So this is another one of my old stories. I'm just reposting it so I can consolidate all of my stories under one account. I apologize to those of you who have already read it. :-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Mark Calloway or the Undertaker, sadly.

Chapter 1

Lying alone in her large bed, Kelly suddenly opened her eyes as something jolted her from her sleep. Looking around the room, she noticed the curtains fluttering from the breeze coming in through the open window. She listened intently for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that had disturbed her, jumping when she heard a noise come from the corner of the room. Looking in the direction of the sound, her eyes grew wide when she saw a huge man step out of the shadows. Completely frozen to the bed, she was unable to move as he came closer to her, the shadows seeming to follow him as he drifted across the floor. Once he reached the bed, he slowly sat down on the edge, the mattress sinking underneath his weight and Kelly could only stare at him in fear as she tried to figure out who this man was and why he was here.

Without a sound, he leaned down and claimed her lips in a fiery kiss and she found herself unable to pull away as she returned the kiss with wild abandon. Her mystery lover wrapped his strong arms around her and she found herself being pushed gently back down to the mattress, as he broke the kiss and began moving his lips further down her body. Leaving no spot untouched, he tormented her mercilessly until she was begging and pleading for him to take her, taking her to the edge and back, time and time again, until they were both thoroughly exhausted.

Hours later, he pulled himself away from her and sat up, gazing out the window as the first light of dawn peaked over the horizon. Kelly whimpered and reached for him as he moved, frightened that he might be about to leave her. Looking back down at her for a moment, he reached for the small bedside lamp as if to turn it on and she sucked in a heavy breath as she followed his movements. After all this time, he was finally going to reveal himself to her...

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

Kelly groaned as she rolled over and tapped the alarm, shutting it off. 6:30 already! Morning always came too fast! And right in the middle of her dream too! It was the same damn dream that she had been having for months now but she had yet to see the man's face. Every time he was about to reveal his identity to her, something always awakened her.

Stretching, she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. What she wouldn't give for another hour or two of sleep. She was absolutely exhausted. She had been wearing herself too thin as of late and her lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her. Hopefully, things would brighten up soon and she would be able to take some much needed time off. Some days that thought was all that kept her going.

Looking back at the clock wishfully for a moment, she finally pulled herself from the bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready for another long day at work. Thirty minutes later she was ready and she headed out the door, cup of coffee in hand, climbing into her dusty old pickup truck as she headed off to work.

As she drove down the highway, she couldn't help but notice the trees and flowers that were scattered along the side of the road. The weather had been unusually warm for this time of year and many of the trees were already in bloom. The dogwoods were her favorite. The pink and white blossoms cast an almost eerie glow in the early morning sunlight, sometimes making it seem as if the whole tree had been cast in silver. That's where she had gotten the name for her business. The name always inspired her to work hard and appreciate what she had. It reminded her of what she lived for.

Kelly looked out the window again as she continued down the road. She was glad to see that spring had finally arrived. It had always been her favorite season. The winter had been unbearable long and cold and there were times when she wondered if she would ever make it through. But now it was over and spring was here. It was a time for renewal, a second chance at life. A renewal of her life. A chance to start over.

She spotted the sign marked Silver Tree Stables and turned onto the gravel road leading up to the building, pulling into the graveled parking lot, which was completely deserted except for a beat up Ford pickup parked off to the side. Kelly knew before she saw it that it would be there. It was there every morning when she arrived. It belonged to George, an elderly stable hand who helped her out around the barn. Despite his age, George was a hard worker and a dependable person. He worked every day from daylight to dark, never leaving her alone as long as there was work to be done. Kelly had tried in vain to get him to slow down before he worked himself to death, but he just kept right on going. She wished she could afford to pay him more than she did, but she knew even if she couldn't pay him at all, he would still be there to help her. To Kelly, he was a lifesaver. She didn't know what she would do without his help.

Pulling into her parking space, she parked her truck and got out, heading toward the barn. She smiled when she rounded the corner and saw George, already hard at work feeding the horses.

"I see you got tired of waiting on me again this morning." Kelly said as she approached him.

"Good morning, Miss Kelly." he replied as he looked up at her. "The poor things were hungry this morning. I figured it wasn't any use makin' em wait any longer than they had to."

"Well I'm here now so let me help you." Kelly said as she headed for the ladder.

She climbed up to the loft and tossed down a couple bales of hay, while George finished filling the buckets with feed. Once the horses were all fed and happy, Kelly proceeded through the stable, heading toward her office in the far corner of the barn.

"Oh, Miss Kelly. I almost forgot." George called after her. "That man from the bank was here again yesterday after you left. He gave me some papers to give to you. I put them on your desk."

"Okay. Thanks George." she replied as she opened her door and went inside.

She put her things away and busied herself around the office for a few minutes before she turned to her desk and noticed the large brown envelope with her name across the front. Pulling out her chair, she sat down at her desk and stared at it, already knowing what was inside.

Reluctantly, she picked it up and turned it over in her hands before opening it. Pulling the papers out, she felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes as she skimmed over the document. She didn't need to read the entire thing. The most important words stood out like a sore thumb. MORTGAGE DUE. DELINQUENT. FORECLOSURE.

She tossed the papers back down on her desk in disgust before picking up a stack of bills lying beside them. She shuffled through them, noticing that they were all the same: PAST DUE, DELINQUENT, SECOND NOTICE. She tossed them back down on top of the first paper, as she tried to fight back her tears.

"Are you alright, Miss Kelly?" George asked softly and Kelly jumped, startled by his sudden presence.

"I'm fine George." she replied as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Are you sure? If that man from the bank has upset you again, you let me know and I'll take care of him. He may be twice my size, but if he's hurt my girl, I'll whip his ass for ya."

Kelly couldn't help but smile at his choice of words.

"I appreciate the offer, George. Really I do. But I'm afraid I'll have to deal with Mr. Callaway on my own."

"Well…if you insist. But you be sure to let me know if I can do anything to help ya."

Kelly nodded her head as he turned and walked away.

"There's nothing you can do, George. I have to do this myself." she whispered, as she looked back down at the papers on her desk.

Pulling herself together, Kelly stepped out of her office. Walking to the middle of the barn, she stopped and slowly looked around her. While this place may not have seemed like much to most people, it was her dream come true. This place was her home. Her life. For as far back as she could remember, she had always had a fascination with horses. Growing up, all she had ever wanted to do was to have a job were she could work around them every day. To her, there was nothing more exhilarating than to ride through the fields or take a five foot jump on the back of a horse. This was definitely her dream job.

Her parents, on the other hand, had not been pleased with her choice of careers and they had done their best to discourage her. She was a Deveraux and Deverauxs didn't stoop to that kind of work. They felt that she was too good to work with "those filthy animals," as her mother always called them.

Her mother had wanted her to go to medical school and follow in her father's footsteps. He was one of the top brain surgeons in the country and he was a very wealthy man. But Kelly knew him well enough to know that his motivation was all wrong. He hadn't pursued his career out of a desire to save human lives. He selected it for the fame and notoriety that came with it. The money. The cars. The houses. To her parents, those were the only things that mattered.

They had been furious when she had refused to attend the college of their choice and since then, they had refused to help her out in any way with her school or her business. But Kelly wanted more from life than fame and fortune. She wanted to enjoy her life and she knew of no better way to do that then on the back of a horse. She had worked hard to put herself through college and she had scrimped and saved every penny she could along the way, with the intentions of being able to open her own stables one day. Once she had completed college, she had worked for a couple of years at another stable in a nearby town, where she gained the practical knowledge she needed to make it on her own. And now here she was, standing in the middle of her very own barn, and she was on the verge of losing it all.

Things had gone so well the first couple of years. Not only did she offer to board horses for people who didn't have room to keep them elsewhere, but she taught riding lessons as well. She also trained horses for the owners who wanted to show them. She had competed successfully in several Hunter/Jumper competitions and her services had been in high demand for a while. But then a couple of new barns had opened up not far from her own and because of their larger size, they were able to offer the same services at a much lower price. She had raised her prices slightly to try to make up for the loss of business but one by one, her customers had slowly deserted her. Now she was left with only a small handful of loyal owners, who were willing to pay the extra money in order to have her look after their prized animals. But it wasn't enough to pay the bills. She had managed to sneak by for a few months, but things had eventually piled up and now she was 6 months behind on her mortgage, not to mention the numerous other bills. She didn't know how or where she could find the money to pay them all off, but she knew she had to do something. She had worked too hard to watch everything disappear before her very eyes.

Almost as if he knew what she was thinking about, one of the horses poked his head out of his stall and whinnied at her. Smiling, she walked to him and began to pet him. This was her favorite horse. She'd saved up and bought him herself, the first one she had ever owned. He was a large black Thoroughbred with a small white blaze down his forehead. She had named him Oreo because of his color.

"What are we gonna do now, big guy?" she asked, staring absently into space as she continued to pet him. "I don't know where I'm gonna find the money to save this place."

"Or you for that matter." she added, as she looked at him again.

Oreo nuzzled her in the side, as if to tell her that he wouldn't let her leave him. She smiled and scratched his favorite spot behind his ear. He had always been very demanding of her attention.

"I guess I'll have to go to the bank and talk to Mr. Callaway again. Maybe I can convince him to give me a little more time."

As if in agreement, Oreo raised his head and whinnied again softly.

Kelly patted him on the neck and turned to walk away. She saw George enter the far end of the barn and she headed toward him.

"Are you feeling better now, Miss Kelly?" he asked when she approached him.

"I'm fine George. But I need to run to the bank and talk with Mr. Callaway this morning. Do you think you can handle things here on your own for a little bit?"

"Yes ma'am." he replied. "We'll be just fine. You go ahead and take as much time as you need. I'll handle things here for ya."

"Thanks George" she replied as she turned and headed back to her office. She quickly gathered up her papers, then headed out the door to the bank.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kelly entered the bank and slowly walked up to the teller's window. She hated coming here. This place was so stuffy, the men and women all dressed up in their business suits and dress shoes, while she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. They looked at her like she was so far beneath them, like they were so much better than she was. They reminded her of her parents.

Ignoring their stares, she approached the window and stood for several minutes until she finally got the teller's attention.

"I need to speak with Mr. Callaway, please." Kelly said softly, trying to ignore the look the woman was giving her.

"Do you have an appointment?" the teller asked her, looking down at her through her glasses.

"No. But it's very important that I speak with him." she replied.

She couldn't help but notice the smirk that came across the lady's face.

"I'm sure it is. Just have a seat over there and I'll let him know you're here." the teller said, motioning toward the waiting area.

Giving her one last glance, Kelly walked over to one of the leather chairs and sat down.

"Snotty bitch!" she murmured underneath her breath, as she tried to make herself comfortable.

Kelly had hoped that she wouldn't have to wait long before she could see Mr. Callaway, but she was left waiting for over an hour before his secretary finally called her back to his office.

When she entered the room, she noticed him sitting behind his huge desk, reclining back in his chair, looking as if he had nothing better to do than to speak with her. He was a huge man, standing nearly 7 ft. tall, with broad shoulders and piercing green eyes. The way he looked at her with those eyes made her very uncomfortable and she hated to admit it but he frightened her a lot. His size, when combined with his position of power, made him a very intimidating man.

"Well, Ms. Deveraux. What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you today?" he asked, in a slow, drawn out voice.

Kelly pulled the papers from the envelope and tossed them on his desk.

"You know perfectly well why I'm here." she said, motioning toward the papers. "You can't do this. You have to give me more time. I'll find some way to come up with the money. I promise. I just need more time."

Mr. Callaway picked up the papers and looked them over for a moment, before laying them back down.

"More time? More time? That's all you keep asking for is more time! I've given you all the time you're going to get. If you can't come up with the money within two of weeks, then I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to foreclose on your property."

"Two weeks?" Kelly replied, looking at him in shock. "But there's no way I can come up with that much money so soon! Can't you give me just a little longer?"

"I'm afraid not. I've been very generous with you so far, Ms. Deveraux. Two weeks is all you have. Not a day longer."

With that said, he turned his attention back to the stack of papers on his desk.

"Where am I supposed to find that much money in two weeks?" she asked frantically, standing from her chair and leaning over the edge of the desk towards him.

Mr. Callaway smirked as he looked up at her once more.

"What about your family? Your parents, maybe? What about friends? Business associates?" he asked, staring her down with those emerald green eyes again.

Kelly shook her head. Her parents would never help her out. They would be glad to see her go under. And she had plenty of friends but none of them had that kind of money for her to borrow.

"Where you get the money is not my problem, Ms. Deveraux. It's yours." Mr. Callaway added, as he pulled himself from his chair.

Watching as he rose from his seat, Kelly stepped back from his desk. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her. She eyed him warily as he slowly edged around the corner of the desk towards her.

"But there must be some other way. Isn't there something else that I can do? I can't lose this business! I've worked too hard for it to slip through my fingers now!" she pleaded, looking up at him as he came closer.

Mr. Callaway paused for a moment as he looked down at her thoughtfully.

"Maybe there is something that you can do." he said quietly, as he began to move toward her again.

Unconsciously, Kelly continued to back away from him until she reached the wall, trying not to panic as he towered over her. Reaching out, he slowly picked up a strand of her blond hair as he leaned in towards her ear. He closed his eyes as he breathed in her warm scent, fighting the urge to kiss her. Regaining his control, he whispered to her softly.

"We might be able to work out some kind of deal. Maybe if you're willing to take care of my needs, I'll be willing to take care of yours."

As the meaning of his words registered in her mind, Kelly felt her fear change to anger. With all the strength she could muster, she brought her arms up between them and shoved him away.

"You arrogant bastard!" she screamed, as she took a step towards him. "How dare you even suggest something like that to me? Do you think I'm so desperate to save my business that I would actually sleep with you? It would be a cold day in hell before I'd ever let you touch me Mr. Callaway!"

Without giving him a chance to reply, she stormed out of his office, leaving him standing there with an evil smirk on his face. He looked down at his desk, noticing the papers she had left behind.

"You may be upset about it now." he said to himself, as he walked around his desk and took his seat again. "But I promise you, you'll be back. I'll make sure of it."