Unexpected Love

Wes splashed cool water across his face and hung his head over the sink, washing away the dark memories of his past. It had been a long time since nightmares had haunted him like this and being revisited by them was hardly a good sign. 1

Turning from the sink Wes grabbed a towel hanging behind him and dragged it across his face. He knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep and left the bathroom in search for the time. 2

His Digital clock beside his bed stared back at him and the time read 3:30 a.m. “Damn it,” He murmured. He shouldn’t have been awake this early. 3

In frustration Wes pulled on a pair of his well worn blue jeans and threw a shirt over his head. He exited his bedroom and took the narrow staircase downward to the first level of the house. 4

He flipped the small overhead light on in the kitchen and then immediately rummaged throughout the tiny cupboards for some coffee filters. 5

The small house he lived in was quaint, to say the least, but he enjoyed that about the place. There was a lot of history here, and it was built on the far side of the Harrison’s land, which was perfect for him. It meant seclusion. 6

While the coffee brewed he leaned against the counter and peered out into the still dark morning; Well mostly dark. He wasn’t expecting to see a light on in the main Harrison’s house. 7

Ally Harrison was the only one in her family that still lived there and he admired her for it. While he still had much to learn about her, he knew her family history pretty well. 8

No one else really stuck around, all of her three brothers went off to the city for various reasons and when their father passed on, Ally was determined to keep the place running. And boy did she do that. 9

Even the neighboring towns and cities talked of how she brought the old horse ranch back to life. He knew that Ally didn’t see it that way, but he sure did and so did many other residents around the area.10

“What are you doing up so early,” Wes asked out loud, pondering why in hell anyone would be awake at this ungodly hour, and decided his coffee could wait. 11

Grabbing his coat to keep the bite of early morning off his skin, Wes left his house and headed over. The woman could handle herself, by all means, but he still felt the need to watch over her. 12

When he reached the door he knocked three times and took a step back, waiting. She didn’t answer right away. “Ally!” Wes knocked on the door again, but this time, with a little bit more urgency. 13

No response. This was so unlike her.14

“I’m coming!” her voice called out of the silence, and although he felt better hearing her voice he was concerned by the distress he heard behind it. “Just hold on,” she started to say, but a loud crash inside engulfed her voice. 15

Wes didn’t need any more of an invitation.16

He was in the door and following the sound of Ally’s cries in a matter of seconds. “Ally!” He heard her moan in pain and sprinted down the hallway. “Oh Ally,” he murmured when he found her disoriented and trying to pick up pieces of a vase she knocked down. 17

“Everything is fine,” she slurred out, still frantically trying to pick up the pieces of glass.18

“Leave this, I’ll pick it up--,” Wes kneeled down beside her. 19

“No, it’s my mess--,” he heard the tears in her voice and grew more concerned. 20

“You’re going to cut yourself,” Wes said quietly and without confirmation, grabbed onto her wrists and tried to sit her back away from the shards. She immediately started to fight him, “Ally, stop. Ally—Ally, stop it! You’ll hurt yourself, Goddamn it--,” she ripped her hands away from him then and lost her balance, falling down onto the spread of porscelyn shards. Immediately she cried out and blood started to seep onto her linoleum floor. 21

“Damn it, Ally,” Wes ground out and scooped her off the floor in one fluid motion and set her down on the kitchen counter beside the sink. It was then he noticed the large whiskey bottle that was more than half-way gone. “What the hell is this?” he asked, already grabbing a wash cloth and running it under the faucet. 22

“I had to drink tonight,” she said quietly. 23

“Ally, I’ve never seen you like this before.” Wes began to wipe away the blood on her fingers carefully, and was relieved to see that it wasn’t too deep and stitches weren’t needed. 24

“Yeah well, give me a break,” her head bobbled backwards and slammed into the cabinets behind her. Her free hand immediately went up and held onto the back of her head, “Did I just hit my head?” she asked. Wes didn’t bother to answer her and continued working on her hand. 25

“Where’s some rubbing alcohol? I need to clean out this cut,” Wes asked and Ally weakly pointed at a lower cabinet in the corner of the kitchen. “Okay, now don’t move.”26

Luckily she didn’t and Wes was back in seconds, beginning to rub the alcohol into her cut. “So why did you have to drink tonight, Ally?”27

“My ex husband is getting married,” she said quietly but he saw a spark of her old self in there too. “Had the gall to invite me to the damn wedding and talked about how much better she is to him than I ever was.”28

“Whoa, he said that to you?” Wes couldn’t stop the anger he suddenly felt. Her ex was a scum bag- - he knew that before he was even hired. Talk of the town was that he used her for her money and then gambled it away on booze and women. 29

Ally being the self dependent woman she had to be, finally had enough of the bastard and signed for a divorce. Of course lost a good chunk of her money through the ordeal but she pulled through. 30

Ally nodded and stared off dazedly. “I’m not heartbroken anymore,” she said, “That’s not what this is about.” Wes wasn’t sure he believed her but he nodded to her like he did. “I’m downright pissed with myself. I can’t really blame him; the bastard is who he is.” She dragged her free hand through her hair. “But I should have seen it. I should have known.”31

“The man is a scumbag,” Wes said, “He probably has played hundreds of women before you. It’s what he’s good at.” 32

“But I’m different! I’m not like most women. I run my own damn ranch – you’d think I’d be immune to men like that!” She ripped her hand away from Wes and started to push herself off the counter; Which, Wes could tell, was not a smart idea for a woman as drunk as her. 33

“Hold up,” he said, wrapping his arm around her middle. “I’m not done with your hand yet.”34

That was when Ally seemed to realize her hand was bleeding for the first time. “How did that happen?”35

“You broke your vase,” Wes said without mincing words. 36

“Oh,” Ally said and didn’t seem all that concerned. “You don’t have to be here. I can take care of myself.”37

“Most people would believe that,” Wes said. “But I don’t.”38

“Why not?” Ally asked. 39

“I’ll tell you later,” Wes said and scooped her slim figure into his arms. “Where is your bedroom?”40

“Up stairs,” she said and already settled her head against his shoulder. He couldn’t deny that he liked how that felt, but he quickly stopped his thoughts down that path and focused on getting her up to bed. 41

He peeled back her covers and laid her down against the soft sheets and downy pillows. She was already asleep, and Wes could not help but notice how soft and feminine her features were. She was a beautiful woman; any man would notice it and appreciate it. But the last five months she had been his boss, and he had watched her constantly work hard and run the ranch. 42

During the day he never received the privilege of witnessing her as being the soft, luscious woman she truly was underneath the blue jeans, boots, button up shirts, and the expensive cowgirl hat that kept the sun out of her eyes. 43

Careful not to go overboard, Wes gently brushed a lock of blonde hair off of her face and felt the feathery softness of her cheek. “Goodnight, Ally,” Wes murmured before quietly retreating downstairs to clean up the broken vase. By the time that tedious chore was done, Wes checked the time. 44

It was five a.m. This is going to be a long day, Wes thought and decided to go back for his coffee. 45

~~~~~~~~46

Ally awoke feeling groggy and disoriented, with a pounding headache beginning to surface. For a moment she didn’t realize where she was, or what day it was either and rolled over to face her bedside clock. 47

“Eleven o’clock!?” Ally immediately threw back her covers and stumbled out of bed. She always gets up by 5:30—always. “Goddamn it!” She whispered and turned to her closet to get dressed for the day. That was when she realized she was still in her clothes from the night before. 48

She could hardly remember anything. She knew she had been drinking, she could taste the bitterness of alcohol that lingered, but she wasn’t sure when she started or how late she’d been up. She didn’t even remember putting herself to bed. 49

Stripping off her clothes in a fluid motion, Ally made a b-line for the bathroom that merged with the master bedroom and climbed into the shower. Knowing she had to get outside, Ally took a two minute shower, threw her wet blonde hair up in a pony-tail, and was dressed and exiting her house within ten minutes. 50

The first thing Ally noticed was how bright it was outside and her head pounded in pain. She almost retreated back inside to take some Asprin or something but decided against it. She headed over to the first barn and found Wes mucking out Calli’s stall. 51

He didn’t look at her but seemed to have sensed her presence. “Good morning,” he said over his shoulder. “I almost went to wake you up, you have client coming in about an hour.”52

Ally crossed her arms and considered what he said. “I should have been up hours ago.”53

“Yeah, under normal circumstances,” Wes momentarily put aside the rake he was using and turned to face her. “Let me ask you something, what do you remember of last night?”54

Something about how he asked quickened Ally’s pulse in fear. Did she and Wes--? She pushed the thought out of her mind and tried to remember exactly what she did after her ex had called. “Ah—Well, actually--,”55

“Actually you have no clue,” Wes concluded and leaned against the wall between two of the stalls. Ally noticed a hint of something in his eyes, like he knew something she did not. 56

“What?” Ally asked, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “What am I missing?”57

“I had trouble sleeping and was awake at 3:30. And interestingly enough your kitchen light was on.” Wes shrugged his big shoulders and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. “I was concerned, went to see if you were okay, and found you completely drunk and trying to clean up a vase you knocked over.”58

Ally tried to remember breaking one of her vases and only received bits and pieces of her memory that didn’t quite make sense. “My ex called,” she said, as if that explained everything, “I was pissed.”59

“Yeah,” Wes said, picking up the rake once again and continuing to muck out the stalls. “I believe you mentioned that.” He continued and then added, “Something about him getting married again, right?”60

Ally’s back immediately straightened and she sent him a look of shock with a bit of underlying anger. “What else happened last night?”61

Wes couldn’t believe what she was accusing him of; sure the two of them had kept their relationship at a strictly business level, but that didn’t mean she knew him so little she would think he would take advantage of her. “Oh I don’t know, I guess I took you upstairs and had my way with you too.” He slammed the rake against the stall door and side stepped passed her. “Come on, Ally. Your bloody clothes were still on!”62

He stalked off out of the barn and Ally felt her headache start to pound even worse. “Okay,” she murmured, “Time for some Aspirin.” 63

She also felt downright terrible. She had no right to accuse him of anything; he had been the best hand she’d hired since she’d brought the ranch back to life. 64

The truth was, she just didn’t feel comfortable having him see her so vulnerable, especially not being able to remember much at all. She decided after she met with her client she would go and talk to him. 65

~~~~~~~66

“You’re sure you can train him, Ms. Harrison?” The owner looked dubious, but Ally had gotten used to skepticism from her customers. She’d had to prove herself to every one of them, and in the end always did. “He’s a hassle,” the owner went on. And as if to back him up, the horse whinnied and stomped violently inside the stall they had managed to place him in. 67

“Mr. Tinsel,” Ally said as calmly as she could, “You would not have brought him to me if you didn’t think I could train him.”68

That seemed to have shut her customer up and after a few more minutes of talking about the wellbeing of the horse, and the cost, Mr. Tinsel climbed into his pickup truck and took his leave. 69

Ally watched him pull out of her gravel drive way and then walked into the second barn to check on the horses. Wes was in there, cleaning out Tammy’s Horse shoe. “Wes,” she said, walking up to the outside of Tammy’s stall door. “We need to talk.”70

“Okay,” Wes said, finishing the last shoe. Once he was done, he gently let go of Tammy’s foot and rested his arms on the stall door in front of Ally. “Let’s talk.”71

“I was wrong today,” she said, and Wes could see how hard it was for her to apologize. “I should have thanked you, not accused you.” When he didn’t answer she added, “I noticed you cleaned up the mess I made when I broke the vase. You didn’t have to do that.”72

“I know,” Wes said and without thinking tipped her chin up with his finger, meeting his eyes with hers. “You can take care of yourself, right?”73

A small smile curved on her lips, “Right,” she said. 74

The air seemed to have shifted between them when they weren’t aware of it, and something that wasn’t there before, seemed to have sparked to life.75

Wes pulled away and grabbed the tools he was using to clean Tammy’s shoe. “I’m done mucking the stalls. And I don’t feed them for another hour or so,” Wes let himself out of the horse’s stall, “I think we should go for a picnic up at Bear Mountain Ridge.”76

Ally had felt the change between them and should have turned down his offer and worked on the chores she was behind on. But instead, she surprised herself. “Sure,” she said catching herself off guard, “That sounds nice.”77

Within twenty minutes they had sandwiches, drinks, and fruit packed for the short half hour ride. Wes rode his horse, Quin and Ally had her mare, Beauty. 78

“So you must have been the one that cleaned up my hand,” Ally said a few minutes into the ride. She glanced his way and found he was already looking at her. “Thank you,” she said simply. “You did a lot you really didn’t need to.”79

Wes shrugged his shoulders, “You needed my help--,” seeing Ally was about to deny it, he added, “You did. Just admit it.” 80

Ally’s shoulders fell in defeat. “Yeah, I guess I did. Again, thank you.”81

“Don’t worry about it,” he said and turned his focus ahead of them. 82

“You know, last night,” she seemed to search for the right words, “I’m over being heartbroken. That’s not what it was about.”83

“I know,” Wes replied, a small grin pulling at his lips, “You told me that too.”84

“Did I?” Ally questioned, feeling even more offset. “I don’t remember much of anything last night.”85

“I’m not surprised,” Wes nodded back toward her place, “You left a good dent in that bottle of whiskey.”86

“I was just so mad. This woman he’s marrying--,” Ally caught herself, feeling her pride plummeting, remembering what Brandon had said. “He’s marrying a twenty-three year old model. And he said it like—like I was closer to forty then thirty.” She felt a little embarrassed for sharing this information with him, but Wes didn’t seem to notice. 87

“The man is a bastard and will continue on with his destructive life,” Wes looked her way and caught her eyes, “The good thing is that now he’s no longer destroying yours too.”88

“Wow,” Ally was surprised, “That was profound.”89

“What?” Another grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, “Have a hard time believing I’m a sensitive guy?”90

Ally sized him up. He was all hard muscle, and completely masculine. She knew it came from him working the land. But sensitivity was not something she expected. “Maybe a little,” she said, “You don’t look like the sensitive type.”91

“That’s just because you don’t know me,” Wes said, “Beneath this hardy exterior I’m a big softy.” 92

Ally couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her. She knew he wasn’t being completely serious, but it hearing that from him was like a joke. “Right,” she burst out, “I’ll try to remember that.” 93

They reached the ridge and set up their picnic. It was one of the better times Ally had had in awhile and for the first time since she’d hired Wes, she really appreciated his company. They laughed, and joked about various things, and she found herself opening up to him. Which terrified her but in a way it was like a burden was released from her shoulders. 94

“Looks like rain,” Wes brought her attention back to him. “We should probably head back before it hits.” Ally scanned the sky and nodded. 95

“Good idea. I’ll grab the trash bag so we can clean up.” Ally had barely made it to Beauty when the first start of the rain began to fall. “Not yet!” Ally cried out, “This is terrible.” She quickly brought the trash bag over to where their picnic had been set up, and together, she and Wes cleaned up. 96

By the time she secured the bags, she was completely soaked through. “Come on,” Wes wrapped his hand around her waist and led her underneath a large oak tree. “We might as well wait it out here.” Ally knew he was right, these summer storms were brutal but they never lasted longer than an hour.97

She watched Wes dart back out into the rain to bring their horses under the tree as well. “Do you need help?” she asked but Wes shook his head and handled it himself. 98

When he had the horses tied to a low tree branch he came in beside her and took a seat. “I’m glad I brought the horses in from grazing,” he said, “They wouldn’t have been happy to be caught in this storm.” 99

Ally nodded, not sure what to say to him. She couldn’t even look at him, suddenly feeling way to close to him then she wanted to be. “You work for me,” Ally said, “Just remember, our relationship is strictly platonic.” 100

Wes just stared at her a long awhile, unsure of what to make of her retreating inside of herself like she was. She looked so incredibly beautiful, soft and feminine, just like the night before. “Sure,” he said quietly, “I can do that.”101

Ally glanced at him, “Really?” It was weird to see the betrayal in her eyes. As if she didn’t want him to listen to her. 102

“Yeah,” he whispered, his eyes lowering to her pink lips, “After this.” Before he could stop himself, he cupped her chin and captured her lips with his. The world spun away and for a moment, it was just the two of them. Her lips felt so soft against his own, and when he heard her breath hitch in her throat, his heart quivered and he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him. 103

When they eventually parted, out of breath, and in a complete state of awe, and blissfulness, Ally whispered, “There have to be rules.”104

Wes closed the distance between them again and murmured, “Rules are meant to be broken.”105

“For us—if we, if we do this,” Ally whispered, her voice sifting through the air like a dream. “We need to talk about this--,”106

“Later,” Wes said and drank in her lips again and ran his hand down against her neck. “Later…” 107