by Elle Casey
“Ian!”
“No!” He drops my hand and holds both his palms out towards her. “Stay away. Seriously, Ginny. You’re disturbed or something. There’s nothing left between us. Never really was to begin with.”
The world kind of slows down at that point. The sounds of the crowd, of the music playing in the background, of my heart beating … it all just melds together and becomes one big block of white noise. I watch in slow motion as Ginny makes her next move.
Her eyes flick left and right, taking in the mocking expressions, the shocked disbelief, the giggles coming from out in the crowd. And then in a flash of movement, she snatches several darts from a guy standing near her and starts throwing them at us, letting out a primal scream that I know I’ll hear in my nightmares for the next ten years at least.
Chapter Forty-Four
“YOU’RE STARTING TO BECOME A regular in this place,” says Nurse Ratched number two, the same one that was around for my stitches.
I wince as she pulls the tetanus shot needle out of my arm. “Yeah. I just love coming over here. The Jell-O is amazing.”
She laughs. “You think the Jell-O is good, you should try the pudding.”
“Seriously?” I ask, really paying attention now.
She winks at me. “No, not seriously. It’s awful. Stay away from the pudding.”
I’m too shocked at her niceness to respond, and she leaves before I recover.
Ian comes walking around the corner of the curtain, holding his upper arm. “How’re you doing?” he asks, stopping in front of me.
I’m sitting on one of the rolling beds in the ER of the hospital, so I have to look up to see his eyes. They’re bloodshot, and his shiner courtesy of Tate Montgomery stands out in stark relief against his pale skin. I feel terrible that he looks so awful. This is all my fault.
“I’m fine,” I say. “How are you doing is the question?”
Ian leans down until our foreheads are touching. “If you tell me I can come to Florida with you, I’m going to feel great. Perfect.”
I reach up and wrap my one good arm around his neck. “You can come to Florida with me any time you want.”
He kisses me for a few seconds, and I soak up that love as much as I can. After being darted, I’m seriously grateful for any pleasure I can get in my life.
A doctor walks around the edge of the curtain and sees us both there. “So this is the happy couple,” he says, looking at my chart. “Looks like you dodged a bullet tonight.”
“More like a few darts,” Ian says. “Although I did get grazed by a bullet the other day …”
I jump into the conversation. “Everything’s going to be okay, I hope?” I’m trying to simultaneously change the subject away from the shooting incident and ignore the pain in my arm. I thought a cougar scratch was bad but it turns out a two-inch dart hole is pretty awful too.
“Yep. Didn’t hit any major arteries, we got you all cleaned out and the tetanus shot should keep you safe there. I’m just going to prescribe some antibiotics to ward off infection. Who knows where those darts were before they made it into your arm.”
“And my back,” Ian says.
The doctor nods. “And your back. Right.” He marks something on my chart. “I’ll be giving you both the same advice.” He looks up and smiles. “Avoid taking the pills without food and stay away from bars where they play darts.”
“Gotcha,” Ian says, shaking his hand. “Thanks, Doc.”
“You bet. Take it easy.” He leaves us in the cubicle behind the curtain.
“So you sure you want me hanging around with you in Florida?” he asks.
“It’s not whether I want you hanging around, it’s whether you’ll want to hang around with me.”
He reaches up and brushes hair out of my eyes. “How can you say that? You know I love hanging out with you.”
“But why?”
“Because. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re beautiful…”
“That’s true. I am those things.” I smile, too full of happiness to do anything else.
“And you’re practically an internet M.D.”
“I’m glad you appreciate my medical knowledge.”
“Hey, you totally called it. Tetanus shot and antibiotics.”
“Yeah, well that was an easy one. Did I tell you I diagnosed one of my clients with postpartum congestive heart failure once?”
“No.” He leans down to kiss me tenderly. “But I can’t wait to hear all about your medical interventions.”
I look down at the floor, my heart overwhelmed with fear.
“Come on, babe. Tell me what’s bothering you. Is it because I’m moving too fast?”
I shake my head and lift my eyes to look at him. I need him to know I’m telling the truth. “I’m actually okay with how fast you move. Maybe because I saw it happen with Andie or learned about it after, whatever … I mean, love at first sight happens, right?”
“We’re proof it does.” He kisses me once and then goes back to listening.
“I’m just worried that you won’t like my life back home. That you won’t like my business or my partner or my friends.”
“I’m sure if they’re a part of your life, I’ll love them. How could I not?”
I grimace a little. “They’re not like your friends out here.”
“Good. I need a change,” he says. “Besides, you know I didn’t go to school here. I’m used to big city life.”
“Eugene is big city life?” I know from Andie that’s where his college is, but I never Googled the place to learn anything about it.
“Big enough.” He takes me by the hand and goes down on one knee.
“What are you doing?” I ask, panic taking me over.
“Just trying to see you better,” he says. “Babe, I just want you to be comfortable. If this is too much, too soon, I’ll try to understand.”
I run my hands through his impossibly thick hair and lean over to kiss him on the forehead. I love the smell of him, even after he’s been in a dirty bar, stuck with darts, and then greased up with hospital cleanser.
“No, it’s going to be fine,” I reassure him and myself as best I can. “You can just come to Florida with me and you’ll meet my friends and see my salon and we’ll go from there. Maybe you’ll stay a little while and maybe you’ll just come back home to Baker City and we can be friends.”
My heart nearly breaks just thinking that, but I have to give him that out, that escape hatch. I have to know he’ll walk away if he isn’t happy, because the last thing I’d want is a guy pretending to love me when he doesn’t.
“When can we leave?” he asks.
I laugh. “After I spend some time with my god-daughter and cow baby. I have my ticket to leave in about a week.”
“Fine. A week it is.” He stands and holds out his hand for me to join him. “Ready to go back home?”
“Yep.” Home. I never thought I would consider Baker City my home, but tonight I can definitely see it as a home away from home, especially with Ian in it.
I step out of the ER and into the cold, but I’ve never felt warmer in my life, even when snowflakes cover my hair and shoulders.
Chapter Forty-Five
MY LAST WEEK IN BAKER City flies by. I rarely see Ian, with all the cows dropping babies in the snow, little Candy demanding to be fed all the time, and Andie finally getting some sleep and wanting visitors. Sarah has barely started looking around at things and it’s time for me to go. I’m just a tiny bit stressed to think she hasn’t adequately imprinted on me.
I’m also ten times more nervous about Ian meeting my life back in Florida than I was when he first mentioned it. Now it’s Andie trying to give me advice and pep talks, a total role reversal.
“You’ll be fine, he’ll be fine. Believe me, he’s very open minded.” Andie watches as I pack my bag, nursing Sarah like it’s second nature. She’s so good at being a mom. I’m no longer jealous of her, just looking forward to the day that I can try an
d emulate her super mommy skills.
“But what about Jorge and Sunil and all my people?” I only have one employee, technically, and that’s Sunil. Jorge is my partner and all the others are independent contractors who rent space from me in the salon. They’ve all been there for years and years, so long that it’s like they’re my family. If they don’t like Ian I don’t know how it could possibly work between us.
Andie rolls her eyes. “Jorge is gorgeous, Sunil is a doll, and your people are amazing. Trust me, Ian will fit right in.”
“He’s a cowboy,” I say, laughing at the idea of him fitting into a group of gays, immigrants, and fashionistas.
“You’ll see.” Andie moves Sarah to her other breast. “Love conquers all.”
“You really think he loves me?” I sit down on the side of the bed and look at Andie, trying to do the human lie detector on her. Her pupils appear to be staying the same size and her eye contact is pretty good. I think she’s telling the truth.
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be encouraging this if I didn’t.” She grimaces in pain as Sarah latches on. “I don’t want to see either of you get hurt,” she says, “but you can’t risk nothing and get everything.”
“I want to have everything. Like you have.” I reach out and squeeze her arm.
“Thanks to you,” she says, lifting an eyebrow.
I smile. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Please,” she scoffs. “The day after you took Ginny out, I had two invitations to Tupperware parties and a girl I’ve only spoken to twice started arranging a baby shower for me.”
“Hey, that’s on Maeve. She’s the one who started introducing you around.”
“But you’re the one who showed the whole town that Ginny is a liar.”
“Ginny is a liar in jail,” I add, happy that she got what was coming to her. That stupid wench made me get a horrible knot in my arm muscle that’s probably permanent. I still can’t hold up a flat iron for longer than five minutes without my hand going numb.
“That’s what you get for committing an assault and battery,” Andie says. “I talked to the prosecutor. She’s probably just going to get a slap on the wrist.”
“Better than nothing,” I say. “My goal was to get the truth out there and that’s what we did.”
“You’re my superhero,” Andie says warmly, her eyes going moist.
“No crying,” I say, pointing at her face. “You’ll make my mascara leak all over the place.”
“You really have to leave today?” Andie asks in her whiney voice.
“Yes, I really do. Jorge is threatening to move to Fiji if I don’t come back to work tomorrow.”
“Did you tell them that you’re bringing Ian with you yet?”
I grimace. “No.”
Andie shakes her head. “Good luck with that.”
She knows Jorge well, so there’s a lot of meaning in that sentence of hers. “Thanks. I think.”
Ian sticks his head in the doorway. “You ready to go yet? We need to scoot if we’re going to make that flight.”
I nod. “Ready.” I zip up my bag and take one last look around the room to make sure I didn’t forget anything. The place is empty but full of memories I hate to leave behind.
Ian comes in and takes my case, and I’m struck by how different everything is now, just two weeks after I arrived. My first day here I didn’t want him touching my things or coming near me. He was the bad guy making my best friend miserable. Now I want nothing but him touching me, and he was never really Andie’s problem. He’s been one of her biggest supporters besides Mack. I feel like I’ve not just gained a little god-daughter in my life but a whole other family too. I can’t remember a time in my life when I was happier. It scares the ever loving shit out of me.
“Promise you’ll call as soon as you arrive. I want to hear everything,” Andie says, hugging me as best she can with one arm. Sarah keeps sucking away like nothing’s going on.
“I promise.” I kiss the baby’s fuzzy head. “Don’t forget me while I’m gone.” Inhaling her heavenly sent, I smile when her tiny hairs tickle my nose.
“She can’t forget you. I show her your picture every day. And if you send me videos, I’ll play them for her daily.” Andie grabs me in another hug. “I don’t want to let you go.” She’s crying again. She still does that a lot.
I pat her on the back. “I’ll be fine. And I’m going to visit again soon.”
Neither of us speaks about the possibility that Ian and I might not make it out in Florida and that this would make visits to Baker very uncomfortable. We’ve decided to cross that bridge when and if we ever come to it.
“I’m leaving!” Ian shouts from downstairs.
Andie laughs, wiping her tears away. “He sure is anxious to get to Florida.”
“I know,” I say, wiping some dust from my eyes. Stupid polluted snowflakes. “I hope he’s not too disappointed when his balls start sweating as soon as he gets off the plane.”
Andie’s laughter is like a balm for my aching heart. I hate leaving this place. I’ve been living in a fantasy world where Ian loves me and we have crazy awesome sex every night that just keeps getting better and better and nothing can stand in the way of our love at first sight romance. I’m afraid the real world will come crashing down on our heads in Florida, and all I’ll have left are the memories of Ian. Just like Ginny has. Crazy Ginny who throws darts in people’s bodies at bars.
“Call me. Don’t forget,” Andie reminds me as I walk down the stairs.
“I won’t forget,” I say.
I’m almost to the car when I’m struck by the overwhelming urge to go out to the barn one last time. I’ve been practically living out there all week, and Candy and I already said our goodbyes earlier this morning, but I have to see her just one more time.
“Come on, babe, we have to go!” Ian shouts from the car.
“I’ll be right back!” I shout as I run through the snow to the barn. I don’t even slip, my body completely adapted to the icy surfaces now.
“Hi, Candy girl,” I say to the baby as I stare over the stall door. She’s already bigger, even more so than she was yesterday. “I’m going to miss you.”
She looks up at me and moos. My heart breaks into about ten pieces. I wish the airline would have let me take her with me. I so would have paid to put her in a Great Dane doggie crate, but they said they couldn’t transport livestock. Buttheads.
A man’s voice comes from deeper in the barn, headed in my direction. “We’ll look after her for ya.”
I smile, looking over at him. “Thanks, Angus. I appreciate it. I’m really going to miss her.”
“She’ll miss you too, I expect. No cow on this ranch has ever had so much attention, I can tell you that.”
I know his words are meant to soothe me, but now I’m worried. “What if she gets lonely? What if she’s afraid to be alone?”
Angus smiles and points to the corner of the stall where the straw is deepest. “Don’t think you’re gonna have to worry about that so much.”
I squint so I can see better. “What is that?” I ask, noticing a movement in the shadows.
“Baby goat. Brought her in yesterday. She’s a buddy for Candy so she doesn’t get too stressed.”
I throw my arms around Angus and nearly cry with relief, ignoring the pain in my arm. “You are so nice! Thank you so much!”
He pats me awkwardly on the back. “You’re welcome. Thanks for helping Ian out so much.”
I pull away to look at him.
“Maeve and I are very grateful to you for showing him around out there in Florida. I know he’s been wanting to go pretty bad for a while.”
“To Florida?”
“To anywhere but here.” Angus looks at the ground. “My boy’s been lost for a long time. Seems like maybe he’s found again, but I guess we’ll see.”
“Yes. I guess we will,” I say softly. “Whatever happens, I want you to know that I really care about him a lot.”
<
br /> He pats me on the shoulder. “I know you do. So does Maeve. Just be honest with each other and you’ll be fine.”
I nod, accepting his sage advice. “See you again soon, I hope!” I try to stay cheery even though I want to cry. Leaving this place is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. I don’t know what I’d do if Ian were staying behind.
Now I think I know what Andie was going through when she came out here to tell Mack goodbye. Once you’re in with these MacKenzies it’s pretty much impossible to feel good without them again. No wonder Ginny went ballistic on us. I can almost forgive her for putting holes in me and Ian. Almost.
“Have a safe flight. I have to go see to the chickens,” Angus says.
“I thought chicken butts were Maeve’s domain.”
Angus frowns. “Well, I suppose. But I’ve got to put a new brooding box together. Seems likes she’s got some chicks coming in by mail.”
I don’t even want to get clarification on that statement. “Okay, well, bye. Thanks for your hospitality.”
“You bet. Any time.” Angus waves to me as he walks off, and I make my way back to the truck. Ian has the engine running and the heater blasting.
I get inside and put on my seatbelt, hunching over the vent to warm my hands up.
“You ready to get this party started?” Ian asks, his face alight with excitement.
“You know I am.”
“Kiss for luck,” he says, leaning in towards me.
I lean over and lock lips with him, taking the kiss deeper until my toes are tingling.
“Mmmm,” he says, sitting back straight and shifting the truck into drive.
“That a good one?” I ask.
“Hell yeah, that was a good one. All your kisses are good ones.”
I smile all the way to the airport in Boise, Idaho.
Chapter Forty-Six
TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS START BEEPING as soon as the plane lands and I turn on my phone. Jorge has sent me four messages in the last half hour.
R U HERE YET?