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“How much are they calling for?” he asked, glancing up at the sky again with apprehension as they walked toward the offices.
“A couple inches. Nothing that monster truck of yours can’t handle on your way back to the desert.” She jerked her head back toward the parking lot where he’d parked his enormous pickup truck. While terrible on gas for a drive like he had made, it was comfortable and safe, and also good for towing things when needed, which was a regular occurrence back at the ranch.
Jake hummed and let it go as they walked into the office. As he approached the front desk, he caught a glimpse of someone he thought he knew. Not just anyone. But her.
It can’t be. But what if it is?
“Can I help you?” An older woman of about sixty smiled, her bright eyes shining, and her Christmas sweater in full holiday regalia, from tassels to glittering thread around an embroidered tree that spread across her entire front.
His heart pounding a bit faster than normal at the possibility of his past breezing by, Jake stumbled over his words. “I…um. Sorry, ma’am. I’m here to see Billy Chadwick about some sheep.” Jake tried to peer over the woman’s desk to see if he could catch another glimpse of her in the background. When he didn’t see her, he assumed his eyes had been playing tricks on him, and he got his head back into what he was there for.
The receptionist gave him directions to where he could find Billy, which was back outside and toward the pens and stables where some of the auctioneers and owners looking to sell or buy livestock hung out. There was an informality to the setup, which suited Jake, he didn’t want to sit down at another conference table.
Jake glanced up at the clouds again, and pulled his jacket a bit tighter, noticing the wind had picked up. When he looked back down, he came face to face with her. His eyes hadn’t been deceiving him at all. She was standing nearby, and by the look on her face, her wide eyes giving her away, she was just as surprised as he was.
“Coralee?”
ChapterTwo
Coralee
“Ms. Branson, are you going home for the holidays?”
Coralee looked up from her desk and smiled at Maggie, the older receptionist. “I am. I’m headed back to El Paso tomorrow to spend the holidays with my mom and dad.”
“Oh, that is wonderful!” Maggie gushed. “When was the last time you saw them?” she asked.
“I try to get back twice a year. It isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a long trip, even though we’re still in Texas.” Coralee laughed. She never did understand how you could drive twelve hours and still be in Texas, but it was true. This time though, she was flying back home. An expensive ticket, but well worth not losing a whole entire day with her family by spending it in the car. Plus, it was exhausting, and quite possibly the most boring drive in the world. The trip consisted of Houston, then ranches and farmland, onto the oil fields, then straight through the desert. Literally no interesting sights, there was hardly anything along the way at all besides the wide open road. She’d made the trip a time or two and didn’t regret paying for the overpriced airline ticket to zip by all of that instead.
“That’s wonderful. I bet they’re excited to see you,” Maggie replied.
“And what about you? What are your plans for the holidays?”
“I’m having the whole family over to my house. So, both of my sons, their wives, and my eight grandchildren. I can’t wait. I’ll be cooking up a storm!” she said with joy in her voice.
Maggie’s sons both lived in Galveston, so they were close, but not down the street. It seemed everything in Texas was “a bit of a drive” and anyone who lived there simply accepted it as part of life.
“Speaking of storm… Have you checked on your flight? The weather report is calling for some snow, honey. Make sure you’re prepared.” Maggie’s expression turned to one of concern, her brows furrowing in a motherly way.
“Oh come on now, Maggie. It’s Texas. You know how everyone overreacts to weather here. It’s never as bad as they say it’s going to be.”
Coralee wanted to scoff but didn’t want to seem rude. She wasn’t the least bit concerned about any “weather event” as the news was calling it. Just more nonsense as far as she was concerned. She’d be back in the desert, with low humidity and good hair days, hanging out on her parents’ ranch, eating her mom’s home cooking, and binging on the tamales she got from the lady down the street. Her mouth watered just thinking about it.
She’d never admit it out loud, and certainly not to Maggie or anyone in the office, but one of the reasons she’d started avoiding going home more often was her parents were best friends with their neighbors, the Corrientes, and there was one brother in particular she didn’t want to see again. Coralee felt herself scrunching her nose just thinking about his stupid handsome face, and his muscular body . . .Nope. Don’t even go there. You’re not even going to see him anyway.
As if she could convince herself Jake Corriente didn’t exist. Coralee knew her parents would make her go over to their house for Christmas Eve; they did every year. Only, the last two years, she didn’t have to see Jake at all. He was “on an assignment” or something. Sneering to herself just thinking about how rude it was of him to skip Christmas with his family, she decided she clearly dodged a bullet when their “relationship” ended. If what they had could even have been considered a relationship; Coralee’s selective memory was trying to kid her. They’d officially been together for two years, and at the time, she was sure they’d get married and live happily ever after.
Jake and Coralee grew up together on adjacent ranches. With their parents being best friends, they spent a lot of time together over the years. By the time they all reached high school, Jake was an all-star football player, and looked the part ten times over. Coralee had been a cheerleader, something she genuinely loved, and they were the perfect match. Encouraged by their parents, they started dating in high school and had become inseparable. Although, prior to anything romantic happening between them, they were already fairly inseparable. All of her firsts had been with Jake. He was her first love. Stupid love.
“You all right over there?” Maggie asked. “You look like you just sucked on a lemon.”
“What?” Coralee grinned at the reference and dragged herself away from her memories. “Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking about the old days is all.”
“Hmm, well didn’t seem like a good memory,” Maggie replied with a suspicious scowl. “Let’s finish up so we can get out of here. Are you going to visit the stalls before you go?”
“Of course I am,” Coralee replied with a genuine smile. She loved visiting the animals that were housed on the rodeo property. Most of them were just there for a short while, either on the rodeo circuit and belonging to someone, or they were being held for sale by various livestock owners and sellers, awaiting their new homes. The rodeo wasn’t just for shows and competitions, there were other lucrative businesses attached to it as well.
Coralee’s job was to manage all communications and social media for the rodeo. This included promotion of the shows, soliciting competitors to come out, but also working with and helping to facilitate the livestock auctions and sales. Any kind of correspondence or advertising required her stamp of approval. She often went out to the stables to talk to the animals, pet them, give treats, or simply spend time with them. The ranch animals, and her dog she had to leave behind when she moved, were the two things—besides her parents—that she missed most about her hometown of El Paso.
