Chapter 2 #2
“Uh…” Yep, that’s the only word I manage to say. I shake my head again.
She looks at me and tilts her head. “Right, not a morning person. Got it. I’m not either usually, but it got light real early today and I decided I should try and acclimatize rather than stick to my old time zone, you know?”
I count backward in my head as I try to regather my scattered thoughts.
Here I was thinking I was strong and steady and nothing could rattle me now, let alone take me back to the twenty-somethin’ college student who struggled to get out of his head in social situations.
Then it hits me and I freeze. There’s only one person at the ranch right now that I haven’t met.
Blair. My gorgeous blonde secret crush with splatters of sun-kissed streaks in her hair and a smile that could bring world peace… her name is Blair.
Over a decade of not knowing her name and now the woman I spent months admiring from afar–and who I missed my chance to speak to–is our first farm stay guest and she’s here for the next six. months. What are the chances?
Suddenly her words from before register in my brain. “Wait, you said the donkey stole somethin’?”
“He sure did. I thought I’d wash some clothes and hang them outside to dry.
I swear they’d only been there for ten minutes when there was a snap and a crash, then a stampede of hooves running away.
I chased after the mohawked menace, but he was too fast and disappeared through the trees.
” It definitely sounds like Grumps. “I know you warned me about him, but I didn’t expect to see him running for his life with my underwear in his mouth! ”
I press my lips together, trying—and failing—not to laugh. Unfortunately, my shaking shoulders give me away. Wait… how did I warn her about him?
Blair’s lips twitch as she shakes her head and giggles. It sounds like bottled sunshine pushing its way through the darkest clouds and just like when I used to watch her, her golden hair bounces in the breeze. And just like before, I have to fight not to be distracted by the sight.
“Sorry to say but this is not Grumps’s first time puttin’ his nose where it doesn't belong and taking a memento for his troubles.”
“You’re telling me you’ve got a donkey who’s a kleptomaniac and a menace. Great.”
I wince. “Look, I’d like to tell you he’s well-behaved most of the time but that would be a lie. He’s good-natured though, if that helps.”
“If you mean sticky-fingered then sure, I believe you. Many wouldn’t though.” The twinkle in her eyes is just as bright as her smile, making it impossible to look away. She smiles, her eyes twinkling with it. How can she still do this to me after all this time?
Before I can reply, the bamboo stalks shake again, the leaves rustling as the problem animal of the house stomps his way inside my previously peaceful oasis, the peaceful serenity disrupted with his mere chaotic presence.
Blair jumps back in surprise, her eyes as wide as saucers as she glares at the mischievous donkey who still has a strip of bright pink fabric hanging out of his mouth.
She steps closer to him with her hand outstretched. “They’re not yours Mr. Grumps. I would appreciate you giving them back to me.”
I stare at her in wonder. “Do you find talkin’ to animals like they’re a human usually works out for you?
” I say before I can filter myself. I am genuinely interested though since animal therapy–equine, in particular–has proven to be an effective therapeutic intervention tool with patients in my line of work.
Blair’s head snaps my way, her narrow eyes softening when she sees the sincerity on my face. “Are you a doctor?”
“Psychologist. I work at the hospital too.”
Confusion clouds her expression just as the donkey blows a raspberry, letting us know he’s already bored of this situation.
Grumps looks down at the open palm in front of him before lifting his muzzle my way and shooting me a suspicious expression that says, “Is she for real?”
Blair sighs, Grumps whiffles and throws his head back with a loud bray in response. This whole donkey - Blair standoff would be hilarious if I wasn’t still in shock about her being here. Her. Of all people…
“You think this is funny, do you?” Blair asks me, a smirk playing on her lips. “The least you could do is help me get them back, Case.”
This is when I decide to tell her–and not just because I’m sick of the woman who changed my life without knowing it calling me by my twin’s name. “So… about that–” I say just as said twin brother rushes into the now half-crumpled garden to join us, turning our three-way standoff to a square.
That's when the world stops–or it feels like it–and Blair’s stolen undergarments are the very last thing on her mind if her shocked gasp and ping-pong gaze between me and Case is anything to go by.
“Wait… twins?” she shrieks, her gorgeous green eyes wide as she pins me with a stare so intense it has me shaking in my boots. “You could’ve told me.”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “To be fair, I didn’t get a chance after you told me about Grumps here and his penchant for satin panties.”
Blair’s cheeks flush pink, her head turning to Case who has his arms crossed over his chest and looks like he’s enjoying the show.
“You didn’t tell her we were twins?” I ask.
“Hey. I said she’d meet everyone at lunch. I didn’t expect Grumps to cause havoc at dawn and ruin her day,” he glances around my Zen Garden and winces, “or yours. Sorry, brother.”
I stare at him, hoping that this is one of those moments where he can read my mind. Then something tells me to turn my head and when I do, I lock eyes with Blair’s curious ones flicking between me and my brother. ““Well, huh. Now I see it,” she murmurs somewhat nonsensically.
“See what?” I ask a little curtly.
“The differences between you two. I don’t know how I didn’t figure it out earlier. Are you two even identical?”
Case and I gasp in unison. “Yeah. Sutton’s a few minutes older than me. Do you really not see it?”
“Of course you look alike, but I can see the differences more clearly now. You both have dimples but they’re on opposite sides, and your hair parts a little to the left of center.
” She waves her hand toward Case’s head.
“Whereas yours is more to the right and you have the smallest of cowlicks on your crown,” she tells me.
My brother and I stare at each other with matching surprised looks. “Most people can’t tell us apart,” Case replies. “Especially not the first time they meet us.”
Blair smiles at that, her chest puffing up a little. “Glad I haven’t lost my super-observant touch, then.”
“Sorry,” I blurt out, “For not introducin’ myself before, I mean. I’m Sutton Cooper, this idiot’s older brother.”
“By four minutes,” Case sighs.
Blair laughs and I lose myself in the free and easy way she just lets it loose. She’s still just as captivating as she was back in Boston.
Stepping closer, I hold my hand out her way.
What I’m not prepared for is the moment her palm slides against mine.
It’s like no one else exists, my vision tunnels and all I can see is her and only her.
Her peach-pink lips part on a silent gasp, her eyes dropping to where our hands touch before her head snaps up and her surprised gaze meets mine.
I don’t get a chance to say another word though because while I was lost in my Blair-centered world, Case decided it was time to act and catch the donkey unaware.
“Got it!” he shouts triumphantly, startling the animal.
Then Grumps really proves he is the menace we all know him to be–or maybe more of a disaster on four legs.
He bucks his hind legs in the air, karate chopping the tall bamboo plants closest to him with an almighty crack.
This startles him even more and makes him spin around, kicking out again, one of his hard and scarily accurate hooves shooting out and knocking over my treasured water feature.
The feeder hose is knocked free in the process and suddenly there’s water spraying high up into the air with surprising velocity.
Blair screams as pieces of bamboo stalk go flying, followed by an impromptu water shower that just won’t stop.
Case yells at Grumps, diving sideways to try and tackle-hug him like I’d imagine a rodeo rider might do. All I can do is stand there in shock and watch the whole catastrophe happen. I’m left wondering what I could even do to help at this point.
Thankfully, Grumps runs out of a newly created, very large gap in the garden’s boundary, leaving Case to crash to the ground in what is now a mix of mulch and mud thanks to the broken fountain. And still, the water flows.
Thinking on my feet, I grab the broken and leaking hose and bend it over to stem the flow before taking in the now deathly quiet scene of destruction in front of me.
“Are you OK?” I ask Blair first–she’s our guest after all.
I haven’t thought about what state I might be in until her wide gaze scans over me. Following her lead, I look down to see my previously clean shirt and jeans now covered in leaves, shards of bamboo stalk, and I’m also soaked through to the bone.
All I can think about right now is the fact that my hand is still tingling from where Blair and I touched.
And if that means what I think it does, then my life–as I know it–just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
“That donkey is goin’ to be the death of me,” Case groans. “Swear to God, if I didn’t believe that he was Gramps reincarnated, I’d be looking up recipes for donkey stew.” He rolls onto his back and looks over the carnage. “Shit, Sutt. Your garden.”
I take in the mess and for the first time in a while, I don’t feel the world figuratively caving in on me. Will fixing up the damn donkey’s mess take time? Yep. Will it be a little while before we can order in more bamboo and whatever fittings we might need to get the found working again? Yep.
Is it something worth getting angry and worked up about? Nope.
Instead, a snort escapes me. Then a chuckle. Soon after, all three of us are laughing.
A flash of pink lying on the ground amongst all the destruction catches my eye. Without thinking, I walk over to Case and help him get back on his feet before I bend down and pick up the item of clothing that triggered this whole unforgettable first meeting with my One.
Turning around, I step back to where Blair is standing still, her eyes tracking me as I come to a stop in front of her.
That’s when I lift my hand, fighting back a smirk as her satin underwear hangs limply from my finger, except they’re now a mix of pink and Alaskan mountain mud. “I believe you wanted these back?”
She scrunches up her nose but thankfully takes them from me.
“I’ll replace them, of course,” I add.
That earns me an amused look. “You’re going to replace my pink satin underwear?”
I ignore Case’s snort behind us. “It’s the least I can do. It’s my—our donkey—that caused this ruckus. I’d like to make it up to you.”
“By buying me new panties?” she repeats deadpan. I can’t get a read on this woman.
“Yeah…”
She cocks her head. “Do you go shopping for women’s underwear often?”
It’s hits me just how crazy—maybe a little creepy—that might sound. “Um. No… We can just refund the cost to you if that would make you more comfortable,” I quickly add, my skin suddenly feeling too tight and too hot for my body.
She studies me for a moment. “Definitely not identical,” she mutters under her breath.
My brows bunch. “I assure you, we really are. I can get my mom to verify if you like.”
Without giving me an answer about the underwear either way, she looks around me and says goodbye to my amused brother, promising us both that she’ll be on time for lunch.
Then she turns to go back the way she came, but not before she turns around to give me one last curious, almost mischievous look. “You can replace them, Sutton Cooper,” she says, “as long as that doesn’t mean you expect to see them again.”
And with a cheeky wink and a knowing smile, she’s gone, leaving me standing there with my mouth open.
Unfortunately, I also forgot that Case is here and realize he just witnessed the whole thing.
“Sutt?”
I sigh, bracing myself for his good-natured ribbing as I slowly turn and stare at my grinning like a loon twin. “What?”
“I’m semi-impressed, brother. That was smooth. So smooth,” he teases.
And that is why we’re both covered in mud by the time we get back to the house.
But at least we do it with a smile.