Innocence Lost (Lone Mountain Ranch Book 1)

Chapter 22

Kylie fought back the tears while she walked away from Jax. She was almost to the main office when she remembered she was supposed to ask Heather if she could use the spa facilities to shower and freshen up after lying out by the pool. She did not want Heather to see her crying. She decided to call her when she got back to her room. She hurried past the main office before Heather happened to come out and see her so upset.

Once Kylie passed the office, she could not hold the tears at bay any longer. They came rushing down, and she ran to her room; her sore muscles be damned. She looked crazy running by the other guests and ignoring their polite questions of concern.

Kylie opened the door to her room and tossed her hat to the floor. She fell onto her bed and cried into her pillow. How did this all go so wrong? She wondered. Not only this weekend, but her whole life seemed to be falling apart at the seams. She cried for what seemed like forever until she fell into a dreamy state.

In her mind, an image of her and Jax appeared. They were standing together along a fence, watching two young boys ride horses around an arena. The older son wore the chaps that looked like the ones Jax received when he was thirteen over a pair of black wranglers, a red and white plaid button down, black boots and a black hat. He was riding in front of a younger boy dressed in a blue gingham top, blue jeans, brown cowboy boots and hat. Both of the kids were sitting on top of their very own horses, waving and smiling back at Kylie and Jax as they skillfully trotted and galloped around the arena.

Her dream was interrupted by the phone ringing. Kylie propped herself up on her elbows and wiped away the tears. She took a few deep breaths and picked up, trying to disguise the nasally sound of her voice from all of the crying.

"Hello?" Kylie answered.

"Hi, Kylie. This is Heather from reception. I'm calling to remind you that your check out is in 15 minutes," Heather said cheerfully. "Please make sure you come to the front desk to settle your bill and return your key."

"I will. Thank you," Kylie said through her sniffles. "Would it possible for me to use the spa facilities later this afternoon? I want to go to the pool and thought it would be nice to shower before leaving and driving home," Kylie asked in her best attempt to sound happy.

"I am sure it will be okay. I'll call the spa and give you an answer when you come to check out."

"Thank you, Heather," Kylie responded.

Kylie stripped down and put on her pink bikini, the light blue, girlfriend jeans, a white t-shirt, and her black ballet flats. She grabbed her suitcase and threw her boots in and piled all of the dirty clothes on top. She placed her book and the jewelry in her handbag and went to the bathroom to gather her toiletries.

Kylie looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy again, although not nearly as puffy as they were when she arrived. She wiped off the mascara streaks from her cheeks and put another layer of concealer on her under eye bags. She fixed her eye makeup and redid her mascara. She swiped powder and blush across her face. That will have to do. Maybe Heather won't notice I am upset, she hoped.

Kylie shoved all of her products into her makeup bag, grabbed her stuff out of the shower and threw them into her suitcase. She looked around to see if she forgot anything else. She saw the hat and picked it up off the floor and placed it on her head. She was glad it helped hide her puffy eyes. Kylie pushed her stuff down into the bag and zipped it up. She heard an alert coming from her phone. She must have hit it accidentally. She rummaged back through her suitcase and found it in the back pocket of the jeans she was wearing today. She looked at the message.

"Hi, Kylie. How was your ride? Are we still on for dinner tonight? The message from Chase read.

Of course, she forgot all about Chase in the chaos of today's events.