“Oh really? How is she? She was such a lovely girl. I always did like the two of you being friends,” Maggie said.
“She’s doing really well. She’s married now, so I guess her last name isn’t McCoy anymore. Come to think of it I don’t even remember if she told me what her husband’s last name was. Anyway, they are expecting their first child toward the end of the year.”
“Well that’s wonderful. I’m sure her parents are ecstatic to become grandparents.”
“Oh, well, that’s something else I needed to tell you. Her father passed away about a month ago.”
Maggie stopped eating and looked at Misty with a shocked expression. “Wesley McCoy died? How did that happen?”
“Beth told me he was in a bad accident. He was driving home from the feed store when his brakes went out and he lost control of the truck. It flipped and landed in a ditch.” Misty stopped the story there and shuttered.
“Oh my. I wonder how Katherine is holding up? I think I’ll make a pie and go visit her today,” Maggie said, pushing her chair back from the table and placing her plate in the sink. She went to the pantry and started pulling out the ingredients for a pecan pie.
Misty’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach did a somersault. If she went with her mother to the McCoy’s she was sure to catch a glimpse of Dylan. Maybe they would even be able to have a decent conversation this time. There was no harm in a simple little conversation. She had to put her mind at ease and find out if Dylan really was worth fanaticizing about all the time and potentially ruining anything she might have with Vance.
“You’re walking a fine line, Misty,” she imagined the cricket saying. “You should give Vance the chance he deserves before you go tossing him aside for another man,” he continued to tell her.
“I am giving him a chance. But it doesn’t hurt to see what else is out there. I can’t explain why I feel that way. It’s almost as if something is telling me to do this,” she continued with the imaginary conversation in her mind.
“Well it sure as hell isn’t me telling you that and I’m your conscience,” he berated her.
“I’ve had about enough of you and your advice!” she thought and imagined stomping her boot on the ground and hearing a satisfying crunching sound. “Pesky little bug,” she thought and smiled.
***
Misty sat in the passenger seat of her mother’s old Chevy truck as they drove to the McCoy ranch. She had insisted on going with her so she could visit with Beth. Hopefully her mother hadn’t seen through her false reasoning. Not that it was entirely false. She did hope to see Beth and have some girl talk. But she hadn’t quickly run upstairs, put on one of her cutest sundresses, combed her hair and put on lip gloss just to see Beth.
The sundress she chose was a pretty shade of red with little pink roses scattered throughout the pattern. It was short sleeve with buttons going all the way down the length of the dress in the front. She had left the top three buttons undone, exposing just a hint of cleavage. The hemline hit a few inches above her knee. And in true country girl fashion, she finished the outfit off with none other than cowboy boots.
They hit the dirt road that led to the McCoy ranch and Misty had to balance the pie on her lap as the truck ran over a few potholes. The hot midday sun was bouncing off the hood of the truck sending a glare every once in a while. The coming of June was evident with the weather being as hot as it was today. The weatherman had predicted the temperatures could reach the ninety degree mark.
Thank God for air conditioning, she thought.
Maggie pulled the truck under the wooden entrance and proceeded up the driveway. Misty scanned the yard hoping to catch a glimpse of Dylan, but had no such luck.
All of a sudden she started to feel bad about what she was doing. Vance was a good guy and she had barely given him the chance he deserved. He was a gentleman and very attractive. So why was she having doubts about where the future would lead with them? An uneasy feeling of panic swam through her body. She wanted to ask her mother to turn the truck around and take her back home. She was stupid for coming here today. A knock on the window from the outside of the truck startled her and she looked to see who it was.
“You gonna sit in there the whole time or are you coming in with me?” Maggie asked.
“No, no, I’m coming,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out of the truck.
Katherine was standing on the porch wiping her hands on a dish towel as the two women approached. She walked to the steps and used her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight as she tried to make out who her visitors were. A welcoming smile spread across her face as she recognized Maggie and Misty.
“Maggie Donovan, what brings you out this way?” Katherine asked as she welcomed the ladies onto the porch.
“Hi, Katherine. It’s been a long time,” Maggie said as she wrapped an arm around Katherine and gave her a gentle hug. “Misty here ran into Beth at the carnival in town yesterday and she told her about Wesley. I’m so sorry, Katherine.”
Katherine gave Maggie an approving smile. “It is what it is,” she said and took a deep breath. “We’re just taking things one day at a time. It’s an adjustment that’s for sure.”
Maggie nodded and had to swallow back the lump that was rising in her throat. She couldn’t imagine being in her situation. Jack was such an important part of her life and if something were ever to happen to him, well, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to handle it as well as Katherine was. She collected her feelings and cleared her throat.
“I made you a pecan pie,” Maggie said as she handed it to Katherine.
“Oh how thoughtful.” Katherine smiled and accepted the pie. “Oh my, this smells delicious. Won’t you come in and visit for a while? We could cut into this pie and have some iced tea.”
“I would like that,” Maggie warmly responded.
“Mrs. McCoy is Beth here?” Misty asked.
“Oh no I’m sorry she’s not. She comes here during the week to help out with things and spends the weekends with her husband. I’ll tell her you were asking for her if you’d like.”
“Sure, thank you, ma’am,” Misty replied with a heavy heart. Great. What was she going to do now that Beth wasn’t here? She wasn’t comfortable with her original idea of seeking out Dylan anymore.
Looks like I’m stuck gossiping with the ladies, she thought.
The women walked into the kitchen and Katherine set the pie down on the counter. Maggie and Misty took seats at the table while Katherine took care of slicing and plating the pie. She handed the slices to Maggie and Misty on mismatched plates then went to the fridge and pulled out a cold pitcher of iced tea. She poured each of them a glass and then joined them at the table.
“Well, this is nice,” Katherine said. “It’s not often that I get visitors. My, Misty it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. I think the last time was right after you and Beth graduated. How have you been?”
Misty quickly chewed and swallowed the piece of pie she had just placed in her mouth and said, “Yes, ma’am, I believe that was the last time we saw each other. I’m doing well, thank you.”
“Are you just in town visiting your folks?” Katherine asked.
“No, ma’am. I actually just moved back little over a month ago.”
“Oh, are you and your husband living in town or in the country?”
“My husband didn’t come with me, Mrs. McCoy. It’s actually kind of a long story so I won’t bore you with it. I’m staying with Mom and Dad for the time being.”
Katherine looked at Maggie and saw her wink. She knew she would fill her in when Misty wasn’t around.
“Well, it’s good to have you back, Misty,” Katherine said and glanced at the clock on the stove. “Oh my, the time has flown right by. I have to be fixing lunch for the boys.”
“We can help if you’d like,” Maggie suggested.
“That would be great, thank you. Are you sure you don’t need to be getting back to your ranch?”
“No, I prepared stuff before we left. Jack and the men are plenty covered for lunch. What would you like us to do?”
Katherine showed Maggie where the pantry was and had Misty pull ingredients from the fridge. In no time the ladies had prepared sandwiches and cookies for the six ranch hands. Misty set the table on the porch and went back into the house to grab the pitchers of iced tea. Katherine set the plate of sandwiches on the table and rang the bell hanging from the porch. Five minutes later six dirty, sweaty, ranch hands came piling into the yard. They each took turns washing up at the sink located on the end of the porch, then grabbing their plates and filling it with the food the ladies had prepared.
“Where’s Dylan?” Katherine asked one of the hands.
“Oh, he said he was just going to finish up with the tractor and then he’d be up,” the man replied with a mouth full of food.
Katherine let out an annoyed sigh and walked over to Misty. “Misty, would you mind fetching Dylan for lunch. I’m afraid if he doesn’t come now there won’t be any left for him.”
“Sure, Mrs. McCoy.” Misty nodded and reluctantly headed off to find Dylan. She walked through the dirt driveway and a little cloud of dust followed her. It hadn’t rained since she had arrived home and they were in terrible need of it. The heat of the day was making her more miserable than she already was. She longed to be back at her parent’s ranch. She imagined what she would be doing if that’s where she was. Vance would be on his break along with the other men at this time. Maybe she and he would have taken their lunch to a quiet spot in the yard, under the shade of one of the many trees. They’d be enjoying every minute until it was time for him to return to work. Maybe he would even kiss her again.
Her thoughts stopped there as she made her way around to the back of the barn where she caught site of the big green tractor. She stood on her tiptoes and reached her neck looking for Dylan, and then she dipped down to look under the tractor and saw his boots from the other side. She felt her heart skip and quickly told herself to stop it. She had already made up her mind that Dylan was a bad idea.
Don’t be a ninny, she told herself.
She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked around the front of the tractor.
She stopped mid-step when she caught sight of him. He had his bare back turned to her. The sunlight was glistening on his moist, golden skin. She watched as the muscles in his shoulders and back tensed as he turned and tightened a bolt on the tractor. The thoughts that proceeded to run through her mind at that moment weren’t at all lady-like. She bit her lower lip and let her eyes wander over his all too perfect body.
“Damn,” she whispered.
Dylan glanced over his shoulder and saw Misty staring at him. He quickly stood up and turned toward her which really seemed to startle her.
“Misty,” he said, confused but happily surprised. “What are you doing here?”
Misty, still mesmerized by the vision before her, had to quickly shake her head and collect herself. She searched for the words to say but couldn’t make her mouth say them.
“Are you ok?” Dylan asked as he reached for his t-shirt that was lying across the tractor tire. He removed his cowboy hat and slipped the shirt over his head, breaking Misty’s hypnotic trance.
“Your mother sent me to look for you. She said that if you don’t come now, the other men are sure to devour all the food before you get any.”
Dylan really didn’t care what her reason for being here was. All that mattered was that she was here, standing right in front of him. So close that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted to. She was so unbelievably gorgeous in her red button up dress with her brown cowboy boots. Her lips looked very inviting with the shiny lip gloss she had on. He wanted to grab her, pull her close, and kiss her until both of their heads were spinning from lack of oxygen.
“Well, I guess we better head on up to the house then,” he said quickly, thinking of anything other than what he’d like to do to her. He grabbed his cowboy hat, placed it back on his head then walked back toward the house with Misty by his side.
“So you never did tell me why you were here,” he said, trying to start a conversation.
“Well, I was telling my mother about the carnival and how I ran into Beth. I told her about your father passing away and she wanted to come see how your mother was doing. And I tagged along to visit with Beth, but she isn’t here,” Misty replied.
“And here I was thinking you drove all the way out here just to see me,” he teased.
“Why, however did you figure out?” she said in her best southern belle accent as she held her hand over her heart and fluttered her eye lids.
They laughed as they made their way into the yard. She enjoyed this little moment they were having. Dylan was such a nice guy and she felt bad throwing him completely out of the picture. She enjoyed his company very much and needed someone like him in her life. A sudden thought went through her mind that seemed like the perfect compromise. What if her and Dylan were just friends? There would be no harm in that would there? He was her best friend’s older brother, so surely he had to already think of her as a little sister or something. And maybe, if she learned to see him as only a friend, the feelings she felt for him would subside. It was a perfect way to get the best of both worlds.
CHAPTER 11
The next few weeks went by uneventfully. June had arrived bringing the dry, hot summer weather with it. Things in Misty’s life were going more smoothly than she had hoped. She and Beth had had a few lunch dates and gone shopping. Misty enjoyed helping Beth pick out items for her unborn baby. Beth had insisted that she was sure the baby was a girl, so they mostly looked at pink things when they were out.
Her relationship with Vance was wonderful. He came back to her house almost every night, and they either spent that time talking on the porch swing or taking walks down the dirt road. And every night before he left he would kiss her more passionately than he had the night before. She wanted to let herself fall madly in love with him but held herself back. She still hadn’t heard back from her divorce lawyer regarding when her sham of a marriage to Brad would be ended. She wanted to be done with him and never have to hear his name ever again. Just thinking about him made her madder than a swarm of hornets.
Then there was Dylan. Although she still felt that raw sexual tension whenever she was around him, he was proving to be a great friend. They had taken on the routine of spending Sundays together and going horseback riding, either on her family’s ranch or on his. She couldn’t believe how beautiful his property was the first time he took her out on it. Even though Mother Nature had still not blessed them with the much needed rain, the grass in the open fields was still a lovely shade of green.
She had made the mistake of letting her imagination run wild one day. As she and Dylan rode through the tall, green grass she couldn’t help but think of what life would be like if she had ended up with him instead of Brad. Would they have a small cabin style house right out here by the creek? Would they have a yard full of kids running around barefoot in the summer sun? Would Dylan love her unconditionally like he did in her dream world? She put an end to those thoughts that day and swore she’d never let her imagination get the best of her again.
***
Misty rested her back against a hay bale, closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh. She sat still for a few moments and enjoyed the quietness that surrounded her. She had quite the little hideaway there in the loft. When she was a girl, she would sneak up there and rearrange a few of the hay bales and make her own private nook. Today she did the same thing. She had grabbed an old quilt from the house, the romance novel she had been reading, and had snuck out to the barn. She rearranged a few of the hay bales in the corner, laid her blanket down on the flooring, and settled in for an afternoon of reading.
The book was a real page turner set in the medieval period. She read about a young woman whose father had been murdered who was now in the care of her wicked step mother. Sh
e is out in the forest one day and comes across a young man whom she believes to be a peasant boy, but later in the story turns out to be Prince Charming. The typical romance stuff happens throughout the book. Boy and girl meet, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl are torn apart by an unforeseen force, boy rescues girl, boy and girl live happily ever after, the end.
She turned the last page of the book, closed it and set it aside. She leaned her head back against the hay bale and imagined herself as the young heroine of the novel. She imagined she was walking through the tall grass down by the creek, waiting for her one true love to meet her in their secret spot. A rider on a white horse came galloping toward her. At last her love had arrived. Prince Vance dismounted from his noble steed and closed the distance between them in three long strides.
“My love,” she said in a breathless whisper as he swept her into his arms and carried her to the shade of the large willow tree.
He laid her down in the bed of grass and kissed her so passionately that she was sure the heat from their bodies would set the tree ablaze. His lips moved from hers to her jaw and down the side of her neck. She moaned with the pleasure from the sensation it sent through her body. His hand made its way to her bodice and he very slowly started to unlace it. His lips claimed hers again and she wrapped her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. He pulled away only for a moment and stared into her eyes.
The blue eyes staring at her were not the steel gray eyes she was expecting. She moved her hand from the nape of his neck and let her fingers trace over his facial features. She felt the smoothness of his clean shaven face and the firmness of his strong jaw.
“Sir Dylan?” she whispered. She was confused. What happened to Vance?
“Yes, m’lady?” he replied in a low husky voice.
“Why are you here?” she asked as he kissed down her neck and to her collarbone.
“I’m your Knight in Shining Armor. I’m here to save you.”
“Save me? From what?” She felt intoxicated from the way he was kissing her.
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