand. He gently
laid the rein against the horses left side and the horse took a step
to the right. He did the same to the other side. “See how easy
it is to steer him?” he asked in a gravelly voice. “It’s
all about keeping your hands gentle but firm.”

His rugged
voice was soft, making his words slide all the way down to her core.
Still holding on to her hands, he gently pulled them back towards her
stomach, making the horse take two steps back. “Reverse,”
he said with a smile.

Letting
go, he took a step back, standing catty corner to the horse’s
head with his hands on his hips as he looked up at Paige expectantly.
“Well, get him walking.”

Feeling
more confident than before, she gently nudged the horse with her legs
like Tyler had instructed, and jumped when the horse took off walking
around the arena on command.

“Wow,”
she exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise as she grabbed the
saddle horn tightly with her free hand. “I didn’t expect
it to be this easy.”

“He’s
a good horse. You’re doing great, Paige,” Tyler yelled as
he stood in the middle of the arena and watched her.

After
doing several laps, she felt that she was ready to go on a short
trail ride, and after Tyler got his horse ready, they headed out onto
the wooded trails that circled his property.

The trails
surrounded her with a mix of trees, fields, and flowers, portraying a
beauty she had been missing her whole life living in the city. It was
quiet, peaceful and relaxing as they casually rode on the worn down
trail, and as she sank farther back in the saddle, the leather
squeaked against her movement.

Her horse
was behaving so far and Paige hadn’t yet needed to lay one
finger on the reins, he just followed Tyler’s horse obediently,
which helped to make her nerves settle down a bit. Leaving the
comfort of the arena was a little intimidating but riding side by
side with Tyler was one of the best dates she’d ever been on.
She had been terrified of his surprise at first, but now, she was
beyond excited to explore the trails on horseback.

Even
through the thick trees the sun was beating down on them, making her
body sticky from the encompassing heat. July was always a scorching
hot month in Sweet Haven, usually topping out in the high 90s most
days with high humidity. She had dust and horse hair covering her
clothes, making her feel completely filthy, but she wouldn’t
trade this moment for anything in the world, not even a cold shower.