Heartbreak Town (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twelve

     As Renne was outside hanging the clean, wet clothes out on the clothes line, she couldn't help but smile as she thought about when she was a kid, her parents would chase her and Mallory through the sheets. Being young kids, the lines of sheets seemed endless, creating the perfect maze. When she was older, and her and Swayde were dating, he also used to chase her through the sheets. Renne would then "accidentally" let him catch her, ending their game of tag with Swayde wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her into a kiss.
Renne turned back to the clothes basket and pulled out a t-shirt and two clothes pins. When she turned back around, a figure emerged from behind one of the sheets.
"Hey!" Swayde greeted Renne with a smile.
Renne threw a hand up to her chest. She had been so lost in her reminiscing that she hadn't heard Swayde walk up. "Swayde, you scared me. Don't do that." Renne proceeded to hang up the shirt on the line.
"Sorry I was just coming out here to see if out were ready to head out to my ranch?"
"Yeah. Just about, I need to finish hanging out these clothes, then I'll be ready." Renne replied, grabbing a pair of jeans.
"Okay. Here, I'll help you." Swayde said, taking the jeans out of Renne's hands and hanging them on the line.
Less then five minutes later, Swayde and Renne had all of the clothes hung out on the line. "Good teamwork. High five." Swayde said, holding his hand up to Renne.
Renne slapped Swayde's hand and chuckled. "C'mon. Let's get to your ranch."
As Renne walked past the barn to Swayde's truck, she asked him, "Do you have a horse at your place that I can ride, or will you let me bring Cruiser?" Renne smiled a pleading smile.
"Sweetheart, Cruiser is a cutting horse, not a slow, patient, 'let's go check the fences horse'. Besides, he still has a long ways to go before he can be trailered. And don't even think about askin' me about Riot. That's a definite no." Swayde opened the passenger side door of his truck for Renne. "You can ride one of my horses."
Renne groaned. She knew that Swayde was right, but she still wished that she could ride Cruiser, or Riot, just to prove him wrong. Renne slid into Swayde's truck without protest and waited for Swayde to jump in on his side.
As Swayde started his truck and was backing out of his spot in front of the house, Renne's cell phone rang. "Hey Matt." Renne picked up her phone. There was a pause as Matt asked Renne what she was up to. "In the truck on the way to Sw-...my grandparent's ranch." Renne caught herself slipping up again. She knew she would have to tell Matt about Swayde sometime, she just needed to find the right time.
"Okay. I just wanted to fill you in on what the vet said."
"What'd she say?" Renne asked. She was still upset about the whole Jerome thing that happened a couple of days ago, but her and Matt talked more, and things weren't as tense now, and they weren't fighting anymore.
"Well, Oliver's lameness has been caused by advanced arthritis, so you were right. Dr. Marini suggested givin' him Previcox on the days we will use him for lessons, and then ice wrap his cannon bone and fetlock, you know, five minutes on, fifteen minutes off kinda thang, but she said what will help the most is giving him a couple more days off. She said that when we turn him out, we should put him in a corral instead of the long pasture. She said she's concerned he's running too much during turn out. But she said we are doin' the right thing with putting his bell boots and over reach boots on when we turn out and also with giving him a 100 pound rider weight limit. She said it might be a good idea to lunge him once or twice a week for a short time on his day off, just so he can get out his energy since we don't lope him during lessons."
"Okay. So it's not great news, but still better then a broken bone, right?" Renne replied. Oliver was one of the first horses that she got when she opened her ranch, and has formed a special place in her heart. He had become the ranch favorite for all of her riders, but recently, he turned up lame to the point where he refused to leave his stall. He was an old horse when he was donated to Renne's ranch and he had a lot of health problems then, but thankfully he is mostly healthy again, but because of his old age, there are certain health issues that are expected and will most likely not go away. In this case, his biggest health issue is his lameness due to arthritis.
Matt finished telling Renne about what the vet, Dr. Marini, said about the other horses. He reminded Renne that he was going to shoe the horses tomorrow morning and he wanted to make sure he knew which horses Renne wanted done. Renne told him which horses needed their hooves clipped or shod.
When Renne was about to hang up after a long pause, she heard Matt let out a breath. "I can't believe it's already almost been two weeks. You're leaving there Wednesday night to get home by Friday, right?" Matt asked.
Renne took in a deep breath as she hesitated giving Matt her answer. How was she going to tell Matt that she wasn't coming back home in four days like they'd originally planned? She had thought long and hard about this and her family still needed her here; she couldn't leave yet. Looking to her left, Renne cast a glance at Swayde. Okay, maybe her family wasn't the only people who still needed her...she still had unfinished business with a certain gray-blue eyed cowboy.
"I guess our motto worked, huh?" Renne asked, not answering Matt's question. "'Just a few short days.' Two weeks really flew by, didn't it?"
"Yeah. You were right. I'm excited to see you this weekend."
"You too. Hey, will you have time to talk later tonight?" Renne asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah I should. Is there something wrong?" Matt asked, worry in his voice.
     "No. I just miss you and want to catch up, and now's not really the best time for that."
     "Oh okay. Well I'll let you go so you can get back to the ranch safely. Love you, Renne." As always, Matt paused to hear Renne's response.
     Renne looked over to Swayde. She saw him looking at her. He must have heard Matt tell Renne that he loved her. She wondered if Swayde was thinking of the same thing she was...when they used to tell each other, "I love you." They meant it back then. Seeing Swayde now with the look in his eyes gave Renne the thought that maybe he still does love her. "You too, Matt." Renne replied before hanging up her phone. She let out a sigh.
     "So, thangs are cool with you and Matt now I take it?" Swayde asked Renne, looking at her. He had one hand situated perfectly on the top of his steering wheel. He was gripping it tightly, his knuckles white. Renne inwardly wondered if Swayde was pretending his steering wheel was Matt's neck.
"Yeah...I mean...we kinda have this whole 'reset button' thing that no matter how bad we fight the night before, we wake up the next day knowing it's a new day which means a fresh start."
"What about not letting the sun go down on your anger?" Swayde spared a glance at Renne.
"I pray every night before I go to bed. Most of the times Matt and I make up before the night is over, but since he lives on my ranch, we see each other and work together, and are together almost 24/7, so we can't be trying to help a client if we are having our own problems."
"What about the times that y'all don't make up that night?"
     "Then things are tense the next day, and we try to talk it out. We've only had a handful of fights that last longer then a day or two. We tend to fight more when we are apart...he's away at rodeos a lot and it's hard for me to run my ranch without him there, so that makes things tense, but I manage. We usually talk things out before they get too bad...we just don't want fights to make up the majority of our relationship, y'know."
     "Yeah..." Swayde said. His jaw was set and his hand still on the steering wheel.
     "And you know how much I hate fighting."
"Right. Yeah I know...I remember when we used to fight and...it's just sad that when we did fight, they were pretty bad."
"But they always made us stronger...somehow we grew closer to each other after whatever we were fighting about was out in the open...And we never really had very many huge, blowout fights except for-" Renne stopped herself. Looking over to her left, she saw the look that Swayde had in his eyes. He knew which fight she was thinking about. It was the one that resulted in her unplanned 'vacation', so to speak. Well, it wasn't necessarily the fight that made Renne leave Alpine Ridge behind; it was the secret Swayde and her grandparents kept from her.
     Before Swayde could reply, or Renne could finish, they pulled into Swayde's ranch. Every time Swayde had taken her here, both five years ago, and the times in these two weeks, Renne immediately felt a calming peace. It was very refreshing.
Swayde stopped his truck beneath the wooden arch in the driveway to get the mail out of his mailbox. With his window down, and mail in one hand, Swayde continued driving down his long dirt driveway. "Sometime soon I'd like to start clearin' out this fence line. There are several posts that are rotten and need replaced and there's still barbed wire fencing, but I was hoping to put my horses in here, so I want to replace the barbed wire with a wooden fence. What do you think?" Swayde asked for Renne's opinion.
"I think that that's a good idea. I have wooden fences for most of my pastures at my ranch and I like them for the most part, but for my cattle, I still used the old barbed wire."
     "Yeah. I never have shown you the barn, have I?"
     "No you haven't. I've been over here, how many times and I still haven't seen it."
     "I've pretty much redone the whole thing since you saw it last, five years ago." With that, Swayde opened Renne's door and offered a hand down from his truck. She willingly accepted it, but dropped it as soon as her boots hit the ground.
     As soon as Swayde opened up the barn door, a horse whinnied. Renne chuckled. "Well, someone sure is glad to see you." Renne said, walking further into Swayde's barn.
     Swayde walked past Renne as he responded, "Yeah. This sweet girl here is 'Walkin' on Grace', but I just call her Grace. Her name suits her well." Swayde said, stroking Grace's muzzle. Swayde opened a small metal container right beside Grace's stall and pulled out a gummy drop. Holding his hand out flat, he give the bright to red piece of sugar to Grace.
     Renne stood back watching Swayde and chuckled. When Swayde turned around  Renne said, "Don't tell me that you've gotten soft and started spoilin' your horses?"
     "Oh, you're one to talk. I swear you always gave your horses more treats then hay or grain."
     "You have a point there." Renne chuckled. She knew she has always spoiled her horses. "Are you gonna harass me, or give me a horse to ride?" Renne smiled so Swayde knew she was teasing him.
     "Okay. Okay. You can ride this guy over here. His name is Trooper." Swayde smiled and pointed to a stocky bay horse in the stall right next to Grace's. He looked to be just tall enough to be called a horse, about fifteen hands high. Trooper's composition made Renne think he might be a barrel horse; he was certainly built for it. He was a good looking horse.
"Hey Trooper." Renne said, slowly reaching a hand out for Trooper to smell it.
"Trooper and Grace are best buddies." Swayde told Renne as he slipped a halter over Grace's ears, leading her out to the aisle, without a lead rope. "Check this out." Swayde smiled over his shoulder at Renne. "Grace, hold." Swayde commanded his horse. Swayde then slowly walked forwards, to the side of Grace. Grace nickered and turned her head to watch Swayde. "Hold." Swayde reminded Grace. When he was sure Grace was going to stay where she was, he turned around to walk normal and continued to the tack room. Once inside, Renne heard Swayde grabbing tack. About three minutes later, Swayde emerged from the tack room, his saddle resting comfortably against his hip, with his saddle bag set on that shoulder. On his other shoulder was Grace's bridle; under his left arm rested the saddle pad, and finally, in his left hand, Swayde held a caddy that had brushes in it. The leather saddle creaked as Swayde walked up to Grace's left side, setting down the tack against the open stall door.
Reaching into that little metal container, Swayde pulled out another gummy drop, then turned and walked backwards towards Renne. Grace stretched her neck out far to try to reach her favorite treat in Swayde's hand, but she knew better then to fake a step. Smiling, Swayde said, "Walk, Grace." The patient horse obeyed Swayde's command and walked towards him, holding when the gummy drop was safely in her mouth.
Proud of his horse, Swayde rubbed his hands over Grace's soft muzzle. Maybe Renne was right; he does spoil his horses.
"That's pretty impressive." Renne said. "Did you train her to do that?"
"Thank you." Swayde turned to Grace and made a motion with his hand and clucked his tongue and Grace followed him back to her stall, where the tack was. "Yeah, I taught her it. When I bought her, she was very green, so I got to teach her my own methods. I only ride her with a Hackamore bridle because she needs so little correction. She goes mainly off of voice cues and very little leg. She was abused by her old owner; they whipped her around her stomach, so I never wear spurs when I ride her, and you have to be careful brushing around her scars. I once tried to have my buddy get on her when he was out here, but she threw a fit...I'm the only person that she lets ride. But yet she's great with little kids...if you put a kid on her back, Grace will just stand so still. She will raise her head up nice and tall as if the children are her trophies that she is proud to show off. It's the cutest thing." Swayde told Renne from Grace's left side. He was brushing her down. Swayde gave Renne instructions on where to put Trooper so she could brush him down. Renne obliged and led Trooper out of his stall and to the cross ties.
"That is the sweetest thing. I have a couple of horses at my ranch like that. They're complete saints. One of them, Oliver, turned up lame a couple of days ago and we had our vet come out. She said that he has an advanced stage of arthritis. But he's such a sweetheart. He's definitely the reach favorite. He willingly lets all of the kids touch his face and feed him treats. We've even let the kids paint him and play 'pin the tail on the donkey.'" Renne chuckled at the memory.
"I really hope that one day I can come out and see your ranch. I know that it's always been a dream of yours."
"Absolutely." Renne nodded her head. She wanted to suggest that he could come back with her to Montana in a few days and see it, and meet Matt, but the more she thought it over she decided it probably wasn't a good idea this time around.
"I'll go grab your saddle." Swayde changed the subject. He told Grace to "hold" again as he went back into the tack room to retrieve Renne's saddle.
When Swayde came back out Renne was surprised at the saddle that he brought out. "You weren't kiddin'...this really is my saddle."
"You didn't think I'd give away your favorite saddle when you left, did you?" Swayde asked, laying the saddle, horn down, by Renne and Trooper.
"I guess not..." Renne replied. Sure, to many it may "only be a saddle," but that saddle won Renne several buckles in team roping competitions. It was the first saddle that Renne paid for all on her own. Certain parts of it needed new parts, like new Blevins buckles on the stirrups, a new concho for the skirt, a hobble strap for the right stirrup, and it'd probably be wise to buy a new leather latigo, too.
     Grabbing the saddle pad, Renne set it carefully up on Trooper's withers. She then grabbed her favorite saddle and swung it onto Trooper's back. When she reached under Trooper's stomach to grab the cinch, she realized that the leather latigo had been replaced.
     "Did you replace the latigo?" Renne asked, looking over her shoulder at where Swayde stood patiently next to his mare.
     "Yeah. The old one was just about to break and I've been tryin' to get you to come out and ride with me on my ranch since you got here. A few days after you settled in, I went out and bought you a new one so it'd be safe for you ride whenever I finally was able to get you out here. I know that you still need new Blevins buckles, but I WD-40'd them, so they slide a little easier, and I figured since only you ride in that saddle, you don't really need to adjust the stirrups. And I know that you also need a new hobble strap, and concho, but I just-" Swayde stopped rambling when he heard Renne chuckle. Smiling, he said, "What?"
    "Thank you for the latigo. I will pay you back for it. And for the other repairs, don't worry. It gives me a good reason to come back out and ride." Renne winked.
     "Don't worry about payin' me back. It's my gift to you. Let me pay for it while I still can." Swayde replied.
    Renne nodded and finished tacking up Trooper. He was such a sweet boy; Renne really liked him so far. He looked like the kind of horse who would listen well and respected his riders.
Grabbing Grace's reins, Swayde led Renne out of the barn and checked Grace's cinch before swinging up unto her back. Renne did the same. Once they were both comfortably situated, Swayde asked a Grace to walk forward. With just a slight turn of the reins Trooper and Renne followed along beside Swayde and Grace.
     Things were quiet for a while, but eventually, Renne broke the ice. "You know what?" Renne sighed and looked around at the gorgeous scenery. Everything always seemed so clear to her when she was by the mountains, especially on the back of a horse. "I missed this." Renne nodded as she said it.
      "What?" Swayde asked, looking over at her.
     "This scenery. I mean Montana is "open sky country,", but there is just something about Wyoming...you know what I missed most?"
     "Me?" Swayde asked. Renne looked over at him. He had a teasing smile.
     "No." Renne chuckled. "No I really miss doin' just typical ranch stuff, but especially working with horses. I mean, yeah at my ranch I work with horses every day but it's more teaching the kids then actually working with the horses. The only time I really get to do anything with the horses is when we get a new one in, but most of them are too old to do anything except be pasture pets and walk with our smallest students. Even then, Matt does most of the work with training horses and all that. Even with the horses on my personal ranch, I don't have to do much work with them, and I hardly have time to anyways. But, being back here with Cruiser and Riot, and all the others, and hearin' you talk about a grace, and seein' what you've done with her...it makes me remember just how much I missed training the horses and all the ground work and everything with them. Gosh, I can't even remember the last time I just went on a leisurely ride."
     "Checking fences ain't exactly leisurely." Swayde said, truthfully.
     "I know, but when Matt and I check fences we often take the Gator out or when we do ride, it's anything but relaxing."
     "He makes you work pretty hard, doesn't he?" It wasn't a question, but more of am observation.
    "Everything I do, I do willingly." Renne said a little too defensively. "And I love the hard work, you know that." Renne added.
     "Okay. I'm just saying." Swayde shrugged.
     "And I'm just saying that when I'm working with you, it never feels like work." Renne cast a friendly smile at Swayde.
     "Well we have always made a good team, that's for sure."
     "That is very true. Matt and I certainly don't. With things like checking fences, or preg-checking the cows, or branding...especially branding...after a while, we both just decided who would do what. I have a list of things that I do, and Matt has his list. If we do have to brand together, I might be in the corral cutting the heard, and he might do the roping, but we hardly ever work together. And whenever we do something together, it always feels like work, but not in a good way. The only thing we really make a great  team with is working with the kids, especially my special needs children." Renne sighed. "It's just that Matt can be so controlling sometimes. And he doesn't delegate well, and you know that I can be a control freak, and Matt definitely is, so we both want to do things our own way, but obviously, that never quite works out well. We tend to argue more then just hushing up and getting the task done. It's really frustrating sometimes." Renne took a breath. She just thought about what she just told Swayde. "I guess I've never told anyone that before..." She took a sideways look over her shoulder at Swayde. "I'm sorry for venting..."
     Swayde chucked his deep chuckle. "Reagan, darlin', you don't have to apologize. I completely understand. But. I do have a question for you..." Swayde looked at Renne. When Renne made eye contact with him, Swayde asked his question, "Do you have a girlfriend, or just someone that you can talk to about these kinds of thangs back in Montana?"
     "I mean, I have one really good friend. Her name is Lacey Reid, and she often comes out to my ranch to help with some clinics and such. She's amazing with horses, and even better with people. But, she hasn't been able to come out for a little while, and besides her, no, I guess I don't really have anybody else." Renne let out a dry chuckle.
     "Well, you know you always got me, right? I mean, I know how we left things, but we hardly ever fought, let alone bicker, and have been friends for forever. When you left me, that never changed. Even after we broke up, I still considered you a friend. We've been friends nearly our whole lives, so you're stuck with me. You've got a friend for life in me, I hope you know that." Swayde smiled. "So the next time Matt tells you to go relax while he rides out and checks fences, you call me, and I'll set him straight."
     Renne chuckled. Swayde has always been a sweet guy, and without a doubt, the best friend that she has ever had. "Thank you, Swayde. I really appreciate that. It means a lot, and I will certainly do that."
     "Anytime." Swayde replied. He pulled Grace to a stop, and dismounted. Slipping on his leather gloves, Swayde reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a couple fencing tools. Taking the hammer in hand, he looked to Renne. "Wanna give me a hand?"
     Renne smiled and swung down from Trooper's back. When was the last time that she got to work side by side with someone to fix fences? She couldn't remember, but she knew she missed it. Renne grabbed her gloves from her back jean pocket and slipped them on. 
     Renne pulled the fence tight as Swayde twisted and crimped the loose pieces back together. "I really need to replace this whole fence line because the posts are starting to rot out, but I just haven't had time, so I just keep patching it up, doing little things like this, until I have the time to lay a whole new line." Swayde explained to Renne.
     After walking their horses against that fence line, fixing little spots where needed, Swayde and Renne mounted back up and Swayde showed her around the new acreage of land that he has added to his ranch in the last five years.
     A short time later, all the fences with livestock in them were mended, if needed, and Renne had been given a tour of the ranch. As Swayde and Renne rode back to the barn, Swayde asked, "What are you doin' tonight?"
     "Well, nothing, I guess. Why?"
     "I wanted to invite you to stay here for the day. I will make you brunch once we get back to the house, then you can help me feed the steers and cows, and whenever it's time, I will make you supper, or we could go into town for supper, whatever you prefer. And I figured sometime today we could go visit your sister. Does that work for you?"
       If she stayed with Swayde today, then she could get the chance to talk to him about what she had been thinking about for a few days. Besides, she didn't have anything else to back at Mamaw's. "Sure, that sounds great." Renne replied.
      Once they got back to the barn, Swayde and Renne untacked their horses, picked their hooves before putting them back in their proper stalls, put all the fencing tools and tack back, then headed up to the house.
     When they got back to the house, Renne paused at the doorway to slip off her boots like Matt makes her do at her house, but when Swayde walked in with his still on, she instead followed him. Once in the kitchen, Swayde placed his cowboy hat on the kitchen counter, then reached up to pull out two plates from the cupboard. "Would you like grilled-"
     "Grilled cheeses is fine." Renne finished for him. She smiled when he turned around.
     "I was fixin' to ask if you wanted grilled chicken or spaghetti." Swayde returned the smile.
     "Ooo. Gettin' fancy." Renne leaned back against the opposite counter in Swayde's small kitchen. "Wait a second; where on earth did you learn to make grilled chicken?"
     Swayde let out a chuckle. Already knowing that Renne would choose chicken, Swayde reached in his nearly bare refrigerator and pulled out the small packet of fresh chicken. "I honestly taught myself. You know what? I'm gonna try something new today." Swayde said. He turned to walk to the pantry. As he passed Renne, she let out a chuckle. "What?" Swayde asked, looking at Renne over his shoulder.
     "The last time you 'tried something new', you set off the smoke alarm and we ended up having to go into town for lunch. Do you remember that?" Renne was now laughing at the memory.
     "How could I forget? It was the first meal I had ever cooked in this kitchen. I had just bought this ranch and took you on a date to see it. I was tryin' so hard to impress you." Swayde smiled. He reached into the pantry and pulled out a box of penne pasta and Alfredo sauce.
     "Yeah, and you did impress me...by how much smoke you could get in the kitchen."
     Swayde laughed. "But hey, it was a good day though, wasn't it? We still had fun."
"Yes it was. The only thing I can't remember is what you were attempting to cook." Renne took the metal pot that Swayde handed to her and filled it about halfway with water for the pasta.
"We were fixin' to have breakfast foods for lunch, so I was attempting to make homemade hash browns, but I didn't stir them as much as I was supposed to, so they stuck to the pan. But, it was kinda your fault." Swayde raised his eyebrows and pointed at Renne from where he stood cutting up the chicken.
"What? How was it my fault? You were the one cooking the chicken. You wouldn't let me help you because you were trying to surprise me with your 'mad cooking skills.'"
"You kept me...preoccupied." Swayde smiled, giving Renne a look.
"Oh yes. That's right." Renne remembered exactly. She could see how Swayde could put the blame on her. "But, for the record, you kissed me first." Renne was now the one who pointed at Swayde.
"I think you're mistaken, Reggie. I very clearly remember you kissing me." He took a step closer to Renne.
"Well...I mean...I did, but it was because you kissed me first."
     "I don't think that's how it worked, though. Remember how you kept telling me to get out of the kitchen so I would be surprised when you were done cooking, but I never left. And then you grabbed me around the waist and tried dragging me out, but when that didn't work, you kissed me."
     "Uh uh. That ain't how it happened. I specifically remember you telling me that you were only goin' to leave the kitchen if I let you kiss me. And I did and you didn't leave." Swayde had abandoned his cooking to tell how he remembered the story.
     "Well maybe since neither of us can remember how it actually happened, we should just reenact it." Renne had meant to say the comment only in her head, but instead it slipped out. She hoped Swayde hadn't heard the comment, but there was no way that he didn't. Renne opened her mouth to apologize, but Swayde replied first.
     "Maybe we should." There was no teasing, or joking, in Swayde's voice. He took a step closer to Renne, and began to lower his head, but a sizzling sound behind them on the stove distracted them. Swayde quickly spun around to turn the water temperature down because the pot had boiled over.
     The kitchen was silent except for the sizzling of the chicken and boiling of the pasta. Renne stood her ground by the sink but couldn't help to wonder how much longer this was going to keep happening. Moreso, how much longer could she keep pretending? When she first got back here, Renne felt no affection towards Swayde. All she had felt was hostility because she had remembered why it was exactly that she had left him behind what felt like ages ago. So if she had come back still feeling mad at Swayde, then why now, just a week and a half later, does she only feel like they're friends again? All of that animosity was gone. And now, they almost kissed...again. Renne couldn't help but wonder why. Why is it that whenever she's around Swayde, she completely forgets about Matt. All she can think about is how in love her and Swayde used to be. Used to be? She still wasn't in love with him, was she?