Hidden Falls Read Free

day.  I wanted to slap each and
every one of them.  Did they not realize what Roxie was going through? No, they
only focused on what they were feeling.  She tried to act as if it
didn’t bother her, but I knew it had.  She had no idea what she was doing,
running the farm, but she was determined to make a go of it.
    Now, with her parents
here, I feared the worst.  No one spoke about it, but it was there, in the back
of our minds.  Would she stay?  Would her parents drag her back, kicking and
screaming?  She was 18 now, but if they pulled the financial plug, she would be
in trouble.  The farm was never a real money maker, but it allowed Betty to
live a comfortable life. 
    The ringing of the phone
pulled me from my thoughts.  I picked it up and placed it against my ear. 
“This is Katy.”
    “Hey, has Brian made it
there yet?” Chase.  Of course it was Chase.  He was always checking up on his
brother, even though he was officially a grown man.
    “He’s in the stalls. 
What’s up?” I leaned back in the chair, easing my feet up on the corner of the
desk. 
    “Just wanted to make sure
he didn’t bail.  He...umm...yeah.  Okay, gotta go!”
    I shook my head and placed
the phone back on its cradle.  I walked over to the door, prepared to pull it
open, when I heard Brian’s voice through the door.  He sounded like he was
talking to someone, obviously on the phone since we were the only ones in the
barn.  I was immediately intrigued.  I had always been nosey, but this took the
cake.
    I cracked the door enough
to let his voice filter through.  Irritation thick in his voice, Brian all but growled
into the phone, “Back off, Chase.  Let me handle my own problems.  I’ll talk to
her when I’m good and damn ready!”
    I leaned away from the
opening and gently closed the door again.  I couldn’t contain my curiosity.  Who
were they talking about?  Obviously he was having problems with some girl and
Chase was harping on him, like usual.    I wanted to walk out there and find
out who he was talking about, but I knew it wasn’t my place to do so.  Brian
and I had never been close, at least not like Chase and I were.  Even though we
were closer in age, we were complete opposites.  Plus, he didn’t make my blood
boil in a good way like Chase had. 
    When I saw the delivery
truck full of hay pull into the yard, I moved to leave the office.  I had to
meet them to check out the inventory before it was unloaded, so I grabbed the
clipboard from the wall before I walked out door.  Once outside I was met with spectacle
that would make any woman sit up and beg.  There, clad in jean overalls,
looking like the epitome of sex-on-a-stick, stood Skylar Wells.
    “Well, well, if it isn’t
Kitty Kat in the flesh,” he said with a charming grin.  I swear the temperature
went up a couple of degree because I practically melted right there in the
grass.
    “Hey Sky.  How’s it
going?” I tried to be nonchalant, but the unmistakable quiver in my voice
couldn’t be hidden. 
    “Same shit different day,
I guess,” he shrugged.  “I’ve got a delivery for Roxie Lynn.  Is she here?”
    “Nope, just me.  I’m
handling things for her for the next few weeks.”
    “So that means I’ll get to
see that gorgeous smile every other day?  I think I can live with that,” he
replied, his perfectly straight teeth a dazzling shade of white.  If I stared
at them any longer I would have go blind!
    I giggled in response,
unsure what to say to something like that.  No one had ever said anything about me was gorgeous.  This was a first.  I couldn’t hide the cat-swallowed-the-canary
grin on my face either.  For the first time since I agreed to help on the farm,
I thought I might enjoy being here.
     

 
     
    Chapter Four
    Brian
     
    Watching Katy flirting
with Skylar was definitely not the high point of my day.  Her smile said it
all.  She liked him, probably more than she liked me.  Well, that was