“If this affects my employment, I am going to clobber you,” I said.
He laughed at that as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the stable. For the first time, I left the stable before a storm had passed.
?
Walking into the main house was awkward at first. I hadn’t been any further than the foyer since I was seventeen. When my parents died, William had invited me to family dinners to make me feel like part of his family, but it didn’t work out.
Three dinners with nothing but bickering back and forth between Riley and me and William got the message. It wasn’t good to have us in the same room together with knives. If I had to attend another dinner, I swore one of us would have sported a nasty scar.
William was nowhere to be seen, but Monica, his wife, was surprised to see me. She greeted me as she normally would. She and I were never close, but she supported William’s effort to try to include me into their family, and I was appreciative of that.
She brought me some blankets and a small awkward smile. Riley quickly guided me down the basement steps before she could ask if we were together. While we weren’t hiding that we were, it was different to have that conversation with my employer and his wife.
The basement had a large TV screen and large, oversized couches. I sat on one, sank into it, and sighed. I could still hear the storm howling outside, even in the basement. I did my best to tune it out as Riley put on a movie to distract me. While I was safe, I would still worry about the horses.
Within minutes, we were snuggled on the couch, watching a romantic comedy. I idly twirled my mom’s ring on my finger. Riley grabbed my hand to stop the spinning.
“Do you mind if I look at it?” he asked.
“No,” I said, and he gently pulled the ring off my finger.
I felt hollow with it missing from my hand during a storm.
“Is there a reason you wear this on your left ring finger?” he asked, inspecting the ring.
“No, it’s an engagement ring. Maybe subconsciously I thought it belonged there?” I offered, not really sure about the answer.
When he was done looking at the ring, he slid it back onto the left ring finger, looking me in the eyes as he did it.
I shivered from the look he gave me. He smiled at my reaction, liking that he had that effect on me.
I hoped one day he may want to slide a different ring on that finger.
As if sensing my thoughts, he brought my left hand up to his mouth and kissed each knuckle. His lips lingered on the ring finger before lowering my hand and turned his attention back to the movie.
I fell asleep cuddled in his arms, feeling like the worst in life was behind me.
Eighteen
Emma
My trailer and the stable, along with the horses, survived the night. While there was some exterior damage to the trailer, like missing siding and dents to the tin roof, I was happy it was in one piece. There was also some damage to some fencing on the farm. It was important that this was quickly repaired, as we had important clients coming to the farm tomorrow.
The problem was that after the storm, a heat wave moved in. The water from last night mixed with the heat to create a breath-stealing amount of humidity. It was like walking into the world’s hottest sauna. To walk outside fully clothed was to ask for a heatstroke.
I walked a fine line as I walked outside in the most conservative sports bra and track shorts I owned.
Rodrigo was a lucky bastard and had the day off. Normally, it would be his job to repair the fencing. Riley offered to step in and do it, to show his dad he wasn’t above helping the team. His father was skeptical for only a moment before thanking his son and walking off to attend a business meeting.
I turned on the speakers in the stable and every fan in the structure. I started cleaning the stable and installing the metal shutters.
Riley was working shirtless in the next field over. I could see the muscles in his back moving. They tapered down into a lean waist, and his shorts covered that cute butt of his.
I looked away from him, just as he was turning his head to look at me. I pretended not to notice as I went back to installing the next metal shutter.
When they were all up, I thought about how I could cool down from the heat stroke I was likely having. Riley was done with most of the fence repairs. He had two sections left, and I thought about waiting for him and then going swimming.
At the last moment, I changed my mind and decided I was going to hose off the horses in the field. As I filled up the water troughs, I had a great idea, and I snickered at my cleverness.
