Chapter Five – Colt
Colt
The moment the elevator doors opened, and I saw Ensley, my mind went back to last night.
Lifting my hand, I went to knock on Ensley’s door when it suddenly opened. Doug Sanders stood there, a smirk on his face.
“Doug, just stay the night!” Ensley called out from the room.
Before he could say anything, I asked, “What are you doing here?”
He laughed. The fucker actually laughed. “I don’t think it’s any of your business, Colt.”
“Ensley is my business.”
His brows raised as he shut the door to the room. “She may have been at one time, but that’s no longer the case. Remember leaving her without so much as a goodbye? Yeah, that was the moment Ensley was no longer your business.”
I balled my fists. “Are you two dating?”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure if he was going to answer me. A slow smile spread across his stupid face, and I wanted to knock it right off. His non-answer was his answer.
“Again, my relationship with Ensley is none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m exhausted and ready to get home.”
He pushed past me, bumping into my shoulder as he went.
For a moment, when she saw me in the elevator, it looked like Ensley was about to turn and walk away. Instead, she lifted her chin and stepped in, hit the lobby button, then faced forward.
I wanted to ask her about Doug, but he was right—it wasn’t any of my business.
My mother and father had told me last night, after I’d mentioned seeing him and Ensley together, that they had dated for a couple months at one point, but Mom wasn’t sure if they were still.
I’d wanted to ask more questions, but decided the best thing to do was to stop by and talk to Ensley last night.
If we were both going to be spending time with my father, we really needed to talk.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, a loud noise filled the elevator, and it came to a halt.
“Shit,” I mumbled as I waited for a moment, hoping it would kick back up like it did the last time.
When nothing happened, I stepped forward and reached into the box, grabbing the phone.
“What are you doing?” Ensley asked, her voice high-pitched and breathy.
“Looks like we’re stuck, so I’m just going to call and make sure they know we’ve stopped.”
“This is lobby security.”
“Yes,” I said, as I glanced at Ensley, who was clearly starting to panic. “We’re stuck in,” I glanced at the panel, “elevator two.”
“Okay, sir, please just stay put, and we’ll get this taken care of as soon as possible. Just stay calm, there’s nothing to worry about. You’re safe.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
I hung up the phone, and Ensley asked, “What did they say?” Her chest was moving up and down rapidly with shallow breaths.
“They’re going to get it fixed as soon as possible.”
Her face drained of all color, and she looked like she was struggling to stay upright.
I immediately reached for her, taking her gently by the upper arms. “Ensley?”
“Can’t. Breathe!”
Was she having a panic attack?
She drew in a shaky breath. “One. Two. Three. Four—shit! Is it…four or…eight?!”
Confused, I asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Box breathing! I can’t…I can’t get…a breath!”
Cupping her face in my hands, I bent down to look into her eyes. “Hey, it’s okay. Just try to slow your breathing down for me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t breathe!”
I placed her hands on my chest. “Feel my chest moving, Pip. Look into my eyes and take a breath with me.”
She did as I said, and when her eyes met mine, it felt like someone had gut-punched me. They were filled with tears—and a fear I’d never seen before in those baby blues.
“That’s it, now take a deep breath.”
Ensley drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“That’s right…feel my breathing. Deep breath and let’s hold it for a second, then slowly exhale.”
Her eyes closed, and she dragged in a breath and exhaled when I did. We breathed together for a good minute or so before she opened her eyes again. Her breathing wasn’t so labored, and she looked to be a bit calmer.
“Feeling better?” I asked, rubbing my hands up and down her arms.
“Yes. Thank you.”
She must have just noticed her hands were on my chest, and mine were still on her arms, because she quickly took a step away.
“Have you had panic attacks before?” I asked.
Frowning, she replied, “Once.”
“In an elevator?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
It was clear she wasn’t going to elaborate any further, so I dropped it.
“Did they say how long this would take?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
Groaning, she slid to the floor and dropped her head to her knees.
“We’re safe, though. The elevator won’t fall or anything like that.”
Her head popped up. “Oh great! I wasn’t even thinking about that! Now I’ve got something else to worry about.”
I joined her on the floor but made sure to stay on my side. “What else were you worried about?”
She shrugged. “Running out of air, the doors opening to concrete and we can’t get out. Now, thanks to you, I’m going to worry about dropping to the ground floor.”
“That won’t happen.”
“How do you know it won’t happen?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “Are you an elevator expert? Is that where you’ve been hiding the last ten years?”
“They’re made not to drop. Safety features.”
“They’re also made to move up and down and not get stuck, so there’s that.”
I sighed.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before I broke it again because I wanted where I’ve been the last few years to be out in the open.
“I’ve been working on a ranch in Banff the last five years. I started off working as a farrier and worked my way up to ranch foreman.”
“Canada? Why there?”
It was my turn to shrug. “I liked it there, and the opportunity came up for the job, so I took it.”
I wasn’t about to tell her that I’d met a girl in a bar, slept with her that night, and she offered me a position at her family’s ranch the next morning. It had only been that one time with Lori, but because of the job, I’d found another reason to stay away from River Falls.
“Was this one of your world travel stops?” she asked with a bitter tone.
“Yes. Grady always talked about going to Banff to ski, so I found myself there. I loved it and decided to stay.”
She huffed.
“Is there something you’d like to say?”
Her eyes flicked to mine, and there was nothing but anger there. “There’s plenty I’d like to say to you, Colt, but I’m honestly not in the mood to get into it with you in a trapped elevator.”
“Can’t run and hide afterward?”
I wasn’t sure why I said that. I knew I was poking the bear, but damn if I didn’t want her to say something, anything, to me.
Her mouth fell open. “Me? I’m the one who runs and hides?
” A bark of humorless laughter came from her.
“That’s rich, coming from you. I’m not the one who ran away, Colt.
I’m not the one who left everyone they loved behind.
I stayed, and I dealt with the grief and the pain of losing Grady.
I stayed for your parents—you can’t say the same, can you? ”
I felt my hands ball into fists. “No, I can’t say that, and I can’t change the past either, Pip.”
“Don’t call me that!”
She screamed the words at me, so I held up my hands in defense. “I’m sorry. Old habits and all.” I’d called her the nickname for as long as I could remember.
Ensley looked away and stared at the closed elevator doors.
“I stopped by your hotel room last night to talk.”
Her head whipped back to me. “Talk about what?”
I motioned between her and me. “This. Us.”
“There is no ‘us,’ so please don’t assume there’s anything left to say.”
Blowing out a breath, I said, “I’m staying in River Falls for good, Pi— Ensley. I don’t want things to be strained between us, and I don’t want my return to keep you from seeing my parents, who adore you. So I thought we should talk. Maybe I could explain why I left.”
Her one eye narrowed as she stared at me. “I don’t care that you’re staying, and I don’t care why you left. You being back in River Falls doesn’t mean shit to me. Do what you want, Colt.”
She glanced away, then looked at me again to add, “And nothing will keep me from seeing Lynn and Jacob, not even you, because I would never abandon the people I love.”
I nodded, knowing I deserved that. I should have let it go…but I needed to know. “I ran into Doug leaving your room. How long have you been dating?”
Her head snapped back to me again. “Why do you care?”
“It’s just a question, Ensley.”
Before she could say anything, the elevator jerked to life and started to move. Ensley jumped to her feet. “Thank God!”
Less than thirty seconds later, the doors opened to the lobby and four firefighters stood there.
Ensley practically threw herself out of the elevators. One of the firefighters caught her and smiled.
“Whoa! Are you okay, ma’am?”
“Yes! Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Thank you for getting that going,” I said to one of them, as I shook his hand.
Someone from the hotel approached. “I’m so sorry you were both stuck in there, sir. We’ll be sure to make it up to you with some complimentary nights.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I said, as I glanced over toward Ensley. She seemed fine now, as she stood and spoke to another hotel employee.
“They’re going to shut this one down until they can get someone to come out and figure out what happened.”
I nodded and gave my attention back to the hotel worker. “That’s good. It stopped on me yesterday, as well, but only for a few seconds.”
“No one has come to tell us about it, so again, I’m very sorry.”
Hitting him lightly on the side of the arm, I said, “No worries. No one was hurt, all is good.”
“Thank you, sir, for understanding. If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to let us know.”
Smiling, I replied, “I will.”
Ensley was making her way out of the hotel, so I excused myself and walked faster to catch up to her. When I did, I fell into step alongside her.
“What do you want, Colt?”
“I’d like a chance to talk to you, Ensley.”
“Oh, now you want to talk to me? Because in the last ten years, you couldn’t find five minutes to call?”
“You have no idea how many times I wanted to reach out.”