River Lane

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

            I woke up in the dark with a scream on my lips. It was cold but I was sweating as I felt a warm blanket wrap around my shoulders.

            “Hey, hey, hey, Calm down your alright.” I recognized the voice immediately but it only confused me more. I wasn’t even sure where I was until I smelled leather, horse sweat, and the grain in the trailer. With the blanket still wrapped around me, I felt along the wall until I hit the light switch.

            I turned around to see Garrett sitting on the bed fully clothed and looking tired as hell. I tried to figure out his mood by the look on his face, but all I could see was uncertainty. He was looking at me like I was a flighty colt he was trying not to spook.

            “What are you doing here?” I asked him. I knew I would have to get it over with eventually and I hate delaying things like this. It might have been the wrong thing to do. The fire lit up in his eyes as quick as if someone had struck a match in his ear.

            “What am I doing here? What the hell were you doing a couple hours ago? Running around getting drunk with a piece of shit, just about to leave with him when you were drunk off your ass? What the hell were you thinking!” he was venting and had to stop to catch his breath. Honestly it took me a minute to take it all in and it left me momentarily speechless, but he wasn’t going to let it drop. I had brought it up and he was going to finish it.

            I hate confrontations. I’m like a cornered skunk. You confront me; I panic, and stink flies. Ok so maybe it doesn’t work quite like that but it would end up in a fight so I decided to see if I could switch the subject.

            “Why did you leave?” It stunned him for a moment but unfortunately it didn’t work.

            “That doesn’t’ matter. Answer my question.”

            “What if I don’t want to?”

            “I’m not leaving until you tell me.” I tried not to grin but I couldn’t help it and he could see the wheels turning in my head. He cut me off short.

            “Don’t think that it will keep me around long. I wouldn’t make for good company. Just get on with it and tell me.” What he was expecting me to say did not come out of my mouth, but now it was my turn to be irritated.

            “I was pissed at you.” The surprise showed clearly across his face. “You up and left, and you didn’t even think I was worth saying goodbye to.” I was starting to raise my voice more as I got frustrated but I was glad to finally let him have it.

            “You never even gave me a chance. The whole time you were at the ranch you were like a light switch. One minute you were on and then you were off. Locking horns with me half the time and making me fall for you the other half.” I waited a minute before continuing.

            “When you first left I was so pissed off that I didn’t care whether you came back or not. And then the reality that you really probably weren’t coming back made me feel horrible. I tried to call you a million times and you wouldn’t even take the time to answer my phone calls.” A look of confusion crossed his face.

            “I spent all my time with my new horse to keep me busy. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn’t. I finally got the courage to go to a rodeo. I went to half a dozen rodeos before I ran into you. I wasn’t even expecting you when that kid threw you out underneath me. And you acted like you didn’t even know who the hell I was. That was as big of a smack in the face as I could have had.”