Chapter 31 A Return to Normal
"Hey? How's it going?" Laura's voice crackled with a mix of surprise and exasperation. "You disappear for a week, and that's your greeting? Where have you been? Why haven't you returned my messages?"
"Just a lot going on," she deflected. "I've been driving, and there were plenty of places with no service. Can I call you back? Cameron and I are having dinner." She longed to confide in Laura, but not with Cameron within earshot. "I have so much to tell you."
"Of course," Laura conceded, a note of disappointment in her voice. "It's not like you to go silent. Are you alright? I was worried."
"I'm fine," she reassured her. "No need to worry. I'm with Cameron. Just got here about an hour ago."
"You need to talk to me privately, don't you?" Laura surmised, always perceptive. "Okay, I understand. Call me as soon as you can."
"I will," she promised. "Everything's fine. I'll give you the whole story later."
"Alright. Ciao bella," Laura said, her usual affectionate sign-off.
"Ciao daaaling," she replied in kind, ending the call. "Where were we?"
"You were about to order my dinner," Cameron chuckled. "How's Laura?"
"She's fine," she answered. "I didn't call her when I arrived, so she was worried."
"Now, that's a shock," Cameron grinned.
"What?"
"You not calling Laura the minute you got here," he clarified. "You two usually talk twenty out of twenty-four hours."
"It's because I called you first," she teased. "I guess I could have phoned her before you."
"Oh, no," he countered. "Then I still wouldn't know you were here."
"You're terrible!" she exclaimed, playfully swatting his chest. He feigned a wince, rubbing the spot. "Just for that, I might make you do the ordering."
"I knew there'd be a catch," he laughed.
"Hush," she murmured, giving him another gentle nudge. "I'm trying to order dinner." Her gaze fell on the menu, revealing prices that seemed rather high for the restaurant's unassuming ambiance. She paused, the secret she harbored weighing on her. Should she confess? No, she decided. It was better to let it go, to move forward. Laura would understand and keep her confidence, but she needed to forget Evan, focus solely on her future with Cameron. Anything else would drive her mad and reopen old wounds. One thing, however, remained: her newfound passion for horses and for riding with the wind blowing through her hair. What would she do about that? She pushed the thought aside, her attention shifting back to the menu as she ordered their meal. Her focus needed to be on her and Cameron.
She lay in the dark listening to the deep breathing of Cameron beside her. The evening had unfolded like a perfect homecoming. He had welcomed her newfound confidence with genuine delight, and over dinner they slipped back into the easy laughter of old memories. After the meal, they moved to his apartment, shedding clothes as quickly as they shed the distance that had grown between them. Their lovemaking was fierce and familiar, just like the first weekend they had ever escaped together, leaving her wrapped in a warm, comforting glow.
In that moment, everything felt right again. She wondered why, even briefly, she had ever entertained thoughts of another man. Why had she let Evan’s charm draw her in so easily? She recalled how vulnerable she had been, how his presence had seemed to overwhelm her senses. Yet, with Cameron, she saw a different horizon opening before her, one that promised freedom as palpable as wind on her face, hair streaming behind her, the crisp scent of pine and sage filling the air.
She would have to find a stable or someplace where she could ride and be around horses. She would do it in the morning. Though she was leaving Evan behind her, she was going to cling to the new love that she had found.
She tried to go to sleep, but she found that she was restless. She propped herself up with pillows behind her and reached for her smartphone on the nightstand. She opened the web browser and began searching for stables, horses, horseback riding, and riding lessons. Where should she start? She could ride pretty well. Well, maybe not, she remembered how she had frightened herself out of her mind that first time.
Maybe she should learn how to ride better. Laura had a horse; maybe she could help. She started a text message, not considering that there was a three-hour time difference because Arizona doesn’t follow the rest of the country with daylight savings time.
Lars, what do you know about horses and riding and stables?
WTF. Do u know what time it is?
It’s just 10.
It’s 1 here. Didn’t they teach you about time zones?
Oh, yeah, sorry. I’ll leave you alone.
No. I’m awake now. What about horses?
I want to learn to ride. I have fallen in love with them.
WTF? When did this happen?
I’ll explain later. I want to ride. What should I look 4?
IDK, riding lessons, stables.
DUH. But how do I know which are the best?
IDK. U know nothing. What kind of riding?
Horses!
English? Western? etc.
What’s the diff?
The saddle, the style, lots of diff.
I’ve only ridden a few times. IDK.
What kind of saddle did you ride on?
Big, heavy one with all sorts of straps and leather strings.
That is Western.
OK
Did you like that?
Yes. Only the saddle is heavy.
The English saddle is lighter and less complicated.
Maybe I would like that.
Depends. Where do you want to ride?
IDK. I want to feel the wind in my face.
OMG. I don’t want to know any more.
Western would be safer for you. When did you become a daredevil?
It’s a long story.
I’m awake.
“Honey?” Cameron mumbled, sitting up to look at her with blank eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Just chatting with Laura.”
“Laura?” he asked. He looked at the clock and then back at her. “You do realize it is 1:00 am there, right?”
“Yeah, she told me that,” she replied as she reached over and touched his bare chest. “Go back to sleep, baby.”
“I don’t think I can sleep now,” he answered.
“What?” she replied. “Why?”
“Because I just got a long look at that delicious breast of yours and I’m starting to have some urges,” he grinned.
“Oh, you are?” she grinned playfully. “What you gonna do about it?”
“Just this,” he replied. He put his mouth over one of her breasts while he caressed her thigh. She closed her eyes and let the feeling of his touch and his mouth flow over her body. The smartphone twittered along with the tone of incoming text messages, but it went ignored as their hunger overtook them again.
“What the hell happened to you last night?” Laura said as she answered the phone. “I sent you texts like an idiot for at least 30 minutes, and you didn’t respond.”
“I suddenly became busy,” she giggled softly.
“I don’t need to know any more.”
“You don’t want to know the juicy details of our loving-making?”
“Not really,” Laura said with a dry tone. “So, tell me what’s going on. First, you don’t call for a week, then when I finally call you, you can’t talk. Then you send me text messages in the middle of the night asking about riding lessons and stables? Have you completely flipped a lid? Is the air out West filled with some sort of weed that makes you lose your mind?”
“Actually, there is a fragrant plant out here that does get into you. They call it sagebrush. It is extremely sweet-smelling after a rain or in the morning dew,” Alexandra laughed. “But I haven’t lost my mind.”
“You could have fooled me,” Laura responded. “Luuuuuucccccyyyyy! Jew goat a lotta ‘splainin to do.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Alexandra began. “A lot of things changed for me out here. Really fast and well... I’m not sure how to ‘splain them.”
“You need to start with why you didn’t call me for a week. That’s strange enough by itself.”
“Can’t we start with stables and riding lessons?” She really wasn’t sure how to start the conversation about what had happened to her with Evan and the horses and the mountains.
“Nope,” Laura said. “I have a feeling that there is something juicy in the story, and I want to get to that stuff first.”