Romance: The Quarterback's Touch, page 40
Trent77: Oh wow, you’re like only a couple of hours from me probably.
EmilyD: Really? Where are you?
Trent77: Near Abilene.
EmilyD: Cool! Yeah, I know it.
They carried on talking for another hour before Emily began to feel sleepy and, knowing she needed to be up for work the next morning, excused herself from the conversation and went off to bed.
The whole thing had gone very well though, very well indeed. Aside from a love of the outdoors and being in the countryside, they both seemed to enjoy and appreciate similar movies, TV shows, books, and music. It was an excellent start and she couldn’t wait to talk to him again the following night.
* * * *
Trent, three hours away on his ranch, felt exactly the same way.
He even dreamt about Emily that night, and the rest of the women on his shortlist were virtually forgotten. One of them had replied to his message the following morning, but he didn’t bother getting back to her. Somewhere, deep down inside, he had already decided that Emily was the one he was going to choose. He knew it was early in the process, but things seemed to be going well between them and he was fairly sure he was going to hit that ‘order’ button and have Emily for his bride.
According to the website, the formalities of the wedding would be arranged at a later date, but initially, the chosen bride would be staying at the home of the husband for a trial period of two months. If the romance was still blossoming after that, they would go ahead and get married; if they didn’t like one another and it wasn’t going as well as they had both hoped, they would part ways and go back to their lives without any obligation to stay with one another. The best thing was, if they organized this soon, she could be with him in time for Christmas. They could spend it together instead of alone. It was what they both wanted, he was fairly sure.
All through the next day, when he was working out on the ranch, his thoughts kept wandering back to Emily, and he couldn’t wait to get back online later that evening and talk to her again. He could ask her how her day had gone; get her to tell him some things about her work at the store. She’d mentioned it briefly in their conversation the night before, but it was obviously something she wasn’t particularly interested in or proud of. It was just something she did to keep the money slowly rolling in. An ordinary nine-to-five job. That was something Trent had never needed to worry about. All of his life, he had access to money, having been born into a wealthy family and eventually inheriting it himself. He hadn’t even needed to work for what he had. Sometimes that was great. He’d never had to answer to anyone, never had to take on any menial jobs or tasks. But some of the time, he felt a massive amount of guilt. He was no different than anyone else; why did he have it easy all his life? It was part of the reason why he’d left everything behind to lead his simple, idyllic life out in the country. It just suited him better. And it was also why he wanted to know everything about Emily’s ‘boring’ job; even the parts she hated. It was fascinating to him, and he was able to imagine a life he never had, and what it might have been like for him if he’d been born into a different family.
That night, the two of them spoke again online, this time going into even more detail about their hobbies, and discussing their favourite movies. They didn’t have absolutely everything in common, which was probably for the best, and there were plenty of things Emily liked that Trent didn’t, and vice versa, but nothing major, nothing that he could foresee them falling out over in the future.
It turned out that they were both secret sci-fi nerds, something they didn’t usually share with others for fear of getting made fun of, but there were a number of movies Trent hadn’t seen that Emily had, and she seemed eager to share them with him. They were already planning nights in, watching them together with a bowl of homemade popcorn and maybe even some nachos. Emily seemed like a perfect match for him, much better than Joss had ever been. He began to wonder what he had seen in Joss in the first place.
Chapter Four
Joss Ericson was fairly sure Trent had forgotten what he used to see in her. But she remembered. She remembered everything about their relationship in its early days, and how close they had been. She remembered how he had taken her out for romantic dinners to wine and dine her, quite happy to spend his money on restaurants and meals in the name of romance, despite claiming he had no desire or need for the massive amount of cash he had in the bank. She had often wondered why he didn’t just give it all to charity if he hated it that much, but then she remembered the real reason. Secretly, deep down, he did like having the money. He liked it there as a back up, because he was enormously insecure about himself and about his own future. She sometimes felt like she knew Trent better than he knew himself. She could see right through him to all of his insecurities and fears, and that was probably what he didn’t like about her.
Was it really her fault that she’d gotten used to the intense romance and elaborate spoiling she had received in those initial days and wanted it to continue throughout the relationship? Was it her fault that she had been surprised and disappointed when he took it away, when he wanted to retreat to his ranch and stop hanging out in the city? The city was her home; it was where she’d been born and raised. She loved it and had no interest in living out in the middle of nowhere. She initially thought Trent was just going through a phase, rejecting the money he’d been born into, and acting like a kind of rebellious teenager, even though he was nearly thirty-five. She’d been certain he’d get over it, and work through this unfortunate stage. She been sure he’d get bored out in the country being a cowboy and come back to the city and start splashing his cash around again like he used to.
But he didn’t get bored.
Anything but. He started to really enjoy himself. He bought cattle and horses. He paid for improvements to be built, like a barn, a large set of stables, and more. Always working on the ranch, always wanting to improve it, always wanting to be out there in the fields and fresh air instead of inside with her, taking her out or giving any attention whatsoever to her or their romance.
They’d had things in common at the very start. Although they hadn’t really liked the same movies, they both loved David Bowie, and had a secret passion for cheesy ‘80s tunes, and for traditional old time country music; not the modern stuff they played in Nashville these days, but the old classics from the ‘40s and ‘50s.
They used to go to clubs together and dance; they had fun. But then Trent backed away from all of that. He told her he’d never really enjoyed it all that much; that he’d only done it for her, or out of some kind of societal expectation that he should enjoy and appreciate those activities. But deep down, he really just wanted a peaceful, quiet life in the country. She didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but initially, she didn’t. He would still take her out occasionally, once every couple weeks or so. He said he didn’t mind it once in a while, that then it would be more special and exciting since they hadn’t been out in ages, but Joss needed more than that. She was bored and itching to get out.
That was when they began to drift apart.
Joss could feel it happening before Trent could, and in the end, she was the one who ended it. Trent had seemed surprised, upset even. He’d begged her to stay; he’d even cried, which she never would have expected. He hadn’t seemed like the emotional type. Perhaps that was just something else on the long list of things she apparently didn’t know about him. And that was just the thing about Trent. Sometimes she felt as though she knew him better than anyone, and other times she felt as though she didn’t know him at all.
Still, occasionally she felt sad over what they had shared and lost and, having remained single, wondered whether there might ever be a chance of reigniting his feelings and getting things back to the way they were. Perhaps she had been too hasty in her decision to leave him.
Her mind fluctuated back and forth, ruminating over it. Some days she hated him and wanted no part of him in her life. She wanted to move on and find someone new. Other days, she wasn’t so sure.
In the end, it was events beyond her control that made the decision for her.
Chapter Five
The days were whizzing by for Emily now. She no longer dreaded getting up in the morning and going to work. She no longer felt that tightness in her chest, that heaviness weighing her down and clouding her thoughts. She felt lighter, freer… happier. She looked forward to waking up and to the hours she would spend with Trent online. It hadn’t taken them very long to break out of the confines of talking purely on the website to swapping phone numbers. Then, she was even texting him when she got up each day, before she went to work; just to say ‘good morning’ and wish him well. He always replied within a few seconds, and she would invariably get in the car with a smile on her face, humming along to the radio without a care in the world.
Her workmates at the store noticed the difference in her within the first few days.
“What’s his name?”
“What’s he like?”
“Is he good looking?”
“You must be in love.”
“You look so healthy these days!”
They passed comments, teased her, and made her blush, but she could hardly deny it. It was true. She was feeling a lot better, and she was falling for him.
He started texting her on her lunch breaks too, just little, short messages, nothing exciting, but it was enough to set her heart fluttering and give her a warm sensation in her stomach. She hadn’t felt like this in a very long time.
Every evening, she would go home and log on so they could talk and, after five days of doing that every single night, they eventually switched from instant messaging to Skype.
The first time she saw him ‘in person,’ moving and speaking on her computer screen, she almost squealed with excitement, feeling like a nervous teenager on a first date.
His voice was everything she had imagined it to be. Deep and resonate, vibrating through her tiny speakers, sending shivers up and down her body. His dark blue eyes looked even more mysterious and beautiful that the photos; and his hair was even brighter and blonder. She couldn’t wait to meet him face to face; to be able to touch him, kiss him, and hold him. She was already too far gone down this path to back out, and she hoped the feeling was mutual.
After ten days of being in near constant communication, she began to wonder when he would finally hit that button and ‘order’ her as his bride. She even started to have moments where she doubted the entire thing. Perhaps Trent wasn’t that into her after all. Was he just stringing her along, teasing her and playing her? Why hadn’t he ordered her yet? What was he waiting for?
* * * *
In truth, Trent was just an old romantic at heart and there was a part of him that was worried about offending or upsetting Emily. He didn’t want her to think he was only interested in one thing; that he wanted to get her over to his ranch so he could shove her into his bed and make love to her all night, although God only knew he had been thinking about doing that with increasing frequency over the past ten days. He wanted her to know that he was definitely interested, that this wasn’t going to be a short fling after which he would send her back once the trial period was over. He wanted a long-term relationship and was in this for the long haul. He tried to show her that through his small romantic gestures; by taking their relationship nice and slowly, building it up bit by bit, talking to her, flirting with her, and resisting the temptation to dive in straight away.
Eventually though, that temptation became too great to resist.
Aside from that, Christmas was only two days away.
Emily had already confided in him that she’d only gone ahead and signed up on the website because she couldn’t stand the thought of another Christmas alone. For a brief moment he wondered whether she would leave him as soon as Christmas was over; going back to her simpler single life without having to answer to or share anything with anyone, but he tried to push those concerns away and put his trust in her.
She had been married for many years. She had also told him that much, although the details about her husband’s departure were yet to be shared, and he wasn’t going to push her for them. He got the impression that it was something very painful and that she still found difficult to talk about. He could understand and respect that.
Trent didn’t want to spend Christmas alone either, and so, the day before Christmas Eve, he hit the button. He paid for the service and the arrangements were made, and Emily finally got an e-mail from the website saying that someone wanted her.
As she opened it up while at work in the store, she prayed and hoped to God that the ‘someone’ was Trent, giving a small squeal right when she saw that it was.
“I’m going to Trent’s for Christmas!” she cried, flinging her arms around Molly, her closest colleague at work.
The older lady of forty-five had been incredibly sceptical about the whole thing at first, especially when Emily had explained the nature of the website, but the more she’d talked about Trent and the nightly conversations they were sharing, the more she began to relax, especially when she saw the positive change it was making in Emily.
“Oooh, sweetie, that’s great news!” she said, hugging her back, then chuckling, “Let’s just hope he’s not a psycho, after all.”
That had been Molly’s main concern, although Emily had assured her that everyone met people on the internet these days, and that online dating had become very popular. She explained that it was perfectly normal and safe as long as you took appropriate precautions; and besides, this was all done through a website service that you had to pay for, and the profiles were vetted beforehand.
Aside from that, she had spoken and Skyped with Trent on several occasions. She knew he was for real, and she knew that what they had shared together was for real too. She just hoped it would translate outside of the realm of the internet, and that they would still feel as strongly about each other after they’d spent two months in each other’s company. She hoped they would feel even stronger, and that their love would have developed and grown.
In the meantime, she was just focused on getting through Christmas.
It was a stressful time of year for her anyway, because of everything that had happened with Harry. If she got through Christmas, she’d probably be able to get through the rest of the two months, but she understood that there was no pressure for her to stay. If things didn’t work out between them, she would just leave and go back home. Still, she was really, really hoping and praying that it would. Her feelings for him had grown rapidly and she desperately wanted this to work out.
Thankfully, Trent was of the same mindset, so the two of them were equally nervous the following day when Emily was due to arrive at Trent’s ranch for the first time.
She was driving over, and had told him she’d be arriving by noon. He’d offered to make her some lunch which she was looking forward to, and wondered what his cooking would be like. He had told her it would be nothing special, but she thought he was probably just being modest.
Trent waited anxiously on the porch, checking his watch every couple of minutes. It was like being on a first date. Although they had met and spoken to one another online on multiple occasions, this was different. It was exciting and new, and Trent felt a thrill of adrenalin he normally only got from riding horses at a fast gallop, and smiled at the thought as he waited for his future bride to arrive.
He saw the car in the distance when she was over a quarter of a mile away.
That was one of the beauties of living out in the middle of nowhere. No neighbors. Nothing but field as far as the eye could see. And he could always spot people approaching, although visitors were a rare occurrence these days.
He waved at the car as it got nearer, just to let her know in advance that she’d definitely come to the right place. Those GPS systems could be damn confusing, which he knew from experience. He thought he saw her waving back but he wasn’t sure.
Closer and closer the car came, until he could actually see her at the wheel. His heart fluttered madly. What would it be like to meet her face to face? Would they get on okay? Would they share the same chemistry they’d had online or would things be different? He was incredibly nervous.
Chapter Six
The drive over to Trent’s hadn’t been too bad for Emily, although she’d spent most of it working herself up into quite a state. Nervous about how things would pan out between the two of them, she was unaware that her fears were a perfect match to the equally anxious man she was driving to meet.
She had packed up all of the clothes and belongings she would need for the next two months, which surprisingly enough, hadn’t been that hard. She’d never been one for possessions and normally just chose the first thing out of the closet to throw on each morning. Fashion definitely wasn’t her strong point, and it didn’t bother her in the least.
She’d also bought Trent a Christmas present, of course. From their chats over the past ten days, she had a good idea of the type of things he liked, but she didn’t know which DVDs, albums and books he already had in his collection. She wouldn’t know until she got there and was able to peruse his shelves at her leisure. As a result, she went for a simple gift and bought him a new plaid shirt, neatly folded and already wrapped. It currently sat on the backseat of the car along with the card she had written for him.
She saw him waving and waved back, somewhat tentatively.
Her heart was beating loudly in her chest as she pulled up into the driveway, put the car into park and switched off the engine.
He strolled up to the door with his hands in his pockets, looking just as nervous as she felt.
She opened the door and got out, a small smile on her face.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he smiled back and sort of shrugged his shoulders, a lock of his curly blonde hair falling down over his eyes. He brushed it back with one hand as he stepped forward to greet her, leaning in to give her a little kiss on the cheek and a one armed hug. “Welcome…”
