Serena
The morning started as usual. There was some bickering. Maggie was quiet and didn’t want to spill all the details about her time with Grady, so I didn’t insist. Becky and Ren were shooting daggers at each other, while Shane and I shared winks and heated stares. All in all, a normal day on the ranch, and I concluded I really enjoyed the life and part of me would miss the everyday routine.
But at the same time, I knew the lifestyle wasn’t something I wanted to have for the rest of my life. I missed the big city, yet I was so grateful for the time here.
Shane needed to know the truth tonight, because we were serious, and I couldn’t exactly keep it all to myself since I wanted honesty between us.
My mind was still blown by the gift he had given me. The fact he knew about the talent—rather, hobby—that I shared with my mom made him part of something bigger in my life, no matter how cheesy that sounded. He valued me and my interests, and that was something I wasn’t used to in my old life.
My art expressed my emotions, so it wasn’t for the public eye. It was something that was mine, something that wasn’t touched by someone else, and I wanted to keep it that way. I knew there was a problem, since I hadn’t drawn anything for a fashion line, and I wasn’t interested in doing so either. I thought it was compromising my art, which I could make a living at, but I was no longer sure about anything. But I needed to tell him the truth, before someone else did and ruined our relationship.
I caught his hand when he was passing me in the kitchen. “Can we talk tonight?”
He frowned. “Sure. Is everything okay?” His thumb caressed my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. I loved when he did that. I had the bubble of happiness inside me and wanted to bask in it.
“Yeah, everything is perfect. Go to work.”
He smiled as he left, and I turned around to see Maggie and Becky engaged in a heated argument.
That was another thing. Maggie didn’t want to spill whatever happened last night, and it was driving Becky nuts, because she loved to know the details. But then, she was acting strange after the whole thing with Ren, so I hoped she wasn’t developing any kind of crush on the guy, because, well… I didn’t know what. I just hoped she wouldn’t go there. She had enough problems as it was with her parents and the Matt scandal. I really didn’t want that triangle to turn into a square. And Ren was nothing but a hot mess of problems.
“Girl, come on, give a little!” she pleaded.
“No.”
“You have a sexy biker take you away and you keep your mouth shut? That’s just cruel.” Becky pouted; it looked cute and usually worked on people. Hell, it worked on me every damned time.
“No, and he isn’t a biker.”
“Whatever.”
Maggie continued filling the dishwasher. Surprisingly, her hair wasn’t in a messy bun as usual, but rather it was pinned high on her head and came down in cascades. It looked really good, and instead of her awful shorts, she had on black yoga pants and a long shirt. It wasn’t that she’d changed much, but she looked quite nice.
“Leave her alone, Becky.”
She glared at me. “Like hell. She is all dressed up. Ha! I tell you, that biker did something.”
I just rolled my eyes.
After some time, when we were done with the first floor, I heard the phone ring. Since Maggie was busy, I decided to pick it up, which I’d never done before.
“Hello, Rising Star ranch.” It was the usual answer, so I just went with the flow.
“Hello,” the soft, feminine voice answered. It was a bit raspy, but had a warm quality about it. “May I speak with Hawk?”
Well, that was something else; usually women didn’t call him here, but then, as far as I knew, he had no women. He just waited for his wife. Not that I judged her much, since he cheated on her and fathered a child through a one-night stand.
A child I fell in love with.
“Sure, may I just ask who is calling?”
“It’s Elizabeth.” Holy shit, his wife was calling!
“He’s outside. They’re training horses for the upcoming camp. Wait just a minute, okay?” I hoped she would, because I didn’t want to screw up and tell Hawk he’d missed a call from his wife. He would kick my ass.
“Don’t worry, dear, I can wait.”
Well, thank God. I rushed outside and searched for Hawk but couldn’t find him anywhere. I spotted Carter coming out of the barn.
“Hey, Carter, where is Hawk?” He pointed to the ring, and I finally saw him behind several men who blocked my view of him. It appeared he was trying to handle the black stallion, Lightning, the one that was still wild.
They all looked amazed as he whispered something to the animal, and although the horse didn’t want to listen, he didn’t jolt him, either, like he did with everyone else. I came a bit closer and shouted his name, but he didn’t react. His back was toward me and outside noises were too loud.
“Hawk!” I tried again with no result, as he was too engaged in his horse. Then I noticed the gate leading inside the ring. It was a foolish move to enter, but the call was important. Plus, he was handling the animal well, so I wasn’t worried he’d lose control of him. As I came closer, I tried again to get his attention. “Hey, Hawk!”
With wide eyes, he finally turned to face me. Suddenly, the horse spotted me too and charged toward me at full speed. I heard the men shouting at me to move out of the way, but I was frozen in place with fear.
All I could see was a wild black mustang coming toward me, knowing no one could stop him.
Out of nowhere, I felt hands on my waist, grabbing me painfully and throwing me over the fence. After a second, a large person joined me. Glancing up at the ring, I saw the horse was staring down at me, not pleased I got away.
A movement at my side caught my attention, and I realized Shane was beside me, breathing hard.
So he was the one to save me, but for some reason, it was hard to focus. My body felt heavy, and when my head hit the ground with a thump, I saw all the men gather around me and felt a soft hand on my cheek.
Shane. “Baby, say something.”
I opened my mouth to do just that, because I didn’t like his expression. He was terrified, and I felt as though my head was going to explode.
“Hawk—” I tried to tell him Beth was on the line, but I couldn’t find the strength to continue. It was important, so why couldn’t I do that? And then there was nothing as darkness consumed me and the pain went away.