Chapter 3
Amelia
I could not have been more humiliated. But it didn't matter because I was in too much pain to care.
I clocked myself in the face by walking into the edge of a door, and a half-naked, gorgeous man witnessed the whole agonizing thing, including my stunned reaction.
His abs were out, and he was wearing a towel with wet hair, freshly showered.
It was like a joke. His whole muscular upper body was completely uncovered, and I had almost knocked myself smack-dab out the second I laid eyes on him.
I turned to the mirror to inspect my face. I blinked, and a tear fell onto my cheeks. It hurt, and a tear fell even though I didn't mean for it to.
I had hit my face hard enough that my ears were ringing and I was seeing stars.
"I'll yell at my mom and tell her to get you an ice pack," his deep voice said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Are you good with getting down the stairs? You might need to sit down for a minute."
I honestly couldn’t tell if he was being cheeky or serious. He seemed sincere enough, but my mind was swimming.
"I'm good," I said, answering him since I knew he was waiting for me to.
I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to focus on the place where there was the most pain. I was unable to fathom how hard I hit myself. My ears were ringing, and the mark on my forehead was changing… growing. I blinked, focusing on the throbbing area of my forehead.
"What's happening to it?" I asked, staring at it and blinking at the lump.
"Oh, it's a goose egg," the guy said, moving to come behind me and look at my reflection. "It's just that the blood has nowhere to go."
I was a biology student, and I technically knew what was going on.
But in the moment, I was out of it, and it seemed really scary—life-threatening, even.
I imagined that a real goose egg would be larger than a chicken's egg, and it struck me that the mark on my face would grow to be that big.
I had heard of such a thing, but it was my first time experiencing it.
The words he said, combined with the lump that was forming on my forehead, caused me to feel suddenly lightheaded.
I felt the blood leave my head, and I knew I needed to sit down.
I took two steps back and sat on the toilet.
I felt the man's hands on my arms, helping me down.
He was stooping in front of me, looking at me with an expression of concern.
I rested my face in my hands and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with oxygen before letting it slowly out. A long, slow breath.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm just… I got lightheaded for a second, but I'm okay. Just give me a second."
I had fainted a few times growing up, and I knew the feeling. I knew I would hold it off this time. I took another deep breath and opened my eyes to find the half-naked hunk kneeling in front of me, staring at me with a look of sweet concern.
I had to smile. "I'm fine," I promised him. "I'm just going to sit here for a second. You can… go get clothes on."
He popped onto his feet like he agreed with me about getting dressed. "I'm sorry if I scared you and made you do that," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I said, glancing absentmindedly at the toilet paper holder.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes. But how big is this going to get?" I asked, still thinking of the phrase goose egg.
"I think not much bigger than it is now," he said, sounding assured.
I felt a wave of relief when I touched it and realized it was nowhere near the size of a real egg. At least I didn't think it was. I would inspect it again once he got out of there.
"I'm fine," I said, not looking at him.
He seemed to understand that I meant it because I saw him start to retreat out of the bathroom.
I stood and stared at the spot in the mirror.
There was a line, an indentation, that was bruise colored, and then there was a whelp all around it.
It was not going to kill me, but it was mortifying to go downstairs with it. And it hurt.
Was I okay?
I had to be okay if I could think about how embarrassing it was. In an effort to make it go down, I turned on the cold water in the sink. I scooped some in my hand and held it as best as I could to the injured area.
My bell was officially rung.
I looked at it for another minute before I went downstairs.
The whole thing was as much of an ordeal as I thought it would be.
Jen Sutter felt terrible, and she gave me an ice pack and checked to make sure my pupils were dilating properly. My sister was shocked, and everyone treated me like I was made of glass the whole time we ate.
I was vaguely aware of the guy coming into the kitchen and talking to his mom while Ty and I were at the dining table eating.
He was in and out, and I didn't look that way.
My sister had no idea that he had been in there with me when it happened.
There wasn't a reason why I kept it from her—there was just no reason to tell her about it.
We ate, and then Jen came and joined us at the table where she told us what to expect for the next two days.
She also showed us the same map of the property and explained where we could go alone.
She stressed how important it was that we stayed out of the barns and the pastures unless we were with someone who worked there.
We were still sitting at the table when her husband came inside. He waved at us from across the room.
"Henry said he'll stay tonight," she informed him, holding her cupped hand to the side of her mouth.
He smiled but shook his head in denial. "I'll still take him home. I have to go to town, anyway," he said.
"These are our guests," Jen said. "Amelia and Ty. They're going to be in that movie Judd's making."
"Oh, okay, great. It's nice meeting you both," the man said, giving us a wave and nod before taking off, heading down a hallway. He was handsome—like an older version of their son.
"He's a man of few words," she said, shaking her head as he left the room. "What were you saying about your sister starting a business?" she asked Ty the question, but it was about me, so she turned to me, and I smiled.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm really close to my dog. I'm hoping to open a dog place—a play yard, kennel, training facility type of place."
"Like a dog park?"
"Yes, and more… an indoor-outdoor facility with room for agility training and everything."
"Is that where they do the tricks? Like the tunnels and everything?"
I nodded and smiled at her.
"She was going to vet school, but she ditched it," Ty said, causing the lady to glance at me curiously.
I smiled and shrugged. "I didn't actually start vet school.
I was just focused on that during most of my undergrad studies—the pre-vet stuff.
But I was working at a vet's office, and honestly, I just couldn’t do it.
I'm too sensitive, and they were all hurting, and the owners were hurting, and I was just… crushed every day."
"I could understand that," Jen said. "I've had to detach myself quite a bit, owning a ranch like we do. It helps to know that we give our animals the best treatment. That makes me feel good about what we're doing."
"I can understand that," I said, nodding.
"It's different in a vet's office, though," Jen said. "Seeing them sick, and their owners all stressed. It takes a certain type of person to work in health care in general, for humans or animals."
"Yeah, I really wanted to be a vet. I grew up saying that. But, no, I don't think I have that gift, so I switched gears. I'm still in school, and I'm not pursuing any jobs yet. The dog business I was talking about is just something I've considered."
"And what about you, Ty?" she asked my sister.
"I'm majoring in communications, and I've got about ten irons in other fires."
"Ty's really active in her sorority, and she has a YouTube channel."
"Oh, is it about your sorority?"
"Yes, and college life as a whole. I'm getting into putting on shows, too. It's all college-based stuff. Eventually, I'll branch out, but for now I market the shows to students."
"Where do you go to school?"
"USF in San Francisco. Amelia and I both go there."
"She's one of the most popular girls at our school," I said, bragging on her. "Everybody knows Ty."
"Well, that's so neat. I guess you're working it out with your school when it's time for you to come film the movie. Jude was telling me how most of the cast are normal people and not really actors."
"That's us," my sister said, raising her hand guiltily. "I think we're the only ones who have had absolutely no experience. The others have at least done a school play or a musical recital or something."
"We'll be fine, though," I said. "We're hoping this trip teaches us everything we need to know."
Jen laughed like she didn't quite know what to say. Or maybe she was just thinking about teaching us something we needed to know.
I laughed with her. "It's no pressure. It's our childhood friend who's directing it. Alex. That's Judd's friend. Anyway, he promised we'd be fine. He said that he'd coach it out of us as we went along." I shrugged. "I believe him. I just wanted to come here and see what it was like."
"Well, Hank and I are happy you came," she said.
"Our kids as well. Bailey's so excited about the series being made out here.
That's our teenager. She's a cheerleader at the high school in town, and she's busy tonight.
But she'll be here some tomorrow and Sunday.
Henry's the opposite. That's our son, the one who was in here earlier.
He's here tonight, but he probably won't be here for the rest of the weekend.
He works with us here on the ranch. It's Henry's first weekend off.
He's been here every day for the last month.
He got this new horse, and he comes by on his days off to work with her. "
"Aw," I said.
"Yeah, Henry's good with the horses. He focuses mostly on that. He has more horses than usual right now since you guys are going to be filming out here. He's working it out with Judd and your friend where his horses are featured in some of the scenes."
"Yes, ma'am, it's in the script that some of the shots will be with horses. I'm excited about it. My character is the one who heads west with the travelers, so I have to do a few scenes with them. I’m excited to meet them."
She smiled at me. "Well, I know Henry's excited about having his horses in a film.
He's like you two. He's started his own business.
He's breeding and training horses, and Josh is helping him with that, too.
Henry's made him part owner in that business.
" She paused and waved her hand at us. "I'm giving you too many details.
Josh will spend most of the day with us tomorrow, and I'm sure he'll tell you more.
He's the one who's taking you down on the trail in the afternoon. "
I told her how excited I was about the trail ride. My sister was distracted, though. Her phone was on the table, and it had lit up several times since Jen had been at the table talking to us. Ty pressed the screen to check the time, and I knew it was time to wrap things up.
We told Jen thanks for the meal and that we would see her in the morning. She said breakfast was going to be served at nine, and we agreed that we would see her then.