Chapter Four

Owen

 

“Owen!” I turned to see who was calling my name.

Tracy waved her hands in the air frantically as she ran across the street to my truck. Her blonde hair bounced on her shoulders. “Hey, Owen!” she called out.

“Hey, stranger,” I said sweetly, happy to see my favorite cousin.

“I just got back home,” she said, still out of breath from her run to chase me down.

“Where ya been?” I asked, already knowing she was gone to see her long-distance boyfriend.

“Visiting Kevin,” her lips curled into a wide grin.

“I don’t understand that long-distance dating,” I shrugged, not willing to say anything else on my mind. It seemed like a great setup for Kevin. Hell, he probably had a new girl come into town each week. But, for my cousin, my sweet Tracy, I didn’t like it at all. I just pictured this guy stringing along women all over the country, having each one fly in when he got lonely, sending them all home when he was bored with them. Tracy was a hopeless romantic though, and she trusted Kevin. Why, I wasn’t sure. But, she did. I wished I could trust like that again, love like that again.

“It’s not so bad. I think I might move out there soon,” she said with a wild grin. “Speakin’ of dating, how’d yours go with Char last week?” she asked.

I grinned, knowing I looked like the cat that’d just ate the mouse. “It went as expected,” I said with a wink.

“So, you two hit it off? I knew it!” she shrieked with delight. She bounced again, her eyes bright and filled with cheer. That hopeless romantic in her was screaming with delight at the thought of making a match.

“Yeah. We hit it off a few times,” I laughed.

Her face soured. Not a fan of my humor, as usual. I smiled, continued loading the feed into my truck, and avoided direct eye contact with my now-angry cousin. “You gonna see her again?” she snapped.

“Why? So we can fall in love like you and Kevin?” I asked with a chuckle.

Her face told me she still didn’t think I was funny.

“It was just another one-night stand. You said she had a bad breakup and needed a kick start back into the dating game. Well, you’re welcome,” I smirked.

“Wow. Owen Michael Martin, your mother would wear your backside raw if she heard you talkin’ like that,” she exclaimed, complete with hand on hip.

“What? Trust me, she wanted it, and she left a happy girl,” I said quickly, turning to defend myself.

“Have you called her?” she snapped.

“No.”

“Why? Didn’t you like her?” she asked.

“I dunno. Yes, I liked her. She’s actually a pretty amazing woman.”

“Then, why haven’t you called her?” she asked.

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question. I guess I’d intended on it—at least, that is, until I came back to her gone. She was sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to wake her, so I snuck out to grab breakfast. When I returned, she was gone, no note, nothing. I didn’t mind a good one-night stand, but she felt different, at least I had thought she did. Maybe I was wrong. I didn’t understand women, and probably never would. All I knew was I didn’t like the feeling I got in my gut when I pulled up and saw her car gone. The feeling was even less pleasant when I saw my empty bed. I could still smell her in the room, on my sheets, on my skin. I had to shower to get rid of it, and throw the sheets into the wash to strip her memory from my room. The couch, now that was a different story. I couldn’t exactly throw it in the washer, and even spraying it with fabric stuff, you could still smell her.

“She hasn’t called me, either,” I defended.

“I told you about her breakup, and how bad it was, right?” Tracy asked, backing me up to the side of my truck. I felt attacked as she moved in, like a pit bull ready to go after its victim’s jugular. She was a tiny little thing, but intimidating nonetheless. “Well, she got laid off from her job a couple weeks ago, so she doesn’t need you playing games with her head, or heart,” she said.

She hadn’t told me about her job. We’d stayed up all night talking, and I was pretty sure she spoke about her job like she still had it. “I didn’t know that,” I said.

“She was probably too embarrassed to tell you,” Tracy scoffed.

I felt horrible, but confused. Why did she leave, then? Why hadn’t she called? I wasn’t the only one involved in this. She had played her part.

“You need to call her,” Tracy snapped.

I actually loved the idea of calling Charlotte, but I didn’t like being told what to do by anyone, especially Tracy. “She’s a big girl. She could’ve called me just as easily as I could’ve called her. Besides, she’s the one who took off in the morning without a trace. It was just sex. Amazing sex,” I smirked.

Tracy’s face soured quickly at my teasing. “Women aren’t like you pigs,” she scowled.

Wow. Now I’m a pig? A week ago I was the ideal man to help her friend out of a bad time; now I’m a pig for doing a great job of it?

“You don’t want me talking to your mother, do you? Aunt Loretta would be devastated to think her son was a man-whore who used women for sex.” Tracy pushed her hand high on her hip as she spoke.

I wished for a split second that we could go back to being kids, so I could shove her down into the mud puddle behind her. “I know you need someone out there to tend to your animals. Maybe you could offer her a job,” Tracy added.

I did need someone out there making sure the animals were all healthy and happy, but was Charlotte the right candidate for that? My foal, Carlos, hadn’t eaten for days. Even Charlie couldn’t get him to eat.

“I’ll think about it,” I told her and tossed the last load of feed onto my truck.

“Don’t think too long. I’m gonna pay Aunt Loretta a visit later tonight,” she said with her trademark smirk fixed in place.

I rolled my eyes as she walked back across the street. I hated her sometimes, but I knew she was only protecting her friend. It sounded like Charlotte had been down on her luck pretty bad, but that still didn’t explain why she took off if she wasn’t just looking for a one-nighter.

I drove back to the ranch, thinking about that night with Charlotte. We’d had a great time. She wasn’t like than any other woman I’d ever met. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t called her myself, if for nothing else than just to make sure she’d made it home safe, and to thank her for a great night. It didn’t matter. I was going to call her now. I had to now.

Charlie met me as I pulled up the drive, signaling me toward the barn. I backed my truck up, got out, and started helping him unload the feed. “Carlos isn’t eating still,” he said, speaking of the foal in the barn. He’d had a full checkup from the vet, and as far as we could see, there was nothing wrong—he simply wouldn’t eat.

“I bought some new feed,” I said, grabbing the small bag from the back of my pickup. Charlie walked it over to the foal, and we both knelt beside him while Charlie tried to get him to eat. He wasn’t even interested.

“I think he misses his mother,” he said.

“Nonsense,” I scoffed, trying to push the food on the young foal. Nothing.

“I’ve bought plenty of foals his size and they did just fine,” I insisted.

“Well, there is something wrong. If we don’t figure it out soon, he isn’t gonna make it.”

“I have someone who might be able to help,” I said with a slight smile.

“We already talked to the vet,” he replied.

“She isn’t the vet.”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a smile. “She?” he asked with a smug smile.

I knew my cheeks were burning red, but I shrugged it off as best I could. “Would this ‘she’ be the woman I saw leaving last week?” he asked.

My heart stopped for a moment. “You saw her leave? Did she say anything?” I asked.

“Nope. She looked like she was distressed, and in a hurry.”

“Distressed?” I asked, feeling a sudden surge of guilt rush through my veins.

“I figured it was just another one of your one-night stands,” Charlie said quickly.

“Another one of my one-night stands?” I laughed.

He winked and grabbed a bag of feed before heading to the other stables. I’d had maybe two women out here in the last six months, and neither had stayed the night. I didn’t like Charlie calling Charlotte a one-night stand, even though I had done so myself when talking to Tracy earlier that day.

“So, you like this one?” Charlie asked.

I shrugged, not willing to divulge my feelings to him, or to myself, for that matter.

I went into the house and sat down on the couch where Charlotte and I had first made love. The sweet scent of her perfume still lingered in the room, as if she’d never left. I picked up my phone, started to write a text, and then decided to just call her.

It rang once, twice, and then a third time. My palms sweat as I readied myself to leave a voice mail. “Hello,” her sweet voice answered, echoing through the other end of my phone.

“Good morning, darlin’,” I said.

A silence fell over the phone. “Are you there?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said in a soft, subdued tone.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner,” I said, my voice pleading.

“It’s okay. I’ve been busy here, too,” she said.

I couldn’t tell if she was angry or not. Her voice was sweet, and I wasn’t certain I’d be able to hear any anger within in even if she was fuming inside. “I was wondering if you’d like to go horseback riding this afternoon?” I asked.

Another silent pause.

I shifted in my seat, readjusted my hand on my phone, and tried to calm myself with a deep breath.

“That sounds like fun,” she finally replied.

“Great. You wanna come by about two o’clock and I’ll make us dinner after our ride?”

“I’ll see you then,” she said, and then hung up.

I set the phone down, fell back against the soft cushion, and wondered if I was making the right decision by calling her. What if she didn’t really want more than a one-night stand? What if she did?