Page 98 of Road Trip
Chapter Twenty-Two
Abra
As I sat on Kelly’s lap, I tried to accept what he was telling me. I wanted to believe he was truly there and we could truly work things out. The thought of waking up without him had me breaking out in a cold sweat. That scared the shit out of me.
We didn’t find a whole lot at the Faire, but it had been nice to get out and walk around. I held his hand firmly the rest of the day, not willing to let my farm boy slip away from me just yet. I just hoped I wasn’t being selfish wanting to keep him.
Him going back to work had been a little fear inducing. I worried those idiots were still out there trying to find him. They’d only found the one guy, and he refused to give in his homies. It was scary, to say the least. I hadn’t brought it up, and Kelly didn’t talk a whole lot about work. He was also a little bit more reserved. He was up and out before I woke in the mornings, and he didn’t talk much while he was cooking dinner at night. The only thing keeping me sane was our cuddling every night. He talked a little more about himself, about his aspirations for his career. He was crazy smart, like had a master’s degree he’d gotten while working, and was even considering a Ph.D eventually. He fascinated me! He also scared me. We hadn’t had much opportunity to be intimate, and I was desperate for some alone time with him, so after the Faire, and after he’d held me through a mini meltdown, I felt a little brave.
“Kelly? Lila said she’d stay for the day. Can we go to your place? Or the ranch? I just need—”
“Me too,” he said breathlessly.
I got a taste of Kelly in pursuit as he drove in a controlled but somewhat scary manner from Alameda to the ranch in record time. We pulled up in front of the barn and saw an older man walking a horse on a rope. I froze.
“Is that—”
“That’s my grandfather, Bob Graham. I’d really like for you to meet him, Abra.”
Well, it wasn’t like we could just pull away and peel out. I looked down at my attire for the day, grateful to see that I was at least wearing somewhat presentable clothes. I had on a navy boatneck burnout tee with ¾ sleeves and gray Bermuda shorts with Chucks. Sure, there were lots of tattoos showing, but…
Kelly got out of the truck and walked around to my side to help me out. I was still afraid I would break my neck getting out of the beast, so Kelly always helped.
“Grandpa,” he called out, taking my hand and leading me toward the man.
Mr. Graham stopped and turned, his smile identical to Kelly’s.
“Son, who’s the beauty you’ve got there? My stars, you look just like one of those pinups from the 1950s! It’s a pleasure to meet you. Call me Bob.”
I took his rough hand in mine and tried to be brave. I felt my cheeks get hot. I didn’t do well with complements.
“I’m Abra, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”
He raised an eyebrow at Kelly. “This the girlfriend your sister was telling us about?”
“Yes, Grandpa, Abra is my girlfriend. We were just out at the Antique Faire, and I thought I might introduce her to some of the horses this afternoon before we need to get back to her gran.”
Mr. Graham’s face fell. “I heard about your poor grandmother. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do. I worry to death about my wife going up and down those steps every day. Of course, she hates it that I’m still working with the horses every day, but you can’t live forever, now, can you?”
“That’s very sweet of you, thank you. Letting me borrow your grandson has been a tremendous help. That wheelchair gets tough to get around and my gran is so ready to be out of it.”
His smile was genuine and he had been generous to offer help to a stranger, even if I was dating his grandson. Maybe they wouldn’t freak out too much over me.
“He better be taking care of business. That’s what I always taught him. Now you two run along. Swing by the house before you leave, though, Son. Your grandmother has been asking about you.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
They shook hands, which I thought was quite formal, and then Kelly tugged on my hand and led me to the barn doors.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought Grandpa thought you were cute! Do I need to be worried?”
I burst out laughing. “Well…if he has your stamina…”
Kelly smacked me on the butt, causing me to squeal.
We entered the barn, and I was shocked at how many horses were there. There had to be at least forty stalls inside surrounding a huge covered arena and most of them were full!
“This place is amazing, Kelly! Are all of these your grandfather’s?”
