Country Love

Chapter Three

Isabelle opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the pain in her head. She looked around the room and realized she had no idea where she was. There was sunlight streaming through the big window beside her. This was clearly a cabin of some sort judging by the log walls and there was a large stone fireplace on the far wall. She sat up quickly and then waited several seconds for her head to stop spinning. Just then she heard her daughters voice coming from the kitchen.

"You ruined it, Badley! You broke the runny part!" Sara exclaimed. Bradley? Isabelle's memory of the night before came back to her in a rush and she raised her hand to her hair to feel that it was stiff and covered in dry blood.

"Well excuse me, princess Sara. Would you like to make the eggs?" Isabelle recognized Bradley's deep voice that seemed so familiar somehow but she didn't know from where.

"I can't cook." Sara replied.

"Well why not?" Bradley asked with amusement in his voice.

"Because, I'm a princess." Sara replied. Isabelle forced herself to her feet. She walked slowly toward the sound of their voices trying to ignore the pounding in her head. Bradley looked up when she walked in and Isabelle looked around the messy kitchen.

Sara was wearing a t-shirt that had to belong to Bradley. One pigtail was still in her hair but the other had fallen out. She was sitting on the counter watching Bradley cook and swinging her legs back and forth.

"Hi mommy!" she said happily when she saw Isabelle. "Badley is making breakfast."

"How are you this morning?" Bradley asked her. Isabelle forced a smile.

"Fine." she said. "My car?"

"Out in the driveway." Bradley replied as he removed the pan full of eggs from the stove. "I towed it back here last night while my sister checked you out. She's a doctor." he added when he saw the questioning look on Isabelle's face.

"Thank you." Isabelle said. She sat down at the kitchen table and laid her head down on her arms staring down at the oak table top. She still had no idea what they were going to do. She could buy another car she supposed but she was so tired of living on the run from those monsters wanting to steal her daughter away.

She heard a throat clear beside her and looked up to see Bradley standing there holding a glass of water and a bottle of ibuprofen. Isabelle took both from him and quickly swallowed a couple of the pills, hoping to ease the pounding in her head.

"I never did catch your name." Bradley said as he helped Sara down from the counter and she ran over and threw her arms around Isabelle's neck.

"My name is Isabelle." she replied and Bradley sat two plate fulls of eggs, bacon and toast on the table in front of her and Sara. Bradley grabbed himself a plate as well and sat down across from Isabelle.

"Thank you for everything you've done." Isabelle said. Bradley just shrugged and stuck a piece of bacon in his mouth.

"I broke the runny part." he said matter-of-factly and Isabelle found herself able to smile for the first time in a while. They sat and ate their meal in silence and then Isabelle stood up.

"I need a shower." she said matter of factly. These words caused several highly inappropriate images to flash through Bradley's mind and he silently scolded himself for thinking them. Bradley was not a commitment kind of guy. He had never really given much thought to the whole settling down with kids thing. He liked going his own way and doing what he wanted… Not that he did much of anything other than work on his fathers farm, do a little fishing and sing at the honkytonk in town every now and then. Hardly living up to the rock star playboy image his manager had created for him.