Blue Haven (Sunshine & Shadow Book 1) (6 page)

As she heard the
wind in the trees around them and felt Lex’s body begin to press into hers, she
thought,
this is going to be...magic.

The evening of day
five, the group approached the ranch. The air was cool and the apprehension was
building inside April. Part of her reveled in the secret affair, finding the
excitement almost palpable. But the other part felt the guilt that was slowly
eating away at her, for lying to her father. Now she would have to lie to her
mother as well, which was never an easy task.

After untacking in
the corral, April turned Chinook into the paddock, where he could cool down
before being let into the main field to graze with the other horses. She headed
inside, careful to avoid her mom who was busy in the kitchen. Once up in her
room, she waited for the dinner bell to ring.

When it finally
sounded, she gathered around the table with everyone else. Only Lex was
missing, and only one seat was empty; the one right next to hers.

“Tell me
everything,” her mother said, as Lex sat down.

He bumped April’s
foot and she fought not to look at him, watchful of her mother’s observant
gaze.

As Hailey began
relaying the many stories of the week to April’s mom, April sneaked a glance at
Lex. He smiled and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. His face was
slightly flushed and the pink in his cheeks reminded April of the previous
night and the heat that had circulated inside the tent, making her skin moist.
She could almost feel his hot skin pressed against hers and she squirmed in her
seat, making her fork clatter as she dropped it onto her plate, captured by the
daydream.

“April?” her mom
said, “Honey, are you okay?”

April nodded, her
cheeks flaming. Her mom raised her eyebrow. April looked down at her meal and
didn’t look up for the rest of the night.

After dinner, she
offered to clear the table. She tuned out the conversation in the dining room
and let her mind drift to Lex and the way her heart sped up whenever he crossed
her mind. She felt herself smiling. She felt as light as air when she thought
about him.

“Hey beautiful.” A
voice behind April made her jump. She shook her head  and turned away from the
sink. She smiled at Lex’s cheeky expression staring down at her.

“Well, hey there
,” she said.

Lex wrapped his
arms around her waist and held her tight to him, so that her body touched every
angle of his, all the way down to her toes. He looked deep into her eyes and
she could imagine the mood he was in; his eyes were shining.

“I felt bad for
you, cleaning up all alone.” Lex kissed the tip of her nose.

“I don’t mind,”
she said.

Lex’s face dropped
for a second. He was thinking hard about something. “How do we meet tonight?
I’m guessing I can’t just come to your room.”

She stepped up
onto her toes, trying to reach his lips with her own. He leaned back and held
her at arms length. It was times like these that she felt so small beside him.

“I’m serious!” he
said.

April chewed on
her bottom lip and thought carefully. “How about the barn?

“Not the most
romantic of places.”

“We have an excuse
in case we are spotted; it’s not unusual for me to go to the barn in the middle
of the night.”

Kip walked into
the room and the couple jumped apart.

“Seriously, guys?
I could have been the boss. You have to be more careful.”

April looked at
Kip and rolled her eyes dramatically.

“The horses are
hungry.” Kip took the dish cloth from her hand and gave her a small shove.
“You,” he said to Lex, “can help me.” He handed him a dry towel.

April headed to
the barn, the horses greeting her from the corral. They wanted to be let out to
pasture with the others.

As she opened the
gate, she anticipated the following day, the final day of Lex’s trip. She
didn’t like thinking about saying goodbye to him, though he promised he would
be back as soon as he could sneak away.

April didn’t know
what the ranch would feel like without Lex; his presence seemed so dominant.
One thing she knew; nothing would be the same again. She felt altered in some
way, irreversibly changed. Sometimes she wondered about what it would be like
to live in the city, amongst the hustle and bustle, running everywhere, yet
still late for everything. She wondered if the people there were ever curious
about what it would be like to live in the country. She shook her head in
confusion. No, it still seemed odd to her that people would choose to have
backyards that touched, or a job that consisted of a cubicle and a boss that
didn’t care about his employees.

April looked
around at the horses and the barn and breathed a sigh of relief at the cards
she had been dealt. She was lucky to have been born into a family that liked
the wilderness, believed in the importance of the little things and practised
kindness to others just for the sake of being kind, not for any superficial
reason. She smiled to herself. Tomorrow morning she would ride to the far gate
on Chinook, breathe in the fresh cedar smell and thank the universe for the
life she had been given.

Lex met her in the
barn once she was done with the feeding.

“What are you
doing here so early?” April asked.

“Everyone else
already went to bed.”

She looked towards
the lodge. The lights were off.

Lex wound his arms
around her waist and kissed down her neck. April touched the smooth skin of his
hands and wrapped her fingers around them, turning around to gaze up at him.

They grabbed a
blanket from the tack room and laid down amongst the aerated hay. Placing her
head on his chest, she sighed, feeling the gentle lull of unconsciousness begin
to take her. And for the first time in a long time, she slept a full night.

The following
morning, April woke up wrapped in Lex’s arms. She looked around at the rough
interior of the barn.

“Lex! Lex, wake
up!” She shook Lex awake and jumped to her feet, grabbing her jeans.

“What’s going on?”
Lex said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“C’mon, if we get caught
we’re dead.”

“We?” Lex laughed
and stood up, stretching his shoulders.  “I’m leaving today; you’re the one
that will have to deal with your dad if he finds us.”

April’s heart
ached at Lex’s words and she bit her lip. Turning away and pulling on her sweater,
she tossed him his jeans. “We need to go. Now.”

After sneaking into
the house, changing quickly and scarfing down her breakfast, avoiding her
mother’s inquisitive eyes, April was ready to begin her day. She watched Cash
load bags into the car as she tacked up Chinook in the corral. Jumping on, she
received a suspicious look from Kip, who was working CrackerJack in the arena.
She ignored him, nudged Chinook forward and left the yard. Lex wasn’t leaving
until after lunch so April took her time getting to the far gate, running her
farewell through her mind.

The trees were so
still once she was in the forest that she could hear the birds as if they were
sitting on the saddle beside her. They sang along to each other, a perfect
harmony to the sunshine beaming down. It was the first time she had ridden
alone in what felt like months. Chinook was full of energy and she spurred him
into a fast lope up the trail. She jumped a log that had fallen across her path
and felt like she was about to take flight, a feeling she would never be able
to give up.

She reached the
end of the trail and closed the gate so the cows couldn’t get into the autumn
pasture just yet. She checked her watch. 11:00 am. Time to head back and face
the goodbye that she had been dreading since the first time Lex had kissed her.
She was still baffled that the arrogant, selfish man that she had met a week
prior had disappeared and the real Lex Mitchell had showed through; a kind,
gentle man.

She arrived back
at the ranch, still smiling. She tied Chinook to the rail and trod through the
sand towards the yard.

Her footsteps
slowed.

The yard was
empty; no people loading luggage into vehicles. A cloud of dust lingered in the
still air.

She didn’t believe
her own eyes. She frowned and found herself running into the house. Slamming
doors, she jumped the stairs two at a time.

She paused at the
top of the first flight.

There, it was
quiet, too.

Her stomach jumped
and made her hurry the rest of the way up. Her heart was beating out of her
chest. All she could hear was her own breath, rushing through her ears like
wind against her ear drums when she rode fast through a field.

She ran the rest
of the way to Lex’s suite. The door was ajar and she pushed it open.

The living-room
was empty.

April tried to ignore
the heart pounding in her chest. She ignored the empty drawers and lack of
clothing spread around the room. Lex had been packing, that was all. She
ignored the smell of the citrus cleaner that they used as she passed through
the living area, the small kitchenette and the closed bathroom door.

She paused outside
the bedroom. Breathe, she told herself.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Slowly, she opened
the door and almost dropped to her knees.

It was empty.

No Louis Vuitton
bags piled against the wall. No messed up sheets. No book on the nightstand.
And most importantly, no Lex.

There was a folded
piece of white paper on the corner of the bed. With shaking fingers and tears
rolling down her cheeks, she unfolded it and took a breath that seemed to
travel all the way down to her toes.

It was a letter,
addressed to her, written in Lex’s messy scrawl.

Dear April,

I’m so sorry. I
wanted to say goodbye to you properly but didn’t have time. I didn’t get a
chance to tell you everything I needed to tell you. All I wanted to do was to
kiss you goodbye—but I couldn’t. I know you will read this letter and be angry
with me, or with Cash. Please don’t be for long. Know that this isn’t a goodbye
letter, April. You will see me again.

I love you, April
Cooper.

I didn’t think I’d
ever say that and mean it.

This week has been
the best week of my life because of you. For that, I thank you. I didn’t know
my life was missing anything. But you saw something in me that no-one has
bothered to look for before; you saw a real person.

I wish I could
tell you these things face to face and I swear I will one day, but the best I
can do now is on paper.

There’s something
about you, April Cooper. You give me strength to be the man you deserve. And
for you, I will fight to be that man. I want to make you proud, so that when I
come back to you, you will want me by your side. Because that’s the only place
I want to be. The only place I feel at home.

I wish it didn’t
have to end like this, but I make you a promise; I will come back to you. We
will be together again.

Lex

The 2
^nd
Installment in the

Sunshine &
Shadow Series

Dear April

Now available on
Amazon