AllFreeNovel
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“It’s just eggs, sweetie. Hey, you remember hat eggs?” Her face brightens.
“Of course. Lifting up the bread and taking off the hat.” I grab the bread. She cracks the eggs in the pan, and I cut circles out of the bread slices with a glass.
We place the opening in the slices over the yolk. Five minutes later, we sit down to eat.
“You loved these when you were little.”
“I still do.” I lift up the circle of bread to reveal the egg underneath. Taking off the hat.
I smile at her, for real this time. What I wouldn’t give for the simplicity of childhood right now. I fold the hat into a half circle and stab my yolk.
“Extra butter makes everything better,” Lily says.
We laugh, a little more authentically this time. After we eat, she shoos me out of the kitchen, saying she’ll clean up. I head over to the barn.
All I think about when I look at it is that I have to finish the staining job. I started it when I got back, to give myself a project. But then it became overwhelming. I look at the cans and brushes and shake my head.Not right now.
I go into the barn to see Water. “Hey, boy.” I give him his morning carrot. “How about a ride? Then I’ll paint.”
I lead him outside so he can graze while I muck out his stall. I’m just about to take the filled-up wheelbarrow out of the back of the barn when I hear Water neigh loudly.
Please, don’t be a coyote.I go to check to make sure.
As I exit the barn, I hear another horse. The snort sounds familiar. I stop dead in my tracks.
“What…?” I gasp. “How?”
It’s Fire. Maximus. And seated on top, looking every bit the prince, is Alex.
He should be on the other side of the world. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. Maybe I’ve finally lost my mind, and I’m hallucinating. Maybe all the stress.
Oh, it’s a dream. I dream about him every night. Sometimes he shows up on Maximus, sometimes he just appears in my bedroom and tells me he loves me before making love to me over and over. I need to wake up.
Alex hooks the reins over the saddle horn and lets Maximus into the pen with Water. Water looks up from his grass for a second – the highest compliment – and goes back to eating. Alex closes the pen and comes toward me.
Wake up,Bella.I don’t want to have this dream again. I wake up ecstatic and then I’m crushed all over again when it’s not real. Alex stops about five feet from me.
“Hi, my love. My littlekapusta.”
That’s funny. He doesn’t usually say anything. He usually just takes me in his arms, kisses me, and –
“Bella?”
I flick my work gloves off and pinch my wrist really hard. It hurts. Also, you don’t usually smell horse shit in a dream.
Not a dream. But I still don’t know what to do.
“Thought you’d be happy to see me.”
He looks straight at me with a penetrating gaze. His smile makes me weak. He gets closer and then touches me.
He places my hand over his heart. “This beats for you, Bella.”
My heart soars. I feel like I could fly. Then I remember all the things that pushed us apart. I gently try to loosen my hand from his. But he won’t let go.
“I’ve been dying inside since I left. Since you ran…” I begin.
“I’ve been dying inside, too. That’s why I came.”
