Chapter 52

Sara

I had made my last house call for the day, and it was barely even lunchtime. Things had been a little slow since I got back, but I knew business would pick up soon. It was almost time to start shoeing the horses and getting things set up for the coming fall. I picked up my cell phone and gave my assistant a call.

“Hey,” she said. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” I said. “Any calls or appointments come in for the rest of the day?”

“Nope,” she said. “It’s been quiet as a mouse around here.”

“All right,” I said. “Go ahead and close up shop then. Just put a note on the door that tells people to call my cell at the mobile vet if they need anything. You can put the number on there too. I’ll take whatever calls come in. I’m probably going to go over and tend to the horses at the stables.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yep,” I said. “Thanks.”

I jumped back into the van and turned on the radio, feeling good about the day’s work I had done. It felt really good to be back, and I had already used the new equipment to help several animals. People were really interested in how everything worked, and I even got asked to show some of the kids at the local elementary school what I did with everything in the mobile lab. Alison hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet, so I was going to head over there and give her the tour. Afterward, we’d planned on using some of the new equipment on the horses to see if there was anything we could do to help some of them. I had the equipment, so I figured I should put it to good use, and there was no better use than to help those horses.

I drove along with the window down, feeling the warm air wash over me. It was nice to feel normal again, to feel like I was back on track with my life. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ryan throughout the day. I’d even thought I saw his vehicle earlier that day when I was on my way to a house call. Of course, I knew I was imagining things, only slightly hoping he would show up again. I knew that was crazy of me to think. Things like that only happened in movies. I put the thought out of my mind as I turned up the drive, slowly making my way up to the stables. As I got over the hill, I touched the brakes when I saw a familiar SUV parked in front of the house. Immediately, my heart started to pound heavily in my chest.

Could it be him? I shook my head and chuckled to myself. No, of course not, Ryan was tucked away in his New York City penthouse, not sitting in some dusty driveway on the other side of the country. There were plenty of folks in Bonanza and the surrounding areas who drove dark, tinted-glass SUVs. They were great for hauling loads or being transportation for some of the big families in the area. Some of the people out here went nuts when it came to having kids, broods walking around the fair every year. I pulled in next to it and parked the van, turning off the ignition and grabbing my bag. I got out and looked at the truck, sighing at the thought of Ryan.

Sure, you didn’t see many Mercedes around that area, but maybe there was some new rich donor coming around to take a tour of the facility. Alison always did have a way with people, and every once in a while, she managed to get some rich person from the city to come out and tour the place, ultimately donating money or equipment for the cause. She had a great personality, and she knew if she could get them there, she could talk them into buying just about anything. It was like her special gift and the reason we had so many nice new saddles and care equipment. There was a man from Portland I knew was sweet on her and came around every year to “tour” the facility.

I put my bag over my shoulder and walked toward the barn, prepared to meet some rich guy inside. As I approached the doors, I could hear Alison talking inside. I quietly opened the door and walked through, stopping in my tracks when I saw Ryan standing there next to Alison.

“So, with these horses especially, they tend to get anxious,” Alison explained. “Many of them were workhorses, some were abused, and almost all of them have something wrong with them, so they tend to be in pain from time to time. When they sense nervousness or are around someone new or even when a storm is blowing in, they get nervous. All you have to do is stick your hand out like this and very slowly brush it over their nose. It shows them you’re not afraid and that you’re gentle.”

I leaned against one of the posts and dropped my bag on the floor watching. Ryan stood there in his nice shirt and jeans, carefully reaching his hand out for the horse. The horse bobbed its head and snorted, and Ryan jumped a little. It was obvious he had never been around a horse before. Alison grabbed his hand and smiled as she pulled it back toward the horse and rubbed it up and down his nose. Ryan relaxed just a little, but his awkwardness was both funny and adorable. I couldn’t help but laugh. I tried to hold it back, wanting to watch them a bit longer before they noticed me, but it came out without warning. He turned his head toward me and smiled big, his hand still on the horse’s nose.

“Hey, girl,” Alison smiled mischievously. “The cat dragged something in for you.”

“I see that.” I chuckled.

“I’m just going to take this horse and give the two of you some time to talk,” she said, smiling as she led the horse out of the stables.

I looked Alison in the eyes as she passed and smirked, knowing exactly what she was thinking. I shook my head as she walked out of sight and then looked back at Ryan. He was standing there with a kind smile on his face, his hands pushed into his pockets.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hello,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “This is a bit of a surprise.”

“Yeah.” He chuckled.

“Come on,” I said, nodding my head toward the door. “Let’s go for a walk out into the pasture.”

He jogged to catch up with me as I led him out of the barn and down the path to the south pasture. We walked along quietly, looking around the farm, taking in the sunshine. I was giving him the chance to say something, but I could tell he was nervous. I reached down and broke off a piece of tall grass, holding it in my hands as we walked. The breeze blew through the fields, and I flipped my head around, pushing my hair out of my face. We reached the top of the hill and looked out over the rest of the pasture, horses grazing around and the dirt blowing around the dusty road.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I wanted to see you,” he said simply, looking at me with a smile.

“You wanted to see me,” I repeated to myself. “Wait, did you fly all the way across the country just to see me? Or is there work to be done at your ranch, so you were here anyway? I’m definitely not taking the excuse of ‘I was just in the neighborhood.’ People are never just in the neighborhood when they end up in Bonanza.”

“No.” He laughed. “I can’t really see anyone just being in the neighborhood out here. There really aren’t even any neighborhoods.”

“So,” I said. “Tell me, Mr. Reines, what brought you all the way out here to Bonanza if you weren’t just already in the neighborhood?”

“Like I said,” he replied. “I wanted to see you, and no, I don’t have any work to do at the ranch. You didn’t say goodbye when you left New York City, and in my book, that’s leaving the book open to interpretation.”

“I see,” I said. “And what did you interpret that as?”

“That things weren’t over between the two of us,” he said, turning to me. “That you might have left, and things might have been bad, but you didn’t say goodbye because you weren’t ready to end things all the way with me, with us. That somewhere in that big heart of yours, you were hoping I would show up in Bonanza and tell you I was just in the neighborhood, so I thought I would swing by.”

I looked down at my hands and smiled, nodding my head up and down. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t even believe he was here, much less that he had flown all the way out here just to see me. Maybe he was right. Maybe somewhere in my mind, I didn’t say goodbye because I wasn’t ready to yet. Or maybe I was a coward when it came to things like that. I really didn’t know the answer to that. I looked up and gave him a small smile.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right. I didn’t wait to say goodbye. After the fight we had and the fact that you were ignoring me, I thought maybe I had overstayed my welcome.”

“That isn’t possible.” He laughed.

“What isn’t possible?” I asked.

“You overstaying your welcome,” he said. “You’re always welcome wherever I am. There wasn’t a time, even when we had an argument or when I was so deep in my own self-pity, that I thought about having you leave. Never did I think I didn’t want you there anymore with me. You are always welcome in my home or my hotel or wherever I am at the time.”

I nodded and stared into his eyes, trying to see what was different about him. He seemed like he’d changed, like he was calmer, more relaxed, at peace almost. It was strange to see in him, especially after being at his penthouse and seeing how far he had gone down the rabbit hole. He took a deep breath and looked out over the pasture.

“I’m sorry for acting like an asshole,” he said. “You’re amazing, wonderful, the best thing that ever happened to me, and I took everything out on you. I was too blind to see that you were my only ally in the whole situation. I had been ashamed of my past, I won’t lie. I didn’t want you to know all the things I’d done, all of the shameful things I had put myself through. When it came out like it did, I was in complete shock. I didn’t get the chance to sit down with you and be open and honest like I intended to be when I got up the nerve. I was upset, and I responded in the wrong way. I lashed out at the person I wanted to care about me the most. I’m really sorry for that, Sara. Could you ever forgive me for that?”

I looked up at him, not sure of what to say next.