Break In Two

by Summers, MJ

  Claire sobbed into her hand for a moment, considering her sister's offer. She quickly made up her mind, "I can't leave until they find a replacement for me. Alicia is really struggling with morning sickness right now. She can't go more than a few hours without puking. I couldn't do it to her after she's been so wonderful to me. I'll tell them to look for someone else and then stay clear of Cole until they either hire another chef or Alicia's feeling better. Then I'll come stay with you."

  "You sure you can handle it? I really think you need to think of your own needs, rather than someone else's right now."

  "I'll be okay. He's away now and then next week there is another group coming in, so I'll only have to avoid him for a few days until he's gone again. I can hide out in my cabin in the evenings, or go into town."

  * * *

  The next day, Claire woke up early with puffy eyes from crying. She went for a long run along the lake without even noticing the sun lighting up the mountains as it rose. Her mind raced along with her body, wondering if Cole had slept with one of those girls that night or if he would tonight.

  She showered and threw on a navy t-shirt, old jeans and some flip-flops. She walked down to the restaurant and started getting breakfast ready for the staff who were still there.

  Alicia came in a few minutes after her. The moment she saw her, she stopped, "What's wrong, Claire?"

  Claire had decided not to tell Alicia about the condoms. She didn't see how it would help anything to sully Cole's reputation with his sister-in-law and she wasn't ready to admit to anyone else that she had been such a fool twice in row.

  "Oh, my eyes? It's just allergies today. I might have to run into town to pick up some antihistamines later. How are you feeling this morning?" Claire kept cutting up fruit so she would not have to look Alicia in the eye.

  "Well, better this morning. I think it's because I had such a good rest yesterday afternoon and evening. Thanks so much for that, by the way," Alicia got a bowl out of the cupboard and started cracking eggs into it.

  "I was thinking maybe you should take a rest every afternoon for a while until you are feeling better. It's no problem really. I could handle lunch clean-up and dinner prep."

  "Thanks Claire, you're a good friend. I'm so glad you’re here. Ben and I were just talking last night about how much less worried we feel about the baby coming with you around to handle the restaurant. Before you got here, we weren't sure what we were going to do." Alicia smiled at Claire.

  "Oh Alicia, I'm glad I can be here for you," Claire gave her a quick smile and then looked away, thinking of how she wasn't going to be there much longer.

  She needed to change the subject, "Say, I need to get a haircut. Do you think I could get into your stylist in the next couple of days? I thought I'd try to go while we don't have any guests."

  "Sure, my stylist is pretty good about squeezing me in. I can give you her number. She's great."

  Chapter 23

  The next morning, Claire drove into the city to search for Sky Salon and Spa, for a cut, colour, a mani and a pedicure. Alicia's stylist, Sammi, had agreed to come in at 9 a.m. so she could have Claire back to work in time for lunch. Claire had spent the night moping again and decided that she had wasted enough time letting cheating bastards get her down. Now her goal was to look as good as possible and make Cole sorry he even met her. He would be able to look but not touch and she intended to make the sight of her hurt.

  Sammi was a genius. She changed Claire's hair from a typical all one length cut to one with sexy angles that flowed beautifully and bounced up into flirty beach waves with the slightest work from a diffuser and some spray. She coloured Claire's hair a rich shade of chocolate brown that brought out her blue eyes out much more than her lighter brown hair had done. Claire chose a very feminine light pink colour for her finger and toe nails and headed back to the ranch with her new look. She felt armed and ready to take on Cole.

  When she got back to the ranch, she quickly changed into strappy wedge sandals, her best push up bra, a fitted navy tank top and a dark denim mini-skirt. She put on pink lip gloss that stayed wet-looking and made up her eyes carefully to accentuate her best feature.

  "There," she said feeling satisfied, "Eat your heart out, asshole."

  She walked over to the restaurant to see how lunch was coming along. Alicia had told her she would cover the morning, as there were just a handful of people to feed. The tour group wasn't due back until shortly before supper.

  She checked her cell phone. There was a text from Cole. "What's up? I haven't heard from you. Everything okay? Missing my bendy girl. Cole." She deleted the message.

  * * *

  At that exact moment, Antonio was boarding a direct flight for Colorado Springs. He settled into his chair, checking out the flight attendant's ass. He put on his headphones and then checked the breast pocket of his jacket to make sure that the little black velvet box was still there. Smiling to himself, he decided to take a nap. He would need to rest up for all the make-up sex he was going to have that night.

  * * *

  Cole sat on Dudley feeling irritated. They were running two hours late getting back to the ranch and he was tired of managing a group of giggly girls and the younger ranch hands, all of them raging with hormones. Everyone had stayed up far too late flirting both nights, causing them to oversleep. Cole had been the last one to bed each night, hoping to prevent his guys from trying to sneak into the girls' tents or vice versa.

  It was getting to the hottest part of the day and he just wanted to be back home and find out what was wrong with Claire. He couldn't understand why he hadn't heard anything from her and why she hadn’t come to say good-bye. Part of him was worried and the other part was annoyed that she seemed to go off the deep end again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to invite so much drama into his life, even if it did come with the best sex he'd ever had. When things were going good, he and Claire were amazing together, but when they were bad Claire was like dealing with a thoroughbred - she was easily frightened and skittish, needing expert handling. Cole wasn't sure if he had it in him to try to keep her from spooking while trying to manage the ranch, the lodge, and all of his plans for expansion.

  Feeling worn out he turned back to see how the others were coming along. "Let's get moving everyone!" he called in a sharp tone.

  Chapter 24

  When Claire reached the kitchen, Alicia was slicing up veggies for that night's salad. She looked up at Claire, "Wow Claire! You look amazing! Cole is going to blow a fuse when he sees you."

  "Aww, thanks, Alicia. You're so good for my ego. I loved Sammi, she is the best! I feel like I look better than I have in a long time."

  "I love the colour - it really brings out your eyes, and the cut really flows. Sammi knows what she's doing," Alicia agreed. "Oh, Cole texted Ben a while ago. They are going to be late getting back, probably close to six. Apparently it’s been like more like a party than a trail ride - they've hardly had any sleep and they got off to a late start this morning."

  Claire quickly opened the fridge door so Alicia couldn't see her wince. She tried to sound casual, "Okay, well maybe we should have supper ready for 6:30. It would give them a bit of time to get cleaned up. We could just have the salads and a couple of appetizers ready earlier."

  "Sounds like a plan," Alicia replied.

  Claire looked over at her friend with concern. "Thanks for covering for me this morning by the way. You must be exhausted. Why don't you go lay down for a while? Maybe come back close to supper if you are feeling up to it. I can take it from here."

  "I was hoping you would say that. I feel like death warmed over. Last night I told Ben if he wants more kids after this, that he can have them." Alicia finished cutting up the veggies and arranging them on the tray and then washed up her hands.

  "I'll be back before six o’clock for sure." Alicia opened the door, "Thanks, hottie!"

  Claire laughed, "See you later!"

  Her afternoon was spent trying to concentrate on
preparing supper, although her mind was racing with all of the things she wanted to say to Cole when he got back. Her hands were a blur as she made five trays of lasagne, three with meat and two vegetarian, as well as garlic bread, shrimp skewers to grill, and two large salads. Dessert would be cinnamon apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. The closer the time got to supper, the more anxious she felt. She didn't want a big scene again and it would take all of her will power not to say anything to Cole until she had him alone. Her urge to scream in his face and call him a snake would have to be overridden by her desire to prove to herself that she could remain calm and handle this with dignity.

  * * *

  At 5:30 p.m., Antonio drove out of the car rental lot with the GPS to guide him to Spring Valley Ranch. He turned west toward the Rockies, casually popping some peanuts into his mouth. If he didn't hit any traffic, he would be there within an hour to start over with Claire.

  * * *

  A few minutes after 6 p.m., Alicia walked into the kitchen, "Sorry I'm so late! I fell asleep and was shocked to see the time when I woke up."

  Claire gave her a warm smile, "Don't worry about it at all! Everything's under control here and you obviously needed the rest. You're making an entire human being - that has got to be exhausting."

  Alicia laughed, "I never thought of it that way. Thanks Claire. Now, what can I do to help?"

  Claire pulled the lasagne covers off to brown the cheese on top, "Well, I put out metal tubs filled with ice so people can help themselves to beer, pop and water. I thought we'd go buffet style, so I moved a table over to the side wall and I was going to put out cutlery and plates. Do you mind finishing that for me?"

  "No problem, "Alicia said as she got right to work. She saw the horses coming in as she set out the cutlery. "They're back!" she called to Claire.

  Claire's heart started to pound and she felt as though her stomach had moved up to her throat. She walked over to her purse and put on some lip gloss and sprayed her mouth with breath spray. 'Why am I bothering?' she asked herself.

  A few minutes later, the volleyball team started to file into the restaurant, chatting and laughing. Claire could hear them talking about their experiences over the past few days and going on about the guys. She turned up the stereo system using a remote in the kitchen, so she wouldn't have to hear anymore.

  The guys were still out for another forty-five minutes getting the horses fed and watered and taking off their saddles. When they came in, there was a surge of energy in the room. Cole wasn't with them. He walked over to his cabin to have a shower and get cleaned up. He needed some time alone to try to get his patience back before he faced Claire.

  He walked over to the restaurant with a cleanly shaven face and a little more energy than before. Opening the backdoor of the kitchen quietly, he stood for a long moment watching Claire. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was different; the sexy waves that fell over her shoulders seemed to move with her. He wanted nothing more than to walk up behind her and lift up that skirt and get his hands inside her panties. She turned and jumped a little in surprise to see him standing there, gazing at her ass.

  "Oh Cole. Hi." she said with an icy stare. Her eyes looked like pools of deep blue sea water with her new hair colour, but the expression was dead cold. She walked over to the oven to pull out the apple crisp.

  He watched her bend over to take the trays out, her skirt moving up as she did. His cock flexed at the sight and he decided maybe she was worth all the hassle.

  He walked over to stand beside the stove, leaning against the counter so he could face her, "I missed you Claire. I know something is wrong and I want to know what."

  "You're very perceptive. I really will have to talk to you later though. I am busy right now and I don't want a repeat of the other night."

  "Fair enough. I'm going to go eat and you can come to my place when you're ready. Don't leave it too late, okay? I'm really worn out." he said.

  "I bet you are," Claire said sarcastically as she turned away and grabbed a bottle of wine off the rack.

  "Oh we're back here again, are we?" Cole said with an edge in his voice. "You know what? Why don't we forget the whole thing?"

  Claire looked him dead in the eye, "My sentiments exactly."

  Cole walked out the back door to his cabin, preferring to be alone.

  Chapter 25

  Claire fought back her tears as she brought out the dessert. She rounded up the dinner plates with Alicia, without making eye contact with anyone.

  Trey smiled up at her and as she walked by he gave a low whistle, "Well Miss Claire, I do believe you got a new hairdo! If you get sick of that old man you're dating, you should come find me."

  "I'll keep that in mind," Claire said without looking up, as she walked back to the kitchen.

  She placed the plates on the counter and went back out with another tray of dessert. She almost dropped it when she turned toward the buffet table and came face to face with Antonio. She stood completely still, her feet feeling like they had suddenly been cemented to the floor.

  "Hi Claire Bear, I came to get you," he said, giving her the smile he had practised in the mirror for hours before his first billboard shoot.

  "You have got to be kidding me," she said, dropping the tray on the table with a thud and turned back to the kitchen. The restaurant grew silent, everyone waiting for the show to start.

  Antonio followed her through the kitchen door.

  Claire kept moving, "Alicia, this is Antonio, he's just leaving. I'm going to help him find his car. I'll be back in a minute. Do you mind putting the other dessert trays and the ice cream out?"

  "Sure thing Claire," she answered, keeping her eyes on Antonio the whole time. He tried the same smile on her but stopped when he saw her glaring.

  Claire opened the back door to the kitchen and walked out quickly without breaking her stride. Antonio hurried to keep up with her.

  "Claire, I know you're angry with me. I came all this way because it's over between Stacey and me. I want you back, we are meant to be together."

  Claire continued to walk in the direction of the parking lot. Antonio grabbed her by the elbow and turned her to face him, "Stop. I need to talk to you Claire. Just give me a few minutes of your time. I flew here for you, it’s the least you can do."

  "Not really, Fuckwit. The least I can do is nothing, which is exactly what I'm going to do," Claire said, yanking her arm back and continuing to walk.

  "Come on Claire, I wouldn't have flown out here if it wasn't important. I'm just asking for twenty minutes of your time. We have a lot to sort out," Antonio said, keeping pace with her.

  "I really have nothing to say to you and I don't give a shit what you have to say to me," Claire replied, giving him a look of pure venom.

  He touched her arm with his hand, "Claire, beautiful Claire, please just give me twenty minutes. I've come all this way and I know you'll want to hear what I have to say."

  She pulled her arm away and wiped it off. The thought of him touching any part of her made her nauseous. As she glanced as his perfectly coiffed McDreamy hair, and his two-day stubble that he spent hours keeping the same length, she didn't know what she ever saw in him.

  He looked down at her, "I know I fucked up. I know that. But I need to talk to you. If you won't hear me out, I'll just keep coming back until you do. I'll march into that restaurant over and over until you listen to me."

  Claire sighed and shook her head with disgust at what she was about to do, "Fine. I will meet you in town at nine tonight. I'll come to the Starbucks on Centennial Boulevard. I won't wait for you. If you aren't there on time, forget it. I'll give you 15 minutes and then you leave me alone forever. Got it?"

  Antonio smiled at her, "That's my girl, I knew you would come around. I'll see you at nine, Claire Bear."

  Claire turned back to the restaurant and walked away, shuddering with disdain.

  * * *

  "So that's your ex?" Alicia said when Claire returned.

  "U
nfortunately," Claire sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted.

  "I take it he wants you back?"

  "Looks like it. I don't know. I agreed to meet him at Starbucks in town later to hear him out. He threatened to just keep coming back here otherwise. I have a few choice words for him as well, so it might be worth it."

  Claire started loading the dishwasher with the stacked plates.

  Chapter 26

  At eight-thirty, Claire was on her way to Starbucks. She had changed into dark boot-cut jeans and threw on a crocheted off-the-shoulder taupe beach sweater over her tank top. She had also changed from her wedges to her navy ballet flats to give some relief to her aching feet.