Free Unbridled (Unlikely Lovers) by Cheryl Brooks Page A

didn’t like him, so let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
    Miranda heaved a sigh. “Okay, case closed.”
    So much for getting him married off.   She couldn’t blame Travis for not wanting to seem like a whiner, but whether he hit it off with Christina or not, he was still there every week at Nigel’s for her to gaze at, dream about, and shed a few tears over. She’d been alone for a very long time. What was it about Travis that made her feel so lonely ?
    Christina peeked over the top of her menu. “ Have you heard from Mark?”
    So that’s it. No wonder she thought Travis was boring.
    Miranda would’ve thought Mark was boring if she’d tried to date him while she was still in love with Travis—which, she had to admit, she probably was. Somewhere along the line she’d gone from simply thinking he was cute and sexy to believing she couldn’t live much longer without him. She still got her “Travis fix” once a week, but she needed more.
    “Not since before the Christmas party when he called to say he’d asked his new girlfriend to go to Florida with him on some sort of fishing trip.”
    Christina nodded, tears welling up in her lovely eyes. “I heard that too.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I could never go on those trips. I was always too busy.” She paused, dabbing her eyes with her napkin. “I wish I’d made more time for him. That’s why he left me, isn’t it?”
    Miranda put down her menu, giving Christina her full attention. “He told me he wanted more than the little scraps of time you had for him. He wanted to do all of those things with you . Obviously, he got tired of waiting.”
    “I don’t suppose there’s any way he’d give me another chance, is there?”
    Miranda knew exactly how she felt—hurt…empty…hopeless. She shook her head. “I think he’s pretty much spoken for now. I’m sorry, but I have a feeling it’s too late.”
    “Well, I guess that’s that.” She took a deep breath and sat up straighter, as though attempting to appear normal. “No one ever said life was going to be perfect. I’ve got my work and...not much else.” Her face seemed to crumble and she slumped forward, sobbing.
    Consoling her friend when all Miranda wanted to do was to cry was difficult. She still didn’t understand how a beautiful, successful woman could seem so wretched. But, as Travis said, looks weren’t everything, and neither was a good career.
    Miranda let her cry until the waitress came to take their order. Christina pulled herself together after that. They went on with lunch, but Miranda doubted that she even tasted it. She certainly hadn’t, and she could hardly recall what she’d eaten a few minutes afterward.
    They parted with a hug, and Miranda drove home in the rain, the weather matching her mood. Three wet dogs came out to greet her when she arrived, as did her soggy cats. The horses stood waiting at the gate, seemingly oblivious to the rain, and she slogged up the hill through the mud only to find another lake where the barn floor used to be. The whole world was beginning to mildew, and as she swept away the flood, she couldn’t help wondering if she wasn’t getting a bit moldy herself —which was certainly the way she felt.
    * * * *
    Travis had been working on the gray gelding for fifteen minutes when Miranda arrived for her lesson. He knew precisely how much time had passed because he’d been checking his watch every three minutes for the past forty-five. He doubted he would even need to tell her he and Christina—who hadn’t struck him as the type to suffer in silence—weren’t seeing each other anymore.
    Miranda responded to his wave with one of her own. “I heard you and Christina didn’t hit it off very well.”
    “I thought we did. Apparently, she didn’t.” Seeing no point in making Miranda think he didn’t like her friends, he at least tried to appear unhappy about it. “Too bad. She seemed very nice.”
    She hadn’t seemed that way when