After finishing my beer, I made my way to my room with Coal to call it a night. He jumped up on the bed and curled himself into his usual spot. As I lay there awaiting sleep to finally take me, my last thought was of Addison and if I should relinquish control and let go and give in. But I knew better than to take that risk. I had been burned many times before.
I woke up the next morning and reached for my phone. It was Saturday, so there wasn’t a need to rush this morning to get to work. I was surprised to see a text from Addison already. I wasn’t sure if she regretted last night or if I scared her off.
Addison:
Thanks for last night. I slept like a baby.
I stared at the screen, surprised, relieved, and honestly impressed that she just cut to the chase and removed any awkwardness there might be between us. Maybe she was up for having some fun and keeping it casual. I replied back.
You’re welcome. Anytime you need help falling asleep, let me know.
Addison:
I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Aside from thanking you, I was texting you to see if you’d be willing to help me move some furniture to the new farm. Walker has a flatbed trailer I can use if you could bring your truck.
For sure. Is 10:30 too early?
Addison:
Nope, that’s perfect. See you then!
Well, now that I suddenly had plans for the day, I rolled out of bed to get ready just as my phone vibrated again. This time it was Archer calling.
“Hey, brother. How’s it going?” he asked, sounding a little out of breath.
“Good, what are you doing? You sound like you can't breathe.”
“Just running,” he said as if it was perfectly normal just to make a phone call while running.
“You know that you can call me after you work out, right?” I deadpanned.
“Nah, man, I like to knock out all the phone calls I need to make while I’m running. Makes for even better cardio.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re an idiot. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Just confirming you’re still good for me to come next weekend?” he asked.
“Definitely. How long are you planning to stay?”
“Probably a week, week and a half? I’ll leave probably right before Thanksgiving,” he replied.
“Sounds good. But why don’t you stay for Thanksgiving? Mom and Dad are going to the Cayman Islands house anyway. What else would you do?”
“True, I’ll play it by ear. It all just depends on work. We have this acquisition we’re currently working through,” he huffed as he continued his run.
“All right. Go finish your run. I’ll see you next weekend.” We said our goodbyes as I finished getting ready and made my way out to my truck.
I turned down the long drive to Addison’s new farm with her beside me in the passenger seat of my truck. “Where’s Walker today?” I asked, making every effort to act like I didn’t now know how she sounded when she came. She wasn’t making it easy on me with jeans that hugged every curve and a long-sleeved crop top sweater that showed a peek of smooth,tan skin. I want to see more.Loading the trailer was difficult. I had to make a conscious effort to keep my eyes focused on anything but her and keep my hands to myself.
Since Walker’s guesthouse was furnished, Addison was taking over some of the furniture she had in Boston to furnish the future barn manager’s apartment above the barn. “He had to help my dad with some things over at our vineyard this morning.” She jumped out of the truck and waited for me and Coal to come around to her side. With open arms, she spun around as a huge grin spread across her pretty face. “Well, what do you think?”
My chest tightened as I saw how happy she looked, her smile infectious. I smiled back at her before turning to take in the property around me. It was a beautiful piece of land with all the amenities she could need for her business. “This place is great, Addison. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks! I’m excited to get the horses moved over and start setting up clients. I’ve already had some people from Primrose Hill, as well as a few people in neighboring towns, reach out to me about boarding their horses and training with me. A few have young ones that they want me to train, and then there are a few families that are interested in their kids taking lessons, but don’t have a horse. I need to call Richard about those potential lesson horses sooner rather than later.”
“Yeah, from what he told me about them, I think they could be a good fit.” I leaned down, picked up a stick I found lying on the ground, and threw it for Coal. He went sprinting after it. Once he got hold of it, he took off into one of the pastures.
Addison laughed as she watched Coal. “I don’t think we will be seeing him for a while.” She started walking toward the flatbed trailer attached to my truck. “All right, you ready to get this stuff moved upstairs?”
