When Roses Collide

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Dirt was flying in large clumps from beneath Odin's hooves digging into the soft soil while his long, muscular body was stretched out for the final sprint to the finish. His mane whipped Harley in the face as adrenaline pumped fast and furiously through her body. Leaning low in the saddle, she squeezed her thighs against Odin's sensitive sides, urging him to go faster until it felt as if they were flying down the homestretch. With a powerful lunge, they both glided across the imaginary timer line, and she let out a loud victory whoop before reining him to a stop. It had been the best run of the day, and deep down, she knew it had to be her best time since the accident. Possibly ranking right up there with the times she used to pull when she was at her peak. Rubbing Odin's lathered neck and murmuring words of praise, she turned him towards where Aden leaned against the fence with a stopwatch. A self-satisfied grin spreading her lips from ear to ear.

But, the smile slowly wavered and faded when she realized the man inclined casually against the railing wasn't Aden. Narrowing her eyes, she slowed Odin's pace. Aden had been wearing a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of faded, torn jeans with his favorite, beat-up straw hat he always wore for luck. Whoever this was, had on a long-sleeved blue jean button up tucked into a pair of body hugging, dark wranglers and was wearing a black felt Stetson pulled down low over his brow. A small gasp puffed out from between her lips. She not only recognized that hat, but the handsome cowboy lounging underneath it. There was only one man she knew who wore his cowboy hat tipped, cocked and ready to fire, and could make her pussy throb at just the sight of him.

Easing Odin up, Harley felt her heart tumble in her chest as a pair of lake blue eyes deep enough to drown a woman peered up at her from under the shadowed brim of his hat. Feeling heat flood her face, she busied herself with adjusting the reins in her trembling hands. She'd refused to admit she had been pining to see him again, or how his absence and silence had gnawed on her, keeping her tossing and turning restlessly into the early dawn. She wanted to be angry with him, not remembering how he looked naked. How he made her feel in his arms. What he could do with those hands and those lips. With an annoyed shove, she pushed those thoughts out of her head.

"What are you doing here, Travis?" she demanded, cussing under her breath when it came out husky instead of the stern tone she was shooting for.

If she was honest with herself, the anger she felt towards him had dissipated into more of a lingering hurt. She had desperately needed him, and he hadn't been there to catch her when she fell like he had once promised those many nights ago on her porch step. And that was what hurt the most. Since finding out she wasn't pregnant, inside she was jumbled mess who wanted nothing more than to go find somewhere to curl up and cry her eyes out, but her pride wouldn't allow it. Instead, she bottled up all the emotions overwhelming her. Not that it did any good, she snorted to herself. At the most inopportune times, they bubbled out anyway. Usually causing her to take her anger and frustrations out on one of her boys. She knew she should sit down and talk to them...tell her family what was going on and what she was feeling, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Not because they wouldn't understand, but because she still didn't fully comprehend all the emotional baggage she seemed to be dragging around lately, let alone try to explain it to someone else. She had only suspected herself pregnant for a week at most, but in that week...oh...how she had fallen in love with the baby she thought she was carrying in her belly. When she heard the news it had all been in her imagination, she crumbled. She desperately wanted to lean on Travis and share her sadness, but what she got instead was a whole lot of nothing and silence from him, leaving her to try and make sense of things on her own. To say she was a bit bitter about the whole ordeal, was an understatement.

"Well, hello to you too, sunshine," he drawled, pushing himself away from the fence to stand next to her.

Now that he was closer, she could see the dark circles under his eyes that matched her own. "Hello," she said warily. "What do you want?"