The Unbound Horizon

The Talk

Evelyn

It was time to milk the cows again, but the day before had left her so physically and emotionally drained, that she didn't want to get out of bed. She thought about Colton and what had happened last night, and if that would change the way he acted around her, or if it would change the way she acted around him, either way she knew cows couldn't milk themselves so she got dressed and headed to the barn, some lamps were already lit, so she knew that Colton had already gotten started.

"Colton?" she said, trying to figure out where he was, she saw a hand shoot up from one of the stalls, "Good morning Colton" she said,

"Mornin," he replied dryly. Evelyn heard the distance in his voice, and wondered if she had done something to make him upset, but thought she would try again,

"You decided to get an early start?"

"Yep" he replied. Fine, he's just a stupid yank anyway, she thought, and went to work.

Colton was frustrated, he had wanted this kind of interaction with Evelyn for months, and now that he had it he no longer wanted it. He knew he liked her too much, and didn't want to. He decided that no matter what Evelyn would probably never want a man like him, and he had given up on finding love again anyway, so he might as well buck up and be nice.

"Evelyn?" he asked.

"What?" she snapped in a cold tone. Dang it, he thought, he'd already lost her. "I'm sorry, I just had a bad night, and woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He said, waiting for her response, which took awhile.

"Are you sore? Does your face still hurt?" she asked, the warmth had come back in her voice, and Colton sighed with relief.

"Yes, and yes, but I'm alright." he said, "Evelyn I hate to bring this up, but what are we going to tell your family about last night?"

"What about last night?"

"About Mason, and everything that goes along with that."

"I wasn't planning on telling them anything about it." she said matter of factly.

"Well I think we need to tell them something." Colton insisted.

"And why is that?" Evelyn asked, confused on why he was so determined to tell her family, then she finally noticed Colton standing in front of her, and look at his face,

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth. His eye was swollen around the outside of his eye socket, and was a deep blue purple color, this white of his eye was bright red and blood shot, where his lip had busted in the corner of his mouth, it had swollen as well and was that same deep blue almost purple color. Colton let her observe his face and then said,

"They're going to wonder what happened, I can't hide this that easily." he joked.

"I am so sorry," Evelyn said, feeling guilty.

"It's alright sweetheart, we just need to tell your folks something, I think the truth would be a good place to start." Colton said,

"I don't want to tell them the truth."

"What else are you going to tell them? How are you going to explain my face?" Colton asked, a little frustrated, why was she so against telling her parents about this? They needed to know so they could keep a closer eye on Evelyn to make sure Mason didn't come back to bother her.

"I know, and you're right, we should tell the truth, but I just don't even know where to begin. I don't think making a huge announcement over breakfast is a great idea." Evelyn said,