A Lover's Betrayal

Chapter Four

My nose is awakened before any of my other senses as the aroma of coffee swirls heavily through the air and teases my senses through my foggy veil of sleep. The invigorating odor pulls me a wake and I can't help but feel the corners of my mouth angle up into a smile. My smile grows even wider when I open my eyes and see a cup of this magical brew sitting on the bedside table along with a single rose. Stretching I sit up and take the coffee, noticing that she is not in the room, but the doors to the balcony are open.

"Hey," I say as I make my way out onto the balcony. She is standing with her elbows resting on the railing and her cup of coffee perched between her two hands. The sky is bright, but lazy as the colors mix and hint at a just risen sun.

"Cream and three sugars still?" she asks, her eyes studying the ocean.

"You remembered," I say as I move to stand next to her.

"I remember a lot of things. How did you sleep?"

She looks at me and smiles, the kind of smile that reaches her eyes and in this lighting it magnifies her beauty tenfold.

"Like a baby. How about you?"

"I don't really sleep much."

"No? Why not?"

Her smile tightens as she looks back at the ocean and doesn't answer the question.

"You just missed an incredible sunrise."

"What time is it?" I ask as I take a small sip of the hot coffee.

"Just after seven. What time do you usually get up?"

"Not with the sun," I laugh. "This place is incredible. I didn't get to see it all last night."

"This is my main home. The ranch is a few miles east from here. We can go there this afternoon and I can show you what you'll be doing, but first I need some breakfast. How about you?"

She loops her arm in mine and takes me down to the kitchen where there is a plump woman in her fifties named Marisol filling two plates with a traditional Colombian breakfast of Migas de Arepa which consists of scrambled eggs with pieces of arepa and tomato-onion sauce and chorizo, avocado, and beans on the side. She lets my arm go, and I waste no time in scooping forkfuls of the delightful dish into my mouth.

"This place is very impressive," I say as I ease more egg onto my fork.

"Selling horses to tourist attractions is a profitable business."

"That it is. But who knew it was such a dangerous one."

Stef drops her fork as I say this, and just stares at me, her eyes suddenly dark and hardened.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean that it's not everyday that someone tries to gun down the owner of a horse ranch."

"This isn't Texas, Miss America, and I'm a woman in a man's world. My ranch outperforms every other business in this country. Not this city. Not this region. This country. People get jealous. Plus, I just outbid that man on the Four Seasons Bogota contract. He didn't take losing to a woman very well. Why the hell are we still talking about this anyway? It's taken care of."

I go to say something else but stop when I see the way she is looking at me indicating that this conversation is done and I finish the rest of my breakfast in silence.

A little after one we take her motorcycle to the ranch which she tells me is at least one hundred and twenty acres give or take.

"Your morning will start at five and we usually don't knock off here until at least four or five. It we go over that you will be paid accordingly. You've mucked a stall before I'm assuming?"