Shattered

Chapter Seven

A few hours into the evening and two bottles in, Jess and I were sitting on her couch laughing about childhood memories.

"Remember mom going absolutely insane because you were up in the tree? I thought she was going to lose her mind when you couldn't get down." She laughed.

I laughed remembering being so high up in the tree that I froze in fear.

"Right. You were down on the ground trying to coax me down branch by branch but I just couldn't move. Hell, I didn't move until Rhe..." I stopped abruptly at the thought of him. The memory of him climbing the tree and showing me where to step each step to get me down. Jess didn't seem to notice, she kept going with the memories.

"What about that time you fell into the well and was holding yourself up by pressing your back and legs against each side. Lord, I swear mom was going to kills us as kids. I'm surprised she didn't after Rhett pulled you out." Snapping her mouth closed as she realized her words, she looked at me apologetically.

"Don't. It's ok. There isn't a memory we have without him in it. He was a part of our childhood." I choked back the tears as best as I could but they still came. How do I get over the only man I've ever loved?

"Hey," Jess moved closer and pulled me into a hug. "You're going to be ok. It's just going to take some time." I hugged her but pulled away. Wiping the tears from my face I stood and said,

"It's late. I'm going to turn in. I've got to decide if I'm going back to New York tomorrow or attempting to find anymore new talents."

Jess rose to her feet. "Alright. I'll just lock up down here and I'll head to bed myself. Wake me if you need me at all."

The following morning, I awoke to sunlight beaming through the window directly into my eyes. Squinting against the brightness, I cursed myself for not thinking to close the curtains before I went to sleep. I moved to roll over and was hit with a sharp pain in the top of my head. Grabbing both sides of my head, I tried to stop the throbbing behind my eyes. I slowly sat up and spun myself to hang my feet over the bed just as my door was opening.

"Knock. Knock." Jess walked in smiling with a cup of coffee from her shoppe

"You've been to the shoppe already? What time is it?" I asked still holding the side of my head as I reached for the coffee with the other.

"It's almost 11."

"What?" My eyes widened in shock. "Well shit, I guess I'm not taking the plane back today. That left an hour ago."

"Good, stay the week with me. Please?" She asked with excitement as she bounced down next to me. The sudden movement made my head throb and my stomach turn. I groaned at the feelings.

"Come on, Cas, this week is Spring Break. They have the week booked for filming and when you're not scouting you can help me in the shoppe." She grinned as she leaned over and nudged me with her shoulder.

"You only want me here for free labor." I rolled my eyes, instantly regretting it.

"Come on, down the coffee, cold shower, and dress comfortable. Rummage through my closet, I know you only brought your business attire, Mrs. New York." She mocked as she walked out of the room mimicking a model. I couldn't help but laugh as I downed the coffee.

About 45 minutes later I was showered and dressed in one of her loose tank tops, leggings, and sandals. When I found her, she in the stables brushing the horses down. I grabbed one of the brushes and made my way into Daisy's stall. She nudged me before I was able to close the gate making me giggle. I wrapped my arm around her neck in a hug and she rested her huge head on my shoulder. I began to softly run the brush in the same direction of the hair, smoothing it down and bringing its natural shine out.

"Hey, she's been groomed already, let's head to the set."

Dropping the brush into a pale, I patted her side and locked the gate as I left the stall.

Jess and I spent most of the day on the beach, she watched out for possible talents within the extras as I scanned the entire beach. We people watched for hours, laughing at the couples playing in the waves, the guys picking up the girls and tossing them in the water, the kids running down the beach, and the people with their dogs walking along the shore. When it was close to sunset, Jess suggested we pick up dinner and go back to the ranch for a movie night. I agreed.

"I miss this." She said as she popped popcorn into her mouth. We were watching old movies from our teenage days. "I miss the nights we used to stay up like this, just the two of us."

I smiled at her as I allowed my mind to drift back to those times. The nights we'd sneak into each other's rooms and stay up all night talking. The night's we'd do just this, watch movie after movie until one of, if not both, of us fell asleep. Thing was, I didn't realize just how much I missed this. Missed her. Missed everything.

I pulled my phone from my pocket noting that the time was nearly 11:00 p.m. Ruby was surely sleeping by now. I sent her a text anyways.

Me: Hey, Red, I'm sorry for yesterday. I had a rough day. I've decided to stay here a few more days, maybe the week. I spent the day around the set, there's a few I'd like to continue watching. I'll check back in later.

A few minutes passed by when my phone rang. Looking at the screen, I saw Ruby's name.

"What are you doing awake?" I asked without a greeting.

"Someone rudely sent me a text message and woke me up." She grumbled.

Laughing, I apologized.

"You're ok to be there for a few days longer?" She asked, making sure I was really ok.

"I am. I miss it. I'm enjoying time with Jess." I smiled looking over at Jess who smiled back.

"Alright, well you let me know when you're ready and I'll have a ticket waiting for you at the airport."

"Thanks. Good night, Red."

I sat my phone on the cushion next to me and waited, knowing Jess was going to ask any moment.

"So, what was that about?"

Chuckling, I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, it was Ruby, so it had to do with work. She called you, is everything ok at the office? It's kind of late."

"I sent her a text. I told her I'm staying a few more days."

This information had Jess up on her knees, squealing. We spent the few hours ignoring the movie that was playing, talking about why she wasn't dating, her shoppe, and her plans for the stable.

"So, you're really going to open them up as a training camp?" I asked in shock.

"I don't see why not. The Barn is no longer open with the two of them moving to California."

"Rhett's moving to California?" The breath was knocked out of me. He refused to move to Pennsylvania with me for a few short years for college but now he's sold The Barn and is moving across the country? I swallowed the pain and squeezed my eyes closed as I tried to push the thoughts away. It's his life, he decided he didn't want me in it. I can't change that.

"So, yeah, I think it'll be good business." She hadn't noticed my thoughts trailed off and kept talking.

"You'd be able to handle the coffee shoppe and run an actual ranch? It's hard work, Jess." I reminder her as the memories of helping Rhett at his father's stable in the summers.

"I'm sure I'll manage. I might just have to hire a few more people at the coffee shoppe." She shrugged as she stood. "I'm going to head to bed, I've got to be up in four hours to open."

We cleaned up and headed to our rooms for the night.