When It's Right(104)

“Ssshh, sweetheart. It’s okay to let yourself be loved.”





Chapter 27



The smell of roses and lilacs woke her. Lying on her stomach across the bed with her arms beside her head, she opened her eyes, expecting to see Blake lying beside her. Nothing but empty sheets and a single red rose lying on his pillow. A vase filled with roses and lilacs from the garden sat on the bedside table, along with a note. He’d picked her a bouquet. Lovely. Sweet. But the sun hadn’t even come up, and he was gone. Why?

Sleep usually left her slowly, but waking up alone after making love to Blake in such spectacular fashion last night cleared her head quickly. She’d just woken up, and already she missed him.

She sat up and brought the rose to her nose, inhaled the heady scent, and closed her eyes. For a moment, she felt his lips on hers where the rose rested against her skin. She picked up the note and read it.

Gillian,

I’ve got a few things to do today in Bozeman. I’ll be back later this evening. I miss you already.

Love, Blake

She threw back the covers and stood looking out the windows at the dawn of a new day. She couldn’t spend the day in bed waiting for Blake to come home. A nice idea, but hardly productive. She showered and dressed and met the family in the kitchen at the breakfast table.

She leaned down and kissed Justin on the head. “Hey buddy, I’m sorry I left yesterday without talking to you.”

“It’s okay. Grandma made spaghetti for dinner. Blake ate his extra helpings of salad. He played battleships with me in the bath and read me a bunch of books before bed. We had a lot of fun.”

It touched her heart to know that Blake took such good care of Justin in her absence.

She couldn’t help but think for a moment what might have happened to Justin if her father had succeeded in killing her. Justin would have ended up in foster care. Maybe Justin would have come to live on the ranch anyway and have had Blake to look after him. If that had been the case, Blake would have been the father Justin deserved. Blake didn’t play with Justin and watch over him just to score points with her. He did it because he genuinely cared.

“Gillian,” her grandmother called, her voice sharp to get her attention.

“Hah. What?”

“Eat, dear. You’re staring off into space. Don’t worry. Blake will be home before you know it.”

Her grandparents gave her patient smiles, and Justin smirked. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought something was going on with all of them. Justin bounced with energy this morning.

“I’d like you to take over training Diamond Deuce along with Boots,” her grandfather said. “You and Jeff make a good team. I’d like the two of you to continue working together.”

“Okay.” She couldn’t hide her excited smile. A great opportunity, she’d be responsible for the two horses and have a chance to prove herself to her grandfather and Blake.

That her grandfather showed such faith in her touched her deeply.

Jeff was a great source of information. He was good with the horses, but she connected with them in a way even Jeff couldn’t figure out. When he couldn’t get them to cooperate or respond, she managed to with little effort.

“Blake left a list of things for you to take care of today. If you could see to them, that would be great. Dee and I are taking Justin to school this morning, and then we have some errands. Is there anything you need from town?”

Odd. None of them left the ranch during the week. They usually ran errands on Saturday. She dismissed her concerns entirely when she saw the long list of things Blake wanted her to do. She’d be lucky to get lunch if she had any hope of completing the whole list.

“Blake wants all of this done today?”

“That’s what he said.” Her grandfather stood and took his coffee cup to the sink.

Blake put a lot of faith in her ability to accomplish everything on that list. Still, for him, she’d try to get it all done.

Her grandparents couldn’t wait to get Justin out the door to school so they could run their errands. She worked nonstop through the day and barely had a minute to miss Blake or reflect on waking up to roses and lilacs. Every time she tried to get back to the house, someone distracted her and asked for her help in the stables or up at the track. As the sun set, she found herself beneath one of the tractors. One of the guys had accidentally snapped the oil line. By the time she was done fixing it, she was covered in grease and oil. Her hair was a tangled mess from lying in the dirt, and her muscles were sore from a long day tending the horses and working her way through Blake’s list of chores.

Finally done, she lazily made her way to the house, thankful no one stopped her. That is, until she reached the porch and Grandma Dee greeted her on the steps.