Free Mindset by Elaine Dyer Page A

distracted by the sound of an approaching rider.  Callie road right past them to the corral and dismounted in silence, pulling the horse behind her.
     
    “Hey, Callie.  Thought you and Cade would be out most of the day today.”
     
    “Yeah, so did I, but that was before I realized what an idiot he is!”
     
    “Whoa, Sis!  What did he do to piss you off so bad?”
     
    “He was born!  More to the point, he was born a man!  What is it with you guys, anyway?  Do you take stupidity pills as a daily supplement or something?  Of all the ridiculous, chauvinistic, egotistical men I’ve ever had the misfortune of having to deal with, …”
     
    “Callie, why don’t we go up to the house?  Sounds like you need some girl time to me.”
     
    “Sister, I think that’s a great idea.  Why don’t you take Eva up on her offer, before I find myself pronounced guilty by association.”
     
    “Thank you, Evita.  Girl time is exactly what I need.  And chocolate.  And maybe some ice-cream.”
     
    “Eva, just call me, and I’ll talk to you some more about some options to consider, ok?”
     
    “I’ll do that, Josh, and thank you a lot.  For everything.”
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter 8
     
     
     
    By the end of the week, the last of Callie’s bruises had faded.  Well, except for the one on her ego, anyway.  For the life of her, she just could not fathom how something that started out so completely fabulous – Earth shattering was really a better descriptor – could have ended up so anticlimactic, not to mention extremely disappointing and aggravating.  Making love with Cade had been…indescribable.  Better than anything she’d ever imagined, and she’d been imagining for years.  Whenever she was alone, and sometimes when she wasn’t, she became lost in memories from the afternoon they’d been together.  All she had to do was close her eyes to feel his touch on her face, his kiss on her neck, his tongue against her nipples, sucking gently at first, then harder…
     
    “So, are we going or not?”  Eva bounded down the stairs.
     
    “Yeah, I guess.”
     
    “Oh, you’re going to be just loads of fun to be around, aren’t you?”
     
    “I’m sorry, Evita.  I just don’t handle rejection well, I guess.”
     
    “A marriage proposal can hardly be considered rejection, Callie.”
     
    “Oh, give me a big break in life!  That wasn’t a marriage proposal I got from Cade.  It was a…a…dump my guilty conscience so I can make amends for doing something I knew I’d regret proposal.  Jerk!  Not you, him.  Honorable , Eva.  That’s why he asked me to marry him.  Not because he loves me, not because he wants to be with me, but because his frickin’ honor demands it.  That so sucks!”
     
    “Okay, let’s think about this.  It’s not really the honorable part that’s biting you, is it?  I think what you’re really upset about is that he hasn’t declared his undying love for you.  Like you want him to do.  Like you want to do?  Because, I gotta tell you, girlfriend, from where I’m standing after the last two plus years, honorable sounds pretty good to me.”
     
    “Yeah, you’re right.  I like that he’s an honorable man.  It’s one of the reasons I love him.  And it’s not that I need candy and flowers, yada, yada.  I’ve daydreamed about a future with Cade since I was just a twelve year old kid.  I want to get married and start a family and have a home of my own.  And I want to do it all with Cade.  But in all my daydreams, I never once imagined that when he asked me to marry him, it would be for the sake of honor.  Honor is great, but it’s not even close to love, and it’s not a good reason to get married.  I don’t want to marry him unless he feels for me something comparable to what I feel for him.  I think I’d rather be without him than with him for any other reason than love.”
     
    “Come on, let’s get going to the mall.  You need some shopping