Desert Rose, page 9
She had lost track of time trying to finish her art piece for Trystan. But then, a knock on the door made her jump and look at the clock. It was almost 8 pm; Trystan stood behind the glass door, sunflowers in hand.
“You can come in, Cowboy.” Meagan smiled, taking the sunflowers from him.
Trystan walked in to reveal the painting of her ring with his kilt colors and sunflowers. Trystan took her hand in his and lifted it to kiss it.
“I love it,” Trystan said in awe.
“We can move into the house tomorrow; it is still drying.”
“I love you. I want it to be the first thing people see coming into our house.”
They walked out, and Meagan locked the room up for the night before walking back up to the house with all the lights on for her. Meagan looked over to see the horses out. The night air was warm; Trystan was watching her in the moonlight.
“Meagan, I’m so happy.”
“Me too, Cowboy.”
As Trystan closed the doors for the night, Meagan walked up to her room for a long hot bath. But instead, Meagan opened the bathroom to find a basket full of different oils and candles and two bath bombs and notes.
Two months ago, you signed papers to co-own Meadows Run with me. So tonight, I want you to have the best bath to celebrate after all your hard work.
Love your Cowboy
I Run To You
Since Kate was on vacation, Meagan and Robin had taken over the bookkeeping for the run. In her spare time, Meagan had also helped Trystan with halter training on Dawson, Beauty, Willow, Wick, and Rudy, the baby horses. Finally, Meagan took Dawson for his first big walk around the outside of the run. Meagan was proud to be able to guide him. She smiled and waved at Trystan as he beamed at her from the show horse barn.
“Cowboy, he is doing so good.”
“That’s good! I’m so proud of you.”
Meagan stopped and let Dawson eat some of the grass. The wind whipped through the hills and trees, and she though, for a moment, she heard someone calling her name. Meagan turned to the show horse barn, pushing her red curls out of her eyes, “Trystan?” She called out. There was no response. Meagan turned back to pet the fur at the top of Dawson’s head, and for a moment, out of the corner of her eye, she could’ve sworn she saw a tall person tipping her hat at her.
Meagan jumped, turning, looking for where the figure could’ve gone. But there was none. She was alone with Dawson. For a moment, she was scared, but that feeling subsided, and she felt oddly relaxed and comforted for the rest of the walk.
After Meagan put Dawson away, Trystan walked over to Beauty to put her away.
“Cowgirl, I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Trystan ran over, picked her up, and took her into the house.
“Put me down.” She giggled as she pretended to fight back.
Trystan got her over to the kitchen counter and put her on it. Trystan kissed her and moved away from her, and he went to the fridge. Meagan hopped down from the counter, went behind him, and started unsettling his shirt. Finally, he got out some strawberries and put one in her mouth. Meagan ate the strawberry, then licked at his fingertips, and walked away.
“So, you want to play?” Trystan said with fire in his eyes.
“Maybe.” Megan cooed as she took off his shirt and ran her hand down his chest to his jeans.
He moved his arms around, picked her up, and took her to his room to have his way with her.
Afternoon delight was what they had with each other. Meagan was out in her art room finishing up the new sign for the Meadows Run. She yawned, pushing through her exhaustion to hopefully sing before having to sleep. Meagan could feel a warmth around her shoulders. She thought for a moment about her grandmother and how much she loved to paint, just like Meagan did.
Meagan yawned again, stretching her spine, and scratching her back with the dry end of her paintbrush.
“You are just like me.” A warm, honey like voice cooed from behind her.
Meagan rubbed her eyes, not questioning the voice, “An artist?”
“A wonderful artist.” The voice cooed behind her ear. For moment she could’ve sworn she felt two warm arms wrap around her shoulders in an embrace.
“Wow, Cowgirl, that painting is breathtaking,” Trystan said as he walked into the room. “Meagan, what is it?”
Meagan wiped the sleepy tears out of her eyes, “I think my mom was here.”
Trystan kept her in his arms till she stopped crying. Meagan kissed Trystan's chin. “Thank you.”
They put the painting on the wall facing the front door and a part facing the barn entrance. Meagan was getting the last of her stuff out of her tiny house to get her high school yearbook and the memories of teenage Trystan. She couldn’t believe she was now living with him and soon to be his wife. She got the boxes of books and took them back in the house to see Trystan looking over the paperwork.
“Trystan, we need to talk about picking a date.”
Meagan put the boxes on the table and sat down next to him.
“Well, are you thinking about it?”
“I want to wait to get married till after summer horse camp.”
“So sometime next year?”
“October 28th?”
“Love it, that was my Grandparent’s wedding date. Wait, this October or next October?”
“This October 28th”
Trystan got up and pulled her into a hug and kiss. “We will have to plan quickly, but let’s do it!”
Neon Moon
After receiving a long apology from Erica over text message, Meagan agreed that they could continue to do business on the condition that Erica would not talk to Trystan or misbehave. “After all,” Meagan said, “If she keeps buying horses to get close to you, we will have a perfect business model.”
Erica showed up in high style in one best horse trailers on the market, and a gigantic pink decal was wrapped on the side. Meagan hopped outside to meet Erica.
“Good morning, Erica.” Meagan said with hesitation in her voice.
Erica reached into the passenger side of her car and pulled out a bouquet of Carnations, “Here, I wanted to bring these as an apology for the other day. My boyfriend doesn’t know I came over here after our fight, do you mind not mentioning it?”
Megan held the flowers and squinted at Erica.
“What!? I’ll be good, I pinkie promise.” Erica stressed, “Look, I even brought you a Starbucks gift card.”
Meagan rolled her eyes, “It’s going to take a lot more than flowers and coffee to get me to like you.”
“I know,” Erica shrugged, “But it’s a nice start, isn’t it?”
Trystan stepped cautiously out of the barn and waved to Erica. Erica gave a sheepish wave back before looking at Meagan, “Do you have my horses ready?”
“I do.” Meagan said, “They’re all bathed and ready to go.”
“Sure,” Erica sighed, “My boyfriend is right behind me; he’s going to help you guys load them up. This way I don’t have to go in the trailer with Trystan.”
Meagan nodded, “Do you want to sit on the porch while the boys load everything up?”
“That would be nice,” Erica said with a sheepish smile.
A beat-up black truck rode down the dirt road, kicking a cloud of dust up behind it. “I’m guessing this is the boyfriend?” Meagan asked.
“Yes! He actually is really nice, and we just got into a fight last week.” Erica said, trying to convince Meagan, “We’re like fire and ice, you know?”
Meagan nodded, acknowledging but not agreeing. She didn’t understand couples who enjoyed fighting in their relationships.
The truck pulled up directly next to Erica’s range rover. What came out was a tall, lanky man with a faded baseball cap. His icy blue eyes turned and pierced Meagan’s. Her heart sank into her stomach. Meagan knew that face anywhere. She was terrified to recognize the face of Shane looking her right in the eyes. She looked away for a second, but it was futile; he had seen her. Shane saw her; he knew where she was, he knew where she lived, he knew everything. Would this be like her senior year of college all over again? Hiding from a maniac? It couldn’t be, she was finally happy again, she was finally painting again, Shane couldn’t take that away from her again.
“Shane, it’s been a long time,” Trystan said, shaking Shane’s dusty hand.
Shane shook Trystan’s hand but failed to break eye contact with Meagan. “It’s been a while Trystan, Meadows Run looks great.”
“Thanks,” Trystan spoke with distain in his voice, “I see you’ve been dating Erica, how long have you guys been together?”
“About a month and half.” Erica smiled, “We met at the Diner next to Meagan’s dad’s feed store.”
Shane gave Trystan a fuck you look like Meagan had never seen before. Meagan, unsure what to do or where to stand, backed behind Erica, who glanced, confused.
“Yeah,” Shane gave a grin that sent chills down Meagan’s spine, “I saw her coming out while I was having breakfast and invited her to have lunch with me.”
“Erica,” Meagan piped up, taking another step away from Shane, “if he is your horse trainer, there is no deal.”
“What? What do you mean?” Erica went to her truck, got the paperwork, and handed it to Meagan. “There isn’t anything in the contract that says anything about the trainer we have.”
Shane walked over to Trystan and faced him.
“She’s just upset because we used to date.” Shane smiled wickedly, “Your hot little chick-a-dee here just doesn’t want to work with me.”
“Hey, wait! That’s not fair!” Erica shouted before Meagan could get a word in edgewise, “If I can work with my ex, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from working with yours.”
“I am no chick-a-dee, Shane, and you can leave now and never come back. Erica, if you want the horses, you need to get another horse trainer.” Meagan demanded.
“Trystan,” Erica said, “She can’t do this, can she?”
“And I told you.” Meagan began to shout, “Do. Not. Talk. To. My. Man.”
“Meagan,” Trystan said, putting his hand on her shoulder, “Why don’t you.”
“No!” Meagan shouted at Trystan and built all the courage she could, stampeding towards Shane with her finger outpointed, “You need to get off my property right now and never come back. You are not welcome in my home, so get out before I throw you out.”
Trystan stood there and watched Meagan hand Shane his balls. Shane put his ds up in defeat, “Fine, I’m going.” He shrugged before turning to Trystan, “You need to put a leash on your bitch, she’s crazy.”
“I said get out!” Meagan shouted as Trystan grabbed her by the shoulders and directed her in house. “I don’t need you to walk me home, I can do it.” She snarled at Trystan before flipping Shane off and slamming the front door at him.
Meagan needed to cool off, so she took the back door and walked up to Lilly Cottage. Jenny was outside working on the little garden.
“Meagan, what’s wrong?” Jenny said as Meagan collapsed into her arms, “How was the Erica thing?” Jenny asked.
“Shane found me.” She sobbed, “He’s dating Erica, and he found me, and I don’t know what to do.”
Jenny paused, grabbing her gardening tools and rushing Meagan into the house, “Hold on, hold on, what happened?”
“Shane is dating Erica. He’s pretending to be a horse trainer her, and I had to use my big voice on him.” Meagan said.
“A horse trainer?” Jenny asked, taking Meagan into her house, “That guy can’t even ride a bike. Wait, your big girl voice? I bet he ran off.”
Meagan sat down on the ground and put her hand on her face. Jenny watched her friend fight with the demons inside herself.
“Have you told Trystan about what happened with Shane?” Jenny asked.
“No. Trystan doesn’t know.” Meagan said.
Meagan got up and hugged her best friend. “We can talk to him together if you want.”
Trystan was understandably confused at Meagan’s reaction. Once Shane was gone, he helped Erica load up the horses. She stayed quiet the entire time, only answering with a short “yes” or “no”. Trystan waved to her Pink Range Rover as she drove off.
Just A Kiss
It was the start of July. Harper was reaching the six months mark of her pregnancy, and Jenny wanted her to stay home instead of working all the time, so she helped Meagan plan her and Trystan's wedding for the end of October. Trystan had not had so much happiness with a person in an exceptionally long time.
On the first day of the horses’ summer camp, Trystan was on Max's horse ring. Meagan and Jenny completed the paperwork and began to help with the kids. Jenny was a natural, of course, especially considering that many of her school students had come. All the kids sat in the stands with Kate and Justin. Harper stayed up in the house working on lunch for everyone.
Meagan started with a group of kids and showed them how to groom Poppy. Trystan led a group of kids on how to ride Max. Some of the parents stayed to be part of the camp. Kate and Justin had a group of older kids help them clean out some of the stalls.
By lunchtime, Meagan and Trystan had got both their group together. Jenny and her group went up to help Harper with the food and set up. Justin and Trystan had set up all the tables outside the night before under the big oak tree.
“Mrs. Otten, are you and Miss Harper having twins? One of Jenny's students asked.
“Yes, a boy and a girl; we are due in December,” Jenny said, looking over at Harper.
Harper walked over to Jenny as Meagan passed over to get some food. One of the little girls looked up at Harper’s growing belly. “Mrs. Otten, do you have names for the babies?” Jenny student asked.
“Yeah, what names have you picked out?” Meagan asked.
Harper and Jenny looked at each other as Trystan shouted, “Name them Trystan and Trystan!” across the riding ring.
“Should we tell them, Jenny?” Harper said.
“I think we should. For the boy, the name is Jessie.” Jenny said, handing Harper a hand.
“And the girl Heidi,” Harper said.
They all sat and ate lunch.
The horse campers, one by one, went home. Meagan and Trystan stayed out with the horses for some quiet time with each other. They sat in the stands and were proud of their starting together.
“Hunter and Meadow would have loved today, and you. I love you, cowgirl.” Trystan said
“I love you too, cowboy,” Meagan said, watching all the kids leave for the day.
The ghost of Hunter sat next to Meagan and mouthed Thank you.
Meagan finished feeding and closing some of the horses in for the night. Meagan was the first in the kitchen with Harper.
“Meagan!” Harper shouted, “come here. The babies are kicking.”
She walked over to her and put her hands on Harper's belly. Meagan could feel a slight push on her hand.
“This is so cool,” Meagan said, laughing.
Jenny and Trystan walked in to see their loves. Meagan grabbed the food and went over to the table.
“Harper, are you ready to go home?” Jenny asked.
“I am. See you guys tomorrow.” Harper said with a smile and a sleepy look on her face.
Jenny got their food and went to the cart, and Harper drove them home for the night.
Trystan closed the house for the night. Meagan went to her room and started up a bath for herself. Trystan came into her room.
“Meagan, can I join you?”
She stepped out of the bathroom with nothing on. Trystan watched her wide-eyed as she took his hand and brought him to the tub. Pulling his shirt over his head, she stepped into the tub. Trystan took his boots off and everything else and got into the tub. The warm water felt amazing on their skin. Trystan pulled Meagan onto him and started to massage her shoulder and kiss her neck. Meagan melted into his touch. Meagan moved around to face him and the waves they made together.
When I See You Smile
After shopping for her wedding dress, Meagan and Jenny returned to Meadows Run around lunch. Meagan drove her truck up to Lilly Cottage to drop Jenny off.
“Thank you, Jenny.”
Meagan got into the house to hide her dress before Trystan got back from feeding the horses. Meagan looked at her dress one more time before she closed the closet.
Fresh sunflowers were on the table, and lunch was all set up for her and Trystan with one glass of red wine. Meagan sat at the table and waited for him to sit down before eating lunch. Trystan set a glass on the table and kissed her cheek.
“How was your morning out with Jenny?”
Meagan smiled at him and used her fork to move her food around the plate. Trystan put his hand on her leg and had the I missed your eyes at her.
“Jenny and I got some baby shower stuff.”
“Did auntie Meagan go overboard again?” Trystan laughed.
“No such thing. We did pass by a bridal boutique. You know I saw a dress.”
“You did? Did you get it?”
“Yes, I got the dress, and you will love it.”
Trystan gave a huge smile, “I’m sure I will, you look beautiful in everything.”
After lunch, Trystan suggested watching an afternoon movie before Alice was supposed to stop by for dinner. They cuddled in the TV room and watched one of Meagan's favorite movies, Mannequin, which had Trystan’s favorite love song, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.
Meagan asked her mother over to see the dress. Because Kate and Justin came over for work. Trystan had Justin help him clean all stalls. Then, Moonstone came over to help Trystan work on something for Meagan and his wedding day.
Alice walked in, greeting Kate before entering the kitchen to see Meagan sitting at her laptop. Kate went to her office, and Alice sat next to Meagan.
“Hey, mom. Do you want to see the dress?”
