by Harte, C. J.
Table of Contents
Synopsis
By the Author
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Epilogue
About the Author
Other C.J. Harte Titles Available via Amazon
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Synopsis
Jordan Thompson was brought up to believe and trust what her parents taught her: their strong but conservative values. As the daughter of the President of the United States, she especially feels the burden of living up to her parents’ standards.
Drew Hamilton is putting her rodeo career on hold to purse a medical degree. One day she hopes to return to Wyoming to practice family medicine and ranch. She’s worked hard to pay for school and doesn’t have time for romance, especially with curious straight females. When Jordan hires her as a tutor, Drew finds she is learning more about life than she planned. Jordan is learning more than academics. She’s learning about love.
But with their very different backgrounds and families, they may not survive the stresses of a first love.
First Love
Brought to you by
eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.
First Love
© 2013 By C.J. Harte. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-991-6
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, New York 12185
First Edition: October 2013
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])
By the Author
Dreams of Bali
Magic of the Heart
First Love
Acknowledgments
The fact that you are reading this book is due in part to the faith and hard work of the Bold Strokes staff. Cindy Cresap, my editor, who patiently explained things to me more than once until I finally got it. Thank you for your patience and willingness to teach. The book cover is a masterpiece from Sheri’s creative mind. I am amazed how she can take the written word and come up with amazing visuals. Stacia has been the force behind finally getting this into print. Radclyffe has opened doors for so many of us to live our dream.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the good people of Wyoming who live the code of the West, the code Drew Hamilton lives by: always finish what you start, be tough but fair, live each day with courage, talk less and listen more, ride for the brand, know when to draw the line. Good advice. To learn more about this code, visit http://boldstrokesbooksauthors.wordpress.com
Dedication
This book is dedicated first to Edith Windsor, whose love, devotion, and courage to her first love brought about change for all our loves and lives. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is no longer the law of the land. Second, this book is dedicated to my first love, the woman who taught me what love was really all about. Finally, it is dedicated to all you readers. Celebrate your love and lives.
Chapter One
August
“Three years. Only three years.” The air conditioning was on max, and still, she was sweating. Record heat baked Florida and had no intention of letting go. Drew Hamilton pulled into the gas station, stepped out into the hot, humid air, and wondered what the hell she was doing in Gainesville, Florida. Three years. Only three years. Her short hair clung to her head. Sweat, collecting under her Western-cut shirt, ran down her body in long, endless streams.
“There are medical schools in drier places,” she muttered. “Yeah, but you thought it was a good idea to get away from home. Be closer to your brother Greg, you said. Have all the pretty girls to look at, you said. Well, smart mouth, how the hell will you see them with sweat in your eyes?” She removed the gas cap and began filling her tank. “Well, AnDrew, cowgirl up, because this is probably as good as it gets.” Her gas tank full, she walked into the convenience store to pay. Greg’s insane to want to live in the South. Drew stopped and laughed. “What the hell does that say about me, then?” It’s only three years! “God, I miss Wyoming, and it’s only been three days. Yes, but it’s for three years.”
The cool air in the store offered a temporary reprieve. She sighed and stretched. I’ll never leave this store.
As she walked up to the counter, the clerk stared at her. Maybe he just stares at everyone. Nope! She then wondered if her jeans were unzipped. She checked. Nope!
“You in that white Explorer?” he asked.
Drew nodded as she reached in her back pocket for her wallet.
“That’s thirty-seven dollars even. Where’d you buy that buckle?” he drawled.
His eyes again roamed her body, this time for an even longer time than it took for him to ask his question. For a plainspoken Westerner, that was too long. Drew stretched to every inch of her six-foot-one-inch frame and squared her shoulders before handing over the cash. “I earned it,” she answered. “How do I get to the University of Florida medical school?”
He gave brief, succinct directions. While his speech was pleasant, his manners were one step short of a porcupine. Drew nodded and started to walk away.
“How’d you earn it?” he asked.
“I rode a four-legged bull,” she threw over her shoulder, laughing at the look on the guy’s face, “and stayed on.”
Opening the door, she was again blasted by the sauna outside. “I hope he isn’t the typical Southern male,” she muttered as she crossed to her car, “or else they’d all need to become steers.”
Her Roper boots felt heavy, like they had been dipped in honey and stuck to the hot, tarred surface. How people lived in this swamp amazed her. “Maybe that’s why the university’s mascot is an alligator.” She chuckled. “You gotta have skin that’s wrinkled and tough.”
*
Drew needed to get settled and wash off three days of travel. Tomorrow, she would deal with financial aid, but now she needed to feel clean and get some sleep. The map sent by housing helped her to locate her apartment complex.
The apartments were designed for graduate level students and had two or three bedroom suites and a common living area. Drew was glad she only had one roommate. It was costing a little more
, but she hoped that would make it easier to study. She chose the bedroom and study area at the front of the apartment. “If my roomie wants to cook, she can do it and I can sleep.”
Unpacking was quick and efficient. Jeans, shirts, shorts, tennis shoes, and boots. Her only personal effects were her ropes and some books. As she took off her boots, she remembered that she still had two more rodeos. One of them was the national finals.
The next twenty minutes were heaven as she stood in a cool shower rinsing off the layers of sweat and grime.
She pulled on shorts and a T-shirt and climbed into bed. She had driven straight through from New Orleans and was tired. Of heat, humidity, and people. Maybe Florida will grow on me. “Yeah, like mold,” she added as she fell into deep slumber.
*
At first, it was the subtle change in the quiet. Someone moving around in the apartment. Curiosity pulled Drew from a restful sleep. She turned on the lamp and reached for her watch. It was eight thirty at night. Those loud sounds better be my new roommate.
Opening the door from her sparsely decorated bedroom, she was greeted with boxes, clothes, and books strewn across the living area. Jeezus! There isn’t much left uncluttered around here.
Potted flowers filled the coffee table. Clothes, mostly pants and shirts, were tossed across the couch, dining room chairs, and table. Bags of food cluttered the kitchen. Maybe there’s more than one roommate moving in.
“Who are you?” she asked the tall, attractive young man carrying still more bags of groceries.
“I’m Mark Garcia and I live here. Who are you?”
“I’m AnDrew Hamilton and I live here,” she answered. She grabbed two of the bags and put them on the counter before sticking out her hand.
He stared back at her. A diamond chip glittered from one ear, breaking light into small rainbows of color. A deep cleft in his chin added to his obvious charm and good looks. The olive complexion paled. “When I got the letter that said my suitemate would be AnDrew Hamilton, I thought it was a guy.”
“Apparently, housing did too. Even though I indicated my gender on the application, housing must have thought I made a mistake. I must admit, I didn’t know any females named Mark, but, hell, I’m from Wyoming.” Drew watched the expression change on Mark’s face from surprise to wonder to horror. He sat down, placed his groceries on the table, and turned much paler, a feat, given his dark complexion.
Drew liked this guy, and based on the rainbow triangle on his T-shirt, she was sure they would get along. “Oh, my,” he said. He stared a little longer and then repeated himself, this time with more emphasis. “Oh, my!”
“We’ll get along just fine,” she replied. She picked up one of Mark’s paperback books. “I see you have almost all of Armistad Maupin’s books. Unfortunately, I’ve only read the first three, but I loved them.”
He looked at Drew, carefully studying her expression. Drew grinned and nodded. Mark’s face lit up as he hurried over to hug her. “Well, sister, I do believe we will get along just fine.”
She changed into more comfortable clothes, then unpacked, stacked, and sorted for two hours. “Damn, you have more clothes than my whole family put together,” she said. “Did you leave anything at home?”
“My boyfriend David is coming up soon, and he’ll take back the summer clothes.” Drew shook her head, unable to imagine summer ever going away. “Can’t wear white after Labor Day.”
Drew laughed. “That’s not a problem for me. I don’t have anything white except a pair of tennis shoes and a dress shirt. We’ll get along fine.”
“I barely survived last year with the roommate from hell, straight guy who insisted on telling racist, sexist, and homophobic jokes, even after I repeatedly asked him not to. Whenever we were in class together or around others, he would call me Mary or tell fag jokes loud enough for me to hear.”
“What a jerk!” Drew said. “I would have made him a castrato.” Drew paused as she cleared the table. “Did he know you were gay?”
“I don’t think it mattered. He’s just an asshole.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what it was like. Where I live I guess it’s a lot harder to figure out who is and isn’t gay.”
Mark looked at what Drew was wearing. “Oh, my, don’t tell me you always dress like that?” Drew had thrown on the clothes she had been wearing when she arrived in Gainesville. “Where are you from? Texas?”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” She looked at her dusty boots and quickly wiped off the tips on the back of her jeans. Her shirt, green and white checked, definitely looked slept in. The smell probably wasn’t much better, but she wasn’t going to try the sniff test to confirm it.
“Well, your clothes are not typical in this college town.”
“It’s all I brought and all I own.”
“Where are you from?”
“Wyoming, my friend.” Drew grinned. “And this is everyday wear.”
“Wyoming! Do you have electricity? Do you ride?”
Drew flashed a mischievous smile. “Well, yeah, and we even have indoor plumbing. Of course, the ranch house is built on three levels with doors on each level. As the snow gets deeper during the winter, we just go upstairs to get out of the house. Otherwise, we’d be stuck inside for four to six months.”
Mark’s eyes grew large and then he began to laugh. “I almost believed you. You really live on a ranch?”
“All my life. My parents are the fourth generation to live and work our ranch. My brothers, sister, and I all grew up riding, roping, and working. That’s how ranching families survive.”
“You’re a real cowgirl!”
Drew smiled. “I can’t imagine any other life. When I’m working on fences or putting up hay, I’m the happiest. I get busy, and suddenly, it’s the end of the day.”
“Are you planning on ranching after medical school?”
“Absolutely. I want a small ranch of my own, hopefully, near my folks. Find a wife, have a couple of kids. But not before I finish medical school and my residency.”
“Suppose you meet someone here?”
“No way. Nice to look at, maybe date, but not serious. I’m a pragmatist. Not everyone is designed for ranching, and I want someone who won’t mind that type of life. How about you and your boyfriend?”
“David and I made an agreement. He’s an investment banker and loves what he does, but wants to have time to paint. He’s supporting me until I’m thirty, and then I’ll support him for the next twenty years, and then we’ll both retire and travel.”
“Wow! You two have things well planned out. Are your families in Miami?”
“David’s family’s just about disowned him and rarely see him unless he makes the effort. And they all live in Miami. My family, however, loves him and is very accepting.”
“I’ve been lucky. My family already guessed before I told them. They told me anyone I wanted to bring home they would love.” She shook her head. “I asked them how they knew, and you know what they said?”
Mark shook his head.
“You always wanted to follow your brothers around, and your sister didn’t like playing with you.” Drew looked at Mark and grinned. “Must have been riding the wild horses and bulls that gave it away.”
“Geez, girlfriend. You ride bulls? How butch! Are you pulling my leg again?”
“My family wishes I would’ve tried something safer, but I wanted to keep up with my two brothers. Why don’t you come out and visit? I’ll teach you to ride bulls.”
Mark looked aghast. “I prefer the two-legged kind, thank you.” He jumped up and went to the refrigerator.
Drew laughed. “Hmm, what do you mean?” she asked in her most naïve voice.
“Let’s change the topic. Here, have some ice cream.” He set a bowl in front of her. “So the family knows you’re gay?”
“Good save.” She still chuckled at his obvious discomfort. “They’ve known since I was fifteen and had my first crush on a girl.” Drew grew quiet. �
��I look back now and wonder how could I not know. My family often says, ‘Drew, for someone with your IQ, you sure can be dense about anything that doesn’t involve horses or rodeos.”
“So, you’re a first year?”
“Nope, finished my first year at the University of Wyoming. So this is my second year. It’s part of a program for western states without medical schools. Most folks go to University of Washington. I’m the first second year accepted here. Dean says I’m an experiment so I have to do really well.”
“Life must be very different in Wyoming.”
“It can be.” Drew stood and stretched. “I need to get some sleep. Got to go to financial aid in the morning.”
“You applying for a loan?” Mark asked.
“Only as a last resort. I’m looking for a part-time job. I’ve got tuition and housing taken care of. I’m trying to not be deep in debt when I’m done.”
“Me, too. David is a life saver.”
“Guess investment banking pays.”
“He works in international banking and makes more than I will make. We’ll have some loans to pay off, but we have a plan.”
“Sounds like your life is well-planned. Oh, well, I guess I’ll just rodeo.” Drew laughed at the stunned expression on Mark’s face. Life in the swamp was going to be survivable.