Burning Desire

Chapter 10

Tuesday morning came too fast. Alex and I had stayed up until almost three talking about the horses, his dad and grandpa, and various other details about both our lives. If I hadn't been so sleepy and we didn't have to work in the morning, I would've insisted on staying up all night. I was really enjoying learning more about him. I felt like Alex was someone I could talk to for hours without getting tired of it or running out of things to discuss.

Alex's mom had gone to the trouble to bake us chocolate chip cookies after her book club friends left, and we'd lounged on the back porch, pigging out for a good half hour. They were the best homemade cookies I'd had in a long time. It was obvious she'd been a gourmet chef, and I was anxious to try more of her cooking.

I was glad I'd thought to bring a change of clothes. Despite the lack of sleep I'd gotten, I felt well-rested as I hurried to shower and meet Alex in the driveway ten minutes 'til seven. It had taken me so long to wake him up that we hadn't had time for breakfast. I'd barely dried my hair and I was pretty sure the damp strands were going to morph into icicles once I got outside. It was snowing again, and it wasn't light in the least bit.

I struggled to follow Alex to the office. The plows were out moving the snow and salting and sanding the roads, but the snow was falling so fast, it wasn't making a big difference. Everything was gray and gloomy, and the wind was blowing the snow, causing near-whiteout conditions in some places.

"I curse myself every day for living so far from work." Alex texted me while we sat at a red light a few blocks from work.

I had to agree. I loved living in Phillipsburg because it was far enough from the city that I didn't feel crowded, but at the same time, it was too far, and it was costing me way too much in gasoline a month.

"You and me both." I texted back.

Not too much later, I was relieved to reach my office, collapsing into a damp mess in my chair. I had snowflakes all over my hair and clothing, and I'd walked a trail of water droplets from the parking garage to my desk. The janitor was sure to appreciate that.

I turned on my computer and opened up a red folder that was full of the notes I'd taken while talking to Alex. I was anxious to start typing.

"Good morning!" Mandy's enthusiastic voice made me jump.

I breathed a panicked sigh, a hand on my chest. I hadn't had time to grab coffee on the way to work, and it was obvious with how un-alert I was.

"God, Mandy, don't do that!"

She walked around my desk to stand beside me, looking at the papers in front of me.

"What is this about, Kate?"

"I finally figured out what I'm going to write for the New York Times contest," I said, lifting up the folder.

Mandy frowned, reading what I had jotted down at the top of the page.

"Remedial benefits of horses?" She read my words aloud.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Alex has horses and he was telling me how they've helped him through hard times. The more we talked about it, it just sounded like a great topic to write about."

She looked at me skeptically. She wasn't as convinced as I was that it was a good subject.

"Are you sure?"

I half expected her to suggest the ballet article Selena had mentioned at lunch on Monday. At this point, I felt like the story about horses was my best bet. I was grasping at straws at the last minute.