Daniel’s jaw tightened. The ‘friends’ file. Me? I’ve never been put in there. That’s the line I give out!
Katherine started walking back to the truck and stayed about three feet in front of Daniel.
“Katherine, wait.” Daniel never begged for anything in his life, but he wasn’t beyond begging this woman.
“John, I just want to go home, I’m tired.” Katherine was crying softly.
“You’re not leaving because you’re tired. You’re running.”
“Let it rest, John, and just take me back home.”
“Stop!” Daniel took a couple of large steps and put his hand on her arm and gently pulled.
“What do you want from me? A quick lay?!” Katherine couldn’t stop Daniel from seeing her tears. The moonlight was on her face.
“You aren’t leaving like this. Come here. Even friends hold each other from time to time. I’ve grown up, Katherine. Maybe I haven’t settled down because I never found anyone I wanted to spend my life with.” Daniel pulled her into his chest.
Katherine buried her face and let the sobs out. She slowly sank down to the grass. She had never talked about this with anyone, especially not a man she just met.
But Daniel kept his word, sat on the grass in front of her, and just held her. Katherine cried until she thought she had nothing left inside of her.
“I’m so sorry, John. I didn’t mean to unleash all of that on you. I want to go home and go to bed.” Katherine, in all her shame, stood on her feet.
“I’ll take you home, but not until I know that you’re okay.”
“Why do you care?”
“I’m not who or what you think I am. Come with me, and I’ll prove it to you.”
Daniel held Katherine’s hand and walked the five minutes in silence toward the barn. When he reached the outside door, he opened it and turned on the light.
“Wow, I wouldn’t have expected it to look like this. It’s so pretty.” Katherine knew that he could see her red, blotched face, so she stared back down to the ground.
“I have a surprise to show you.”
Daniel shut and locked the outside door to his room, without thinking of what it would do to Katherine. She was beside herself with instant fear. He quickly opened the door that led to the stables, then found the light and flipped it on. Daniel wasn’t happy with himself for being so thoughtless. Katherine sighed with relief.
“This one is Patches, and this is Daisy. They’re such sweethearts. I was afraid of horses, but Rosie helped me out with that. You can pet them.”
Daniel approached Daisy and softly patted the side of her neck. Then the big white horse raised her head, and Daniel rubbed her soft nose.
“Come and pet her, Katherine. There are white horses. I might not be a prince or a magical knight, but I’m not going to hurt you.”
Katherine approached the horse, and after several minutes with both Patches and Daisy, she found herself smiling and laughing.
“Are you feeling better, Katherine?”
“Yes, thank you for…well, I obviously had a lot to get out of my system. Those are things I’ve never told anyone before.”
“Thank you for trusting me as much as you have. Let me lock up and walk you back to the truck. Hopefully, you’ll sleep like a lamb.” Daniel bent down and softly kissed her cheek. After locking up the barn, he held Katherine’s hand on the way back to the truck.
Katherine climbed in, and when Daniel started the truck, she turned on the radio. Without even thinking, she began to sing. He was in heaven.
The lights were off in the small town, and the bar area was dark. Daniel got out of the truck and opened her door.
“Thank you for a nice evening, John. I’m glad I went with you.”
“I’m very glad you came out there with me. But you aren’t going up to that apartment by yourself. It’s dark, and I need to know you’re safe.” He took her hand again and walked her up the unlit steps. Daniel took the keys from her hand and opened the door, turned on the light for her, then let her walk in behind him.
All Katherine could do was smile. “Goodnight, John.”
“Sleep tight, Katherine, and I hope I can see you again.”
Daniel saw that she wasn’t going to respond, so he smiled and turned to walk back down the steps. When he reached the gravel, he heard her.
“I’d like that,” she said and hurried to shut the door.
Chapter 5
Daniel tossed and turned all night long, unable to erase Katherine from his mind. He wanted to take her pain away and realized he had two people to prove something to; his father and Katherine. Working the soil all day gave him the monotonous motions to allow his mind to wander where it wanted to. His body, once again, was killing him.
He decided to help around the farm on Sunday instead of taking the day off, and Rosie was very grateful for his help. She was getting too old to work like she used to. It bothered Daniel to see her working as hard as she does. She shouldn’t have to work like this at all.
After a nice long, hot shower, Daniel climbed in his truck to head to town. He sat in the bar and waited. No Katherine. He got the attention of another waitress and beckoned her to his table.
“Good evening, hot stuff. What can I get for ya?”
“Is Katherine working today?”
“Nope, she’s off until tomorrow night, but she’s supposed to come in and cover for me for a few while I run up to the store real quick. Saw her leave earlier, but I’m not sure where she went. My name is Emily and I’d be happy to help you.” Emily winked and smiled at the handsome man.
“Thanks anyway, but I’m just going to head on out.” Daniel couldn’t wait to get out of there. Short shorts, a skimpy top, willingness…in his other life, Daniel would have definitely checked out what she had to offer.
His phone rang as he left the bar. The music was still pretty loud out front.
“What do you want, Carl?”
“I’m just checking on you, Daniel. Did you quit your job? Is that loud country music I hear?”
“No, I didn’t quit my job.”
“Really? We were wondering how long you would last. I figured you would quit after two hours and your father bet—“ Carl cut himself off and cleared his throat.
“Carl, I don’t really care how funny you and my father think this is. What you can tell him is that I’m not minding this little town at all.”
“Very well, Daniel. I’ll call you in a day or two to check in.”