Grayson

Chapter Seven

Callie and Grayson rode in silence. He had left the road and they were riding together through the forest. Callie recognized the small pond as they approached it. She and Grayson had come here a lot before he'd left five years ago. Grayson had taught her how to fish here and Grayson, Phillip, Lauren, Callie and many others they had been friends with had come here together all the time to swim in the summer and play on the ice in the winter.

Callie raised her head from Grayson's chest as he pulled the buckskin to a stop.

"Is this place okay?" he asked. Callie looked at the long flowing grasses that were waving in the gentle breeze. Orange wildflowers added pops of color to the endless sea of green. The pond was glistening in the bright sunlight and tiny fish kept bringing their mouths up to the surface, to grab the insects floating there, and their disturbances caused ripples to cover the pond. The sunlight danced off of these ripples and waves causing them to sparkle brightly.

Crickets chirped and birds sang and Callie felt her heart begin to race as she realized that she and Grayson were completely alone here in this beautiful place.

"This is perfect." Callie whispered and Grayson turned and looked down at her. Their eyes locked. Green and blue both full of a mixture of confusion, sadness and love gazed into each other. For a moment Callie was sure that Grayson was going to kiss her but then he cleared his throat and slid her from his lap. She smoothed out her skirt once she was down on the ground and walked away from him. She sat down in the grass beside the pond and stared down into the water.

Grayson couldn't help but stare at her as he jumped down from his horse and tied the reins to a nearby branch. She was just as beautiful as he had imagined she would be. That light blond hair full of waves as it hung down her back and her tanned face and light freckles paying tribute to the fact that she enjoyed nature and sunlight. She had her side to him but he could see the profile of her tiny nose and her curved jaw. His eyes began to wander down her long neck but quickly flew back to her chin when he saw it quiver. He realized she was about to cry.

He walked over to her and sat down in the grass beside of her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and was surprised when she leaned into him and buried her face in his chest. He could feel her trembling as she cried and he held her tight and kissed her lavender scented hair.

Callie clung to him, almost desperately, grasping at the folds of his flannel shirt with her hands. She had never been one to cry in front of anyone but this wasn't just anyone. This was Grayson and he was back and he was holding her and for some reason she could not stop her tears from falling.

"Shhh… Callie, sweetheart, why are you crying?" he asked gently.

"Because I never thought I'd see you again." she replied honestly as she kept her face pressed into his shirt and punched his chest with her clenched fist. "You hurt me so bad when you took off but I need to tell you that I didn't mean what I said when you left. I don't hate you." Grayson smiled into her hair.

"I think we both said some things we didn't mean that night." he admitted. Callie knew he was referring to himself saying that he didn't love her. She knew, had known all along, deep down that Grayson loved her.

"Why didn't you tell me that night what was going on, Gray? I had to hear about it from my mother and stepfather." she said pulling away from him and wiping her face dry with her hands as she looked out at the water. Grayson sighed and crossed his arms over his knees.

"Everybody that I cared about, everybody that I thought cared about me, turned their backs on me that night, Callie. Everybody looked at me like I was a murderer… Like I was the lowest form of life. There was hatred and disgust in all of their eyes. I didn't want to see you look at me that way. It would have killed me if your eyes had looked at me that way." Callie shook her head and then laid it on his shoulder as they both stared into the water.