“I don’t need to manage a stable of horses to learn the business. I grew up here, it’s already part of my life and not something I’m interested in taking over.”
“But what about your dad? He said he’s dying. I think that’s why this is so important to him.”
“My father has been dying most of my life,” he scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my father, but I always wanted a life outside of the ranch.”
“Is that why you’ve been away so long?”
“You heard about that? Nice to know people talk about me.”
“I...umm...we weren’t talking about you,” I said, stammering as he laughed.
“I’ve known Lucy and Maddie for years. If they weren’t talking about me, they were talking about someone.”
“My lips are sealed.”
He touched my cheek and his thumb grazed my lips. This wasn’t how I wanted our first day of working together to end up, but all I could think about was him kissing me.
“I’m only going to be here a couple of months,” he said, turning towards the view.
“A couple months? Are you going back to school?”
“No, I’m done. I just completed my Masters in Environmental Science at Yale and started my own environmental consulting firm. I haven’t been home in years, but Chloe asked me to come home and help with Rafa. He’s seventeen and getting in with the wrong crowd. He knows horses, so I figured some hard work would do him good. Once he’s settled in here, I’m heading to Germany for a business opportunity. In other words, I’ll be out of your way before you know it.”
“Oh well, maybe you're not as bad as I thought.”
“I’m not all suits and hundred dollar bills, if that’s what you were thinking,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to take you out to dinner sometime to prove that.”
I studied his handsome face for a moment. As I opened my mouth to accept, something Maddie said a while back flitted through my mind.
“What for?” I asked. “So you can have your fun while you’re here and then go?”
As I glared at him, he met my gaze steadily before cracking a smile.
“You can’t fault a guy for trying. You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen around here in a long time. You keep this up and I promise one day I’ll marry you.”
I rolled my eyes. Like that would happen.
“You don't even know me,” I said. “I think we should get back to work.”
As I turned towards the horses, Mason reached out for my arm. The heel of my boot caught on a jagged rock and I tripped forward.
Not again!
Mason, with his hand still on my arm, yanked me up before I landed on the ground. For the third time my klutziness landed me in his arms, but this time I let myself enjoy his hard body pressed against me.
The fresh morning air must have done something to my head, because I felt woozy as he held me. My heart thumped and I forced myself to breathe normally. He didn’t do or say anything. His eyes swept over my face as if he was trying to memorize it.
“I’ll pick you up for dinner tomorrow night,” he said.
He released his grip on me and reached out for the reins of his horse. Before I could say anything, he galloped out of the clearing.
I hated his cockiness and I couldn’t stand how much I enjoyed being in his arms. But he filled me with a nervous excitement when I thought about dinner with him.
As I climbed back onto my horse and rode back to the ranch, I knew I needed to cancel. It wasn’t just that he was a spoiled, rich jerk, with him getting the manager role that made him my boss. And if he was being honest about leaving, not only did I want to position myself to get his job, but I didn’t want to get hurt. And just by the twinkle in his eyes, I knew he was someone who could break my heart without thinking twice about it.
Present Day
I expected Mason to be pushy and want to come into the cottage, but he only walked me to the door and left before I had time to ask if he wanted to come in for coffee.
The parallels between now and then were driving me crazy. I wanted to give in and go with it, to feel what it meant to be loved by him again, but I couldn’t forget what it felt like to be left by him also.
The next day I asked Maya to take care of things for me while I figured out what I would wear on my date. Maya decided to stay after Ashley offered her a job and a room in the main house. I had to admit I missed having her in the cottage with me, even if it was cramped.
After spending the day shopping, I had a couple of new outfits picked out for the date. At the last minute, I decided to not make a big deal about it and just be comfortable. I put on my favorite pair of jeans and then looked in the mirror. My nose scrunched as I looked at my hair.
“Crap,” I muttered as I pulled my hair out of the elastic. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
As I looked at my limp blonde hair in the mirror, the doorbell rang. Dammit, out of time! I flipped my head over, shook it, then flipped my hair back up. Taking a quick glance at myself, I was surprised to find my hair looked a little better.
I opened the door and found Mason leaning against the frame. In his hand, he held three large sunflowers with dark purple irises. A thick yellow ribbon was tied around their stalks.
“Sunflowers?” I asked.
“I saw them and thought about that day in the field together. The day of the picnic. Remember?”
“How could I forget it? That was the first time we...well, you know.”
“I can’t believe you still can’t say it,” He laughed and gave me a sideways glance. “That was the first time we did it, had sex. Since you are a lady, I’ll spare you the F word. It was the first time we made love.”
“You can be such a girl sometimes,” I said, taking the sunflowers and letting him into the cottage. “I’m surprised you even remember. I’m sure there were plenty of women after me.”
“There's been no one since you. Every woman I've met has been compared to my memory of you. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“Are you telling me that for fifteen years you haven’t, well, you know.”
He laughed again. “What I’m telling you is that since being with you, I haven’t made love with anyone else. Of course I’ve fucked--”
I put my hand up. “That’s enough. I don’t need to hear it.”
“I am a man you know.”
I brought the sunflowers into the kitchen and set them on the counter. I had one old vase that was collecting dust in the back of a cabinet. Cleaning the vase, I took the opportunity to glance over at Mason. His hands were in his pockets as he looked around my home.
I was surprised to see he wasn’t in a suit, although I wasn’t sure why I expected him to be. As I filled the vase with water, I realized what I said the other day was true. Despite how familiar he was to me, I didn’t know much about this Mason. My memories were all about the man in his twenties, not the man almost in his forties.
“Where are we going for dinner?” I asked.
“On a picnic,” he said.
He smiled and raised his eyebrows as his dimples deepened. My memories flooded me again, but I pushed them away. Tonight I was going to get to know Mason Abernathy again and leave the past behind.
Chapter Three
Mason
As I straightened my tie in the mirror, I heard the door to the suite open. It was Tricia. She knew I had my date with Tara tonight, and it was just like her to check up on me.
“You’re wearing a suit?” she asked.
Her face was contorted in a way that told me much more than her four words had.
“It’s what I always wear.”
“Well, you’re always working. You’re not working tonight.”
I sighed and took the tie off. “Tara never cared for the suits anyway.”
In the months that Tricia had been working for me, we grew close. Growing up around so much wealth, I could easily spot those people who wanted to use me for it. Tricia was not one o
f them.
We talked a lot about our families and found many similarities between them. Tricia became the sister I never had and she finally had an older brother who could help her out. I found her family a nice home to live in in a suburb of Canyon Cove, and she never heard from their old landlord again. Once her father realized things had changed for the better, he became eager to get control over his habit and started attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
Her life had turned around and although she was working as my assistant, she also had plans to attend college. But she never let up on her promise to help me win Tara back. She called it her hobby. I didn’t think I needed her help, but sometimes it was nice getting a woman’s opinion on things.
“Where are you taking her?” she asked.
“That new place downtown.”
“New place? That hoity toity French place? You’re going to feed her snails? Mason, no woman in her right mind wants to eat snails.”
“What about frog legs?” I asked, grinning.
“Now you’re just being silly. You said you know her, what does she like to eat?”
“But this restaurant is beautiful, and I want to impress her.”
“From what you've told me about her, that’s not going to impress her at all. You want to impress her? Then show up with flowers.”
“Flowers? Really? You don’t think that’s cliché?”
She shook her head at me. “I swear it’s like you never dated in your life. I’ll call The Dizzy Daisy while you change. They’re on your way to Jefferson Manor.”
“Pick something nice.”
Tricia rolled her eyes at me and walked out of the bedroom. Other than a pair of jeans, all I had with me were suits. I pulled the jeans on and tucked in my buttoned shirt. As I put my boots on, Tricia called out to me.
“I gotta get home and make dinner. The flowers will be ready by the time you get there. I’m sure she’ll love them. Now don’t blow it.”
As she was leaving, I crossed the room and grabbed the door handle to stop her. I opened my wallet and handed her a couple hundred dollar bills.
“Order something from the restaurant,” I said. “I’ve taken up enough of your time with my personal stuff.”
She hesitated for a moment as she looked at the cash.
“Just take it.” I closed her fingers around the bills.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You know I’ll--”
“I know, you keep telling me you’ll pay me back. You don’t have to, but if it makes you feel better saying it, that’s fine. Now go.”
As she left, I called down to the valet to have my car ready. I wanted everything to be perfect tonight with Tara. She had turned me down and canceled our date so many times since we met again, I didn’t know if I’d get another chance with her.
I wasn’t used to feeling like this. Normally I was confident and didn’t care about anything but getting what I wanted. And I always got it. Tara was the first time I was afraid of losing something.
It was a short drive to the flower shop. A man wearing a dark green apron was bringing in the outside displays as I entered. With Halloween approaching, there were pumpkins of all sizes throughout the store.
“I’ll be right with you,” he said as he carried in a tall bucket of sunflowers.
“Can you make a bouquet from those?” I asked.
The sunflowers reminded me of a special day with Tara. One of the many I never forgot.
“Of course. I like pairing them with irises. I think the purple really makes them pop. By the way, are you Mr. Abernathy? Let me get the bouquet you ordered.”
He disappeared into a back room and emerged with a large bouquet of yellow roses with red tips and silvery eucalyptus. It was beautiful, but the sunflowers had meaning to me.
“Do you deliver?” I asked.
“Sure, I do deliveries after we close.”
I gave him Tricia’s address and wrote out a card to her and slipped it in with the flowers.
Thanks, but I found something better.
Hope you enjoy them.
--Mason
As he rang me up, I looked around his shop and noticed a large wooden picnic basket.
“Is that for sale?” I asked.
“Whatever you see, you can buy. Except me of course,” he said as he grabbed the basket and brought it over. “Planning a picnic?”
“Impromptu. Where I can get this filled for dinner?”
“My friend just opened a restaurant two doors down. His food is incredible.” He handed me a menu. “You’re going to need more than just the basket and food though. I’m sure I’ve got a blanket and some other things you can use.”
By the time I left The Dizzy Daisy, my trunk was full of food, wine, and everything I could possibly need for my date with Tara.
* * *
“Where are we going for dinner?” she asked.
“On a picnic.” I smiled and took her hand, happy to be near her again. “I’ve got everything in the car except for the most important part.”
“If you say me, I swear I’ll smack you.”
I laughed. “I’ll just shut up then.”
As I opened the car door, I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander over her. Her hair was loose and brushed her shoulders as she got into the car. She was curvier than I remembered, and I loved it. I wanted to grab her, hold her tight against me, and kiss her soft lips. But I knew from months ago that doing that could push her away. I would do anything to keep her here.
As I slowly drove over the long gravel driveway of Jefferson Manor to the main road, Tara settled into her seat. I wondered if she was as nervous as I was. Taking her out after so many years was like doing it for the first time again.
“Do you remember our first date?” I asked as I turned the car onto the twisting canyon road.
She was quiet for a moment and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her looking at me as if she thought I was up to something.
“Of course I do,” she said. “We went to the steakhouse in town.”
I chuckled. “No, I knew you’d get it wrong.”
“There is no way I’m wrong. I remember that evening like it just happened yesterday.”
“So do I, and that was not our first date. That had to be our third or fourth date.” I turned quickly and our eyes met. She folded her arms in front of her and pretended to look annoyed. “I always loved how much we laughed together.”
She laughed then elbowed me. “If I’m so wrong, why don’t you tell me what our first date was.”
“Well, since you needed to ask, I’ll tell you. It was that morning that we rode the horses to the first clearing.”
“Wait, are you talking about that first morning when we took the horses to the clearing and talked? I was just thinking about that the other day. That wasn’t a date.”
“It was to me. If it wasn’t for that morning, you would’ve never agreed to go on another date with me.”
She shook her head and laughed softly. “You’re crazy.”
“Maybe.”
A few miles up the curving road, I turned at a large ‘For Sale’ sign and followed the dirt road further up a hill. The sun was beginning to set and while I knew it meant we had only a couple of hours, I wanted to bring Tara there.
I wanted to show her our future, even though I might not tell her about it just yet. Despite how much I wanted things between us to go back to the way they were, I could see Tara wanted to take things slow. I didn’t blame her. She wasn’t the only one who got hurt.
Chapter Four
Tara
Mason brought the car to a stop once we reached the top of the hill. Wildflowers and tall grass lined the dirt road.
“This is it,” he said as he popped open the trunk.
“It reminds me of home,” I said.
His hand covered mine on my lap and he smiled. “Me too.”
He quickly turned away from me, and I knew there was something he wasn’t saying. As he opened the car
door, I caught the faint scent of the ocean.
“There’s the big difference between here and home,” he said as he looked in the distance.
The blue Pacific Ocean looked calm from the hilltop. I wasn’t much of a swimmer or a beach person, but each time I saw the ocean it brought to me a calmness I couldn’t explain.
Mason laid a blanket on the ground and began unloading his car. He had a large wooden basket with a hinged lid and a dark bottle of wine with an ivory label. None of the food mattered to me though, my stomach was flip flopping with nerves from being near him again.
“This is a big change from our first date,” I said, sitting down on the thick wool blanket.
“Our first date?” he said with a smirk.
“Okay, our second date.”
“I was going to take you to that new French place that opened up downtown, but I can see by how you’re wrinkling your nose that I made the right choice.”
I laughed. “You did. It’s beautiful here. I never cared for all that fancy stuff anyway.”
Using a battery-powered corkscrew, Mason opened the bottle of wine, then poured the dark red liquid into two glasses. He handed me a glass with a mischievous grin.
“Thank you,” I said as I took the glass.
I looked at the wine and could smell a strong aroma of cherries and roses. I never cared much for wine, especially the red variety, which tasted too heavy to me. As I carefully balanced the glass on the ground beside me, Mason let out a loud laugh.
“You really haven’t changed at all,” he said.
“What are you talking about? I have changed. I am a completely different person than the Tara you knew long ago.”
“You still hate wine, don’t you?”
I closed my eyes briefly as I nodded, realizing his point. “Just because I still don’t like wine doesn’t mean the rest of me hasn’t changed.”
He reached for one of the grocery bags and pulled out a six-pack of Pepsi.
Won’t Fall Again Page 4