Page 26 of More Than a Fling

Gabe looked around, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and we didn’t have to travel thousands of miles to find it. It’s right in your back yard,” she said. They reluctantly packed up and headed back to the barn.

Both were quiet on the ride home, Annie feeling quite melancholy and wishing the day didn’t have to end and Gabe wondering when he would have another opportunity to spend time with Annie.

Between his workload managing the farm and the new horse he was taking on; time would be at a premium. He didn’t care—if she was willing to see him again, he would find the time… somehow.

12

The Diamond was closed on Mondays, and it gave Annie much needed time to catch up on her laundry and spend some quality time with her neglected furry charges. She was still floating on a cloud from her date with Gabe the previous day.

She wasn’t sure where this was heading, she only knew that she had never felt this way about any man before. Her senses were so heightened that the grass appeared greener, the sky a more vivid blue, the stars brighter, the food tastier…Get a grip!She knew she had better snap out of it soon, because she wasn’t sure how serious Gabe was. Best to proceed with caution.

He was in a band for God’s sake. He had women throwing themselves at him all the time. For all she knew he might just want a roll in the hay. Whatever was the case, she decided not to overthink and enjoy it.

Gabe was playing with his band on Friday night at a local bar, and he’d invited her to meet him there. He would put her on the guest list, plus one, in case she wanted to bring a friend along. She was excited to hear him play again and he had promised to take a real long set break to hang out with her. She didn’t know if she could wait until then to see him, but she had to try. Bye girl.She had it bad.

Annie slipped on a pair of tennis shoes, grabbed three leashes from the hall closet and whistled for the dogs to follow her out to Darcy’s van. A nice hike in the woods was what the doctor ordered. Nothing could straighten her out faster than being out in nature.

She loaded up the ecstatic canines and headed to the nearby state park.

* * *

Heading over to her place felt weird. She had only been back twice since Darcy had left two weeks ago. Soon she would be back in her own house getting used to living alone again. She loved having the dogs for company and knew someday when her schedule wasn’t so hectic, she would have a couple of her own. Her ultimate dream was to have a horse as well…she knew that would be a long way off. She had to admit that being around horses again was a bonus to dating Gabe.

She grappled with her keys and finally unlocked the door to her condo. Her house smelled stale and it had an eerily vacant feel to it. Normally the southwest decor and color palette of her place soothed her senses and created a safe and cozy haven. Now it seemed like a hollowed-out shell, not a home at all. The opposite of how she usually felt when she returned home.

She put her purse on the entryway bench and headed to her kitchen to grab the watering can for her thirsty plants.Mental note to self, water the plants twice a week. They look pathetic.

She glanced through her mail while the container filled with water. Nothing to get excited about except for a couple of greeting card-sized envelopes with no return address. She put the letters and bills aside to tend to her flora. “You poor little things,” she said to her wilting houseplants, “I am terrible and I don’t deserve you.”

After watering she went upstairs to pick up extra underclothes and a couple pairs of shorts. She had a weird sense that someone had been in her bedroom. Nothing she could put her finger on, but a creepy feeling, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck tingle. She noticed that a photograph on her dresser of herself with Darcy looked out of place from how she remembered it.

Quit being paranoid. She still couldn’t shake the feeling, so she hastily grabbed a small suitcase, threw in the items she needed, and quickly headed back downstairs. Damn she wished she had thought to bring one of the dogs with her. Her cell phone rang. It was Gabe.

“Hello.”

“Hi Babe, how’s your day going?””

“Trying to catch up with my life. Right now, I’m at my place grabbing a few things to take back to Darcy’s,” she said. “How about you? Any news about the horse?”

“Yes, they called a little while ago—I got the job. They’ll trailer her here this Wednesday,” he said, barely containing his excitement.

“That’s fantastic Gabe. I am so happy for you. I can’t wait to meet this million-dollar hay muncher.”

“Only worth a million if I can help her. I’m going to have my work cut out for me with this one,” he said. “From my understanding, she is in pretty bad shape. A truck hauling her mama and her, along with a few other horses, was in a terrible accident along the highway and the trailer overturned. Her mama, a champion worth a ton of money, and one of the other champion horses, were injured so badly they had to be put down at the scene. Midnight came out with only a few scratches but a lot of emotional scars. I only hope I’m up for the job.”

“Gabe if anyone can help, it’s you,” Annie said.

“I hope so, I hate to see any horse suffering,” he admitted.

“I have full confidence in you.”

“I’ll be relying on that,” he said quietly. Her heart skipped a beat at the implications of that statement. He continued, “I’m looking forward to seeing you Friday, but I’m missing you now, and Friday seems like a million years away. Any chance that you could go see a movie with me tonight?” he asked.

“I’d love that,” she said, without hesitation.

“Great, I’ll pick you up around seven, if that’s alright. The movie starts at seven thirty.”

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