She threw her head back and let the wind whip through her hair, making it a tangled mess of amber curls. She hated the mess her hair was always in when she got back but at the moment, as always, she could care less. Every day at this time she could care less about anything, not the truck payment, the leaky barn roof, the dying drier on its last legs...nothing. This was her time and her time alone. Nothing ever made her feel like this, this free this care free. Letting go of the reins, she closed her eyes and outstretched her arms wide, she felt like she was flying. She gathered the reins back and looked at her watch.

“Well Sunny, guess it’s time to head back. Katie will be home soon” Lexi said as she patted the gelding’s neck through his dark, thick mane.

Sunny shook his head up and down knowing what time it was and turned in the direction of home. He took off in a trot and Lexi let him have his head. He knew the way home.

Lexi was in the barn taking the saddle off of Sunny when Katie came bounding through the door.

“Hi Mom!” she bounced with all of her 7 year old enthusiasm, “I’m hoooooooome!”

“Hey honey, let me finish with Sunny here and we’ll go in and test the cookies I made this morning” Lexi said.

Katie turned and made her way into the house as Lexi finished putting up the saddle and taking the bridle off of Sunny then brushing him down. She refilled his water bucket with fresh water and putting some sweet feed in his feed trough as a treat. Sliding the stall door shut, she checked the latch then walked to the house.

On her way in she picked up Katie’s coat and backpack off the floor as she walked in. “That child will never learn” she said under her breath with a chuckle. She went into the big, open eat-in kitchen and pulled two glasses from the cabinet and went to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk. She poured her and Katie a glass and put it back. She went over and pulled out a saucer and placed some cookies on it and took the snack to the bar. Katie was already there, watching and waiting for her after school snack. Lexi hadn’t even gotten the plate sat down before Katie’s hand greedily went for a cookie. She stuffed half the cookie in her mouth.

“MMMMMM!! Mom” she mumbled with her mouth full of cookie, “these are really good!”

“Katie, please don’t talk with your mouth full. You just spit everywhere..EW!” Lexie complained.

“Sorry Mom” Katie said.

“It’s ok. So, what did you do in school today?” she asked her daughter.

“Oh same old stuff. Mrs. Newton is almost ready to go out to have her baby. I’m kinda scared of what substitute we will have. If it’s old Mr. Windon I may just shoot myself” she said dramatically.

Lexi listened and laughed at the seriousness and the over dramatics of her daughter. Oh to be so young and carefree where the only thing to worry about was who your teacher was going to be. Life had not turned out the way she had planned. Oh no, she had not planned on being a single mother struggling to raise her daughter on her own with no support. She had family but they had had a huge falling out after her sister had passed away. Her and her mother we’re not on good terms and have not spoken to each other in over 3 years. So now, here she was, single mother struggling to raise her daughter and follow her own dreams as well.

The top was down as he drove with the wind ripping through his blond hair. He felt so free and loved the wind in his face. He was driving through the little town of Dalton, GA. He was heading back home to Tennessee from a visit with Brian that didn’t end as well as he’d hoped. He hated leaving that way but he knew if he didn’t leave right then feelings would be hurt. He already had enough on his plate to deal with. He didn’t need Brian’s shit on top of it all. He knew Brian meant well, he really did, but he always takes it overboard. It’s amazing to him now, to think back to the old days, how close they had once been. “I know he thought I was a pain in the ass, following him around like a little puppy” Nick thought to himself as he drove by the beautiful pasture fields full of all kinds of livestock. The smell of the country invaded his nostrils and he wrinkled his nose at the invading aroma.

“How do people stand that smell?” he said to himself out loud.

Suddenly, a loud pop came from under the hood of the car and smoke came pouring out.. Then it stopped dead in the road.

“Fuckin great! That’s ALL I need right now”, he said.

Nick put the car in neutral and got out. He started pushing the car to the side of the road.

“I’m glad I started working out” he chuckled to himself as he jumped back in the car and hit the brake. Putting the car in Park and setting the emergency break, he got back out and walked to the front of the car. He took out his BlackBerry to call for some help but where he was at he received no signal.

“This just keeps getting better and better” he said sarcastically to himself.

He took in his surroundings. He had passed the major town already (well if you call that major. If you blink you’d miss it) and it was a good mile back Where the car chose to break down there was a big pasture on either side of a dirt road that looked like a driveway.

“Well, I pray to God someone lives close up that road” he thought to himself as he started to walk.

The road was lined with a white fence as far as he could see. In a distance he could see a small, two story house.

“I hope they have a phone out here in Dogpatch, U.S.A.”, he silently prayed to himself.

He started walking down the road, kicking up dirt as he walked. He got a little ways down the road when he hear something. He craned his neck to the left to see what it was. In the distance, coming rapidly towards him, was a someone on horseback. As they grew nearer, he could tell it was a young woman on a huge black horse. As he took in the sight, he was in awe of how human and animal could move with such fluidity with each other. Suddenly there was a small fence in front of them and his heart stopped for a moment. He thought they were going to crash into it when the horse took flight and sailed a mile high over the top railing. He’d never seen anything like it. As she brought the horse to a walk he seen her look over at him and take notice of him. The horse then broke out in a trot as she rode up to him.

“Hey”, she said, “you lost?”

“Hello, no, my car broke down at the end of this road here and I was looking for the nearest house for some help. I must be in a dead zone cuz my phone has no signal out here” Nick explained to her.

Lexi looked him up and down. He was quite a beautiful spectacle of a man. Tall, lean, guessing around 6 foot and the most beautiful pair of blue eyes. But he looked a bit too high maintenance for her taste. Meanwhile, he was giving her the once over as well. There was a rugged beauty about her. About 5'6 he’d guess since she was on a horse, long, curly auburn hair and very mesmerizing green eyes.

Thinking to herself he looks harmless enough, she steered Sunny over too him. He started to back away. She chuckled at how uncomfortable he seemed around the horse. Taking her foot out of the stirrup, she extended her hand to him.

“Climb aboard cowboy, and I’ll give you a ride to my house and you can use the phone” Lexi offered.

Nick looked up at her like she’d completely lost her mind. She must have realized this because she let out a hearty laugh at him.

“Just put your foot in the stirrup and hang onto me and swing yourself up and your leg over. It’s not difficult” Lexi explained to him.

Nick did as instructed and what a sight it was. Grunting and groaning, he finally made he was up behind Lexi. Nick was really glad there was no one around he knew. They’d never let him live this down. The close proximity was a bit uncomfortable considering they haven’t even exchanged names yet. Suddenly Nick remembered his manners.

“By the way, my name is Nick” Nick said as he tried to get comfortable. It wasn’t easy for him. He’d never seen a saddle like this in his life.

“Nice to meet you Nick, my name is Lexi and welcome aboard Sunny”, Lexi said as the wheeled the horse towards home.

As they rode up the road towards the quaint, little two story house Nick took in his surroundings. He kept adjusting himself behind Lexi making her giggle softly. He knew she was laughing at him but he said nothing. As Nick looked around he noticed a small building beside the house that looked like a small replica of the two story main house, a barn that seemed pretty old, a large fenced in area with what he guessed was some sort of an obstacle course of fences in it, another small corral, a two horse trailer parked beside the barn and a rather large truck parked beside of it. Nick tried to imagine her behind the wheel of such a large truck and laughed to himself. He took in the sight of the house as they rode up to it. It was pretty old, he could tell, but still in pretty good shape but was in need of some repairs. It was a tan color with dark green shutters with a large wrap around porch. A porch swing was at one end and flower boxes on the front windows filled with just about every color flower in them. There was also two rocking chairs with a table between them in the middle of the front by the front door.

Lexi pulled Sunny to a stop. “This is our stop cowboy” she said. Nick took hold of her shoulder and swung his leg over and slip off. He just about lost his balance when he hit the ground, stumbling back a few steps. “Damn, this is a tall horse!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, he’s 17.2 hands, which is pretty tall for a Hanoverian” she explained. Of course this went completely over Nick’s head. She took note of the look on his face and smiled. Apparently horse lingo was not his forte so she explained.

“Seventeen hands..a hand is 4 inches and a horse is measured to its shoulder. So Sunny here is 5' 2" tall from his shoulder down.”

“Well, ya learn something new everyday” Nick said as Lexi swung herself down.

She threw the reins over Sunny’s head and began leading him to the barn.

“After I get the tack off Sunny and rub him down I’ll take you in the house so you can use the phone” Lexi told him. Nick nodded and followed her into the barn.

As they entered the barn, Nick noticed this place could use a little work. The roof looked like it needed replaced but other than that, looked to be in pretty good condition. The isles were lined with saddles and bridles and various other kinds of tack. Lexi led Sunny to the end of the isle and hooked him up to the cross tie and started taking off his saddle and saddle pad.

“What kind of saddle is that?” Nick asked her.

“This is an English saddle” she explained.

“I guess I’m just used to the ones with the handle on the front of it” Nick said.

“A saddlehorn, but yes, we have Western saddles too, but I prefer the English one. I use them in competition.” Lexi told him.

She walked to the front of Sunny and took off his bridle and replaced it with a halter and reclasping him to the cross tie. Then she took a brush and started brushing him down. She looked at Nick just standing there, looking around and looking rather bored, so she went over to the tackbox and got another brush and threw it to him.

“You get the other side and we’ll get done in half the time” she said.

Nick caught the brush and gave her a look.

“OK?” he said.

He walked timidly to the side of the horse and started mimicking her movements on his side. He’d never brushed a horse in his life. If Kevin could only see him now!

As they worked Nick asked “So, Sunny uh? How’d you come up with that name? He’s rather dark for a name like that”.

Lexi smiled. “His full name is Midnight Sun but I call him Sunny because of his sunny personality” she said.

They had finished brushing him down and Lexi went into his stall to fill his water bucket and poured some grain into his feed trough. Nick looked into another stall and noticed Sunny was not the only horse in the barn. Four more horses occupied the stalls. Well, more like three horses and a pony.

“I see you have more than one” Nick said to her.

Lexi walked over, unclasped Sunny and led him to his stall, unclasped the lead and slid the door shut. She walked over to the stall which contained a medium sized buckskin horse with the name Buckshot written on a plaque hooked to the door.

“Yeah, I let other people board there horses here. I give lessons so they just keep their horses here, for a fee of course” she explained, “but Buckshot here is mine also”.

Then she walked over to the connecting stall. “And so is Lil Sprout here” she said motioning towards the white pony. Nick snickered at the name. Seemed fitting enough.

Lexi started to walk out of the barn.

“OK, all done here. Let’s take you to the phone now” she said.

Nick followed her out of the barn. They got to the house and she led him up the front step, which where rather rickety and he was scared they wouldn’t hold his weight.

“They are old but safe I assure you” Lexi told him.

She opened the screen door then the large oak front door and ushered him inside. Nick stopped as he stepped inside and looked around. Lexi sidestepped him and took off her boots. Nick followed suit taking off his Kicks. He looked around the house. They were in a small alcove that opened up into a very large living room. It was decorated in bright, sunny colors. The windows had bright yellow swag curtains, the walls were painted a light tan, the carpeting had dark shades of brown and there was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The furniture looked large and inviting yet older, worn, but comfortable with a large couch, loveseat, and two rocking recliners that have seen better days. On the far wall was a large fireplace with a mantel littered with knicknacks and pictures. Over the mantel hung a rather large picture of Lexi and a small girl looking to be about 3 or 4 years old. Across the room there sat an entertainment center with a TV, DVD player, an older version of Nintendo with games littered on the bottom shelf, a stereo and a stack of CDs beside of it. Nick got the overwhelming sensation of home looking around the room.

Lexi walked over to the endtable and picked up a cordless phone and reached down underneath and produced a phonebook.

“Here you go” she said as she handed both to him.

Nick took a seat in one of the recliners and flipped through the phone book.

“Look up Woody’s Auto Repair. He’s the best in town” she offered.

“Would you care for anything to drink? We have ice tea, soda, kool aide, and water.”

“Thanks and ice tea sounds great, thank you” he said.

Lexi excused herself into the kitchen to get their drinks, leaving Nick alone to make his phone call.

When she returned she saw Nick’s brow scrunched up in concentration or may frustration. “Wow” she thought to herself. “This man has some great eyebrows. I’d kill for those!”. Lexi finally took the time to really look at this guy. She noticed him at their first meeting but now she really had time to take him in now that he was distracted. She though he was beautiful before but now, she was noticing why. She usually didn’t go for blonds but this guy was stunning! Rather tall, long legs and long, beautiful fingers. His hands looks rather soft and didn’t look like they’d seen a hard days work, unlike her own which were rough and calloused. And his eyes! Just WOW! she thought. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue she’d ever seen before. She thought that color could only be possible with contact lens, but who knew, maybe they were. They were gorgeous none the less. They almost matched the light blue t-shirt he was wearing.

Nick was telling the person on the other end of the line where his car was broke her and caught her gawking at him.

She blushed. “Just tell him its at the entrance to the Barton Farm. They will know where that is. Tell him to give you a call at 555-5625 when they get it there to let you know.” she told him.

Nick smirked and then relayed the information to the guy from the shop in town. He said thanks and hung up. Lexi handed him his ice tea. He took a long drink, draining half the glass in one gulp. He hadn’t realized just how thirsty he was.

“Thanks” he told her. “I hope this won’t take long. I hate to intrude on you like this. I’m sure you are pretty busy around here.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you a ride into town when your car is done” she offered.

“Thanks, I really appreciate that” he said.

Lexi took a seat on the couch across from him. For a while they just sat in silence, sipping their drinks.

All was quite then all of a sudden the front door burst open and a little girl came running into the room. “Hi mom!! I’m hoooooo...” she started. She skidded to a stop as soon as she spotted Nick.

“Who are you?” she asked, giving him a funny look.

“I’m Nick. Who might you be?” he asked

Lexi cleared her throat. “Damn, I didn’t even notice what time it was. Katie, go take your shoes off and put your backpack in the kitchen.” she told her daughter.

Katie turned on her heals and headed out of the room. Lexi gave Nick an apologetic look.

“Sorry bout that. I didn’t realize it was time for her to come home. That’s my daughter Katie” Lexi explained.

“No problem. Now I know who the little girl is in the photos on the mantel is. How old is she?” Nick asked.

“She’s 7 years old.” Lexi told him.

“She’s the spitting image of you. A real cutie too.” Nick said. He realized how that sounded, blushed and then looked down at the floor. Lexi just smiled at him and went into the kitchen to tend to her daughter. Nick followed her because he didn’t know what else to do.

Once in the kitchen, Lexi went about fixing Katie her after school snack. She placed some of the cookies she made the day before on a saucer and poured her a glass of milk.

“Would you care for some?” she asked Nick. “After we are done with our snack we will go see if Woody has pickup up your car yet. If he has I’ll drive you in to see what the problem was. That sound OK?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Those cookies look good” Nick said as he plucked a cookie from Katie’s plate.

“Hey!” Katie complained.

Nick gave her his best crooked smile and ruffled her hair. “So, what grade are you in Katie” Nick asked.

“I’m in the second grade” Katie replied. “I hate my teacher. Mr. Windon is the worst” Katie added.

Lexi stood back and watched the banter between her daughter and this stranger. Katie rarely took to strangers, let alone men. But he seemed so easy to talk to. He was funny and charming as he talked to Katie about school and her friends.

With snack time over they all went into the living room and put their shoes on then went out and piled into Lexi’s truck.

“This is a pretty big truck for such a small woman” Nick said.

“Well, we need a good size truck to haul the horse trailer and all the gear” Lexi told him.

“That makes sense” Nick said.

The rest of the ride down the road was made in silence. When they reached the end of the driveway, they noticed that his car was gone.

“I guess Woody’s already picked it up. We’ll go to the garage and see what he has to say” Lexi said.

On the way to the garage Nick asked Lexi, “you said you haul a horse trailer. Where do you go with the horses?”

“I complete in shows all over” Lexi explained.

“Oh, cool” Nick said.

It didn’t take long to get to the garage. Lexi parked the truck beside the garage and put it in park. She got out and helped Katie out while Nick exited the other side. They walked around the front and Nick held the door open for her and Katie to enter. ‘Wow’ Lexi thought to herself, ‘what manners. Don’t see that much these days’.

“Hey Lexi” said a rather skinny runt of a man in greasy overalls.

“Hey Woody” Lexi said back. “This is Nick. He’s the owner of the car you picked up. Have you had a chance to look at it yet?” she asked.

She looked at the car and was taken aback a little. Yep, this dude had money.

“Yep” Woody responded, wiping his hands on his overalls to rid the grease then handing it out to Nick for a handshake. “Fancy car you got there Mister.”

“Thanks” Nick said, reluctantly shaking the grease-stained hand.

He gazed lovingly down as his sleek, black, convertible Benz. “So Doc, have you diagnosed what’s wrong with my baby yet?

“Well, yep. The problem is your transmission is kaput” Woody answered.

Sitting in the cab of Lexi’s truck again, Nick was fuming.

“Two weeks?!?” he almost shouted.

Lexi was trying to calm him down.

“Nick” she said, “he can’t help it. It’s a small garage out in the middle of nowhere. It will take time for the parts he needs to arrive and then time to fix it. He explained all that to you.”

“I know, I’m sorry” he said. “But what am I gonna do in the meantime? I need to get back home. I had some appointments set up that I need to get to” he explained.
Lexi thought for a moment as she drove towards home. Nick had gotten his dufflebag and a guitar case out of the trunk of his car then slammed the trunk closed before they left the garage. He really seemed harmless enough, from the little time they have spent together, and he got on well with Katie. She was normally pretty good at reading people. Well, except for her ex. Won’t go there tho.

“Well Nick, instead of staying at the one dumpy motel in town, you can stay with us until your car is fixed. You are more than welcome to use the bunkhouse beside of the main house. Katie normally uses it as a playhouse. It's not much but it’s got a kitchen, small living room, bedroom and bathroom. It’s got whatever you’d need for the next couple weeks.”

Nick looked at Lexi, considering the proposition. He was thinking he could just fly home and then come back down and get his car when it was fixed. That way he wouldn’t have to cancel the appointments with the producers he set up and the studio times he had booked.

The Boys were on break with no plans on getting together for a while. They had just gotten off their last tour a couple months ago and taking some much needed down time. Nick was using the time to get a jump-start on his second solo album.

He had taken a short, weekend break to visit Brian which is why he was where he was at now. Brian had invited him down to spend a “Boys” weekend with him, without Leighanne or Baylee. He thought it would be fun, so he went. Everything was going fine until Brian brought up the few times he’d been out to clubs and drank a bit. A huge fight had ensued and he had ended up leaving in a huff. He understood that Brian worried about him, but could they all not see the changes he’s made in the last few years? Brian had said he was proud of him but he still didn’t think he understood the daily struggle he had with everything. But, he knew his limits, knew the consequences, and lived the best he could. So what if he had a few drinks here and there. He was a grown man now, he knew what he was doing.

Thinking that maybe just disappearing for a while, away from everyone, everything, was just was he needed. He could do some writing here too. It was so quite, with no interruptions from the world he knew. No phone to ring constantly, no nosey friends to drop by unannounced. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

“Yanno Lexi, I appreciate the offer and think I’ll take you up on it. I’ll even pay you room and board for your trouble.” he finally answered her.

“Nick, you don’t need to do that. It was my idea.” she responded.

“No, if I’m going to stay, I’m going to pay my way. I insist.”

Changing the subject, Lexi said, “if you are gonna be staying, then we better take you into town and pick up some groceries and odds and ends you may need.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that” Nick said as he shifted in the seat. He felt good about his decision.

Lexi pulled the truck up right in front of the bunkhouse. They had been into town to buy Nick the supplies he would need for his stay. She thought Nick was gonna buy out the whole store! And when he pulled out that wad of cash from his billfold, her eyes about popped out of her head. “Who IS this guy?” she had thought to herself, staring at the guitar case.

Katie all but climbed over Nick to get out of the truck. She was excited that this newcomer was going to be staying for a while. She had really taken a liking to Nick. Living way out like they did, they rarely got company or saw anyone other than themselves. She occasionally went to friend’s houses from school, but she was mostly stuck on the farm and got bored of it. She loved to ride her horse, Lil Sprout, but one could only do so much riding before getting bored. So, having Nick around, it was going to be a nice change.

Lexi and Nick got out of the truck and grabbed a bunch of the bags and hauled them to the porch of the bunkhouse. Lexi reached into her purse and pulled out some keys. She selected a key and slid it into the lock. With a soft click the door was unlocked and she turned the knob and pushed the door open. She turned and picked up her bags and headed inside. Nick followed her. They set their bags down on the counter in the small kitchen. Nick took a look around. He smiled when his eyes landed on the pink curtains hung in the windows with little hearts on them. Lexi caught on to what he was smiling at.

“Yeah, not very “manly” is it?” she said with a chuckle. “Katie uses this as a playhouse since its been abandoned for so long. It helps keep the place clean. I had told her that if she uses it, she has to keep it clean.”

Nick just smiled wider and went on through the small structure checking out the rooms. True, the rooms were small and it wasn’t very big, but he was pleased with what he saw.

“It’s perfect” he said.

With that, they went back outside to gather the rest of his things. Lexi stayed long enough to help him put away the groceries they had purchased.

“I need to get Katie back over to the main house and get her homework done, her bath and then bed. I’ll be back after our nightly ritual is done. I need to bring you some fresh sheets for the bed and some towels and washclothes.” Lexi told him.

“That fine. Take your time. I’ll just put the rest of this stuff away and get settled. I can’t thank you enough for this Lexi. I really appreciate your kindness and hospitality.” Nick told her.

“No need to thank me Nick. Just make yourself at home and I’ll be back soon.” With that, she collected Katie from the bedroom and headed out the front door.

After they left, Nick carried the bag with his toiletries into the bathroom and started putting them away. After that, he got his dufflebag and started putting the clothes in it away. He was going to have to ask Lexi if he could borrow her washer and dryer...and her help to wash them. Yeah, he had “taught” Aaron to use the washer/dryer on House Of Carters, but the truth was, if no one could tell, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. While out shopping, he did go into the men’s clothing section and picked up a few more articles of clothing since he’d only had a couple outfits he had packed for his weekend with Brian. Once everything was put away to his liking, Nick moved to the front window of the house and pushed aside the girlie pink curtains with a soft smile. He could see the lights on upstairs and assumed Lexi was getting Katie ready for bed. He turned and walked into the small living area of the bunkhouse. There was an old recliner chair that had seen better days and two green garden chairs and a beatup looking coffee table that made up the furniture. In the corner was a small endtable that a small boombox sat on. He walked over to it and noticed beside it a small collection of CDs. He flipped the knob over to radio and turned on it on. He fiddled with the tuning knob until he found something he liked. Then he picked up the CDs and walked over to the recliner and sat down. Looking through the CDs, he quickly noticed they were in a little girls taste. Justin Beiber, The Jonas Brothers and the like made up the small collection of the CDs. There were also a couple Hannah Montana CDs in the pile. It made him think of Brian and he laughed. It was then he realized, he didn’t think Lexi had recognized him. They had been busy since they had met, getting his car taken care of and shopping that she didn’t seem like she knew who he was. It was kind of refreshing in a way. He pondered it for a while, wondering if he should tell her or not. He finally decided not to, unless she brought it up. He sat forward and put the CDs on the coffeetable and then sat back. Reaching to the side of the recliner, he pulled the handle and brought up the footrest and laid back to relax.

Inside the house, Lexi went to work with Katie to get her homework done for the night. Luckily, she didn’t have very much because it was getting late and close to her bedtime. With the math homework quickly squashed, Lexi announced to Katie that it was bathtime. Katie bulked at her mom’s announcement.

“MOM!!!” she shrieked, “I don’t take BATHS anymore. I’m a big girl now. I take SHOWERS!”

“Sorry!” Lexi said, “its just a term Katie. Now go get your pjs and I’ll get it started for you.”

As Katie scrambled to her bedroom, Lexi went into the bathroom across the hall and got a towel out of the linen closet and started Katie’s shower. Then she went back to the linen closet and set out some towels and an extra set of bedsheets and a blanket for Nick to take to him after Katie was in bed. As she was doing this, she seen Katie streak, naked, from her bedroom to the bathroom. She smiled, used to this routine, but then thought, with a man around, she would have to talk with Katie about this ritual. She went into Katie’s room and got the little girls pink, fluffy Hannah Montana bathrobe and took it into the bathroom. Katie was singing at the top of her lungs, already in the shower, “Are you ready? Lets go Are you ready? Lets go...Are you ready? YEAH I'm coming up with all my girls, were gonna party like theres never a worry cus good time rules, so no curfew”. As Lexi listened to her daughter sing the lyrics, she realized that maybe she should take another look at those Hannah Montana CDs she bought her. She then grabbed the towels and bedclothes and took them downstairs. As she was coming back upstairs, Katie came out of the bathroom with her robe on looking all clean.

“I smell pretty!” she announced, holding her head up to her mom to smell.

“OOOO” Lexi cooed, “Lilacs. I love that smell.” she said.

“Me too!” Katie said with a stiffled yawn.

“Ok..off to bed with you young ladies. Princesses need their beauty rest.” Lexi prompted her daughter.

Katie didn’t give up much a fight tonight. With all the excitement of the day, it had worn the little girl out. She crawled up into her bed, pulling the covers down and crawling under. Lexi pulled the overs back up, tucked them under her daughter and then turned on the Hannah Montana lamp on the sidetable (see a trend here?).

“G’nite sweetheart. You go to sleep. I’m going to go over and give Nick some stuff he needs but I’ll be right back. Sweet dreams” she told her.


“Ok. I’m so happy he’s here. Maybe he will like it here so much he won’t want to leave!” Katie said excitedly. “Good night mommy” answered Katie.

Lexi frowned when Katie said this as she walked to the door and closed it until it was just cracked open. She then headed down the stairs and collected the things for Nick and headed over to the bunkhouse.

Lexi closed the door behind her and readjusted the things for Nick in her arms. She still had the frown on her face as she walked towards the bunkhouse. Katie has had the absence of a male figure in her life for so long, she was hoping she didn’t become too attached to this stranger in their home. Nick seemed like a nice guy but what would happen when he left in a couple of weeks? Katie would be crushed.

She had reached the front door of the bunkhouse and knocked lightly. No answer. She knocked again. Again, no answer.

“Maybe he’s in the shower” Lexi thought to herself.

She tried the doorknob and pushed the door open. She poked her head in. “Nick?” she called. She heard music playing softly. When she still received no answer she wandered farther into the small quarters. It was then she spotted him, laid back in the recliner, sound asleep. She giggled softly to herself when she realized it was a Hannah Montana song that was playing.

“Man, no wonder he fell asleep. That shit will bore any adult to tears” she said softly to herself.

She crept into the small bedroom and laid the things she had brought on the bed and grabbed the blanket. She looked around and noticed he had already unpacked his things. In the corner she noticed the guitar case. She wondered briefly, if he was a traveling musician or was in a band of some sort. She didn’t ponder the thought long before padding quietly back as to not wake him up, she unfolded the blanket and covered him softly with it. He shifted slightly in his sleep but didn’t wake up. She stood back and took in his features as he slept. His hair was slightly mussed. His long lashes fell softly over his beautiful blue eyes. Beautiful, lush lashes. God, this guy had lashes AND eyebrows any woman would kill for! His lips were in a slight pout. He almost looked angry or agitated as he slept. Was he dreaming? She wondered what this guy’s story was. Well, she had a couple weeks to find out, she guessed. As she stood there gazing upon him, she suddenly got a feeling of longing. She shook herself mentally. Yes, he was absolutely stunning, but she couldn’t afford to be taking chances this stranger. First, he was only in town for a couple of weeks. Secondly, she had Katie to think about. She turned on her heels and left the bunkhouse and back across the yard to her own home. She changed into her nightclothes and crawled into bed. Her mind went in a million different directions about the man sleeping so close but finally slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Nick woke up with a start. He bolted up out of the chair as if it was on fire, got tangled in the blanket that covered him, and promptly faceplanted into the floor. Pushing himself up on his arms and shaking his head, he pushed himself into a sitting position and checked himself for damage.

“So glad no one was around to see THAT” he said out loud to himself, fingering his now sore nose. But all seemed to be in tact and unbroken.

“Where the HELL am I? He looked around at his surrounding and it came flooding back to him what all had happened. Then he looked at the blanket. He didn’t remember it from last night. He then remembered Lexi was going to bring him some sheets and stuff and figured she must of covered him up.

He finally dragged himself to his feet and walked into the small bedroom. There, sitting on the bed, was a dark green set of sheets, a couple of pillows and some towels and washclothes. Yep, she’d been there. Going over to the dresser, he pulled out the only clean pair of jeans he had and grabbed a t shirt. Sniffing the shirt, he decided it was clean enough then grabbed a towel, washcloth and his toiletry bag, he headed towards the bathroom for a shower.

In the main house, Lexi was busy fixing pancakes on a griddle on the stove and bacon cooking on the backburner. Katie was upstairs getting dressed for school.

“Katie!!” Lexi yelled, “hurry up or you won’t have time to eat your breakfast!.”

Katie came thundering down the stairs and held out a hairbrush and two pigtail holder out to her mother. “Can you put my hair up for me?” she asked.

Lexi checked the pancake she had just flipped and then pulled out a chair and motioned for Katie to sit down. She went to work, quickly putting Katie’s hair into two curly pigtails.

“Thanks mom!!” Katie yelled as she grabbed the brush to run it back upstairs. Lexi went back to making the pancakes.

Just as she set the bacon on the table, she noticed something move by the back door. Looking up, her breath caught in her throat. There stood Nick, fresh from his shower. His hair was still damp and mussed and he looked absolutely edible. Mentally shaking herself, she walked over to the door and opened it.

“You hungry?” she asked.

Startled, Nick looked up and just stared at her. In her pink bathrobe, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, she looked beautiful. He just stood there and stared at her.

Waving her hand in front of his face and snapping her fingers, she yelled “YO! NICK! You sleepwalking? I asked, are you hungry?”

Nick finally came out of his daze. “Umm, yeah. Sure you made enough? I don’t want to impose. I just came over to thank you for the stuff you left and apologize for falling asleep last night. Guess I was more tired than I thought last night.” he said.

Stepping aside so he could come in she said, “That’s ok. It was a long day for you. Do you have a soft spot for Hannah Montana?” she asked playfully.

“What?” he answered with a puzzled look on his face.

“You fell asleep listening to Katie’s Hannah CD” she said.

“Ohhhh..no. Honestly, I don’t know why I put that in. Reminds me of a friend of mine. He loooooves Hannah” he said in a with a whimsical singsong voice.

Lexi just looked at him like he’d lost him mind. Just then, Katie came running into the kitchen. “Hi Nick!” she shouted as she pulled a chair and took a seat and started reaching for pancakes. Lexi and Nick took a place at the table and dug in as well.

Nick was shoving in the pancakes like there was no tomorrow. Lexi watched him and wondered when he’d eaten last. He looked rather skinny to her and felt bad she didn’t offer him something last night.

“Gee Nick, you were hungry weren’t you? Katie asked him, her eyes big and round.

Nick looked up to see both of them watching him eat. Feeling embarrassed, he set his fork down and took a drink of milk.


“Sorry, but these things are delicious! I haven’t had chocolate chip pancakes in a long time. Sorry to make a pig outta myself” he said after he swallowed his drink.

“Well, Katie says I make the best in the county” Lexi said, quite proudly.

Lexi looked at the clock. “Damn, Katie, hurry up and get your stuff. You’re gonna miss the bus!” she semi shouted.

Everything went into a blur for Nick. Katie dashed from the table and into the living room flipping and flopping trying to get her shoes on and then grabbing her backpack and slinging it on her back. Lexi ran upstairs and came back down in a t shirt and track pants and they both ran out the door. Nick just sat there with is mouth agape. Suddenly, Lexi poked her head back in the kitchen.

“Go ahead and finish your breakfast. I need to run Katie down to the end of the driveway to catch the bus. I’ll be back in a flash” she shouted as she turned and ran back out of the house. Nick just watched the doorway as he heard the front screen door slam shut.