Chapter 3
Chapter Three
T hat afternoon, Leni stomped into her sister’s house—the same yellow one they’d grown up in at the end of Aspen Grove Lane—slammed the door behind her and dumped her purse and tote bag on the counter, knocking into a glass and sloshing water onto the counter.
Her younger sister, Lorna looked up from the kitchen table where she was coaxing green beans into her five-year-old son’s mouth and gently shaking baby Isabel in her bouncy seat in the center of the table. Lorna and her kids favored their mom’s side of the family, fair skin and smooth blond tresses, so different from Leni, who had inherited their father’s wavy dark hair.
“Wow,” Lorna said, her eyes wide as she watched her sister grab a paper towel and furiously wipe at the spill. “Who pooped in your Fruit Loops?”
Her five-year-old, Max, covered a giggle with his hand. “You said poop .”
“I think the correct saying is who peed in your Froot Loops,” Leni corrected with a snarl.
Max giggled again. “Pee.”
“Yes, I know the correct saying,” her sister said, unfazed by Leni’s growly correction. “But your current mood seemed to call for an adjective stronger than merely pee-soaked cereal.”
Max couldn’t take it. His giggles overtook him as he flung himself down on the padded bench seat, the green beans forgotten, as he succumbed to a fit of laughter.
“So, are you gonna tell me what’s got you so worked up?” Lorna asked with a quick grin at her giggling son before returning her attention to her sister.
Leni’s shoulders slumped as she sank into the empty chair at the table. “I saw him today.”
“How was it?” her sister asked, neither one of them having to explain or elaborate on who the “him” was.
“Oh, about like you’d expect. And nothing like the way I’d envisioned it happening in any of the many scenarios I’ve imagined in the past decade. He, of course, still looked hot as hell…” She cast a quick glance at her nephew who was trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard. “Sorry, I mean hot as heck . I’m sure you’ve seen him around, so you know, same dark hair, same tall, lean build, except now his shoulders are a million times broader, and he’s gotten ten times more muscles than he had as a teenager. His smile was the same though. At one point, he grinned at me, just like he used to, and I swear, my knees went so wobbly I had to grab the counter for support.” She let out a sigh. “I’ve always hoped I would run into him when I was looking my best, with my hair curled and all decked out in a cute outfit, or at least wearing something more than just a swipe of mascara and a polo shirt with a coffee stain on the front.” She groaned. “I didn’t even wash my hair this morning.”
“Don’t worry about that,” her sister said. “You still look amazing. And you’re way prettier now than you were in high school.”
“Thanks,” she deadpanned. “That means a lot…coming from my sister .”
“So, what did you do?” Lorna asked, ignoring the gibe.
“What do you think I did? I acted all cool, like seeing him didn’t bother me a bit.” She crossed her arms on the table and groaned again as she leaned her forehead against them. “Then I told him we were closed and kicked him out of the coffee shop.”
“Solid move. Did you kick the other customers out too? Assuming there were other customers.”
“Yes, there were. And don’t worry, I let them stay. But knowing this town, everyone’s already heard how I shoved Chevy Lassiter out the front door of the coffee shop and flipped the closed sign in his face.”
“Wish I could’ve been there.”
“Yeah, I wish you would’ve been there too. I’m sure you would have handled it better.”
Lorna shrugged. “Maybe. But I see him all the time. And of course, I’m always going to be in your corner—Team Leni, and all that—but I still kind of like the guy. He’s just fun to be around. And he’s nice. A few weeks before Izzy was born, he and his family were sitting in the pew in front of us at church, and Max went up to sit with them. He took his crayons and a coloring book, and Chevy colored with him during the whole sermon.”
Leni swallowed. She didn’t want to hear about what a great guy Chevy Lassiter was. He’d broken her heart and almost destroyed her. It was bad enough that she had to see him today and was almost crushed by the weight of all the feelings she apparently still had for him. “ Why are you telling me this?”
Lorna nudged Max back into a sitting position and gestured toward the remaining three green beans and the last chicken nugget on his plate. “I don’t know. Because you cared so much about him, and it seems like maybe you still do. And he just seems nice, so maybe he’s changed.”
“ Changed ? A wolf doesn’t change into a golden retriever.” She let out a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You know what he did to me, right?”
“Yes. I know he broke your heart and told you he didn’t love you anymore.”
“That wasn’t all he did.”
“What do you mean?”
She loosened her arms and picked up a napkin from the table. Holding it in her lap, she stared down at it, her voice going quieter as she told her sister, “He didn’t just break up with me. He also left me for someone else.”
Lorna’s eyes widened as she jerked her head back. “Wait. You never told me this.”
“Because I was embarrassed and humiliated.”
“Are you sure? I’ve been in town this whole time, and I’ve never seen Chevy dating anyone seriously since you left. Who was it?”
“I don’t know. Some bimbo named Jolene .”
“Like the song?” Lorna started humming the chorus of the Dolly Parton tune.
Leni held up her hand. “Yes. Stop. Please. It already feels like a cliché.” Although she couldn’t help pressing her hand to her heart and belting out for Jolene to please not take her man.
Lorna frowned. “Are you for real right now? Someone named Jolene really stole Chevy from you that summer?”
“I don’t think she stole him. It seems like he went willingly, because he told me he’d given his heart to someone new.”
“He said that?” Lorna wrinkled her nose as if she’d just smelled a dirty diaper.
“Yep. He told me she needed him more, and he was going to give her all his attention.”
“I’m sorry. I honestly don’t know anything about another girl. I don’t even know anyone named Jolene. But I’m sure they’re not together now.”
“Like I care.”
“It seems like you do.”
“I don’t.”
Lorna’s expression softened, and she put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know Chevy broke your heart.”
“No,” Leni said, the napkin now a pile of shreds in her lap. “He broke me . You know, I haven’t had one serious relationship since being with him. He ruined me for anyone else.”
“Okay. Yes, I know. But really, you have to admit, he actually did you a favor.”
Leni stared at her sister like she’d grown two heads as she choked out, “A favor ?”
“Yes.” She held up her hands in defense. “Don’t hate me. But we both know that if he hadn’t broken up with you, you never would’ve gone to MIT, or graduated at the top of your class, or earned that fancy aerospace engineering degree that you’d dreamed of getting since you were a little girl. You’ve created a successful career for yourself in a field you love. And now you’ve been offered your dream job with NASA. And none of that would’ve happened if you would’ve stayed behind in Woodland Hills.”
Leni nodded grudgingly.
What her sister said was true.
But what did any of that—a fancy degree or a great job—matter if she didn’t have the person she loved to share it with.
That night, Chevy galloped toward the barn, both he and his horse breathing hard. He’d pushed her, charging flat out across the back pasture, racing the sun setting behind the mountain, and trying to outrun all the feelings seeing Leni Gibbs had dredged up in him again.
Murphy ran to greet them as they trotted into the farmyard. The dog had just turned twelve and couldn’t always keep up when Chevy took long rides up into the mountains, although he loved to try.
Climbing down from the saddle, Chevy greeted the dog then led the horse to the spicket just outside the barn door. Turning on the faucet, he splashed his face and head then cupped his hands to take a drink of the cool water before it filled the rubber horse bucket on the ground below.
The horse dipped her head and took a long drink then nuzzled into Chevy’s shoulder.
He put his arm around her and returned the affection, brushing his hand down her long velvety neck then giving her flank a pat. The familiar scents of dry straw, leather, and old wood met him as he entered the barn and led her back to her stall. His voice was low, talking to her as he often did while he brushed and groomed her.
She stamped and occasionally swished her tail as if in response. The horse was a good listener. And a good friend.
She’d been a colt when he’d gotten her from a neighboring ranch a decade ago. Her mother, a sweet mare, had died in childbirth and the rancher, a good friend of Duke’s, had sold the foal to Chevy for a song, knowing the teenager was going to have to bottle feed her for the first three months of her life.
Duke liked to say that Chevy had saved the foal’s life, but he knew the truth. The colt had saved him. He’d been heartbroken and depressed that summer, but caring for the baby horse, bottle-feeding it every three or four hours, weighing it, tracking its growth and progress, kept him distracted and his mind off constantly thinking about the girl he’d pushed away.
Leni Gibbs had meant everything to him, and he’d loved her with everything he had. But he knew then, just like he knew now, he wasn’t the guy anyone stuck around for. Not his dad. Not even his own mother. Leni was too smart, too driven. She had big dreams, and he knew if she stayed in Woodland Hills, for him, she’d either resent him later or eventually leave him anyway.
It was easier…no, not easier …but better the way he’d done it. She might not ever forgive him, but he would know, in his heart, that he’d done the right thing. For her.
If you love something, let it go… and all that crap. Still hurt though.
He pulled the brush down the horse’s chestnut brown neck, trying to push aside the memories of that summer.
Finished with her grooming, he filled the horse’s trough with fresh hay and let her nibble a couple of sugar cubes from his palm, before closing her stall door and giving her ears one last scratch.
He whistled for the dog then called over his shoulder to the horse as he left the barn, “Good night, Jolene.”