Test Drive (The Bachelor #1) (18 page)

"Wow! Where did you learn to drive like that?" I was genuinely smiling for the first time in days.

"Well, I ride horses in the rodeo, and I guess driving tractors and trucks around here in the snow had something to do with it. I have four older brothers, and they are always horsin’ around."

"Oh no! Four older brothers, huh? Sounds like I need to be careful." It was kind of intimidating to think about not only having to impress parents, but brothers too.

"Well that depends, city boy. Depends on what your intentions are with me." Her country accent and attire made her adorably cute. We laughed and joked for a while before she invited me to "sit on her porch and drink some lemonade." I gladly joined her looking for any kind of distraction. Sometimes I felt like I was looking through her when she spoke. Beth hadn’t quite vanished from my mind, and even through all of Georgia’s charm, I wasn’t ready to let that go.

"Well Ms. Georgia, what all do you do on this farm?" I sipped the sour lemonade and tried not to make a face at the tang that followed.

"I tend to the horses mostly. The boys do most of the mowing and hay baling. I teach a riding class on Saturday mornings, and sometimes I go to horse shows or to the market on Saturday afternoons."

"I have never ridden a horse actually. Think you could teach this city boy how to ride?" I wasn’t sure if she would take that wrong, but it did sound a little dirty coming out of my mouth.

"Well, let’s find out." Georgia reached for my hand and dragged me to the stables where she introduced me to Starlight, a black coated mare with white spots resembling a sky full of stars on her back and sides. "Starlight is my best starter horse. She doesn’t go anywhere I don’t tell her to."

The horse was already saddled and Georgia said, "Just hop on up there." I was glad that I wore shorts because I would have certainly ripped my designer jeans trying to climb up on this giant horse. "I can get you a step stool, if you want?"

"Nah, I think I got it." I didn’t. My foot slipped out of those stirrup things a few times before I managed to swing my arm up grabbing the saddle horn. I pulled myself up on top of the horse, holding on for dear life. I didn’t like how high I was off the ground sitting on the massive beast.

"That’s right. You got it. Now hang on, I am going to walk you out." She pulled the rope and Starlight began to move forward. "Don’t forget to duck!" I narrowly missed the barn door rafter on my way out.

"Whew! Now pick up the rope and pull to the left." When I did as she asked the horse turned her head and went in the direction I was pulling.
Neat!
Then I pulled the back the other way and once again she turned.

"That is so cool," I said. I was mesmerized by the pure size of the animal and its ability to be trained to do something that may not be incredibly natural to it. It was very enlightening. When I compared it to my own life, I was forced to look at how I had rebelled against my father’s company more out of pride than out of dislike for the company itself.

Georgia disappeared into the barn before emerging back into the open sunlight. This time she was accompanied by a light tan male horse. She said his name was Acorn, and he was her personal horse. She looked gorgeous sitting on the horse with the sun behind her.

"You ready to ride?" She winked my way.

I wasn’t quite sure, but Starlight’s gentle nature made me feel more comfortable. "Giddy up!" I laughed. She showed me how to get the horse moving by kicking my heels into her side. I didn’t feel overly comfortable kicking the horse, but she assured me it wouldn’t hurt her. We started in a slow trot across the field. We went down a pretty steep hill. Feeling uneasy with the angle we were traveling, I didn’t release the air pent up into my chest until we reached the bottom. We came upon a creek bed in between two large hills, and she dismounted her horse, tying him to a tree. I did the same, and we walked along the creek line chatting about our lives.

She told me that she had never lived anywhere except at this ranch, and she couldn’t imagine living in the city away from her horses. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but the business opportunity I was working on with Jason’s company only limited me to a place with internet access and cell service. I did have my doubts that this part of the countryside may not offer that.

Admittedly, that concern was a long ways away. I might enjoy the farm life after enough time passed. The sun began to set, and she said we should head back before it got dark. I climbed back on Starlight, which was a lot easier the second time. On the way back, Georgia kicked her horse and broke out into an all-out sprint. I followed behind and the horse took off across the meadow. It was completely exhilarating to be galloping through the tall grass with a beautiful woman leading the way.

We ended up back at the house, and we walked the horses back to their stalls.

"I had a wonderful time tonight. The horses are great, and you’re a great teacher," I said, motioning to the stables behind me. The farm and the million acres surrounding it were pitch black once the sun went down.

"Oh no, city boy, it’s not polite to let a guest go hungry. You are staying for dinner, besides all them brothers of mine will want to meet you." She grabbed my hand and took off before I could decline.
Hell, what else did I have to do other than have dinner with four protective brothers? Great.

We walked into the house, and she yelled for them to come down for dinner. I could smell the floury biscuits baking in the oven, and there was a heaping pot of gravy simmering on the stove. "Hope you like biscuits and gravy."

"Yeah, sure. I’m starving." I wasn’t.

I heard a rumbling and then one by one the boys lined up in the kitchen. They were followed by an older couple I assumed were her parents. Her parents looked weary with crinkles around their eyes and wrinkles on their hands. I reached out to shake the gentleman’s hand first. He hesitated a bit, but then gave my hand a good strong grip.

"Hello, sir, I’m Drew. It’s nice to meet you."

He only grunted in response, but her mother smacked him on the shoulder with her apple printed potholder and said, "Don’t mind him. We don’t have strangers out this way much. I’m Betty, and this is Charles. Well, you’ve met Georgia, and these are our boys—Nash, Stuart, Billy, and Garret. The boys looked younger than their sister. The oldest was maybe twenty at best and the youngest around nine years old.

I no longer felt the pang of intimidation in my chest. All the boys seemed pleasant and well mannered. Their mother asked them to set the table, and they all obeyed completing their individual job. I sat between Georgia and the oldest boy Nash. When supper was served, they said grace before digging into the food. Two heaping piles of biscuits were on each end of the table and a bowl that could have held a gallon of milk served as the gravy bowl. I had no idea what to expect when I followed suit, dumping a healthy serving size of gravy over two, large, made from scratch biscuits. They also served pieces of thick cut bacon with the meal.

"Oh my goodness," I said when I took my first bite. "Do you eat like this every day?"

His mother blushed a bit before responding, "Well, Mr . . . Drew, we are not in a habit of ordering out from way out here, so we cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner right here in this kitchen. All made from scratch and all fresh ingredients from the farm."

I was thoroughly impressed with the farm’s efficiency. They really made the "original" American dream a reality. It was comparable to camping in the wilderness; just they did it every day. After supper, Betty served a plate of apple pie, which was so delicious I burnt my tongue eating the steaming hot filling too quickly.

Georgia’s family consistently laughed and talked together, and I was envious of their relationship. My family was nowhere near this close, and I had to believe it was because of the lack of distractions out here.

I left that night with a slice of pie and a quick kiss on the cheek from Georgia. Even her father shook my hand on the way out saying I was welcome back anytime. The boys spilled out of the house, and Georgia was quick to brag about how she took my car for a ride. The boys barked about being jealous and said how cool it was. I started the engine and it roared to life pumping up the little guys even more.

Heading home that night I felt that a weight had been lifted off my spirit, but deep down I had this hole that ached in my chest. Something that wasn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

I RETURNED TO WORK
on Monday more out of boredom than anything else. I didn’t leave my office for a better part of the day. Georgia had messaged me a few times over the weekend, and I was quick to respond. She said that she would be fixing fences with her brothers all weekend, but might be available on Monday and that there would be some more of that pie.

Georgia’s bubbly personality was contagious, and I was even excited about seeing her horses again. I pushed my computer to the side and started working on the stack of potential clients. I made my way through the list and was done by lunch. I hadn’t seen Beth walk by all day, and I wondered if she was even here. I walked down the hallway and into the break room where the new vending machines had been installed. I heard the clicking of heels come in behind me.

"Oh," she said. "Hi Drew, I didn’t know you were here." Her voice sounded shocked like I had caught her off guard for showing up to work.

"Would you have come in here if you had known?" There was a bit of irritation in my voice, but only because she had gone to such drastic lengths to ignore me after what was quite possibly the best three days of my life.

"It’s not like that, Drew," she stumbled.

"Oh really? Well enlighten me." I set my newly opened bag of pretzels down and crossed my arms, waiting for the words I had deserved to hear days ago.

"It’s not that simple. I just can’t be with you . . .” She rushed out of the room and I was kicking myself for making her upset, but dammit why wouldn’t she tell me what the problem was? Had I done or said something to change her mind?

I spent the rest of the day staring at the picture of us together at the convention center. She had a smile on her face, which I longed to see again. I wanted to put that smile on her face again, but there was something going on, and I didn’t know how to fix something that she didn’t feel comfortable telling me.

My office door popped open, and I shot my head up to look at the intruder. It was Maya, the office manager, and she spilled, "I just wanted to thank you for the changes in the office. It was a breath of fresh air in the office that the employees desperately needed, and we are all thankful for your hard work."

"You’re more than welcome." I smiled.

That was probably the best thing I had heard in the last few days. I wasn’t going to get that pat on the back from my father for sure. I left my office and headed to the elevator. Just when the doors went to close a hand shot into the elevator and the doors popped open again. It was Beth.

I could see that she regretted her decision already, but she got into the elevator anyway. I could smell the sweet scent of her hair from her side of the elevator. Stopping myself from reaching out to her was like torture.

When the doors opened she shot out like a bullet, and I couldn’t resist saying, "Beth, wait!" She turned around to face me, but she was still several feet away. "Beth, you have to make me understand. What happened with us? I thought everything was good, and now you are avoiding me like the plague. I don’t understand." I was pleading with her for some answers. A tear rolled down her cheek, and I closed the distance between us wiped the tear from her face. "Beth, talk to me. Whatever it is, we can get through it."

She shook her head and said, "No, Drew, we can’t." I refused to let her walk away until I got some answers. She took a deep breath like she was ready to talk. What she said next was worse than I could have imagined. "Drew, I have a boyfriend. I can’t date you because I am already with him."

My heart leaped into my throat, and I was void of any words. "That can’t be true, Beth. Whoever he is, he can’t make you feel the way I do." She started walking towards her car, and I had to jog to keep up.

"No, Drew! I just can’t . . . I can’t be with you. Whatever happened before was a
mistake
!" Her words echoed through my heart, and I stopped in my tracks.

I didn’t move from my spot in the middle of the parking garage until another car approached and beeped their horn. I couldn’t tell you how I made it home that day, and after a few drinks, I couldn’t tell you where I was.

My mother knocked on my door again. This time I let her in. I wasn’t really the crying type, but my mom sat and listened to my problems. She didn’t comment or correct me until I was completely finished, and even then, she soothed that everything would work out in the end. She said she was very proud of me for putting myself out there and that I would make a woman very happy one day.

Even though I could have predicted that response a mile away, it still made me feel a little calmer and more at ease with the situation. I was definitely on a path to a hangover, but my mom brought me a glass of water and some aspirin. She didn’t linger. I guess she could tell I needed my space.