The Broken Road by Melissa Huie Page B

Jen.
    “Let’s do breakfast”
    Jen agreed and we made plans to meet at the diner down the street for some pancakes and coffee. I headed up the street when I got a message from Alex.
    “We WILL get together soon. Don’t you worry about it. I’ll call you later.”
    I let out a sigh. I knew he wouldn’t be mad at me; I had done nothing wrong. Nevertheless, the fact that he still wanted to get together is promising. And I know full well what type of together he wants and right now, any type of together is fine with me.
    I walked into the diner and found Jen and Lauren in a corner booth, with Lauren’s array of distractions spread out in front of her.
    “Hi guys!” I exclaimed, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.
    “Hi Auntie Meg. I’m coloring a picture for you,” Lauren said brightly. She was dutifully working on a picture that I was unable to identify. Jen just shrugged.
    “So what’s going on? How are things going with Alex?” she asked, sipping her coffee.
    “Okay I guess.” I proceeded to fill her in on what happened the night before. She was more clued into Shane’s mind than I was, so I was hoping she had some insight. Apparently, his behavior baffled Jen as well.
    “I don’t know what’s been going on with him. He’s had some issues lately at the shop from what I can gather. Maybe Alex just pressed his buttons,” Jen offered, digging into her pancakes.
    “You’re right. I’m sure.” I deftly changed the subject. I pushed the incident out of my mind. I’m not going to worry about it anymore. He is overstressed, and being sick doesn’t help matters. “What’s going on with you?”
    We sat and talked for the next hour. We left the diner stuffed to the gills, and I had Lauren’s latest picture in my purse. I had promised her that I’d put it on my fridge. Shane wasn’t home when I arrived, which I took as a good sign. Whatever his issue is, he needs to chill out. I spent the rest of the day chatting with Alex. Stuck at the emergency vet hospital, we couldn’t spend any more time together. And the way my work load was shaping up, it didn’t seem like we’d get together any time soon.

 
    Chapter 10
    But surprisingly, I was wrong. As the weeks went by, I saw Alex quite a bit. Not for very long periods of time, but enough to keep up our mutual interest. He would come over to the house and have dinner, or we’d meet for coffee. Shane always disappeared when Alex was around, which I took to mean that he still didn’t like him. Fine by me. I didn’t need that drama and it helped things progress between Alex and I. I felt like we were getting closer, but it never went beyond kissing. I was holding back and not entirely sure why. I enjoyed spending time with him though, so I was especially excited when he unexpectedly asked me over to his place for the first time.
    I reminisced about my teenage years as I drove down the gravel path towards the farm. Cooper Ridge Farm is only fifteen minutes away from where I live. It is a beautiful and picturesque farm, with a guest and main house on top of a hill. The stables, pastures, and barns were the first thing you saw when you came down the driveway. Weather beaten and a faded blue, the stable was still the way I remembered it. The smell of hay and horses brought me back to when Dad would drop me off at the crack of dawn to feed and water the horses, muck out their stalls and clean the tack. I did it every weekend to pay for my riding lessons.
    “So. When’s the last time you rode?” Alex asked. It was a beautiful cool day, with a light breeze coming from the west.
    I glanced at him, listening to our boots crunch the small rocks. “Geez, it has been a while. I think it has been at least two years.”
    Alex led me down the concrete walkway, past empty stalls and stopped in front of my old favorite mare. Her dark brown eyes looked deep into mine, seeing me as the teenager I used to be. I almost started to cry. I wrapped my arms around her and