Chapter 3 – Learning to Reach Out
Amanda's eyes bolted open and before she realized it, she sprang out of bed and ran as fast as she could into her master bathroom.
The nausea had woke up her, much to her disgust, and she puked into the toilet, barely making it.
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she cussed herself for drinking so much the night before. Why did she get so drunk? Was her life that miserable? She couldn't handle a little breakup with a man who was only attracted to her based on her wealth?
As her thoughts consumed her mind, her breathing increased as she was working herself up into a panic, stressing out over the smallest details. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to slow her breathing by taking deep breaths, but before she knew it, her breathing was hurried, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill out any second. She began hyperventilating, gasping to catch her breath.
And then, a tender hand began rubbing her back. The touch was faint but was genuine.
Amanda's eyes shot open, and she turned her head to the right, looking beside her. It was Lee. He had woken up when she ran to the bathroom, and he was alarmed when he heard her hyperventilating.
"Breathe…"
Amanda began taking deep breaths to slow her breathing and slow her heartbeat.
Between taking deep irregular breaths, Amanda tried to talk. Lee shook his head.
"Shhhh… Just breathe deep."
Amanda closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing, as she continued taking deep breaths. Her breath was still uneven, and she was faintly wheezing.
Lee pulled her into his chest and continued rubbing her back as she slowed her breathing. They sat like this for a while before her breathing finally regulated.
Amanda peeked up at Lee and gave him a small smirk.
"Thanks…"
"Don't mention it. Do you think you can sit on the bed?"
Amanda took another deep breath and nodded yes.
Lee assisted her up off the floor, holding on firmly in case she would fall.
Lee helped her sit down on the bed and she kept her eyes shut. She opened them swiftly after she was seated, looking back up at Lee and smiled again.
"Thanks, Lee."
Lee crouched down in front of her, taking her hands in his.
"Do you get those panic attacks often?"
Amanda averted her eyes, reluctant to look Lee in the eyes. Her mind raced to when she was a little girl and would cry and panic at the slightest events. When she was little, she never understood it until she got older. She grew up adjusting her breathing before it got too serious or before she had a full-on panic attack. Her thoughts took her to the day her father passed away and how she had a severe panic attack that day. She shook her head to quell the aching memory.
She looked back at Lee and noticed how alarmed he saw her at that moment. His deep blue eyes, so forceful, called to her and she slowed her thoughts.
"Uh, I got them a lot when I was a kid. I learned how to deal with them though."
Lee knew there was something else there but didn't push. He smiled at her, nodding, and stood up.
"How are you feeling? Any more nausea?"
Amanda shook her head no, reflecting out the large windows of her master bedroom. The sun was vivid and glowing over the green rolling hills.
Amanda stood up immediately, uncertain of what time it was, and realized she was late in her tasks on the farm.
"Dang, what time is it?"
As she bolted to her master bedroom closet, Lee took off after her.
"Amanda, you need to take it easy. You are hungover, nauseous, and just had a pretty severe panic attack. You are in no shape to do anything today."
Amanda was yanking clothing items out of a large white wooden dresser and grabbing other items off hangers. She began unbuttoning her pants and pulling them down when she glanced back at Lee, who was standing wordless in her ample closest.
"Watch me."
Lee quickly made his way out to her bedroom, giving her privacy. He tried all he could to make her realize she needed to rest.
"If you get out there and get sick or have another panic attack, don't come crawling to me, huh?"
Amanda walked hastily out of her closet clothed in a pair of faded brown Carhartt bibs that were well worn and distressed and a black sports bra underneath. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she wore a black Carhartt snapback hat.
Lee's breath caught in his throat when he took in Amanda's appearance. Her arms were muscular and toned and every place on her body that he could see was tanned dark from the sun.
Amanda shot past him and made her way down the steps speedily, seizing her cell phone that laid on the kitchen island. She then made her way to a large closest right inside the entryway foyer. She pulled out a pair of black Carhartt work boots that were dust covered and well wore.
She examined her cell phone, realizing it was early in the afternoon, and gripped a set of keys hanging from a key rack by the front door. She reached for the front door, turned the knob, opened the door, and began to take a step when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist, holding her back.
She suddenly turned back and saw Lee who looked utterly vulnerable and alarmed.
Amanda said nothing and just shrugged her shoulders, unsure what Lee's problem was with her.
"You are going outside like that?"
Amanda quickly became defensive.
"Like what?"
"Like… like that!" Lee's hand went straight out, and he moved his hand up and down, trying to demonstrate his point.
"I wear this all the time, what's it matter? And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot wear?"
Lee huffed and rubbed his hand over his face.
"I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just implying that outfit is not something I'd be wearing if I was a woman alone on a farm."
"You know Lee, I think you're jealous of what you don't have."
Lee shot her a look, taken aback by her assertion.
"What's that mean?"
"You know what I mean… You're attracted to me and realize that another man may come and steal your chance at falling in love with me, so you want me to wear something not so exposing. Well, I'll tell you this, I will wear what I want, when I want, and how I want, and I'll be damned if a man will tell me what to do!"
With that, Amanda stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her, leaving Lee stunned.
Lee took a deep breath and tried to regain his thoughts. Did he want to chase after her? Or leave her be? Or did he even want to continue this "relationship"? This "potential" relationship that he was hesitant of at this point? What was it about this woman that was so fascinating to him? She treated him like dirt when he tried to help, and she didn't want any assistance from anyone.
Lee's eyes shot up to look at the front door. He stood and suddenly took off after Amanda. He wasn't letting her go without a fight. He was falling in love with her quickly.
As he walked out of the front door and shut it behind him, he scanned out at the expansive property. He figured she'd went to the barn first, probably tending to the horses. He began walking towards the barn.
Lee walked up to a considerable sized red barn that seemed to go on forever. He figured if Amanda stated she owned 30 or so horses, he knew the barn would be quite large. As he walked inside the open door, he halted in his tracks.
Off to the left-hand side was a large black door that, he assumed, led into an office. To the right-hand side were lofty white shower stalls made for horses to shower in. Abundant lights ran above the showers that shined intensely along with huge black fans. The large hallway ran right down the middle with dark gravel for the floor and dark wooden stained stalls with black wrought iron bars to hold the horses in. Massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling every 15-20 feet on the ceilings above and the lights shined radiantly, casting a bright glow over the entire barn interior.
Lee gradually walked down the hallway looking in each stall, unsure of where Amanda was. Before long, he had his answer.
"Damn!"
A loud crash was heard, and some items sounded like they hit the floor.
Lee walked up to the stall that Amanda was in. She was down on one knee, trying to muck the stall and she picked up some stray items that had tumbled on the ground. As she stood up to toss the old hay and stuff out of the stall with a large metal pan, she came face to face with Lee.
"Oh! You scared me, Lee!"
Lee gave her a soft smile and took a step back to allow her to pass to toss the old hay aside.
"Well, that wasn't my intent."
Amanda tossed the old hay into a spare stall and turned back around, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She walked right past Lee and continued her work in silence. She had no intention of talking to him right now.
Lee watched her as she continued cleaning and working. He could see she was a hard worker and could probably run circles around anyone else with this type of work. Amanda glanced back up at Lee, then turned back and resumed along with her work.
"I, uh, wanted to finish our conversation that we were having in your house."
Silence. Amanda kept working.
Lee took a step inside the stall and continued looking closely at Amanda.
"I know you aren't feeling good, and I still think you shouldn't be out here working. You need your rest."
Silence. Amanda continued overlooking Lee.
"Will you please look at me?"
Amanda didn't turn around. She kept her eyes aimed ahead, working, and cleaning the stall.
"A-man-da…"
He drew her name out, whispering her name, trying anything to get her to communicate with him.
Amanda paused what she was doing, looking straight ahead, unwilling to look at Lee. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The way he said her name… She quickly recognized he could say her name like that and be putty in his arms. Opening her eyes, she gradually turned around and gave Lee a look.
She sat back into the fresh hay that was lying in the stall and watched Lee, unsure where or how this conversation would turn out between them.
Lee took a seat in the fresh hay as well, as close to Amanda as he could, without violating her space.
"Listen, can I be honest here?"
Amanda nodded and permitted Lee to continue without interrupting him.
Lee took a deep breath before he continued. He wanted her to know his intent and thoughts about their "relationship".
"When I saw you last night, something pulled me towards you, like a gravitational pull. I can't explain it but when I met you, I quickly realized how exceptional you are. I mean, you wanted nothing to do with me when I sat down at the table, but I didn't want to give up on you. Now, I'm not sure about your thoughts about us, but I'd like to hear them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think there's a relationship forming here, and I'd like to see where it goes."
Amanda studied Lee's facial expressions before she spoke. She looked keenly into his blue eyes.
"I guess I should be honest too. Truth be told, I'm not experienced in any serious relationship. Like I mentioned before, the last relationship I was in was with a man for six months who only "loved" me for my money. I was so head over heels for him that I couldn't see it. I kept making excuses for him time and time again. Before long, my mind finally convinced me to take a long hard look at our relationship and I began putting the pieces together and we broke up. Deep down, I loved him. I craved his love. I cursed the day he left me. I didn't know how to handle that type of situation. I guess you could say I put a wall up after we broke up. Truth be told, I've had other men reach out to me and want to start a relationship with me but I wanted nothing to do with them. It's like my heart shut off and allowed no one in. But you… you came into my life unexpectedly and knocked me off my feet. You knocked that wall down and helped my heart to open again."
Amanda took a deep breath as she continued.
"I know I can be rough around the edges, and I apologize for that. My father instilled determination and spunk in me from a young age. No one wanted to mess with me when I was growing up. My mother never knew how to handle me and allowed me to run free. That's probably why we aren't close. When my father died, I was 8 years old. My whole world stopped that day. My heart was shattered, and I was left holding the pieces, unsure of how to continue living without him. Again, I put a wall up and became bitter and defensive. My mother tried to console me and put me in therapy but that didn't help at all. I rebelled and began living a life so against the one I lived before my father died. It's like I wanted to just live a careless life and I didn't care who I hurt or how bad I hurt them. It made me feel better about myself. It took a long time for me to come to grips with the death of my father. That's when I started experiencing severe panic attacks. When you asked me earlier if I had been dealing with panic attacks in the past, my mind took me back to the day my father died, and I couldn't breathe. I don't know, maybe I'm just a lost cause. Maybe I'll be single the rest of my life. I mean, who would want me? Who would want to be in a relationship to a vicious woman as myself? I don't see any men lining up outside my front door! Can you tell me what's wrong with me, Lee?! Because if you can, tell me! I can't do this! I gotta get out of here!"
With that, Amanda stood up and stormed out of the stall. She ran down the long hall towards the other end of the barn that Lee hadn't been to. He took off after her.
She ran into a stall and quickly hopped onto a horse that was very acquainted to her. She kicked with all her might as the horse took off and came out of the stall. Lee caught a brief glance of the horse before she took off out of the barn at full speed. The horse was massive and all black. Its hair was black and cascaded down its neck. Its tail was black as well. He knew the breed well. It was a Friesian horse.
"Amanda!"
And with that, she was gone.
Lee had to think quickly. He had just got her to open up to him and now she was closing him out again. He wasn't going to allow her to shut him out, not this time.
He looked around the barn and saw another horse in a stall. It was a dark rust colored Arabian horse with a copper-colored mane and tail. He grabbed a saddle off the rack beside the stall and saddled the horse up. He leaped up on the horse and kicked it to go after Amanda.
The horse flew out of the barn and into the open field in front of him. He looked around for Amanda. Way ahead, he saw her racing down the open field. He kicked the horse harder, and it picked up its momentum.
Before long, Lee and the Arabian horse were gaining on Amanda. The horse snorted and breathed hard as Lee kicked it to go faster. He was thankful he had jumped on an Arabian horse, as it was one of the fastest horses in the world.
The horse sprinted faster and faster, coming up beside Amanda and the Friesian horse.
Amanda looked over at Lee and her eyes were vast, clearly on adrenaline. She kicked her horse, and it sped up ahead of Lee. Lee wasn't having it. He kicked his horse and caught up again to Amanda.
"Amanda! Stop!"
Amanda didn't listen. She kept riding faster and faster. Her horse was breathing hard, and Lee knew it couldn't keep the sprint it was at.
Growing up, Lee was also well skilled in riding horses. Unbeknown to Amanda, he had left out the small detail of him doing competitive horseback riding.
Lee knew it had been a while and he was rusty, but he yanked his horse as close as possible to Amanda's horse. He let go of the reins and concentrated on Amanda's horse beside him. The horses were running at top speed. Lee flipped his leg around to the right side of his horse and hung on, still focused on Amanda's horse. He jumped as his horse took off running towards the left and her horse to the right. He landed behind Amanda and grabbed the horse's hair, signaling it to stop. The horse snorted and breathed heavily, rearing on its hind legs. The horse threw Lee one way and Amanda the other way.
Lee jumped up and looked around, seeing Amanda lying on the ground, breathing hard and trying to catch her breath at what had just happened.
Amanda sat up and grabbed her knee. Her face was scrunched together, signifying she was in some type of pain.
"What did you do that for?!" Amanda said as she continued holding her knee, gritting her teeth together trying to fight the pain.
Lee scrambled over to hear and sat her up, surveying her body over for any broken bones or cuts or any sign of injury. Amanda was still breathing hard and trying to catch her breath from the adrenaline. Amanda opened her eyes, looking intently at Lee's eyes.
Between the pain and their surroundings, something clicked, and Lee tugged Amanda in for a fiery kiss. He wasn't sure what came over him, but he kissed her with such want and longing that he didn't want to let her go. She shared the desire between them, unwilling to end the grip.
As they broke, their breathing was labored, and both stared into each other's eyes.
Amanda scooted over in the tall grass, trying to take stock of her knee that was clearly in pain, but didn't look away at Lee.
"Where did you learn to ride like that?!"
Lee laughed slightly and smiled. He reached out caressed her cheek.
"I grew up around horses. I used to do competitive horseback racing when I was younger. I'm a little rusty though."
"Rusty?! You jumped onto my horse at full speed on an Arabian horse! You call that rusty?"
Amanda laughed and stared intently at Lee.
Lee sat up as well and pushed a stray piece of Amanda's hair away from her eyes.
Amanda grimaced in pain, breaking their stares between each other.
"Where are you hurt? I don't see any broken bones."
"Uh, it seems to be somewhere on my left knee. I don't know what I landed on, but I think I hit it on something."
Amanda glanced around, trying to see if she could see what she hit her leg on in the tall grass. She finally caught a glimpse of something lying in the grass. She scooted herself over towards and picked it up. It was a rather large rock – a piece of sandstone, about the size of a small basketball.
Lee stood, hovering over Amanda, unsure of what to do to help her.
Before Lee realized it, Amanda pulled out a pocketknife from her side pocket and began to tear into the fabric of her bibs near her knee cap.
"Wait, don't do that!"
Amanda stopped and looked up at Lee, placing her hand with the pocketknife over her eyes, squinting in the bright sun that shone behind him.
"Lee, I gotta see what it looks like, otherwise I won't know what to do."
"But you'll ruin your bibs…"
"Oh, it's fine. I have plenty of them at the house."
Amanda continued cutting into the fabric, making sure to keep the pocketknife away from her knee. She ripped into the middle of the fabric near the kneecap and looked down at her knee.
The blood already covered her bibs where her kneecap was. She noticed it was a small gash and didn't look too deep. She'd need to take care of it at home.
Lee squatted down and looked at Amanda in amazement. This woman seemed to know how to do anything and everything.
"Give me your shirt."
"My flannel shirt?"
"Yeah."
Lee took the flannel shirt off and tossed it to her. She cut into the fabric with her pocketknife, ripping a straight piece of fabric and handed the shirt back to Lee.
"Gee, thanks."
Amanda rolled her eyes at his statement but continued. She took the fabric and wrapped it around her leg, tying it off to stop the bleeding so she could wrap it when she got back home.
"I'll buy you another shirt. Can you help me up?"
Lee reached out a hand for Amanda to take and yanked her up with all his might. She delicately put weight on her leg, making sure nothing else was broken or injured. She walked around and took a few steps, glancing back at Lee.
Lee reached out and put both his hands over her shoulders, touching her bare skin.
"Can we continue our conversation now? Or are you going to run off on me again? I don't know if I have it in me to chase after you."
Amanda laughed, looking up at Lee as he looked down at her.
"Now you see how I am. Any small type of confrontation and I run. Although, there's been a few times where I didn't run, and I stayed and fought."
"Fought? You fought someone?"
Amanda wasn't proud of it, but she had been known to be gutsy and had fought with a few boys who made her upset when she was growing up.
"Let's just say, they had it coming to them."
Amanda stood up and grabbed her hat that had fallen off her head in the fall to the ground. She leaned over and dusted her bibs off.
"How's your knee?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing. I've had worse."
Amanda began walking and whistled loudly as she called the horses back to her. Both horses walked up slowly towards her, and she reached out and petted both.
Lee stood off to the side to give Amanda some private time with the horses.
Amanda looked back at Lee and grinned.
"You wanna meet the horse you rode?"
Amanda grabbed the reins and pulled the Arabian horse towards Lee, placing the reins in his hand.
"Lee, meet Storm."
"Storm, huh? That's a fitting name."
Lee reached out and petted Storm and the horse nuzzled up to him. Amanda walked back towards her horse, the Friesian horse. Lee held the reins of Storm and pulled him towards Amanda and her horse.
"And what's this one's name?"
Amanda turned and smiled.
"This beautiful girl is Onyx."
Lee held his free hand out and Onyx reached out and sniffed it and snorted. Amanda continued petting Onyx.
"Why don't we head back to the house and get you fixed up? Then we can continue our conversation. Sound good?"
Amanda smiled and jumped on Onyx bareback.
Lee joined her and jumped on Storm.
Amanda had a mischievous smile that spread across her face as she looked over at Lee.
"I'll race you!"
And with that, Amanda kicked Onyx and took off with a start that left dust flying in Lee's direction.
"Hey! No fair!"
Lee kicked his heels into Storm and the horse took off.
As they rode quickly into the barn, Amanda had won the race, much to Lee's surprise. He figured Storm was just tired from his race earlier.
Amanda jumped off Onyx and placed her back in her stall, making sure to put some extra water and hay in the stall. She grabbed the reins from Lee and placed Storm back in his stall, doing the same thing with him as he did with Onyx. She removed Storm's saddle and reins and shut the stall behind her.
She threw her head, nodding towards the house.
"Come on. Let's go grab something to eat."
With that, both walked towards the house and into the kitchen.
As Lee walked behind Amanda in the kitchen, she asked him what he'd want to eat for lunch.
"I'm afraid I don't have too much to offer you. I'm not much of a cook. I normally just order out."
"It's no problem. We can order out if you want. What sounds good to you?"
"There's a small delicatessen up the road from here that I order sandwiches from quite often. Does that sound good to you?"
"Sounds good to me."
Amanda reached into her bibs and pulled out her phone, calling in their lunch order. Amanda ordered a turkey club sandwich and Lee did the same.
As Amanda ended the call, she looked at Lee and cringed her nose at him and then looked down at herself, laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"I think we need a change of clothes. Let me go grab something from the guest bedroom for you to wear. I keep extra clothes in there for my hired hands. They look about the same size as you."
"Actually, would you mind if I took a quick shower?"
"Sure, you can use my shower. I'll shower after you get done. I'm sure I look a mess."
Amanda led Lee back up to her master bathroom and gave him a few towels and a hand towel to shower with. She apologized as she didn't have any manly shampoo or body wash but gave him a bar of soap.
Amanda backed up and left Lee to shower.
"I'll be downstairs waiting for our lunch to arrive. Take your time."
She gave Lee a quick smile and left him in the large master bathroom.
Lee shut the door and turned back around and walked towards the massive walk-in shower. It was white marble walls that seemed large enough to fit a car in it. There was no door, and it was a solid sheet of clear glass. There were three rainfall shower heads and a large white marble bench that you could sit on.
Lee was speechless. Why did one woman need so much? Lee shook his head and undressed and turned the shower on. All three shower heads turned on. He sat his cell phone down on one of the vanities off to the side and pulled up his Pandora account, turning on some music to listen to. He walked inside the shower and began to shower.
Downstairs, Amanda met the driver with their food and gave him the money and a tip. She walked back into the kitchen and placed the food on the island. She placed some of the items into the fridge to keep them cold for when Lee came downstairs after his shower.
Lee was done washing and now needed to wash his hair. As he glanced down at the bottle of shampoo and conditioner, he read the bottle.
"Nexxus…Hmm…"
He brought the bottle to his nose and smelled it. It smelled like roses. Lee laughed.
"Great, I'll definitely smell like a girl now."
With that, he washed his hair with the shampoo and conditioner and shut the shower off. He grabbed the towel and dried off. He walked over to the vanity that held the clothes that Amanda laid out for him.
The jeans were a dark wash and slightly distressed from being worked in. As he slid them on, they fit perfectly. He grabbed the t-shirt and threw it on. It was a simple white t-shirt that showed off his upper arm muscles.
He glanced in the mirror and smiled. "She won't be able to keep her hands off of me." He grabbed the pair of socks and pulled them over his feet. He opened the door and walked downstairs to the kitchen to Amanda.
Amanda was busy plating their lunch and was sitting in the dining room in the opposite room of the kitchen when Lee walked in.
She looked up and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Lee. If she didn't know any better, he looked like he belonged on a farm. The outfit she had picked fit him perfectly. The white t-shirt showed off his large arm muscles. Even though she had met him the night before, his clothes weren't snug on him and didn't show off his muscles. Her mind raced at the thought of wondering what was under the t-shirt. She quickly shook her head to remove the thought from her mind.
Lee made his way over to the dining table and sat down beside Amanda. She reached him a plate and they began eating lunch.
Between bites, Lee asked Amanda how she was feeling from her hangover.
"You know, I'm feeling much better. I think the worst is over."
Amanda was still dressed in her dusty brown Carhartt bibs and black sports bra underneath. Quickly finishing her lunch, Amanda excused herself to go take a quick shower.
She ran upstairs and jumped in the shower, rinsing off all the dirt and grime from the day and focusing some extra attention on her knee. Rinsing it off with the hot water made her cringe and the gash stung for a little bit until it got used to the hot water. She looked down at her knee and noticed it wasn't as bad as she anticipated it would be.
Getting out of the shower, she dried off and dried her hair, throwing it up in a ponytail while it was still wet. She walked into her closet and pulled out a clean outfit to wear for the remainder of the day. She grabbed a pair of dark washed denim jeans and a black spaghetti tank top. She took a dark purple colored flannel button up shirt and placed it over the tank top. She buttoned up the flannel and left the last two buttons unbuttoned. She grabbed a pair of dark brown cowboy boots and threw them on her feet.
Amanda came downstairs and walked towards Lee, who was still sitting at the dining room table.
Lee looked down at her knee and noticed her gash on her leg.
"That's a nasty gash, Amanda. You may want to clean it up."
Amanda looked over at the gash and noticed it was gruesome.
"Ehh, I washed it in the shower with some hot water and soap. It's not hurting too bad now."
She didn't want to admit it, but the gash was painful now. She forced herself to focus on Lee.
Since they were done with their lunch, Amanda took the plates and placed them in the sink. She'd tend to them later. Lee walked up behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Where's your first aid kit? I'll help you with your knee."
"It's over there in the walk-in pantry, top shelf, in a white metal box."
Lee left Amanda and walked into the pantry, carrying it back into the kitchen and placed it on the island. Lee pulled out a chair and looked back over at Amanda who was still standing in front of the sink.
"Sit." Lee pointed down at the chair beside him.
Amanda obliged and sat down in the chair.
"Let me see your knee."
Amanda lifted her knee up to Lee and he scooted another chair under her knee to keep it balanced. Lee inspected it carefully, noticing there wasn't much debris in it, but he wanted to clean it well so that it wouldn't get infected.
"How's it look, doc?"
Amanda smirked and Lee smiled back.
"It doesn't look too bad. I'm going to put some rubbing alcohol on it and then bandage it up with some Neosporin. It may sting a bit."
"I can handle it."
Lee looked into Amanda's eyes, and he noticed how dark and determined her eyes had turned. It was what he had seen in her eyes the night before.
He grabbed a paper towel and poured the rubbing alcohol over it, soaking the paper towel. He glimpsed over at Amanda who was waiting for him to place the paper towel on her knee. She inhaled deeply as the paper towel made contact with the large gash.
She grimaced in pain, closing her eyes at the pain as it hit her. Her breathing became strained, and she tried focusing on something other than the burning sensation coming from her knee. Her other hand formed a fist that showed her white knuckles as she continued mentally telling herself to breathe and that the discomfort would end shortly.
Lee continued cleaning the wound by rubbing alcohol. He could see that Amanda was in some severe discomfort and hated that she tried to be valiant and not show she was hurting.
"Does it hurt bad?"
Amanda kept her eyes closed and quickly shook her head no, reluctant to show her vulnerability.
"Don't lie to me, Amanda. I can tell it's hurting bad."
Amanda opened her eyes and peered at Lee, who showed a look of compassion for her. She glanced down at her knee, which was now red and inflamed due to the gash and the rubbing alcohol that was placed on it moments ago.
"Yeah, you can say it hurts." Amanda whispered as showed her vulnerability and placed her head down on one of her arms that was lying on the kitchen island.
Lee was glad she finally permitted him to help. He took the Neosporin out of the first aid and put some on another paper towel, rubbing it on the gash.
Amanda gasped and shuffled in the seat from the touch of the paper towel on the gash. Lee took some gauze and tape and wrapped the gash tightly so it wouldn't get wet or infected.
"All done."
Amanda's head shot up and she inspected the bandage.
"Thanks…" Amanda barely whispered.
"Ah, it was nothing. You probably want to change the bandage before you go to bed tonight."
"I'll do that."
They shared another smile and Lee checked his phone to see what the time was. It was getting late in the afternoon, and he realized his vehicle was still down at the bar parking lot from the night before.
"Shoot."
"What is it?"
"My vehicle is still sitting down at the bar. Since we drove your truck home last night, I left it there. I need to go get it before something happens to it."
Amanda stood up and went back into the entryway foyer, grabbing a set of keys. She popped her head back into the kitchen and held the keys up.
"Let's go."
Before Lee could object, Amanda already had the front door open and was walking down the large steps towards her truck that was still sitting out front from the night before.
Lee shut the front door behind him and walked quickly down the steps. He joined Amanda in her truck.
Amanda gleamed over at Lee sitting opposite her in the truck.
"You better put your seatbelt on because I've been known to be a horrible driver."
Before Lee could say anything, Amanda started the ignition, shifted gears, stomped on the gas, and took off down the road towards the bar. Lee quickly placed his seatbelt on and held on as they sped down the road.
Moments later, Amanda pulled off the paved road onto the dirt parking lot of the bar off to the side.
"Where'd you park?"
Lee motioned towards a black Range Rover that was sitting a few cars down.
"It's the black Range Rover over there."
Lee pulled the keys out and hit the unlock button.
Amanda looked over and saw the newer Range Rover sitting in the parking lot. It was jet black with a black grill, and black wheels. There wasn't any piece of chrome on the vehicle.
"You're one of those, huh?"
Lee shot her a look of uncertainty.
"One of what?"
"One of those people who must have an expensive vehicle. I never understood how people can spend so much money on one vehicle."
"Well, I guess you can say I have expensive taste."
Lee jumped out of her truck, peering back at Amanda, winking as he made his way over to his vehicle. Amanda rolled her eyes and giggled.
Amanda placed her truck into reverse, shifted it into drive, and took off back towards her house. She glanced up in the rear-view mirror and saw Lee was quick behind her.
She pulled into her long driveway and parked her truck off to the side to give Lee room to park his vehicle beside hers. She was getting out of her truck when Lee pulled up. He shut the engine off and jumped out.
Amanda walked up to the Range Rover and walked around it, eyeing it cautiously.
"What do you think?"
Amanda looked up as she began walking around the vehicle, unsure of what to think about it.
"It's… different."
Lee chuckled.
"You know, I figured you'd own something like this instead of that rust bucket over there."
"Hey! I love that rust bucket, thank you very much!"
Lee threw his hands up in defense and laughed. Looking back towards the house, he then took another look at Amanda.
"With a woman owning something like this, it's hard not to think things like that. I mean, you are wealthy. Why not enjoy the finer things in life?"
Amanda looked down at the ground, kicking some loose gravel at her feet. She made her way over to Lee and glanced up at him.
"Lee, my parents built this place the way they wanted when I was just a kid. Over the years, they remodeled and as I mentioned before, once I was 21, my mother signed it all over to me and moved away. I spent time and money remodeling it the way you see now, but I learned from an early age that money isn't everything. I mean, my parents worked hard for what they left me and I'm grateful for that. But I'm not a spoiled brat that wants anything and everything. I try to live simply and want nothing. Most of my money goes towards my horses. I'd do anything for them. So, I guess you could say that the finer things in life aren't at the top of my list. Know what I mean?"
Lee chuckled and quickly nodded in agreement with Amanda.
"Listen, I'm not one of those people, like you said earlier. I just enjoy some finer things in life and my vehicle happens to be one of them. I mean, just look at it."
Lee took a step back and glanced over at his Range Rover, pleased written on his face.
Amanda smiled, chuckled, and rolled her eyes.
"Keep telling yourself that, big fella."
And with that, Amanda punched Lee in the chest lightly, turned, and headed back inside her house through the front door. She turned back to look at Lee, laughing and smiling along the way, still rolling her eyes at Lee.
Lee laughed as well, staying outside while Amanda went back inside. He headed back inside the house moments later.
Lee found Amanda inside her house sitting on the sectional in the living room looking at a laptop, staring closely at the screen.
She glanced up at Lee as he made his way over to the leather chair opposite Amanda.
"So, are you going to start looking for an apartment to rent?"
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I'm not sure how many apartments or places I'll find here in town for rent. You know anyone who may have something? I figure you know a lot of people around these parts."
Amanda looked up at the ceiling with her eyes, scrunching her mouth together, trying to think of anyone she would know around town that may have a place for rent.
She clenched her teeth over the left corner of her lip, clearly in deep thought. Lee caught a peek at this and realized he loved when she did that. It was so adorable.
"Wait, I have an idea."
Lee shot a look over to Amanda, puzzled on what her idea was.
"What if you just stay here? I mean, it's not like I don't have the space." Amanda threw her arms out in front of her, waving them around to show the space she had.
"No, no. I can't do that. I can't put you out like that. I mean, it wouldn't be right."
"Nonsense! Lee, I have four spare bedrooms that aren't being used. It wouldn't be putting me out, as you said. Plus, I won't charge you any rent. You can work on the farm to pay it off and you can bring your two horses here while you are working in town."
Lee studied what she said, taking it as a serious consideration. He was quiet while he was in deep thought.
Lee stood up and made his way over to Amanda, sitting gently down on the sectional beside her, capturing her hands as he held them in his, beaming at her.
Taking a deep breath, he gave her his answer.
"Okay, I'll take you up on it. How about this, why don't we try it for one month and see how it goes? If we don't get along or I get under your skin, I'll move out and find another place."
Amanda grinned and looked down at their hands together. She enjoyed being around Lee. He brought something out of her that no one else was able to.
"Do you want to use my horse trailer to bring your horses in? It's a pretty large trailer that can hold multiple horses at one time. I wasn't sure how far you'd need to go and pick them up, along with your stuff."
"Oh, I can't use your horse trailer. I can figure something out on transporting them here."
"No, you are using my trailer and that's final. I can go and hitch it up to the truck for you. Come on, let's go to the barn."
Amanda stood as she went back towards the front door, grabbing a few sets of keys off the key rack by the front door. Lee followed beside her as they walked outside back towards the red barn.
"If your horse trailer is large, how does your old truck haul it? I can imagine that's a lot of weight on that truck."
Amanda snickered as she walked into another section of the barn, flipping on the lights. The lights lit up the barn at different intervals, showcasing her large black horse trailer and another vehicle off to the side. It was a newer GMC Sierra 3500 crew cab dually, black in color, clean as a whistle, and completely loaded.
"Holy…" Lee was taken aback. Just moments ago, she'd mentioned she didn't want anything expensive in her life and here sat a truck and trailer that easily cost her over $200,000.
Amanda grabbed the key to the truck and unlocked it. Turning to Lee as she walked over to the truck, she smiled at him.
"Like I mentioned earlier, I'm very serious about my horses."
Amanda jumped in the truck, turning the ignition, and started up the truck. The engine roared to life as she placed it in drive and moved the truck strategically over and in front of the horse trailer.
Lee gave her space and allowed her to do her thing. She was well versed in hooking a trailer to the truck.
It seemed like it wasn't seconds later and Amanda had the truck and trailer hooked up, pulling it out of the large bay door of the barn. She parked the truck and horse trailer right outside the barn, shutting off the ignition.
"Alright, let's go."
"Wait, you don't need to go. I can head to my place and pick up my two horses and bring them back here. You need to rest."
Amanda quickly shook her head at Lee's comment.
"I don't think so. I go with my truck and trailer no matter what. I don't trust anyone else driving my truck. I guess you can say it's my baby."
Amanda laughed and glanced back up at Lee.
Lee understood. He was the same way with his Range Rover. It was his prize and joy and he hated it when other people drove it.
"You talked me into it. Let's go."
Amanda walked back towards the truck, opening the driver's door, and stood up on the running boards, quickly sitting in the driver's seat. She buckled in and turned the ignition on, the truck coming to life. With the engine running idle, the truck vibrated due to the intense power. Lee opened the passenger door and sat down in the seat. He quickly buckled up as Amanda put the truck in drive and slowly drove down the gravel road back towards the main road. She pushed a button above her head on the visor, shutting the barn bay doors.
"Which way do I need to turn on the main road?"
"Uh, hang a left. I live just outside of Shiloh. It's about a two- and half-hour drive, one way, from here. You sure you're up to driving all that way?"
Amanda glimpsed over at Lee, smiling, then glancing back towards the main road.
"Trust me, I've driven longer than that before. I'm fine."
She stopped just before pulling out on the main road. She placed her cell phone in the holder suctioned to the windshield just above the dash. She typed in Shiloh and pushed "Go" and the app brought up directions. She pulled her sunglasses out of the sunglass holder in the ceiling, checked her mirrors before she pulled out on the main road, checking both ways before pulling out, and gave the truck gas as the engine roared down the road.
As Amanda drove, Lee took some time to look over the interior of the truck.
The interior was spotless. The seats were brown, copper colored leather seats with detailed trim stitched into them. The dash was almost completely black with a large display with numerous options. On the passenger's side, the dash had a piece of dark stained wood trim that ran across the dash just above the glove box. The steering wheel was wrapped in black leather. Anywhere you looked, you knew the truck was top of the line, fully loaded. There wasn't an option missing.
"This is a really nice truck."
Amanda looked over at Lee and then back towards the road.
"Thanks. I just got it a few years back. It took me forever to find what I wanted. I knew I either wanted a GMC or a Chevrolet, but it was a tough choice. I knew I needed something with some power to haul my horse trailer."
"Well, this has the power. What engine is it?"
"It's a diesel, 6.6 liter, V8. I'll say this though, it sucks on gas."
Amanda giggled and shook her head.
"Oh, I can imagine."
Lee continued eyeing the interior of the truck, running his hand down the passenger arm rest.
"You can turn the radio on if you want. I have Sirius, Pandora, Spotify… whatever you want to listen to is fine with me. I'm not picky."
"Okay."
Lee reached over to the display and clicked on the screen. The display lit up and listed numerous options to select from. He clicked "Radio" and it brought up numerous radio apps to pick from. He decided to pick Pandora. As he brought up the channel list, he asked Amanda what she wanted to listen to.
"What type of music do you listen to?"
"Oh, you know, this and that. Mostly country but also bluegrass, classical, old rock. Anything really. Just pick something and I'll listen to it."
Lee turned his gaze back towards the display and flipped through the channel list. He decided to pick old rock. The first song that played was "Up Around the Bend" by Credence Clearwater Revival.
Lee and Amanda both looked at each other and smiled. They continued down the road towards Lee's place as the road curved and snaked ahead.
As Lee sat back and relaxed into the drive, he began thinking about Amanda and him, about their relationship and what he really enjoyed about Amanda. Sure, she was rude, stubborn, hotheaded, and rough around the edges at times, but deep down, Lee knew there was something there. He just had to find it. He realized he was quickly falling for this beautiful woman. He was slowly falling in love with her, no matter how hard she tried pushing him away.
As Amanda focused on driving, her mind began having thoughts. Her thoughts consumed her about Lee and her. Lee was unlike any other man she had known. He was so different compared to others. Even though she found it difficult to trust anyone, he had knocked down her defense and was reaching out to her heart, slowly and surely. This was something so different and raw to her. As much as she tried to deny her feelings for him, she quickly realized she was falling in love with him, and she wanted to experience everything with him.