Innocence Lost (Lone Mountain Ranch Book 1)

Chapter 24

Kylie woke up in a room and bed she did not recognize and started to panic. She looked around in the darkness. She could not get a grasp on where she could possibly be. It was not her home or the Lone Mountain Ranch guest room. A dull pink and orange light started to creep in at the edge of the curtains. Otherwise, the room was pitch black.

Kylie blinked a few more times and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She pulled the covers off of her and was glad to see she was wearing her clothes minus her shoes. She turned on the lamp on the nightstand next to her. She looked around and noticed the furnishings were simple, utilitarian, but not in a hospital room type of way. She looked at the nightstand for clues, but there was nothing on it besides the lamp.

Finally, she got out of bed. Her head bolted to life from the rush of getting up. She placed her hands on her thighs to help steady herself, which brought the fire from her sunburn back to life. The aching was everywhere, her head, her sunburnt legs, her sore muscles, her entire body was screaming in pain. She moved her hands back to her head. What happened? Where am I? She thought through the misery.

Kylie got up from the edge of the bed and walked over to the bookshelf. She picked up a silver frame and saw a young Chase smiling back at her. He was standing next to a fabulously dressed, older woman, who she knew was Grandma June from the second she saw her. Chase's description of her perfectly matched the woman in the picture. So much life radiated out of both of their smiles, and Kylie could tell where Chase got his style from. The picture made Kylie smile, too, which refocused her attention on her splitting headache.

Kylie walked into the bathroom and flipped on the light. She looked horrible. Her makeup was smeared everywhere. She attempted to wipe it off but only ended up moving it around and making it worse. She took it as a good sign that it did not look like she had been crying.

She was scared. She was all alone and did not have any recollection of what happened last night. She had no idea how she ended up in Chase's bedroom. Kylie drank water from the faucet. She opened the medicine cabinet to see if there was something to help with her pain, but there was nothing.

She went back to the bedroom and looked around for her stuff. She found her purse on the opposite side of the bed and pulled out her phone. 6:30am. Crap! I have to get to work, she thought to herself as she smoothed down her skirt and top.

She quietly opened up the bedroom door. There was a faint light coming from the living room area. She tiptoed her way down the hallway and saw Chase reclining on the couch. He looked perfect in the golden light provided by the lamp on the side table and the dawn glowing through the window. Not a hair was out of place. He was fully dressed, except his cowboy boots and hat which were sitting by the front door. He wore a crisp pair of dark blue Wranglers, a pale blue button down, and his silver belt buckle.

"Mornin', Kylie. How are you feeling?" He asked in a light whisper, which Kylie was thankful for since her head was currently very sensitive to noise.

"I'm okay. A little disoriented about what happened last night and how I got here, though," Kylie said with embarrassment.

Chase threw his legs over the side of the couch and sat up in one swift movement. He was obviously feeling a lot better than she was. He patted the sofa cushion next to him.

"Sit down. Let me get you some water."

"It's o—,"

Kylie tried to stop him, but her head hurt too much to form the word 'okay'. Her brain was so confused from all of the hammering going on in her head. Chase was already up and walking towards the kitchen. He grabbed a cup of water from the sink which had a large picture window over it. He found a bottle of aspirin in the cupboard. Chase walked over to her and handed her the glass of water, which she took sheepishly.