From This Moment (Jackson Hole)

by Alison Chaffin Higson

  “I don’t know what I want anymore, having you here is affecting me like nothing else ever has.”

  ~~ Rona ~~

  I head to my room after lunch to collect my boots, then back downstairs to meet up with Cade as I’m going to have my first horse riding lesson. I’m still a bit confused about how to act with Cade after his earlier comment.

  The stable area is so much larger than it looks from the house. As we walk closer, some of the horses approach in what appears to be an outdoor training area.

  Leading me towards a lovely honey colored horse, Cade introduces me to her.

  “This is Honey Bee,” he laughs. “Gabby named her after her favorite breakfast cereal.”

  I smile at Cade, “That’s Anna’s daughter right?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Honey Bee is our gentlest horse and loves nothing better than to follow my lead.”

  “Okay,” smiling, “A female I take it.... it looks a long way up there,” I say in a shaky voice.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe on Honey and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  Moving in closer to me, he puts his arm around me and rubs his hand up and down my back in a show of comfort. Moving away slightly, he helps me mount the horse.

  Cade’s horse is a huge beast of an animal called King and he's black as the night.

  After Cade has given me a brief lesson in how to hold the reins we head out along the trail to the side of the house.

  We must have been riding for about thirty minutes when we come out of the forest of snow covered trees to a river.

  Cade rides along side me, “Do you want to stop here for a short while?”

  “Oh, that would be great,” thinking my butt could do with a rest.

  Cade climbs off his horse, takes the reins from me and leads our horses over to a tree and tethers them to it.

  Helping me down from the horse, “Are you okay to walk?”

  “Yes, I think so.” I feel his hands tighten briefly on me before letting me go.

  Stepping away, he takes my hand and leads me to a fallen tree close to the river. Taking a seat with his back against another tree, he pulls me down between his legs and puts his arms around me. I snuggle into him on a sigh.

  He always smells so good and having his arms around me has my heart pounding. I’ve become so attached to him since meeting him just over twenty-four hours ago. Being in his arms feels like home, a feeling I haven’t had since my grandmother died.

  ~~ Cade ~~

  Sitting here at my favorite place on my property with Rona in my arms feels like heaven.... and hell. She’s snuggled into me with her face turned sideways against my chest. As I place a kiss on top of her head I can smell the apple shampoo she obviously used this morning.

  Lifting her head, she lifts her gloved hand and caresses down one side of my face, “I could stay like this forever.”

  I place a kiss on her lips, “I don’t ever remember feeling as content as I do right now with you in my arms.”

  Tightening my arms around her we continue watching the river. I notice two deer appear on the opposite side.

  “Hey Rona, look over there.” I point towards the deer.

  “Wow! A mommy with her baby.”

  Trying to get a rise out of her, “They usually taste pretty good.”

  Rona elbows me in the stomach, “No way are you going to kill Bambi.”

  Laughing now, “I was only joking and I don’t allow hunting on my land.” I briefly pull her tighter into me, and then start moving away. “Come on, we better head back before we freeze our butts off.”

  “Can we do this again sometime? Just the two of us?”

  “Yes, I think that can be arranged.”

  Unhooking the horses we head back to the stables having really enjoyed my time with this amazing woman.

  ~~ Rona ~~

  Back in my room to shower before I head downstairs to help Cade with dinner, I decide it’s time to switch my phone back on. I regret doing so; I’ve over twenty voicemails.

  Lying on my bed, I start to sort through the messages and they are mostly hang ups or from Nick, which I delete without even listening to them.

  After my shower, I decide to put one of my dresses on. It isn’t really posh or special, but it’s comfortable and I want Cade to see me in something other than jeans. The dress is lilac and made of a soft knit fabric which falls perfectly against my skin. It has a sweetheart neck line with cap sleeves and I can’t wait to see Cade’s face when he sees me in it.

  Not bothering with shoes, I glance one last time in the mirror and head downstairs.

  I can see Cade in the kitchen and it looks like he’s made more of an effort as well. He’s obviously shaved again and is dressed in dark blue slacks and a pale blue shirt; he’s one sexy guy, my heart’s pounding. I walk towards him waiting for the moment when he sees me.

  ~~ Cade ~~

  Turning around to grab the wine off the worktop, I stop dead. Rona is walking towards me in a dress which highlights all her curves and doesn’t really leave anything to the imagination. She takes my breath away.

  Looking into her eyes, I can’t look away. As she walks around the breakfast bar towards me, I find my legs moving towards her, reaching out with my hands, I take hold of her arms in a caress.

  “Wow, you look.... wow.” I’m acting like an idiot, but she really does leave me speechless.

  Moving my hands slowly up her arms over her shoulders, smoothing my thumbs along her collarbone, I can feel her pulse throbbing, which probably matches the rhythm of mine.

  Finally resting my hands lightly against her neck, I bring her into me for the sweetest of kisses. This isn’t about sex. It’s a tender moment with whom I’m falling in love.

  ~~ Rona ~~

  Cade’s kiss is so tender. I realize I’m really falling in love with him. He makes me feel as though I’m the only woman in the world; not even Nick made me feel like that.

  Ending the kiss, we smile at each other, taking a step back and start to finish the meal.

  “So Rona, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you pick Jackson Hole for your.... vacation? I would have thought somewhere with plenty of sun, sea and sand?”

  “I actually wanted to go to the Maldives, but Nick said there was no way he wanted to lounge around on a beach and that he couldn’t think of anything more boring! I guess I should have realized what a mistake I was making then and there, but I didn’t. I thought he was really selfish, he wouldn’t even compromise.”

  “If it was me, I would take you to the ends of the earth if you asked.” Cade walks closer and smoothes his hand down the side of my face.

  Leaning into him, I place a kiss in his palm and move away to pour a glass of deep red burgundy.

  Tonight’s meal of Beef Casserole with rice is delicious. We’ve just finished when Jake arrives back, having been in Jackson all day helping his friends move house.

  “I hope you saved me some of whatever that was.” Jake rubs his stomach.

  “Of course, you have a plate in the microwave.”

  “Great, I’ll eat it now while you two have your coffee. I need to shower and change; I’m heading back to Chris and Jo’s place for the house warming. Hey, Rona, do you want to go with me?”

  As Jake asks me this I can see Cade’s hand tighten around his cup of coffee.

  “To be honest I’m still really tired. My body’s still getting used to the difference in the time between Ireland and here. If you don’t mind I think I need to pass and have another early night.”

  “Don’t worry, but I will see you around eleven tomorrow to take you into Jackson.” He continues shoveling food into his mouth.

  “That would be great.”

  Chapter 4

  ~~ Rona ~~

  After breakfast Jake was waiting earnestly to start our trip. So after wrapping up warm and saying goodbye to Cade, who didn’t seem at all happy about me going out, we head into Jackson.

  “So Rona, h
ow do you feel about cable cars?”

  Hearing Jake mention cable cars has my stomach rolling. Although the views are usually worth it, I actually hate the thought of dangling above ground in a compartment being held up by a piece of cable.

  “Err. You serious?”

  Glancing at me then back to the road, “Yes, they have one in Jackson called ‘Big Red’. It’s actually an aerial tram and you’ll love it. It holds a lot of people and takes about fifteen minutes to get to the top of Rendezvous Mountain and then you can experience the best waffles you will ever taste at Corbet’s Cabin. Not to mention, you can see all the way down to Jackson Hole, Snake Valley River and Grand Teton National Park. Absolutely amazing.”

  I can’t help but laugh, “You sound like an advertisement!”

  He grins at me, “Sorry, a friend of mine used to work in the office and he was always using the tourist spiel trying to get the girls to go up with him.”

  I smile at him, “Did you?”

  “Maybe,” he laughs.

  “I think I need to warn you that the last time I went up in a cable car I was terrified. It was really windy and the car was swaying a lot. Horrid experience.” I shudder.

  “Not to worry, I’ll take care of you.”

  “I guess I can give it a try,” I say, with trepidation.

  Arriving at the base of ‘Big Red’, Jake leaves me to purchase the tickets while I use the restroom.

  On approach, I have butterflies in my stomach thinking this is a really bad idea. Jake not realizing just how nervous I am, grabs my hand pulling me inside.

  There are already about ten people on board. As the doors shut, I start taking deep breaths to try and calm down.

  All of a sudden, Jake is there, pulling me into his arms, “Hey, it’s okay, everything will be alright. Just keep taking deep breaths and I promise I won’t let go until we get to the top.”

  Burrowing into his coat, I hang on for dear life as we start up the mountain.

  After the longest fifteen minutes of my life, Jake leads me out of the tram on wobbly legs.

  “Can we go and sit down for a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure, come on, we’ll go to the waffle place. You can have a coffee to bring some life back into you. You look a bit pale.”

  Once inside Corbin’s I feel much better, so sitting down with Jake, I have some waffles with syrup and a coffee.

  “You are right these waffles are great! I just hope they stay in my stomach on the way back down!”

  Seeing the panic on Jake’s face, I start laughing, “Just kidding.”

  “So tell me, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

  He throws a hot look in my direction, which no doubt usually gets him what or who he wants, “I’m trying to remedy that.”

  I try not to laugh, “No seriously, is there no one around here? You’re a nice, friendly, good looking guy; I can’t believe you don’t have a girlfriend.”

  Looking away from me for a short while, “Yes, I did have a girlfriend. Elise. I went to Texas for six months to help a friend out with some horses. She didn’t want me to go, so broke up with me. When I got back she was engaged to someone else.”

  “And you’re still in love with her?”

  He looks so sad, “It doesn’t matter; she’s getting married in a couple of months.”

  “How long were you together?”

  He starts to stand, “Close to two years.”

  “Wow.”

  “Come on, I want to show you the view from here so you can take some pictures then we can head back.”

  The views are breathtaking and maybe worth the experience of the tram ride.

  I take lots of pictures and can’t wait to get back to load them on to my iPad via my macbook air, which I treated myself to just before leaving Ireland.

  ~~ Cade ~~

  Sitting in the lounge area waiting for Rona and Jake to arrive home is playing hell with my concentration. I must have read the same paragraph over and over again for the past hour. I managed to get what paper work was waiting for me out of the way earlier and instead of heading down to the stables, as I would normally have done – I wait.

  About thirty minutes later, I hear Jake’s SUV come to a stop outside. Placing my book to the side, I stand up and head towards the front door just as Rona enters. She looks really happy. Obviously, her day with Jake has gone well.

  “Hi, I guess by your smile that you had a good day with Jake?”

  She has a slight blush, “I did have a good day, but my smile was actually for you. I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” She looks lovely with color in her cheeks and her windswept hair, “Can I get you a coffee?”

  “Yes please, can you give me five minutes though? I want to upload the photographs I took today to my iPad so I can show them to you.”

  “That will be good; I’ll get us both some coffee and wait for you in the lounge.”

  Just as she turns to go upstairs, I ask, “Is Jake coming in?”

  She turns back to me, “No, he said he’s going to call down to the stables, saying something about the feed which has just been delivered.”

  “I’ll see you in a few minutes then.”

  Having made the coffee, I sit on the sofa this time, hoping to have Rona in my arms, at least for a short while.

  Coming back down the stairs she has changed into sweats and a long sleeved t-shirt, which we both seem to favor, with thick socks on her feet.

  “I managed to get them all on and they look pretty good.” She doesn’t even hesitate to join me on the sofa. Sitting down she snuggles into my side and looks up at me, “Hi.” she moves her hands to my chest, and reaching up, places a kiss on my lips.

  I caress her face, “Hi, not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

  “I just had to touch you.”

  She really tugs at my heart, “You can touch me anytime you want.” I place a kiss on her forehead.

  “Before I lie you down on this sofa and strip you naked, I think you’d better show me your photographs.”

  “Spoil sport!” God, she really is trying my patience. Even if Jake, Anna and Beth accept her as my woman there’s still the age difference.

  Looking at her photographs, I can see that she had a good time. There were some pictures of her which Jake had obviously taken, one of which I wouldn’t mind having a copy.

  “Didn’t you take any pictures from the tram?”

  “Err, no. I was too terrified to think about anything except putting my feet on the ground. I kind of buried my face in Jake’s coat and didn’t look up until he dragged me off at the top and into the restaurant.”

  I tighten my arms around her, “Is it the first time you’ve been on an aerial tram?”

  “I’ve been in a cable car before and that was a hair raising experience. I swore that I’d never go in one again.”

  “So why did you?”

  “Big Red was a lot bigger and in the end just as terrifying. But the waffles were worth the fright, I guess, not to mention the view.”

  As we come to the end of her photographs, I notice she’s drifted off to sleep on me. Rona feels so good and so right against me that I don’t want to move.

  Wrapping my arm around her, I sink further down into the sofa and pull her more onto my chest, falling asleep with her.

  ~~ Rona ~~

  Starting to wake up slowly I realize I’m not in bed. Opening my eyes, I meet Jake’s eyes from across the sofa. He’s sat in one of the chairs with a look on his face that I can’t decipher. I’ve been asleep wrapped in Cade’s arms.

  Cade is still asleep at this point.

  Managing to extract myself without waking Cade up, I motion to Jake to follow me to the kitchen where I grab a cup of coffee. Turning to face Jake, “I didn’t realize I was so tired. I was sitting next to your father showing him the photographs and the next thing I know, well, I woke up to you looking at us.”

  “Is that all it was?�
�

  Blushing, “That’s how we ended up like that on the sofa.”

  “You are attracted to him though aren’t you? I know he’s attracted to you. I’m not blind, I’ve seen the way you look at each other when you think I’m not watching, plus you both looked a bit disheveled at the airport.”