Sapphires And Sagebrush (Country Brides & Cowboy Boots)

by Danni Lee Nicholls

  Kimber ran to Spencer and launched herself into his arms. “Daddy!”

  Spencer caught her and pulled her close, pulling in the scent of strawberry jam.

  Lyla put down the backpack. “So, what’s on your agenda today?” she asked.

  “Well, I thought we’d go back to where we rode ponies last weekend and go for a ride. Then, maybe we’ll have a late lunch at Marilyn’s.”

  Lyla turned to Kimber. “Oh, Kimber, doesn’t that sound like fun? You’re going on a date with your daddy.”

  “Yeah, Momma! I loved those ponies.”

  Spencer shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Do you want to come with us?” He gazed down at Lyla, unsure of her response.

  Some part of Spencer was pleased when Lyla’s eyes lit up like the sun hitting the sky. “I’d love to,” she gushed.

  Kimber jumped up and down. “You’re going on a date, too.” She scampered out of Spencer’s arms and ran to her mother.

  Spencer held Lyla’s eyes as she beamed at him. “Yes. I am.”

  “Let’s just get Kimber settled in her room, and then we can get started.” Spencer reached his hand out, and Kimber ran to take his fingers while he lifted her backpack. Once in the bedroom, he put her belongings in the dresser while his thoughts tried to align themselves. What had he just done?

  “I’m happy Mommy’s coming with us,” Kimber said.

  “Me too, honey.” He hoped he was doing the right thing by including Lyla in his afternoon with Kimber. Kneeling down in front of his daughter, he chose his words carefully, hedging his bets. “I hope you understand this won’t always be the case. Sometimes Mommy will be busy, or I’ll just want to spend our time with just the two of us. But Mommy and I are friends, and we both want what’s best for you. Do you understand?”

  Kimber nodded solemnly, her eyes big with innocence and trust.

  “C’mon, now. Let’s go ride some ponies.”

  Walking out into the living room, Spencer spied Lyla texting on her phone. When he walked into the room, she hurriedly put her phone in her back pocket as she smiled. “Just changing my plans,” she said lightly.

  Spencer nodded. He didn’t hold it against Lyla. Of course she would have plans for her free weekend.

  Securing Kimber in her car seat, Spencer helped Lyla into the truck before moving to the driver’s side. Soon, they were on the road. The sounds of the engine and the snow tires hitting the bare pavement, along with his thoughts of Cressa, kept Spencer company. He still couldn’t believe her doctor from Salt Lake City had shown up the morning after their breakup. How long had she been planning their reunion? Was her concern for Kimber real, or was it just an excuse for her to leave him? The familiar ache of betrayal settled in his chest as he reminded himself that it wasn’t any of his concern.

  In his effort to forget Cressa, Spencer kept both hands on the wheel; his uncertain thoughts turned toward Lyla. Was the anguish he was feeling over Cressa’s decision to leave him somehow tapping into what had happened between him and Lyla?

  That wasn’t fair. Lyla was not responsible for Cressa’s decision or even the smarting hurt it caused him. It would be best if he could keep the two women separate. He gave Lyla a sideways glance. She was beautiful as always, with her soft blonde curls falling over her shoulders, and her pink heart-shaped mouth. What would it be like to kiss Lyla again?

  As if reading his mind, Lyla faced him. “Thanks for asking me to come along,” she said.

  Spencer banished the thought of kissing Lyla. He offered her a smile before turning his attention back to the road.

  Lyla reached across the console and placed her hand on Spencer’s arm. “You don’t have to be tense,” she said quietly. “It’s just us, and we’ve traveled together lots of time.”

  The pressure of Lyla’s fingers on Spencer’s sleeved arm sent an eager ripple through his soul and body as the memory of their married life pulled at him. There had been good times. Lyla had gotten pregnant soon after their wedding, and every night, they would lie in bed while he rubbed his roughened palm over her taut belly. As her pregnancy advanced, the touch of his skin had been one of the few things that brought her comfort.

  Lyla began tracing his arm lightly with her fingers, creating an undertow of emotions. He glanced at Lyla to see that seductive look in her eyes as she slowly met his gaze before turning away.

  He focused on the road and was grateful when they parked in the lot of the pony farm. “Here we are,” he announced.

  “Yippee!” Kimber bounced in her car seat while Lyla hurried to unlatch her.

  Soon, Kimber was straddling the same pony from last weekend, with Lyla and Spencer on either side as they walked the grounds. Kimber chatted happily about everything she saw: the green grass, the blue sky, the treed mountains, and the meadowed wildflowers that were beginning to pop up. She talked to her pony and petted his neck, keeping him and Lyla focused on the sweet childlike conversation.

  Spencer listened intently, and between him and Lyla, they were able to answer Kimber’s many questions. They tag-teamed each other, and Spencer was once again reminded of how his and Lyla’s parenting skills were complementary.

  Walking alongside the pony, he also noticed the number of times Lyla’s phone chimed. Finally, she pulled it out of her pocket and dashed off a text.

  “I left mine in the car,” Spencer said.

  “Yeah, well …” Lyla responded as she put hers back into her pocket.

  The phone chimed again, and she ignored it.

  Lyla’s face filled with tension. He knew that look.

  “Why are you so tense all the time?” Spencer asked. Kimber had just been put down for the night, and he was happy for some free time with Lyla, but she’d been so preoccupied lately, it was hard to get her attention.

  Lyla dismissed his question with a wave of her hand. “Oh, it’s Lindsey. She and Jordan are having a hard time.”

  “With what?”

  “Just marital stuff. You know.”

  Spencer blinked. He didn’t know what was troubling Lindsey and Jordan, but maybe their problems were none of his business. “Your sister should leave you alone for a little while, or your marriage might take a tumble.” Spencer reached over to nuzzle Lyla’s neck. He glanced at her phone to see an unfamiliar number pop up on the screen just before she pulled away from him, a sour look in her eyes.

  “Don’t.” She pushed at him.

  Spencer raised his hands in the air. “Sorry. I didn’t know it was against the law to touch you.”

  Lyla curled her lip and turned away, sprinting off another text.

  Later that evening, while Lyla breathed heavily in her sleep, Spencer quietly stole from their bed and padded into the kitchen, where they charged their cell phones. He tried to unlock Lyla’s phone, but her password had been changed. Suspicion grew. When did she start wanting to keep secrets hidden away in her phone?

  Fiddling around with a few numbers, Spencer opened the phone and called up his wife’s texting history. The cold, brightly lit screen revealed everything, including the last text that had come in around midnight, telling Lyla that her body was missed in the bed of whoever was on the other end of the communique.

  Spencer didn’t understand what he was uncovering until the air left his lungs. Lyla was seeing someone else. She was cheating on him with another man! His mouth went dry as his body snapped fully awake.

  Continuing his scroll, he found that her most recent foray into adultery was not her first. Nausea rose from the pit of Spencer’s stomach, and he thought he might vomit. For months, she had pretended to love only him while giving away her affection like bargain trinkets found in a carnival. In the process, she’d cheapened him and their marriage. A sense of shame and dirtiness covered Spencer. Where had he gone wrong? When did he lose his wife? Maybe she had never really been his. Defeat ran through him like a sword.

  Quietly, Spencer pushed off the phone, and the b
luish light left the room. He sat in the dark of his dining room while the blackness of betrayal seeped into his very soul.

  Thirty minutes later, he heard Lyla stir in the bedroom and her familiar patter of feet coming down the hall. Standing in her nightgown, she switched on the dining room light, her eyes growing large as she stared at her phone sitting on the table in front of Spencer.

  “Do you wear that when you sleep with whoever is on the other end of this number?” Spencer asked.

  Lyla blanched before her blue eyes turned to ice and she set her jaw. “What do you expect me to do?” she spat out. “You’re never home. For all I know, you’re out catting around. I mean, who works fourteen-hour days?”

  “I work fourteen-hour days, Lyla! I own a business. It takes long hours, especially during the summer months. I don’t hear you complaining about the pay.”

  “Well, I’m left here all alone with a baby, and someday I’m going to be old, Spencer. If you don’t appreciate me now, you sure won’t when I’m eighty.”

  “That’s all you have to say about this?”

  Lyla squared her shoulders. “For now, yes.”

  Spencer grabbed his keys. He silently brushed by Lyla and quickly moved to the bedroom, where he hurriedly dressed. When he came back out to the kitchen, Lyla was standing out on their back patio, her back to him. Spencer didn’t go to her. Instead, he walked to his truck and drove. He spent the next three hours aimlessly driving until it was time for him to show up for work. When he returned home later that evening, Lyla and Kimber were gone, along with all of Kimber’s belongings and most of Lyla’s.

  Spencer sucked in a long breath, afraid he might hyperventilate as the memory rode over his present moment.

  Lyla looked at him with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. Sometimes …” Spencer steadied his breathing.

  Lyla stopped the pony. Kimber remained silent as Lyla walked to where Spencer stood. Looking down at his ex-wife, he saw his pain mirrored in her violet-blue eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “And I’m sorry.”

  Spencer swallowed and nodded. “Thanks.” He tightened his grip on the lead rope. He blinked several times and focused on his surroundings as he recalled Kimber’s enthusiastic reverence for all of nature. Treed mountains. Blue sky. Meadowed wildflowers. He took each of them in, his breath settling as thoughts of Cressa gentled his mind. The smell of her sweet jasmine and the way she’d gazed at him right before he’d kissed her calmed his spirit until he was overcome with missing her. Then, the anguish that had accompanied her departure settled in his chest, and he longed for her company after this outing with Lyla.

  He focused on his daughter. “We’ve only got another thirty minutes with this pony, and then it’ll be time for our lunch, so let’s make the most of it.” He smiled as he patted Kimber’s leg.

  Kimber grinned at him. “Do you think I’ll be able to gallop someday?”

  Spencer found his smile. “Maybe,” he said. “If we get you some horseback riding lessons.”

  “Oh, Mommy! Can I get lessons?”

  “We’ll see,” Lyla said. “Your daddy and I will have to talk about that.”

  Lyla smiled at Spencer just as her phone chimed. Her smile froze in place as she quickly took her phone from her pocket.

  Spencer didn’t blame Lyla. She had her life, and it wasn’t fair for him to expect her to throw everything out the window simply because he had unexpectedly asked her to share an afternoon with him and Kimber. Or was it? If she longed for him in the way she professed, shouldn’t their family be her focus? He was only asking for a few hours of her time.

  Maybe he wanted his life, too, something separate from Lyla. After his last conversation with Cressa and seeing her with Doctor Salt Lake, Spencer wasn’t sure what his future held.

  Quietly, Spencer stood by Kimber, who still straddled her pony while Lyla ripped off a quick text. Would he ever hold the same value as what showed up on that cold, bright screen?

  Twenty-Seven

  The following week, Cressa sat in the quiet house and took a deep breath. Her parents were in bed, and the television was off. The quiet hum of the dishwasher was the only thing that greeted her ears. Sitting back on the couch, she nursed a cup of chamomile tea, letting the silence offer her solace after a full day of work.

  Finishing her tea, she rose from the couch and quietly made her way to the master bedroom, where she switched on the light and looked around. The shower was in place, but there weren’t any fixtures yet. The vanity was sitting in the bedroom, ready to be installed as soon as the floors were finished. That would happen tomorrow, according to Spencer’s latest text.

  Spencer. It had been two weeks since their breakup and Owen’s visit. Slogging through life without Spencer was beginning to leave her heart scraped raw in places.

  Owen’s presence had eased the immediate pain, but now, two weeks into the breakup, her determination was waning, leaving a hole in her day-to-day life and a bleak future.

  She missed Spencer sitting with her folks and helping her with dinner. She longed for his cheerful optimism and his tender but urgent embrace. She wished for his steady and genuine kindness and the freedom of his shared emotions.

  Owen’s continued presence in her life did little to remedy her feelings of loss around Spencer. She appreciated the phone calls and texts, but now, when her phone pinged with an incoming message, she wasn’t searching for Owen’s number. She was looking for Spencer.

  She tried not to compare the two men. It wasn’t fair. But Owen’s affection left her hollow, while Spencer’s tenderness filled her with passion and hope.

  Leaning against the doorframe, she was starting to believe that her life with Owen had always been hollow, and it was Spencer’s presence that made her face that unfortunate reality.

  Cressa’s thoughts wandered to Kimber. Over lunch last week, Lindsey had told her that Lyla was thrilled that mother and daughter were spending more time with Spencer. If Lindsey had any pictures, she didn’t show them. A blessing for which Cressa was grateful. But she still hung on every word Lindsey shared.

  Lindsey had reported that they had revisited the pony farm, and Kimber was thriving. The conversation had been casual, but it told Cressa all she needed to know, bolstering her conviction that she had done the right thing.

  Tears filled Cressa’s eyes, and she hurriedly brushed them away. She had not cried over the loss of Spencer, and she wouldn’t start now.

  Instead, she allowed her thoughts to wander to her visit with Owen. His company was enjoyable. They spoke the same language that came from years of being in the medical field, and they understood each other’s sorrows and successes. Their familiarity pulled at her, and when Owen took her in his arms, there was a sense of returning. He was handsome and engaging, but she could not breathe life into what they shared, no matter how hard she tried. She was stuck with the task of telling him that very thing, and the conversation needed to happen tonight. It wasn’t fair to keep Owen tagging along in order for her to maintain a level of distraction from her breakup with Spencer.

  Sighing, Cressa switched off the light to the master bath. She traced her finger along the wall as she made her way to the family room and pulled her phone from her pocket, dialing Owen’s number.

  He answered on the first ring. “Hey! How’s my girl? I didn’t expect to hear from you tonight.”

  Cressa’s courage almost failed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Owen. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Oh. That doesn’t sound good. What’s up?”

  “I can’t do a long-distance relationship with you. I don’t think it’s fair to either one of us.”

  Owen was silent for a moment before launching into his defense. “I know this is hard, Cressa, but if we just keep working at it, I’m sure we’ll get used to it.”

  “I don’t want to get used to it.” The words popped out of her mouth before she had a chance to think, and she
bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh.

  “I see.” Owen’s voice softened with the injury.

  “I’m sorry,” Cressa said. “It’s just that—”

  “Is there someone else?” Owen asked.

  Cressa’s thoughts immediately flew to Spencer, and misery blanketed her heart. “No. That’s not it. I’ve changed since I’ve moved here,” she said. “I can’t explain it, but I think we’ll always want different things.” She hurried on. “I know you’ve talked about moving here, but there’s nothing even close to big-city life in this corner of the country. You’d be crazy within a week.”

  “Maybe you’re not the only one who’s changed,” Owen said quietly.

  Shame rose within her like smoke from ashes. She had tried to wiggle out of this relationship by putting it on Owen. She let out a long breath. “This is complicated.”

  “Something tells me this involves the guy who’s working on your house. Am I right?”

  “I’m not in a relationship with Spencer …” She hesitated. “And I never will be. He’s going back to his ex-wife and daughter.” The words kicked at Cressa like a boot to the stomach. She hunched over to keep from crying out as her heart quivered in her chest. The words she longed to say burst forth like a fountain, offering her sweet and refreshing relief from the dry ground of denial. “But I love him, Owen.”

  “Don’t you think he’s beneath you?” Owen said. “You’re a physician, Cressa. How could someone like him ever understand you?”

  Anger and shock erupted in Cressa. Did Owen really slot people according to their work? “You think because he’s a carpenter that he isn’t worthy?”

  Owen’s voice held the same easy tone he used in the ER. “I think the differences might be a problem after the initial infatuation wears off,” Owen replied. “You deserve someone who’s your equal in every way.”

  She heard Owen sigh before he continued, “Look, maybe you’re just having a bad night. I can understand how you’re under a lot of stress. You’re working full time and looking after your parents, and you’re in the middle of a remodel. It makes sense that you’d latch on to the only thinking adult you see.”