LITTLE BIT STRONGER | A COUNTRY ROMANCE

Chapter Two

Kate unlocked the door and slid into the front seat.

That was when everything that had happened hit her like a ton of bricks. Resting her forehead on the steering wheel, she sobbed brokenly for what she'd lost.

"No," she thought to herself. "For what was taken from me - from our family - by a greedy, uncaring man."

Sitting up, she wiped her tears and did her best to pull herself together. Her mind was spun out and her heart ached. She knew the fallout of Brian's choices would change her future and the future of their son.

"He had no right," she whispered aloud. Then she yelled, "He had no right!"

An old truck slowed on the road and turned onto the gravel beside her. It stopped and she realized she was parked in front of a gate to an access road. It probably ran behind the huge hay fields she'd passed many times.

The man behind the wheel rolled down the window. They were mere feet from one another. He was vaguely familiar.

"Ma'am, you alright? You having car trouble?"

Kate shook her head. "No. No, I-I'm fine. Just perfect."

Her tears fell but there was no sound. She felt blank and wondered what the hell she was going to tell people when they asked what went wrong in her marriage.

And they would ask.

Felicia lived fifteen minutes on the other side of town so she had about thirty minutes before Brian got to their house. Not counting the time he spent fucking his girlfriend again.

Jesus, what a mess.

Glancing at the driver of the truck, Kate smiled a pathetic smile and started the car. "Sometimes you want to know things...you need to know things. Then the knowledge is so bad, you're not sure at first that you can handle it. As it turns out, I can handle quite a lot."

The man leaned a bit through the window and she noticed three things simultaneously. He was a big man, he was gorgeous, and he was filthy.

"Ma'am, sounds like you got your heart hurt tonight."

As he said the words, Brian's SUV passed on the road and Kate ducked lower into the darkness of the car.

The stranger nodded his head. "Maybe has something to do with the driver of that SUV and the little blonde in the passenger seat?"

She gritted her teeth but said nothing.

"My name's Josh Hennecart. This road leads behind my place. I've got four sisters, ma'am. I'd knock the teeth out of any man who made one of them look as sad as you do right now. You ever need anything, you come on up the road. I won't hurt you...don't expect nothing from you. I'm a good listener and I make a mean cup of coffee."

The small smile was hard to give him, but she did her best. "I'm Kate Deltona. Used to be Kate Washington a million years ago. I'm not the type to intrude and I sure don't make it a habit to air my laundry to a total stranger, but...thank you so much for your kindness, Josh."

Putting the car in gear, she said, "I have to beat him home. Let the car cool and upload my video to DVD so we can have a nice viewing of a new movie in the morning. The reviews aren't in yet, but I hear the director is passionate about her work." In a quiet voice, she added to herself, "Thank god Krista has Caleb this weekend."

"You have a boy for him?" Josh asked her incredulously and Kate nodded slowly. "Disgusting behavior for a husband and daddy. You remember what I said. Any time, just come on up the road. I'm glad I met you, Kate...but I'm real sorry about how."

With a small wave, Kate pulled onto the asphalt and drove home.

* * *

Josh stared after the sad woman with beautiful bright green eyes until her brake lights faded in the distance.

Opening the gate, he drove his work truck through and closed it behind him. He parked in front of the barn and walked to the house.

Moving cattle was dirty work and it had taken hours longer than expected when he found a couple of downed fences.

Likely from kids who wanted to go mudding in the spare field he never used. It tended to flood when the river rose. He needed to post a sign and add a gate to that side.

"Can't keep 'em out, might as well stop them from opening up my damn pastures."

He'd made a trip back to the workshop to get what he needed to repair it while the two guys he hired kept an eye on the cows.

Feeling filthier than he ever had, he toed off his boots at the back door, stripped out of the mud-caked clothes, and left everything on the porch.

Walking buck-naked through his house, he let the water heat and stepped under it gratefully.

Josh was scrubbing what needed scrubbing when his mind wandered to the woman he'd met just outside his gate. She was lovely, certainly, but it was her subtle strength that made him curious about her.

The Washingtons were known to him.

He'd been working with her daddy for years. Kyle was a good man. Josh was pretty sure Kate's sister owned a hair salon downtown. If he wasn't mistaken, their brother was a dentist with an office in the same area.

He wondered if Kate would be the kind of woman who forgave her man for the sake of their child.

It was strange how much he hoped she wouldn't.

Not generally a nosy man, Josh found himself intrigued by their unusual encounter.

Maybe he should schedule a haircut and get the lay of the land. At least make sure Kate was alright.

"It's the least you can do," he said to the empty house.

After he was dry and wearing sleep pants, he walked downstairs to his kitchen and made some eggs and toast. Standing over the sink, he stared out over his land, lit only by the moon.

"You're awful focused on a woman you don't know," he thought to himself. "Don't get involved. If she stays, there's no point. If she goes, she's gonna be hurting for a long time."

Against this sage advice from him to him, a piece of his heart stirred anyway.

For the first time in years, a woman made him feel.

He wasn't sure he liked it.

© Shayne McClendon