AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For a second, I froze, willing the memory to come. It was right there at the edges of my mind. I began to shake my head, when suddenly, a light turned on in my head. “Oh, my, God, I do! He was really good looking, blond hair, blue eyes, buff…”
She nodded, and blushed. “Yeah, well…turns out, he’s friends with my brother. I saw him a few times after that, but it was no big deal, then, like six months ago, I was at the bar one night with some college friends, and my brother was there with some of his friends…”
I gasped. “Theres no way your six months along!”
Sammy laughed. “No. We hooked up that night, and we’ve…well, we’ve kinda had a thing going on since then, except we…I…” shaking her head, she started to cry again. “I don’t even know how to classify us. We’ve slept together…a lot, but I don’t know that we are actually like…dating.”
My face underwent several expressions before I could speak. “Okay…have you guys done anything besides sleep together?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, we go to dinner, we see movies, we went riding together a couple times, hiking…actually, now that I think about it, we see each other several times a week.”
I laughed a little. “Uh, I’m not exactly the guru on dating, but that sounds like a relationship to me.”
Sam was about to reply when her cell phone vibrated where it sat atop her desk. She frowned, walked to it, and sighed. “It’s him. I’ve been kind of avoiding him this whole week. He’s been texting me like, every day.”
I nodded. “Uh huh, I see. So, what’s the problem exactly? He doesn’t seem like he’s uninterested in you Sam, you need to tell him.”
Sam huffed out a dramatic breath. “My life if over, Callie. I’m barely twenty-four and I haven’t gotten to do anything yet! I don’t know what I’m going to do, or how my parents and Steven will react.”
I could see she was close to having some sort of emotional breakdown, so I hugged her tightly, muttering reassuring words as we tried to formulate a plan for this unexpected bump in the road. I tried to be optimistic, to remain positive, but it seemed to Sammy that her life was literally over with the development of the little fetus growing inside of her. Growing up on a ranch, I had been taught the value of life and reproduction from an early age. I didn’t know how my friend felt about abortions, but just the thought that she might go through with something like that made me cringe.
“Hey, Sam?” when she looked up at me, her earthy brown eyes had lightened with her emotional tears. I didn’t really want to ask, but I had to. “You…uh…you wouldn’t get an abortion, would you?”
The question seemed to startle her, and Samantha moved back across the bed, leaning her back against the headboard, and closed her eyes. “God, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself if I did. I mean, I know I’m not exactly thrilled about all of this, but I hate the thought of erasing this little life that’s growing inside of me just because I was foolish and didn’t use protection.”
A small breath released from my chest-a breath I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding-and I sighed deeply. “Thank God, I was worried about that.” Placing a reassuring hand on her ankle, I said, “We’ll figure it out Sammy. I’m your BFF after all, and I’m here for you, forever.”
Returning to my parent’s ranch at the end of the day, I felt worn down and haggard. I was exhausted-emotionally if not physically-and there was still my mother’s potential cancer to contend with. I felt like I had been home so much longer than one day already, and the fact that so much had happened in one short day shocked me. pulling my old Ford into the drive-in front of the house, I took a moment to just sit in silence, listening to the sounds of animals and nature around me. A hawk screeched from the blue sky above, and cattle mooed to one another across the pasture.
The beginning of autumn had brought with it a slight breeze and cooler temperatures, and soon it would bring fading colors and falling leaves. After that would come the harsh coldness of snow, shorter days with more to be done than ever, and mud. I loved the snow, but man, I hated the mud. I could still remember how much I had looked forward to the coming of spring and summer when I was a kid. I couldn’t wait to be rid of the mud and be able to ride my horse without the hindrance of sucking wetness, sloppy messiness, and the constant worry of slipping and injuries.
My gaze roved over the pastures around my home, the home where I’d been born and raised, and a sense of peace settled inside of me. I was worried about Sammy, but even so, the peace of the countryside was difficult to shake. There was a rightness to the world here, a sense of reason and belonging that I hadn’t ever felt in New York. I chuckled softly to myself, thinking it was true what they said. You could take the girl from the country, but you couldn’t take the country out of the girl. I was still a country girl, deep down in my bones, and I knew I always would be.
9
Iarose early the following morning with the intentions of helping my mother in the kitchen. The fact that she had been ill and was still preparing the meal for everyone bothered me, and I wanted to be there for her, to help make her life easier. I was surprised that she wasn’t in the kitchen when I arrived. Outside, the skies were still dark, with only the slightest hint of light peeking up over the peaks to the east. I found Billy the Kid sitting at the back door, staring at it, so I opened it and the puppy bounded out. Tracking the little ball of fluff with my eyes, I soon realized what he’d been after.
Far out on the back lawn, where my father had long ago built a pergola patio area for my mother, I noticed the little solar lights were on, and a lone figure was sitting on one of the wooden Adirondack chairs positioned on the stone floor. Tilting my head to one side, I wondered who it was. I didn’t have long to wonder, because a moment later, I heard my father’s voice behind me.
“Your mama hasn’t sat out there to watch the sun rise since the day you left here, Callie. She’s happy your home, and I think she’s out there praying you’ll stay this time. Your ma might be a bit rough around the edges sometimes, but she loves you kids, and she’s always believed in having her family around her. When we were younger, she imagined all her kids would live right here on the ranch, where she could watch them raise their own babies, but that didn’t quite turn out the way she hoped.”
I felt the sting of tears hit my eyes and I swallowed. “Why doesn’t she sit out there?”
My father placed a big, work calloused hand on my shoulder. “Don’t you remember the day we decided to make your ma that patio?”
When I shook my head no, my father chuckled. “Can’t believe you’d forget that darlin. You came up to your mama that morning when you were six-it was her birthday-and you handed her a picture you’d been working hard on for days. You drew her a picture of the “garden” you were going to make her.”
Slowly, a memory began to shake loose of the dust and cobwebs in my mind, and I smiled. “Ah. Now I remember. The garden I drew for her had what looked like a gazebo and was surrounded by flowers. I drew little rocks on the bottom for the floor and put chairs in it.”
He chuckled again, his hand tightening gently. “So, we made your picture a reality. Took us all year, but we got everything you promised her.”
I frowned. “Except the flowers. We never got the flowers.”
My dad shook his head. “Nah, I guess we didn’t. We meant to. Anyway, I think you ma always thinks of you the most when she’s out there, guess it made her too sad after you left.”
Now I felt like crap. I sighed heavily. “Elaine told me about her sickness, about the screening coming up.”
When I turned to peer at my dad, his face didn’t show surprise. “I figured as much. When you showed up out of the blue, and without it being a holiday, I figured Elaine had called you.”
