She thought about her old life in Summit and how things had changed so much since then. She often wondered how her life would be, if things hadn't gone the way they did. Would she still be living in Summit? Would she and Andy be married? She shook that thought right out of her head. She just wanted to get the day over with and leave town. With any luck, when she came back on the weekend, she wouldn't even see Andy.
After taking one more sip of her drink, Grace left the restaurant, retrieved her luggage from the front desk, and headed to her car to drive to the stables for her last ride.
The stables were busier than usual when she arrived. She parked her car at the end of the parking area in front of the ranch office and immediately spotted Andy standing in front of the building when she got out of the car. He met her halfway.
"Afternoon. Are you ready for your last ride?" he asked.
"I am."
"I'm glad you came a little early. The weather may get rainy late this afternoon and I don't want to get stuck up on the mountain, if it does. The horses are already saddled in the barn and ready to go."
"Let's get this over with." Grace started toward the barn.
"Gee, I love your enthusiasm," he called after her.
She ignored him.
Andy followed her to the barn and made sure she had no trouble getting up on her horse. He then mounted his horse, and she followed him out of the back door of the barn.
"We're going on a trail that should be familiar to you," he said
"Which trail is that?"
"We're going on the Half-face Camp Trail."
She pulled her horse up. "Why that trail?"
"You always loved riding that trail for the view of the valley."
She nudged her horse and started forward again. That was also the trail that as teens, she and Andy used to ride when they wanted to make love and not get caught.
They had ridden in silence for about thirty minutes and had finally reached the beginning of the trail. "Do you want to take the lead?" he asked.
"No, you're the trail guide. You should go first."
"The trail is wide enough to ride side by side."
"I know." Grace moved her horse up next to him.
"Tell me about your job?" he asked.
"I told you yesterday that I'm a Marketing Consultant for the Myers Corporation."
"That doesn't tell me anything. What do you do all day?"
"My staff and I are responsible for a lot of the advertising for the company. We manage the web site, magazine ads, press releases, and also write up training materials. Most people think it’s boring stuff, but I love doing it."
"That doesn't sound boring. It sounds like a lot of responsibility. I'm surprised they let you leave this week."
"They only agreed to it as long as I participated in a couple meetings via a phone call. I've actually been doing a lot of work in my hotel room while I've been here."
"Don't you get vacation time?"
"I do, but usually don't use it. I can't be away for very long."
The trail narrowed and Grace slowed her horse to follow behind Andy. "Oh come on. I'm sure you're good at what you do, but there's surely people there that can pick up the slack, if you take some time off."
"There is, but I want to make sure everything is done right and I can't guarantee that if I'm not there."
"You always did have to be in control."
"What do you mean by that?"
"When we were dating in high school, we always had to do what you wanted. You never wanted to do anything I suggested."
"That's not true."
He stopped his horse and turned in his saddle to look at her. "Oh yeah, name one thing that we did together that was my idea."
"Well, there was." She paused. "What about the time…" She stopped again to think. "Oh, I don't know. That was a long time ago." She gave her horse a little kick and trotted around Andy and headed on up the trail.
"See, you still have to be in control," he called after her.
An hour later, they reached the summit of the ride and got off of the horses to rest. Andy got the sandwiches and water bottles out of his saddlebag and handed Grace her lunch. They both sat on the bench that overlooked the valley below.
"Thanks." She opened her bottle of water and took a big drink. "Do you really think I have to be in control?"
Andy swallowed. "I only know that back in high school, you had to make all the decisions for the group."
"No one ever disagreed."
"No one wanted to argue with you. They knew they wouldn't win. Hell, you were even in control whenever we had sex." He chuckled.
In the distance, a faint rumble of thunder could be heard coming from behind the mountain. Grace sat on the bench and finished her sandwich while Andy got some carrots out to give to the horses.
"I didn't realize I was like that back then."
"What about now? You know it now right?"
"I supposed it's partly why my marriage failed. I didn't want to give in to his ideas about us."
"So, you've changed since learning that."
Suddenly, a line of clouds came over the mountain hiding the sun.
"I'm trying. I've-" she paused. "I went through some things after my family and I moved from here that sort of reinforced my control issues."
He gave the last carrot to the horses and walked over to sit next to her. "Are you talking about losing your horse?"
"Partly." She got up and took a few steps away.
He got up and walked behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Gracie, if you need to talk about anything, I'd be glad to listen."
She stepped away from his touch, took a deep breath, and turned. "I'm fine."
He went back to the bench and sat down. "Did Cindy tell you that we have a class reunion coming up soon?"
"No, she didn't mention it." She bent over and picked a couple wild flowers and took a sniff of their scent.
"You should try to come back for it. I know everyone would love to see you."
A cold breeze kicked up and another crack of thunder, much closer this time, boomed around them.
Andy looked at the sky. "This doesn't look good. I think that weather front is coming faster than they thought. We need to head back." He quickly gathered their trash and stowed it back in the saddlebag. Grace threw down her flowers and ran to her horse and got on. Andy had already mounted his when a streak of lightening hit on the ridge above them, and instantaneously a clap of thunder shook the ground.
"Come on!" he took off with Grace following.
The rain fell hard making the trail too slippery for the horses to gallop fast. With the heavy cloud cover, darkness came early. Andy pulled his horse up and Grace stopped next to him.
"We have to find shelter somewhere!" he yelled over the sound of the rain beating down.
Grace held her hand above her eyes to try and shield the stinging rain from her face. "Isn't there an old cabin somewhere on the other side of those trees?" she shouted back.
Andy nodded. "I think there is, and a barn too. Let's try and find it." He pulled the horse's reins to the right and they headed through the trees.
The cold rain had already soaked through Grace's light jacket and clothes, and she could feel the shift in temperature. Finally, they came out of the trees in a very small cove with an old cabin and barn next to it.
"There it is," Andy called. Both of them kicked their horses and quickly raced to the cabin. They jumped off the horses and Andy went to see if they could get into the cabin. The door opened. Grace stood on the porch next to him. "Go ahead in and I'll put the horses in the barn. I'll be in as soon as I make sure they're secure for the night."
Grace did what Andy said while he led the horses to the barn. She found the inside of the cabin completely bare except for a couch and some wood stacked inside. She wanted to take her wet jacket off, but she was freezing. She went into what she figured was the kitchen in search of matches to start a fire. She found none. A sound in the room to
ld her Andy had come in, and she went back to the front room.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"I looked through the drawers in there for some matches, but didn't find anything."
He sat down his saddlebags next to the fireplace. "I have a lighter."
"I'm so glad. There's some wood over there."
He got his lighter out of the bag and looked through the wood. “These pieces are too big to light on their own. Did you see anything we can use for kindling?"
"No."
"I'm going back out to the barn and see if I can find anything we can use."
He went out the door back into the rain, and Grace sat down on the hearth of the fireplace and started shivering. Grace feared storms since being a child, but for some reason, she wasn't afraid during this one since she knew Andy would keep her safe.
Andy came back in carrying an ax. "Look what I found." He immediately started splitting a piece of wood into smaller pieces. "Here, put this in the fireplace." He gave her a handful of straw from his pocket. "Place the kindling pieces on top like a little tent."
She did as instructed and stepped back. Once Andy finished splitting the wood, he put the rest of it on what she had built. He pulled out his lighter and kneeled in front of the tinder to light the straw. When it lit, he started blowing on the flame to help the fire burn better.
Grace was relieved, but still cold when she finally saw a glow in the fireplace and the smoke drawing up into the chimney.
Andy picked up a couple of the smaller pieces of wood and gently placed them on the fire. It didn't take long for the sound of the crackling fire to fill the room.
"Come on over here and warm up," Andy said.
Grace shuffled over and sat on the stone hearth with her arms wrapped around her.
Andy got a portable radio out of his saddlebag. "Buck Creek, this is Andy. Is anyone around?"
"Go ahead, Andy. Where are you?" Grace recognized Mr. Watkins’ voice coming over the radio.
"We got caught in the storm up on Half-face Camp Trail and took shelter at the old Barrett farm. We're okay, and will wait it out here until morning."
"Sounds like a plan. The storm should be past by then. Stay warm, the temps are going to drop and the rain is going to change to snow later tonight."
"Thanks, Hank. We've got a fire going already. See you in the morning."
Andy turned off the radio and placed it on the floor next to his saddlebag. "You're shivering."
She was so cold her teeth rattled. "You're cold too," she noticed.
"We need to get out of these wet clothes."
"Not a chance. I'll stay here by the fire. It won't take long to get dry and warm up."
"You can't do that, Gracie. It will take too long and hypothermia will set in."
"Stop calling me that! I'm not your Gracie anymore." She wanted to get up and walk away from him, but she was too cold to leave the fire.
Andy got up and left the room. When he returned, he carried two blankets and handed one to Grace. "Take those wet clothes off and wrap up in this. We need to dry our clothes by the fire."
"I'm not taking my clothes off."
"If you don't, you're going to get sick. Now, go into the other room and take all of your clothes off and wrap up in this." He tossed the blanket into her lap. "I'm going to strip off right here so unless you want to gaze upon my naked body, I suggest you go into the other room to undress." He started to unzip his pants.
"I'm going." She stomped into the other room. She started removing her wet clothes. He had some nerve bossing her around like that. On the other hand, his quick thinking had probably saved both of them from a very uncomfortable and dangerous ride back down the mountain.
She finished undressing and went back into the main room placing her clothes on the rock hearth. Andy added a couple more pieces of wood onto the fire. His clothes were lying on the hearth and he had wrapped himself in the other blanket.
"Come sit down. You can't stand up all night."
She walked over and sat down on the couch as far from him as she could.
"Are you hungry? I have some snacks stuff in my saddlebag."
"Not really."
He got up and pulled some granola bars out of his saddlebag and sat back down. "You really should eat something. It will help warm you."
She reached over and took one of the bars from him.
He tore open the wrapper on his and began eating. "Sorry, we don't have any bottles of water left."
"That's okay. How long will it take for the clothes to dry?"
"I'm not sure. They were pretty wet. Once those rocks get warm, it should help. I'm sure they'll be dry by morning."
In the glow of the fire, she knew he could read the concern on her face. There was no way he understood why she kept acting the way she did around him.
The sun had long set and the wind whistled as it blew around the outside of the cabin. Suddenly, there was a loud bang outside.
Grace jumped. "What was that?"
Andy got up and looked out the window. "Damn, the barn door blew open. I have to go close and latch it."
"Wearing that?"
"I'll have to put my wet clothes back on." He started dressing.
"It's too cold out there, you'll freeze."
"I'm not going out there naked. I can't let the horses get too cold. I'll be fine. I may be a while if the latch broke on the barn door, Keep the fire going."
He rushed out and closed it behind him.
Andy had been gone for around thirty minutes when he burst back in through the door.
"Oh my gosh, you look like an icicle." She put her arm around him and guided him over to the fire.
"It's. Snowing. Outside." He tried to talk, but was shivering too bad.
"Your lips are blue," she said.
"You. Should. See. My. Other. Parts," he joked and she laughed.
"You need to get out of those wet clothes."
She rubbed his shoulders through the blanket to help try to warm him.
"I've got to sit down. I feel like I'm going to pass out."
She guided him to the couch where they both sat. This time, she positioned herself next to him. He still shivered, but not quite as bad.
Suddenly, his body went limp.
* * * *
When he woke up, he was still on the couch and Grace was asleep against him. Skin to skin, they were both under the blankets together.
He saw her looking up at him. "How long was I out?" he asked.
"About an hour, I guess."
"How did we end up like this?"
"You were turning blue and I couldn't get you closer to the fire, so I had to use my body to warm you. I had to take your wet clothes off of you. I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose you."
Andy put his arm around her and looked into her eyes. "You probably did save my life."
She didn't say anything, just moved closer and kissed him. Her lips were so warm against his own that it sent a pulse throughout his body.
He began kissing her back, suckling them. She parted her lips allowing his tongue to enter and claim her mouth.
It surprised him that she didn't pull away. Instead, he felt her hand begin to caress his chest. He became very aware that his member was becoming hard, especially when she started moving her hand downward. He grasped it before it reached its destination.
"Do you know what you're doing?" he whispered.
"I do. I need this, Andy."
"You're sure?"
She nodded her head.
He captured her lips again and with his hand found her hardening nipple. She jumped when he touched it.
He then took the same route she had started with him and moved his hand down her body. She let out a moan when he tickled the inside of her thigh, and arched her back when he found her sweet mound. She dug her fingers into his back, pulling him closer and wrapping her legs around him.
He entered one finger into her moist depth and it brought him
to the edge. He removed his hand and plunged himself into her. "Oh, Gracie," he whispered in to her ear. Both shivered with excitement as their bodies fell into a rhythm. It didn't take long for both of them to climax together with him taking one last thrust into her.
He collapsed on top of her and they both panted to catch their breath. Without either saying a word, Andy moved to next to her and pulled the blanket up over them, and both fell asleep.
The next morning, Andy woke up alone on the couch. He rolled over and saw that Grace's clothes were gone from the hearth. He sat up on the couch and saw her looking out of the window.
"I thought you were gone." He stood, and wrapping the blanket around his waist, walked over to her and touched her shoulder. She flinched.
"Grace? What's wrong?"
"It was a mistake, another mistake." She turned and tears rolled down her cheeks.
He tried to take her into his arms, but she walked away.
"What is going on?"
"We shouldn't have done that last night." She started to walk away from him.
With one hand holding the blanket on, he grabbed her arm with the other. "You said you wanted to. I don't get it. Were you just teasing me?"
"No. Please let go."
He released her.
"Tell me what then."
"Put your clothes on and I'll explain."
Andy picked up his dry clothes and got dressed. "Okay, so tell me."
Grace sat on the couch. "I should have told you a long time ago."
He moved over and sat on the hearth in front of her. "Just tell me."
"When my family and I moved away from here after high school, I was pregnant."
"What?"
She continued. "My parents didn't know it at the time. If they did, my dad would have never taken that job and we would have stayed. I couldn't ruin his career, so I waited until after we got settled and told them."
"Grace, you were pregnant with my child?"
"Yes." She lowered her head.
Andy stood and took a few steps before he turned back to her. "Where's the child now?"
She began sobbing. "When I was thrown from that horse, I lost the baby," she cried. "I'm sorry, Andy."
"You're sorry? You—" He stopped himself and walked over to the window.
Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love Page 4