Page 31 of Austin
“But you will someday.” When he didn’t answer, she added, “You can’t drift forever…right?”
“Probably not.” But the days of him not drifting were in the distant future. In the meantime, he banked as much money as possible, paid some crazy insurance rates for catastrophic care with a super high deductible. A lot of guys didn’t have any insurance at all, but he didn’t want to completely drain his savings if he had a run of bad luck.
“What will you do after bull riding?”
“Another good question.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, as if suspecting that he was putting her on. He wasn’t, and after a moment, she said, “You have no plans?”
“When I need a plan, I’ll come up with one.”
“Wow.” He half expected a lecture, but instead she rose to her feet and said, “You are the antithesis of me.”
He almost said, “Opposites attract?” but didn’t want to push things. “Want to grab dinner tonight?”
“About that. I’m going to pay you back for my half of this vacation from reality.”
“You think?” He issued the words as a soft challenge.
Kristen met it head on. “I know.”
*
Austin headed tothe gym while Kristen unpacked her suitcase. She’d overstuffed the bag and hated leaving things all crammed together and wrinkled. Austin had assured her that she could have the entire wardrobe, and she took him at his word, filling the drawers and hanging her blouses and jackets.
One suitcase didn’t carry that much, so her wardrobe would be limited for the next few days, but if she really got desperate, she could wear her interview suit. She smiled at the thought. After unpacking, she paced the room, glancing first at the panoramic view of the mountains, then at Austin’s bed. Was she crazy to do this?
If so, then why did it feel so right? And why did she feel so different? Her short time on the Callahan Ranch had been so radically different from her ‘real’ life that she’d acted like a different person. Especially after eating dirt while trying to catch the renegade poodle.
It’d been the lack of expectations from the people there, she’d decided on the tail end of the drive to Salt Lake, after she’d told Austin that she’d stay with him. They didn’t know her or expect her to be perfect, so she could be…not perfect.
It had felt like being on the Marvell Ranch with her cousins…except that Austin didn’t feel like a cousin. Far from it.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring out over the mountains that towered over the city. It honestly felt right being here. She hoped it still felt right in the coming days. And if it didn’t, she could go home.
She didn’t see that happening.
Reaching over to the nightstand, she unplugged her phone from the charger and dialed up Whitney. It was late afternoon, so she was probably working her shift at FlintWorks, but at least she would see that her sister had called and wouldn’t be able to accuse her of keeping her uninformed. But to Kristen’s surprise, her twin answered.
“Where are you?”
“Salt Lake City.”
“You’ll be home tomorrow?”
“No…I’ll be home on Sunday.”
“Sunday?”
“I’m staying with Austin Harding. He’ll drive me to Marietta after his event.”
“You mean his bull-riding event?”
“Exactly.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, then Whitney said in a cautious voice, “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
“Your sister,” Kristen said in a patient voice, “is trying to get her act together.”
