Sara whimpered in her sleep.
Nick immediately woke up, concerned. "Hey, Sara, honey, wake up."
Sara's eyes fluttered open. "Nick?" Her voice sounded scared.
"I'm here, babe." He pulled her against him and peppered kisses on her forehead. "Did you have another nightmare, Sar?"
She sniffled. "Yeah."
"It's ok, I've got you." He stroked her hair.
Sara started crying. "I'm so tired of this, Nick. I just want it to go away."
"I know, babe. I know." He kissed her forehead again and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Nick?" She sounded fearful.
Nick's voice was soft and soothing. "Yeah?"
There was a hitch in her voice. "Your sister said she didn't think I could have kids because I'm so skinny."
"Don't listen to her, Sara. You can do whatever you want. She's just jealous of you because she'd like to do what you've done with your life." Nick was pissed at his sisters Ashley and Amanda and in the back of his mind he planned on giving them a piece of his mind.
"I can't have kids, Nick." Sara choked on a sob. "Because of the rape, the doctors say I can't have kids." She started crying again.
"Sara, I'm so sorry." He held her against him and let her cry.
"They hurt me so bad, Nick. They broke my pelvis. That's why I left Harvard, I was in the hospital for almost a month." Sara's voice was barely a whisper.
Tears started streaming down Nick's face at Sara's confession. He had had no idea how badly she'd been hurt in the attack. His heart was breaking for the hurt that had been inflicted on her. He held her closely and cried with her until they both fell back asleep.
9:00am
A soft knock sounded at the door of the bedroom. Nick and Sara were still fast asleep, their arms around each other. Natalie softly opened the door and poked her head inside. A smiled played at her lips as she saw them sleeping peacefully. She really hated to wake Sara, but she had said it would be ok. She'd have to tease Nick later about the pretense of them not sleeping in the same room. "Sara." Natalie's voice was a soft whisper.
Sara stirred and lifted her head from Nick's chest. A soft smile spread over her face as she looked over toward the door. "Hey, Natalie."
"Do you want to go ride, or would you rather stay here a while longer?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice as she asked Sara the question, glancing at Nick's sleeping form.
Sara chuckled softly. "I want to ride." She glanced down at Nick and grinned before looking back over at Natalie. "Let me just wake sleepy up and get dressed."
Natalie grinned. "See you downstairs in twenty minutes?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah."
Natalie closed the door softly.
Sara couldn't help but smile as she hovered over Nick. She softly pressed her lips against his and giggled when she felt his arms tighten around her and his lips respond.
As they broke this kiss, Nick's eyes fluttered open and a smile formed on his face. "Morning, beautiful." He brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear as he caressed her face with his eyes.
"Morning." She grinned. "I'm going riding with Natalie."
He closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I heard her."
Sara smirked. "You play possum well." She poked his sides.
Nick squirmed, trying to avoid her fingers. "Sara Sidle, you are asking for it." He started to tickle her in response.
Sara giggled and tried to grab his hands to no avail. "Hey, no fair."
Nick finally stopped when he had her pinned underneath him. A victorious grin was etched on his face. "I win." He waggled his eyebrows at her and leaned down to kiss her.
Sara parted her lips and soon lost track of time as they leisurely explored the recesses of each other's mouths with their tongues. Sara slid her hands up under the back of Nick's T-shirt, trailing her fingers over the hardened muscles of his back.
Neither of them was aware that someone had opened the door until they heard it close.
Nick's head shot up as he glanced at the door. He looked back at Sara and smiled. "I sure as hell hope that was Natalie."
Sara giggled. "I did say I'd meet her downstairs in twenty minutes and I'm not really sure how long ago that was."
Nick leaned down and kissed her again before rolling onto his back and letting out a deep breath. "I'd better let you go for a ride."
Sara raised a curious eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"
He chuckled. "I have a feeling I'm going into the city with Dan, Peter, and Jake to get interrogated about you."
Sara's jaw dropped slightly and she started laughing.
He raised an eyebrow in response. "Hey, this is no laughing matter, Sidle. We have a turkey to pick up." He grinned at her. "I'm going to see if I can find you a tofurkey."
Sara started laughing again as she bit her lower lip. "You really don't have to do that. It's bad enough being a vegetarian on Thanksgiving in Texas. Do they even sell those in this state?"
Nick feigned a serious expression. "Well I aim to find out ma'am." His drawl was exceptionally thick.
Sara playfully swatted at him before leaning over to plant a quick kiss on his lips. "I'm going to ride a horse." She was grinning as she climbed out of bed.
Nick dissolved into a fit of laughter.
Sara threw a pillow at him. "Better watch yourself, Stokes." She had a mischievous grin on her face as she pulled jeans and a T-shirt out of her suitcase. She disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later, grabbing her boots and a jacket before she opened the bedroom door.
Nick blew her a kiss as he lay back on the bed.
As she descended the steps, she noticed that the house was fairly quiet. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and put her boots on.
When she looked up, Nick's mom Audrey was standing there smiling. "Natalie is out in the stable saddling Daisy for you."
Sara grinned at Audrey. "Thanks."
"You sleep ok?" Audrey inquired.
Sara nodded. "For the most part."
"Well, enjoy the ride, I'm sure you and Natalie will have a great time." Audrey disappeared down the hallway toward the kitchen.
Sara made her way out to the stable in search of Natalie. Just as she approached the door of the stable she overheard voices. Ashley and Amanda's voices. She froze in her tracks.
"I can't believe it, that little tramp."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it myself."
"I thought they were sleeping in separate rooms."
"Well, I saw them, she was practically ripping his clothes off."
"What do you expect, she's from Vegas?"
"Actually, I heard she was from California."
"Well, it might as well be the same thing, she's just seducing poor Nicky."
"He is just too blind to see that he should be with someone like Tiffany Stratton. She's from a good family. She's got the right social standing."
"What are we going to do about it?"
Sara heard footsteps behind her and turned around.
Natalie stood there holding the reins of two horses with concern etched on her face. She too had heard what Ashley and Amanda had said. She wordlessly handed Sara Daisy's reins and motioned for her to follow her. When they were out of earshot of the stables she stopped and turned toward Sara. "Whatever they said back there is not representative of the rest of this family. Unfortunately, Ashley and Amanda inherited the bitch gene from some distant relative. I think you are the best thing to happen to Nicky in a long time, and quite honestly, whether you're ready to hear this or not, I hope he marries you."
Sara wasn't sure what to say.
"Oh, and I didn't tell anyone that I saw you two sleeping together if that's supposed to be a secret." Natalie replied with sincerity.
Sara smiled softly. "Thanks. I think it's too late for that to be a secret. Someone walked in on us, uh, at an inopportune moment."
Natalie chuckled. "I would have paid money to see the look on Nicky's face."
Sara laughed. "It was pretty priceless."
Natalie wrinkled her brow for a moment and considered her words carefully. "Sara, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, I mean you just met me, but I'm curious. Why are you and Nicky trying to hide that you're sleeping together? I mean, you're both adults and it's no secret that Nicky's been with, well that he's not a virgin."
Sara chuckled. "I think you and I are going to be good friends."
Natalie smiled. "Want to ride and talk?" She pulled herself up on her horse, a bay gelding named Treasure.
Sara nodded and after a bit of difficulty, she mounted Daisy and they headed off toward the pond. "Natalie, Nick and I aren't really trying to hide anything."
Natalie raised an amused eyebrow.
Sara laughed. "Ok, so maybe we felt a little weird sleeping together in your parent's house."
"They wouldn't care you know." Natalie replied matter of factly.
"That's what Nick said." Sara replied with a smirk.
"He's right." Natalie smiled.
Sara tried to restrain a grin. "It's just that we haven't slept together yet."
Natalie raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So then, when I woke you up and you were sleeping on Nicky; that was my imagination?" She looked amused.
Sara laughed. "Ok, I'll admit, we've slept together; we just haven't had sex yet."
Natalie looked a little shocked. "This is Nicky we're talking about here?"
Sara giggled. "Yeah. It's a little more complicated than that."
Natalie looked at Sara curiously.
Sara bit her lip nervously. "Will you promise not to say a word?"
Natalie nodded and somehow Sara knew she could trust her.
Sara let out a deep breath. "I was assaulted back in college and we worked this case a couple of months ago that brought it all back. I've been having nightmares. I was sleeping at Nick's for weeks before he convinced me to go see a counselor. I had another one last night, that's why he was with me this morning. It's not that we don't want to have sex, we just didn't want our first time together to be where his entire family could listen in." Sara smiled tentatively.
Natalie smiled reassuringly at Sara. "I'm glad you told me. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks." Sara replied smiling, knowing that she'd found a true friend in Natalie.
Sara's eyes fluttered open. "Nick?" Her voice sounded scared.
"I'm here, babe." He pulled her against him and peppered kisses on her forehead. "Did you have another nightmare, Sar?"
She sniffled. "Yeah."
"It's ok, I've got you." He stroked her hair.
Sara started crying. "I'm so tired of this, Nick. I just want it to go away."
"I know, babe. I know." He kissed her forehead again and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Nick?" She sounded fearful.
Nick's voice was soft and soothing. "Yeah?"
There was a hitch in her voice. "Your sister said she didn't think I could have kids because I'm so skinny."
"Don't listen to her, Sara. You can do whatever you want. She's just jealous of you because she'd like to do what you've done with your life." Nick was pissed at his sisters Ashley and Amanda and in the back of his mind he planned on giving them a piece of his mind.
"I can't have kids, Nick." Sara choked on a sob. "Because of the rape, the doctors say I can't have kids." She started crying again.
"Sara, I'm so sorry." He held her against him and let her cry.
"They hurt me so bad, Nick. They broke my pelvis. That's why I left Harvard, I was in the hospital for almost a month." Sara's voice was barely a whisper.
Tears started streaming down Nick's face at Sara's confession. He had had no idea how badly she'd been hurt in the attack. His heart was breaking for the hurt that had been inflicted on her. He held her closely and cried with her until they both fell back asleep.
9:00am
A soft knock sounded at the door of the bedroom. Nick and Sara were still fast asleep, their arms around each other. Natalie softly opened the door and poked her head inside. A smiled played at her lips as she saw them sleeping peacefully. She really hated to wake Sara, but she had said it would be ok. She'd have to tease Nick later about the pretense of them not sleeping in the same room. "Sara." Natalie's voice was a soft whisper.
Sara stirred and lifted her head from Nick's chest. A soft smile spread over her face as she looked over toward the door. "Hey, Natalie."
"Do you want to go ride, or would you rather stay here a while longer?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice as she asked Sara the question, glancing at Nick's sleeping form.
Sara chuckled softly. "I want to ride." She glanced down at Nick and grinned before looking back over at Natalie. "Let me just wake sleepy up and get dressed."
Natalie grinned. "See you downstairs in twenty minutes?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah."
Natalie closed the door softly.
Sara couldn't help but smile as she hovered over Nick. She softly pressed her lips against his and giggled when she felt his arms tighten around her and his lips respond.
As they broke this kiss, Nick's eyes fluttered open and a smile formed on his face. "Morning, beautiful." He brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear as he caressed her face with his eyes.
"Morning." She grinned. "I'm going riding with Natalie."
He closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I heard her."
Sara smirked. "You play possum well." She poked his sides.
Nick squirmed, trying to avoid her fingers. "Sara Sidle, you are asking for it." He started to tickle her in response.
Sara giggled and tried to grab his hands to no avail. "Hey, no fair."
Nick finally stopped when he had her pinned underneath him. A victorious grin was etched on his face. "I win." He waggled his eyebrows at her and leaned down to kiss her.
Sara parted her lips and soon lost track of time as they leisurely explored the recesses of each other's mouths with their tongues. Sara slid her hands up under the back of Nick's T-shirt, trailing her fingers over the hardened muscles of his back.
Neither of them was aware that someone had opened the door until they heard it close.
Nick's head shot up as he glanced at the door. He looked back at Sara and smiled. "I sure as hell hope that was Natalie."
Sara giggled. "I did say I'd meet her downstairs in twenty minutes and I'm not really sure how long ago that was."
Nick leaned down and kissed her again before rolling onto his back and letting out a deep breath. "I'd better let you go for a ride."
Sara raised a curious eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"
He chuckled. "I have a feeling I'm going into the city with Dan, Peter, and Jake to get interrogated about you."
Sara's jaw dropped slightly and she started laughing.
He raised an eyebrow in response. "Hey, this is no laughing matter, Sidle. We have a turkey to pick up." He grinned at her. "I'm going to see if I can find you a tofurkey."
Sara started laughing again as she bit her lower lip. "You really don't have to do that. It's bad enough being a vegetarian on Thanksgiving in Texas. Do they even sell those in this state?"
Nick feigned a serious expression. "Well I aim to find out ma'am." His drawl was exceptionally thick.
Sara playfully swatted at him before leaning over to plant a quick kiss on his lips. "I'm going to ride a horse." She was grinning as she climbed out of bed.
Nick dissolved into a fit of laughter.
Sara threw a pillow at him. "Better watch yourself, Stokes." She had a mischievous grin on her face as she pulled jeans and a T-shirt out of her suitcase. She disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later, grabbing her boots and a jacket before she opened the bedroom door.
Nick blew her a kiss as he lay back on the bed.
As she descended the steps, she noticed that the house was fairly quiet. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and put her boots on.
When she looked up, Nick's mom Audrey was standing there smiling. "Natalie is out in the stable saddling Daisy for you."
Sara grinned at Audrey. "Thanks."
"You sleep ok?" Audrey inquired.
Sara nodded. "For the most part."
"Well, enjoy the ride, I'm sure you and Natalie will have a great time." Audrey disappeared down the hallway toward the kitchen.
Sara made her way out to the stable in search of Natalie. Just as she approached the door of the stable she overheard voices. Ashley and Amanda's voices. She froze in her tracks.
"I can't believe it, that little tramp."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it myself."
"I thought they were sleeping in separate rooms."
"Well, I saw them, she was practically ripping his clothes off."
"What do you expect, she's from Vegas?"
"Actually, I heard she was from California."
"Well, it might as well be the same thing, she's just seducing poor Nicky."
"He is just too blind to see that he should be with someone like Tiffany Stratton. She's from a good family. She's got the right social standing."
"What are we going to do about it?"
Sara heard footsteps behind her and turned around.
Natalie stood there holding the reins of two horses with concern etched on her face. She too had heard what Ashley and Amanda had said. She wordlessly handed Sara Daisy's reins and motioned for her to follow her. When they were out of earshot of the stables she stopped and turned toward Sara. "Whatever they said back there is not representative of the rest of this family. Unfortunately, Ashley and Amanda inherited the bitch gene from some distant relative. I think you are the best thing to happen to Nicky in a long time, and quite honestly, whether you're ready to hear this or not, I hope he marries you."
Sara wasn't sure what to say.
"Oh, and I didn't tell anyone that I saw you two sleeping together if that's supposed to be a secret." Natalie replied with sincerity.
Sara smiled softly. "Thanks. I think it's too late for that to be a secret. Someone walked in on us, uh, at an inopportune moment."
Natalie chuckled. "I would have paid money to see the look on Nicky's face."
Sara laughed. "It was pretty priceless."
Natalie wrinkled her brow for a moment and considered her words carefully. "Sara, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, I mean you just met me, but I'm curious. Why are you and Nicky trying to hide that you're sleeping together? I mean, you're both adults and it's no secret that Nicky's been with, well that he's not a virgin."
Sara chuckled. "I think you and I are going to be good friends."
Natalie smiled. "Want to ride and talk?" She pulled herself up on her horse, a bay gelding named Treasure.
Sara nodded and after a bit of difficulty, she mounted Daisy and they headed off toward the pond. "Natalie, Nick and I aren't really trying to hide anything."
Natalie raised an amused eyebrow.
Sara laughed. "Ok, so maybe we felt a little weird sleeping together in your parent's house."
"They wouldn't care you know." Natalie replied matter of factly.
"That's what Nick said." Sara replied with a smirk.
"He's right." Natalie smiled.
Sara tried to restrain a grin. "It's just that we haven't slept together yet."
Natalie raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So then, when I woke you up and you were sleeping on Nicky; that was my imagination?" She looked amused.
Sara laughed. "Ok, I'll admit, we've slept together; we just haven't had sex yet."
Natalie looked a little shocked. "This is Nicky we're talking about here?"
Sara giggled. "Yeah. It's a little more complicated than that."
Natalie looked at Sara curiously.
Sara bit her lip nervously. "Will you promise not to say a word?"
Natalie nodded and somehow Sara knew she could trust her.
Sara let out a deep breath. "I was assaulted back in college and we worked this case a couple of months ago that brought it all back. I've been having nightmares. I was sleeping at Nick's for weeks before he convinced me to go see a counselor. I had another one last night, that's why he was with me this morning. It's not that we don't want to have sex, we just didn't want our first time together to be where his entire family could listen in." Sara smiled tentatively.
Natalie smiled reassuringly at Sara. "I'm glad you told me. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks." Sara replied smiling, knowing that she'd found a true friend in Natalie.