Page 68 of Puck King
Colton rushed over to me and held onto my crossed arms. I shifted out of his grip and took a step back. My family had started to walk towards us, and the ranch hands that had delivered the horses leaned against their truck, watching.
“I said, ‘what are you doing here’?” I hissed.
Colton took off his Ray-Bans and steeled his gaze on me, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking him in the eye. Instead, I focused over his shoulder at my family, who had stopped just out of earshot. My mother held my brother and father back with her outstretched arm.
“Alison. I don’t know where to start.”
I took a deep breath, the cold air filling my lungs. “How about you don’t. We don’t have to pretend anymore. This thing between us, whatever it was – is over.”
“But it was real.” Colton’s shoulders slumped.
“But it shouldn’t have been. Colton, you looked me in the eye and told me that you had never cheated on anyone.”
“I haven’t. Alison—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “Don’t. I can’t take hearing this lie again. Your sister told me the truth, and then Brittany confirmed it. Now turn around, get back in that fancy helicopter of yours, and get the hell out of my life.”
“You have to believe me.”
Steam puffed out my lips. I couldn’t believe his audacity. “I’m done believing men. I’m sorry Colton, but I can’t just take your word for it.” I brushed past him and he started to follow. “Don’t you dare come near me,” I shouted.
“Alison.” He continued to follow me.
My mom let down her arm then, and my father and brother strode past me, stopping Colton. I didn’t turn, because I didn’t want any of them to see the tears streaming down my face. As I walked, I clicked the snaps together on my jacket. Then, I started to run.
Apparently I wasn’t a fighter. I was a ‘flight-er’.
“Are any of the horses saddled up?” I asked one of the bewildered looking ranch hands.
The youngest looking man opened the barn door. “The brown mare.”
Daisy.
I gripped her mane in my fists as I sobbed against her neck. She stomped and whinnied. Without thinking, I stepped into the stirrup and mounted the horse I’d ridden thousands of times over the years. It felt like a day hadn’t passed as she strode out of the barn. I clicked my tongue and Daisy knew what to do.
My hands were freezing and my hair whipped in the wind, but I didn’t care. I was free.
At the end of the driveway, a red Mercedes turned from the dirt road onto our laneway. The windows were heavily tinted and I couldn’t see the driver until I was beside the car. But there was no mistaking the blond hair of the Ice Queen.
“Come on Daisy! Ha!” I barked at her.
We left the Ice Queen at the junction and headed west. The further we got from the farm, the safer I started to feel. I let Daisy slow to a canter and patted her neck. My hands wouldn’t fully open, and I hoped that I wasn’t getting frostbite. But I’d lose a few fingers if it meant I didn’t have to face that lying son of a bitch, Colton.
The road turned and I followed the stream west. The warm weather, combined with a false spring, had thawed the ice, and water gurgled along beside me. I dismounted and held Daisy’s reins as I sat on a bare rock, warmed slightly from the sun.
The farm had been my sanctuary. I’d been able to get away from the frenetic energy of the city. The lying; the manipulation – it had all disappeared once I’d passed the Windy Lane Farm sign. Now, those bastards had infiltrated the only place that hadn’t been tainted. I pulled my knees into the roomy coat and rested my chin on them, letting the tears stream down my cheeks, soaking the collar.
Daisy nudged my shoulder. I didn’t know how long I’d sat there, staring at the stream, watching as it flowed around the rocks, finding its way over the piles of sticks and debris. My face felt raw from the heat of my tears, and my cheek was temporarily stuck to the fabric of my coat. I squinted into the sunlight and shielded my eyes with my hand. Someone was coming – and not by foot.
The whinny gave the horse away. It was Wolfie.
“Looks like it’s time to go home, Daisy.” My hands had been clenched so long that they hurt when I stretched my fingers widely.
But by the time I realized who was riding Wolfie, it was too late for me to mount Daisy and get the hell out of there.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” Colton’s voice was authoritative and surprisingly calm. For a moment, I forgot all the drama. Colton was on a horse. My heart temporarily swelled in my chest, proud to see him overcoming one of his greatest fears.
But that pride dissipated when I remembered that I hated him.
