Page 21 of Wild For You
“I would literally rather be anywhere else right now.”
“Well, you’re stuck with me, so let’s make the most of it. And if you’re nice, maybe I’ll buy you a treat.”
The drive into town was a simple one, which I knew from my past trips to Ashfield, and by the time I found a parking spot on the street, I was practically salivating thinking about the sugary goodness that waited for me behind the glass doors.
“You want to wait here?”
The large man growled as he leaned the seat back and rested his baseball cap he grabbed on our way out the door over his face.
Chuckling, I rolled the windows down and exited the car.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I called out as I reached the sidewalk, only to be answered with a stiff middle finger in the air from my passenger.
I nearly ran into a couple while I was still looking over my shoulder and laughing as they exited the coffee shop. After a quick apology, I ducked inside and got the largest spiced latte I could order and a blueberry muffin.
Stepping outside with my goodies, I let the cool fall breeze swirl around me, and I closed my eyes.
I alwaystriedto be an optimistic person, but losing both my job and boyfriend in one day knocked me down and into reality for a moment.
But right then, as I sat on a bench near my car, opening my eyes to stare at the man who barely fit inside my small car, I wondered if all of it happened for a reason. This job, this town, these people smiling at me as they walked by. It all left me feeling like this was exactly where I was supposed to be at this moment.
Chapter Six – Andrew
I thought after a week of listening to Kelsey move around my house, I’d grow accustomed to her incessant need to talk. It was as if she felt the need to constantly chatter in order to fill the void of background noise.
I was the opposite.
And her ongoing conversations were driving me mad.
The only positive thing it did for me was keep me from falling down into the black hole of despair over my injury. I missed being on the back of a horse. I missed doing things for myself. And I missed the farm.
Over the past year, I worked with Nash and Aspen to transition things over to me, and that meant making some changes. Not just with staff but with vendors. I’d handled contracts for the farm in the past, but now I was the one negotiating those contracts with suppliers and buyers and making sure Sunny Brook Farms was working with the best, even if the vendor was smaller, less known, and more expensive. If they were the best, then that would only help the farm prosper.
But instead of moving around the cornfields to help with the ongoing harvest, I was holed up in bed, waiting for Kelsey to pop her head in to remind me that we were starting the day with exercises.
Yippie.
I wasn’t sure what kept Kelsey around. Any normal person would have ran for the hills after the first night. I was a complete pain in the ass who now begrudgingly admittedneeding her assistance just to take a whiz in the middle of the night.
Let’s be honest; I wasn’t anyone’s cup of tea on a regular day. Add in the injury, and I was no better than an angry troll hiding under a bridge.
Looking over at the nightstand, the clock read 5:00 a.m. Kelsey usually peeked into my room at 6:00. Little did she know I was usually awake and could hear her moving about the living room.
Glancing down at my leg, I wondered if I’d ever be able to use it properly again.
I didn’t regret the rodeo or the sport that could have cost me my life, but I regretted not listening to my instincts. My gut had never steered me wrong before, and the one time I didn’t pay attention, I ended up in a coma with a messed-up back and torn knee.
Sitting in the darkness, I let myself wallow in my sorrow. Was this a life-ending injury? No, but it could be career ending. And if the doctor’s words were anything to go by, if my physical therapy didn’t go successfully, I could end up with a limp and chronic pain.
I leaned my head against the headboard and closed my eyes. This was what my life had come to. Maybe this was what I deserved, a penance for how I acted toward others.
“Fuck,” I mumbled as I sank deeper and deeper into the hole I’d been struggling to crawl out of since I arrived home. A week later and I’d barely made any progress, not seeing positive outcomes from any of our work so far. I wanted to be up and walking. I wanted to go on with my life. But here I was… a shell of myself.
Kelsey cracked open the door and popped her head inside the room, looking around in the darkness. “Oh, good. You’re up. Do you want a light on?”
“No.”
“Want me to open the curtains?”
