Chapter 3
Memories flooded Katie’s mind as she turned slowly around. Hikes in the mountains, horseback rides, prom, dates in the city, and then the argument. An argument which ended with her vowing, rather publicly, never to see him again.
“Haha!” Marshall slapped his knee. “Mike Elders? When did you come back to town?”
Mike smiled. “Got back just before August. I’m teaching at the high school now.”
“Kids didn’t scare you off in Portland?”
“Apparently not. I was pretty excited to see the Spanish position available here, so I jumped on it.” Mike turned his attention back to Katie. “I do have a trailer and a truck. If you need some help, I’d be happy to assist.”
Katie tried desperately to make her brain function again as Roxette pushed her leg. Mike looked just the same as he had the day she left him. Tall and lean with thick dark hair and a mischievous smile that melted hearts. But his eyes held her captive. Pools of melted chocolate with enough warmth to remind her what they used to have and a hint of hurt that stabbed her conscience.
“Do you need a trailer, Katie?” Mike asked.
“I - uh…”
“Good grief, Katie, you can’t have forgotten the other part of our trio this quick,” Marshall teased. “And yes, Mike, she needs your trailer. She just adopted Chance over here but has no way of getting him home.”
Mike looked at the horse. “Dang, I was hoping to get him. Beautiful horse.”
“Sorry, man, first come first serve. But, I know the Galloping Heart Rescue has some good horses available right now too. I volunteer there a couple times a week if you want to go out there with me sometime.”
“That would be great. I’m looking for a barn cat too, but I’ll do that after I help Katie get her steed home.”
“I don’t, I mean, I don’t want to trouble you.” Katie took a deep breath and let it out. “I can take care of it myself. I’ll just call Uncle Earl and have him come.”
“It’s no trouble,” Mike said. “I can even give you a lift home if you’d like.”
“I’ve got my own car, thank you very much,” Katie snapped. Roxette winced at her side and she bent to comfort the dog. She hadn’t meant to snap at Mike, but this was the last thing she expected or wanted.
“All right then, Miss Mackall. We’ll just load your horse into my trailer and I’ll follow you home.”
Katie knew there weren’t any better options. “Fine,” she said.
Marshall handed Katie a clipboard. “Why don’t you fill out the paperwork and take this over to the adoption tent to pay your fee? Brent didn’t give me anything to take payment with, which I can understand.”
“Would you hold Roxette for me?” she asked. “She’s scared enough without taking her back into the crowds.”
“Sure thing,” Marshall said.
Katie nodded and walked away with the paperwork. Her heart and brain were at odds with each other and all she wanted was to get home and hide from the world.
~*~
“Man alive, Mike,” Marshall said as they watched Katie walk away, “what did you do to Katie to make her so icy?”
Mike sighed, “I wish I knew. Well, that’s not entirely true. I do have some ideas, but it all leads back to when we were in college and Katie and I joined the LDS church.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific than that, bud. I don’t remember much about those years,” Marshall said with a wink.
“Party animal,” Mike teased. “Long story short, Katie wasn’t happy about my decision to serve a mission.”
“Oh yeah, that I do remember. I’ve never seen her so angry.”
“Yeah, that choice made a lot of people angry or disappointed or just plain flustered. But it was the right choice to make and I don’t regret it one bit. I do regret hurting her so bad.” Mike sighed, “I guess she hasn’t forgiven me yet.”
Marshall nodded and rubbed Roxette’s side gently. “Yeah, it would appear that way. But listen, Mike, you two were together for a long time. Maybe you coming back to Romance just a year after Katie got back is serendipitous.”
“Maybe.” Mike bent to pet the dog Katie had left with Marshall. His thoughts wandered to Katie. She hadn’t changed much. Sparkling brown eyes, a spattering of freckles across her nose, and auburn hair that just begged his fingers to play in it. But her smile was gone. Instead, he’d gotten shock, anger, and perhaps a smidge of regret. Though he was probably misinterpreting that last one. “What do you think, girl? Will she ever forgive me?”
“Asking a dog for dating advice is probably not in your best interest,” Marshall teased.
“Couldn’t hurt, right? Maybe if I can get Roxette here to like me, I can melt some of that ice out of Katie.”
“I am not icy,” Katie replied behind him. He turned to see her standing with her arms crossed over her chest, a paper bag dangling from one hand. “The paperwork is all taken care of. I picked up some caramel apples on the way back. Hope it won’t kill you to have food in your truck.”
Mike tried to smile, though he wasn’t sure his charm would do him any good. “I’ll have you know things have changed somewhat since high school. I eat in the truck all the time.”
“What blasphemy is this?” Marshall exclaimed. “Trucks are not for dining in.”
“Then why do they have cup holders?” Katie and Mike asked at once. They looked at each other and for a moment, Mike saw the old Katie. He smiled and she made a quick retreat back into her shell.
“Anyway,” Katie said, “I’m ready to go when you are.”
Mike nodded and turned to Marshall. “Is it okay if I pull my truck closer to make loading this guy easier?”
“Sure, that’s why we tried to give as much space as possible.”
“I’ll bring the truck over then.”
“And we’ll get Chance ready to load,” Marshall replied.
Mike walked to his truck. He ducked behind another car when he saw Mrs. Rosenthal heading toward the Fall Festival. With any luck, the woman wouldn’t see him and he’d be able to get Katie’s horse taken care of and come back without running into the overly flirtatious PTA president. He breathed a sigh of relief when she sauntered by without noticing him. The danger past, Mike continued to his truck and carefully maneuvered it over to the corral. Marshall was holding Roxette’s leash while Katie stood next to the buckskin gelding. What had Marshall called the horse? Chance? Katie glanced over at him as he stopped the truck, her face aglow. Maybe he had a chance himself, if he played his cards right. “Well, Katie, shall I get him loaded for you?” Mike asked as he rejoined them.
“It’s probably going to take both of us,” Marshall said. “The volunteers who dropped him off had a devil of a time getting him out of the trailer he came in.”
For a moment, Katie looked like she wanted to argue. Then she shrugged. “If you’d like.” She walked to Marshall and handed him the lead line before taking Roxette’s leash.
“Let’s do this.” Marshall got into the corral and Mike watched as the horse immediately tensed.
“Easy fella,” Mike said, slowly getting into the corral. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Chance squealed, his ears flattening against the back of his head.
“Guys, maybe you should let me help,” Katie said.
“No, we’ve got it,” Mike said, determined to show he could handle the horse and worried that Katie might get hurt if she interfered.
In a split second, Chance reared up on his back legs, pulling the rope from Marshall’s hands. His hooves had barely touched the ground before he was rearing again, looking ready to charge at Mike.