A/N: Well, I'm glad to see I haven't bored some of you yet with this. lol This is the final chapter. Let me know what you think...I'm pondering an Epilogue but I'm open to suggestions as well. If you think it still needs one I'll write it. :)
Day 5:
The weather had cleared up enough the next day to allow some rays of sun to penetrate the clouds and the thicket of trees and branches. But C.C. was in no mood to properly appreciate this. She had awoken with a throbbing headache, feeling as if she hadn't managed to get any sleep that night, constantly haunted by vivid dreams, shreds of which she could only remember.
Under normal circumstances she would've turned around again and tried to go back to sleep. But today she knew that her efforts would be futile. So she slipped out of bed and grabbed all the things from her suitcase that she'd need to prepare for her final day at the ranch. She couldn't wait to get home, to get some distance between her and the Sheffields again and most importantly to re-establish some normalcy with Niles which she believed to find in their daily routine at the mansion.
But for now she wasn't keen on enduring another awkward encounter or conversation with him and so she planned on sneaking into the bathroom and out again and then leave the hut entirely and make her way to the Sheffields. She wasn't excited to be surrounded by them so early in the morning either but it was the lesser of two evils.
She gently pushed the handle down and tried to open the door as silently as possible. When she set her first step outside, however, she realised that she needn't have worried. Niles' bed was empty and the bathroom door stood wide open as well with no sign of him which meant that he had already left. Breathing a deep sigh of relief C.C. allowed herself to relax her posture and went about her business with much more ease than she otherwise would've done. When she had finished she withdrew to her bedroom once more and picked up her laptop to read Maxwell's corrections, knowing that Niles was currently occupying the place she had deemed as a safe haven a moment before.
As she began working the morning slowly started to slip away and she only realised how late it had become when her belly noisily demanded food. Reluctantly she closed her laptop and grabbed her coat and made her way over to the Sheffields' cabin.
There, the lavish breakfast that Niles had laid out for the family was almost consumed. The kids had already jumped up and fled the table to play with their toys in the living room instead, Maxwell was reading his newspaper and Sara was finishing her last cup of coffee while Niles had started to clear the table.
"Miss Babcock," Niles said formally with a smile that seemed to cost him a rather great effort "you just missed breakfast."
"Don't you have anything left over?" she asked, fumbling to find her haughty tone again.
"I suppose," he muttered and disappeared into the kitchen.
"Don't mind him," Sara smiled and patted her hand "he's been grumpy all morning. Here, have some coffee."
C.C. nodded gratefully and took a sip of the dark liquid and noticed that Maxwell seemed to be looking after his butler with a thoughtful expression rather than the disapproving one that usually appeared in these situations. Could it be that he knew what he had interrupted the day before at their hut? C.C. frowned as his face disappeared behind the newspaper again and took another sip of her coffee. Impossible! Maxwell was as dense as they came and for him to know more than his wife seemed a ridiculous notion.
"Maggie has decided she wants to try out horseback riding today." Sara told her while Niles returned and set a plate with greasy sausages and a runny egg down in front of her.
"Are you sure doing this on the last day of vacation is a good idea?" C.C. questioned, leaning forward to grab a few slices of the remaining cold toast "If she injures herself it could make our trip home terribly difficult."
"Your concern is touching." Niles intersected and then removed more items from the table but C.C. ignored him.
"I'm sure she'll be alright," Sara shrugged and smiled, also choosing not to comment on Niles' words "I'm sure they'll take it slow and teach her the basics first."
"Still, horses can be unpredictable." C.C. hummed and took a bite of her food, determined to enjoy it, no matter how little effort Niles had put into it.
"Why don't you come along and keep an eye on her?" Sara asked happily and C.C. sighed.
"Me? It's not like I can protect her once she's riding."
"Nono, I know," Sara agreed and shrugged again "but I wanted to ask you anyway. I know you've always enjoyed riding."
C.C. glanced up at Niles who was still moving in and out of the room and weighed her options.
"Alright, I'll join you!" she eventually agreed with more enthusiasm than she actually felt "It has been a while…"
After she had finished her meagre breakfast, she quickly headed to her hut to change into more casual clothes and then reunited with Sara and Maggie at the main cabin where they had checked in on their first day. The two Sheffields weren't entirely alone though but in the company of a young man in riding boots. C.C. surmised that it was one of the volunteers who helped out at the Ranch in the summer.
"I suppose you must be C.C.?" he asked when he saw her approaching "I'm Jack."
At first taken back by his knowledge and direct use of her first name she suddenly didn't mind when he flashed her a gorgeous smile.
"Yes, sorry you had to wait so long." She apologised in an uncharacteristic move that only served to make Sara giggle.
A glare from C.C. shut her up soon though and they started moving in the direction of the horses.
"So have you ever been on a horse before?" the young man asked while opening the gates for them.
"Yes, I practically grew up with them." C.C. replied proudly although it had been clear that it was Maggie who the question had been addressed too.
"I didn't mean you," he chuckled amused while Sara rolled her eyes "I'm sure you're very good at riding."
His voice had dipped lower and there was a look in his eyes that made it unmistakably clear what he was getting at. The flirtation, however, went straight over Maggie's head who tugged at his shirt and innocently asked: "What about me? Do you think I'll be good as well?"
"Of course you will," Jack smiled and winked at her.
"Although even the best rider can improve when trained properly," C.C. intersected in sultry tones.
"Oh for God's sake!" Sara exclaimed exasperated and dragged her off to the side "Can you keep your hormones in check for five minutes so my daughter can pick out her horse?"
"Fine…fine…" C.C. muttered "but you don't understand. There's a rhythm to these things and it's difficult getting that back once you've been interrupted."
For a moment her mind flashed to Niles and the banter they engaged in every day. There was also a rhythm and flow to their insults and the excitement was almost similar. Realising what she was doing C.C. shook her head and brushed it off as a ridiculous notion. Instead she made herself focus on Jack and Maggie again. She had chosen a pretty white mare and Jack was putting the saddle and bridle on it before helping her up.
"It's quite high," Maggie's timid voice suddenly echoed through the stable and Sara moved closer.
"If you're afraid you don't have to do it, sweetheart."
"Exactly," Jack agreed "but Feather is really a sweetheart and I'll hold her first in anyway."
While the girl tried to make up her mind, C.C. impatiently stepped outside and into the sun again. How scary could it be? E
ventually the others emerged from the stable as well, Maggie still sitting on the horse, looking as if she was clinging on to dear life.
"She'll relax," Sara mumbled as they moved to the fence to watch, though if she was telling C.C. or trying to convince herself wasn't certain.
Around lunchtime Niles appeared, carrying a picknick basket. "Your husband thought you must be hungry after all this exercise," he explained and grabbed several items that he spread out on the grass.
"Thank you, Niles," Sara smiled happily "but we can take it from here. If you want you can just go back to your cabin and relax."
Niles nodded but cast curious little glances around.
"Someone you're looking for?" Sara asked, struggling to keep an amused smile off her face.
While she hadn't been around to witness the incident the previous day, she had noticed the lingering glances and slight flirtation between her butler and her best friend before.
"Mr Sheffield told me Miss Babcock would be out here too. What happened? Did she get trampled?"
Knowing that he found it impossible to inquire directly about her, Sara smiled but slapped his arm nonetheless.
"No, her and Jack just decided to go on a little trek around the ranch while Maggie and I had our break."
While Niles had never seen Jack before, the information alone that C.C. had gone off with him turned his expression sour. "I see," he commented and rose to his feet and then without another word started marching back down the trail.
"Why is Niles so grumpy, mommy?" little Maggie inquired, looking after him.
Sara pondered how to answer this for a moment and then smiled. "You know how your brother gets when he has a new toy that you want to play with?"
Her daughter's forehead instantly crinkled into a frown. "Yeah, he gets mean and he doesn't wanna share!"
"Exactly," Sara nodded and pecked Maggie's head "that's the same reason Niles just stormed out of here."
"He's throwing a tantrum!" the little girl chuckled but then looked more confused again. Why would anyone want to play with C.C.?
Jack could've given her several reasons but of course they wouldn't have been appropriate for children. However, he wasted no time in laying them out for C.C. As flattered as she had been to begin with and as eager to convince herself and Niles that she wasn't a woman on the lookout for "more", something stopped her in the end. As confused as she was at this sudden change of heart, Jack tried his best to persuade her but using the fact that it was the last day of vacation and she still needed to pack as an excuse, C.C. finally got rid of him and made her way back to the little hut.
"Back so soon?" Niles quipped testily from his spot on the bed and C.C. frowned at him while shrugging out of her coat.
"What do you mean?"
"He can't have been very good then, could he?" Niles continued.
"Of course you've heard about Jack," she muttered and bent down to open her shoes "why am I not surprised?"
"Why are you not-?" he exclaimed and then cut himself off "Why am I not surprised?! You would throw yourself at anyone!"
"Except you which is why you're so bitter." C.C. shot back, matching his tone in venom.
He scoffed and started to make excuses but she lifted her hand to silence him.
"This is precisely why there won't be more between us, Niles. I refuse to let myself be tied down by a man. All my life I have worked to get away from that. I refused to give up my studies, I refused to marry rich and settle down, I refused to limit myself to my dad's firm and I refuse to transform myself into some soft kitten for you!"
"And that's where you're wrong!" Niles interrupted her loudly "I never asked you to change. But I think you noticed that I brought out some shyness in you that you may not have encountered so frequently with other men."
"Oh please..." C.C. muttered, shook her head and started marching towards her bedroom.
But Niles refused to let her slip away and scrambled out of bed and after her. "It's making you feel uncomfortable and vulnerable…"
"If I wanted to be psycho-analysed I'd call Dr Bort!" C.C. snapped, wheeling around to face him.
"I'm just stating facts here!"
"Facts my ass," she muttered and Niles produced a low growling sound before he grabbed her and kissed her heatedly.
Her hands met his chest roughly, trying to push him away but a moment later a soft moan escaped her lips and she returned the kiss with as much passion. The gentle grasping of her fingers at his shirt, combined with the smell of Chanel No. 5 was making his head heavy and numbing his senses. So it took him quite some time to realise that they were venturing down a familiar path again.
Damn that infuriating woman!
Gently he broke the kiss but kept his arms around her. "I am not trying to control you C.C.," he then stated evenly, knowing that she probably wouldn't believe him.
"Then why don't you accept that I don't want more?"
He opened his mouth to speak, wanted to explain that he simply knew that she was capable of giving more, that he had seen the look in her eyes. But perhaps these were simply things that he had imagined because he so desperately needed them to be true.
"Because I know we'd be good for each other," he quietly said, releasing a sigh.
"We're good for each other now," she shrugged and then amended when she saw his raised eyebrow and amused grin "well, we aren't entirely bad for each other. And that's more than can be said about most of my relationships. Why ruin it?"
And as much as it pained him Niles realised that she wasn't ready yet.
"I understand," he replied with a melancholy smile and then leaned in to brush his lips over her cheek "goodnight C.C."
She kept him in place and for a moment allowed their lips to meet again in a soft and careful kiss. "Goodnight…"
She was just about to close the door when he turned around and called her name.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Did you and Jack?" he twisted his hands nervously.
"No," she smiled a little and shook her head and then closed the door.
Sighing in relief Niles made his way back to his bed. Maybe all wasn't lost yet and maybe in the future their steady relationship, the continuous little moments and their undeniable spark would turn into something more.