Palette in hand. Paint squeezed onto it.
She picked up the right brush and started filling in the limbs of the tree behind the little dark-haired girl’s head. Her soul settled as she worked.
When she had picked up a canvas it was white. That’s the way yesterday had started. A clean slate with the promise of something beautiful just around the corner. He’d knocked on her bedroom door and when she opened it, he had been leaning against the jamb. The first thing he did was tell her how beautiful she looked and then he kissed her ever so sweetly on the lips.
“I’m here to collect Miz Sage Presley for a date,” he’d said.
It was like sketching in the lines for the picture.
Then they’d had such an amazing day right up until she felt Victor’s hand on her shoulder. And that’s when her brush slipped and she ruined the whole picture.
She stood back and looked at the canvas in front of her. “But why?”
Then the answers came flowing so fast that she could hardly understand them.
It was painful to let go of the past. Victor reminded her of abandonment. He’d gotten so angry when she wouldn’t commit to living with him and even madder when she told him that she wouldn’t be back to college that next fall.
She picked up her brush and the picture began to take shape. Creed would never understand why she’d acted so crazy. She couldn’t explain in words to herself. But sometime in the night, she’d faced off with her demons and she was ready to tell Creed that she was madly in love with him.
It was eight o’clock when she looked up from her picture the next time.
Angel hopped out of the basket and rubbed around her legs. And the puppies started whining.
“Noel, feed your babies,” Sage whispered.
But there was no Noel. She wasn’t on her blanket and the three puppies were crawling around crying for her.
“Must be in Creed’s room,” she said.
Even with Angel trying to trip her, the sound of puppies and kittens in the background, and a sparkling Christmas tree, the house felt empty. His door was wide open. The bed was made so tight that she could have bounced a quarter on it. Yet there was no Creed and no Noel.
“Must be milking,” she said. “But it wouldn’t take three hours.”
She reached around the door and flipped on the light. Angel jumped on the bed and a sheet of paper floated to the floor.
Her name was written on the outside and the next breath caught in her chest like a rock, refusing to move. She picked up the note and carried it to the living room where she melted into a chair. Her heart raced and her breathing returned in short, raspy gasps.
Angel jumped up in her lap and curled up for a nap. Sage made herself open the note and read it, knowing fully well what it would say before she saw the first lines.
Dear Sage,
Your grandmother and I had an agreement. If either of us didn’t want to go through with the sale then we had the option of backing out. I’m calling that option and going back to Ringgold.
Chores are done for the morning. You’ll only have to milk a few days. Sorry that I’ve left you with that job.
I love the ranch. It’s exactly what I want, but I don’t think the whole panhandle of Texas is big enough for both of us. You’ve got my number. Call me if you want to talk.
Creed
She dropped it. Her shaking hand wasn’t blistered but it felt hot. She was on her feet and headed for the front door when she heard the loud thud on the front porch. The noise stopped her in her tracks and then another one hit, shaking the floor under her bare feet.
She jerked the door open and plowed right out onto the porch. Her socks did little to protect her feet from the cold porch, and the cold north wind whistled right through her sweatshirt.
Creed stood at the edge of the porch, looking at the two tiny log cabins. She wanted to shoot him and then hug him, in that exact order. Noel sniffed the larger of the houses and stuck her head in past the leather flap covering the doorway.
“You are leaving?” Sage hugged herself against the wind.
“Looks that way. I was already in the truck and pulling out when I saw the insulation in the back. I don’t leave jobs unfinished. I’ll drill a couple of holes to snake the electric cord into the house and put the bulbs inside the attics. You can move them out when you get ready.”
“I’m not moving them. This was your idea, Creed Riley. You shove them out into the cold.”
“You better get back inside. You’re going to freeze to death,” he said.
“What would you care? You wouldn’t even know about it if I did. I could fall and break an arm and not be able to get to a doctor but you wouldn’t give a damn. You’d be gone. I was a fool to trust you. I was an idiot to think we might have something. Nobody finds their soul mate in two weeks.” Her voice got louder with every word.
She was shocked when he crossed the porch, picked her up, and carried her back inside the house. Her head rested on his chest and through the thick coveralls she could hear his heart thumping every bit as fast as hers. Noel raced inside the house with them and didn’t stop until she was curled up around her hungry puppies, but Sage wasn’t even aware of the dog.
Creed sat down on the sofa with her and grabbed a fluffy throw to wrap around her feet.
“I don’t want to leave,” he said.
Those five words were better to Sage than winning the lottery.
“I don’t want you to go,” she whispered. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I can’t begin to explain, but it
