The Colt & The Cobra - THE SPECTER SERIES [book six]

Chapter NINETEEN

Mikki De'lucca

.. o n e w e e k l a t e r ..

The earthy-sweet scent of rain dampens the air, crisp and rich. From your seat on the whimsically carved wooden porch swing overlooking the meadows, you watch the silvery droplets fall to the soft emerald grass, the grey clouds overhead finally giving way to the threats they have been promising for days.

Across the fenced-in fields, you see a sizable herd of speckled-white cattle and their darling-faced calves make lazy-haste, meandering with playful joy towards the shelter of a lone tree that stands tall in the middle of the meadow, its thick brushy branches sprawling sideways and offering the cows a dry place to ride out the looming storm..

A soft smile pulls at your lips, you can't fight it, seeing those cute, chubby beasts as they lark and play in the rain, it reminds you of a time when things were simpler..
A time when you would have danced in the rain..

A time when a brief flash of sunshine had passed through your life..

Those five beautiful years you had spent, married to a man who had filled you with hope and illuminated all your dreams.. A man who had made you feel safe in a villainous world.. A security you'd never known, yet craved for your whole life, right up until the moment you met Charles.. Dependable and loyal..

The long-gone angel you had once loved is now slipping away from you, piece by piece, your visions of him fading a little more with each passing day.. Charlie's specter visiting you less and less each night..

Juliette pushes her way through the patched flyscreen door, jerking you from your nostalgic daydreams with a grimace on her pretty face and a bottle of Fireball in her clenched fist.. "Storms' comin' in fast.. I'm just prayin' she passes right by us, we can't afford to fall behind.." She plops into the deck-chair opposite you and begins to pour out two glasses of liquid gold..

"What do you mean fall behind?" You query lightly as you lean forward to scoop up your drink, knocking back the double in one..

A small cough escapes your lips as red-hot cinnamon and smokey-cedar burns a fiery trail down your throat to warm your belly from the inside out, setting a blaze deep in your belly and snaking its way though your stressed nerves, unwinding the tension you carry in your muscles, sore from a weeks worth of ranching..
The most carefree week of your life after Charlie..

Sure, all you've been doing is menial tasks; brushing and feeding the horses, mucking stalls or walking the fence line and holding Colt's tools while he would fix the barbed wire..
But out here on the ranch, everything feels somehow lighter..

Liberating..

The rancher's lifestyle is like a return to all the fundamental things that never really existed in your underworld.. A new kind of normal that you've never known..

And Colt.. Well.. He's easy company..

Even if he is the type of guy that only speaks when spoken to and typically replies with a smart-ass response.. But every now and then he'd say something so profoundly real.. So genuine and honest, It couldn't possibly be anything other than true..

Each day, Colt Knox and his continuing kindness makes you trust him a little more, and a little more again..

You can no longer pretend that you don't like spending time with him.. Look forward to it, even..

Even though you shouldn't..

Just like Charlie's ghost had said when he'd taunted you;
You like him.. And maybe that's okay?..