Dreaming of Forever Read online

  “What's that?” Julia asked.

  “Do you know of any cheap hotels around here?” she asked, hoping that there was one that wasn't too far away.

  “A few minutes down the road from the Horse Riding Academy. Probably ten minutes past it.”

  “Thank you so much for all your help.”

  Ashley pulled out of the diner and heading south once again looking for a sign for the horse riding school. There it is. It was a rustic looking sign with The Pueblo Riding Academy carved into the wood. She looked down the winding dirt road. She could just about make out a barn at the bottom of the hill. She didn’t want to cause any suspicion in case Sara saw her car and wondered who was showing up so late at night. She would make her surprise visit the next morning.

  Now that she knew where it was, she continued on the main road to find the hotel that Julia had said was just a little ways further on.

  She found The Late Night Inn easily enough. She didn’t care how much it cost because it was just down the road from where she needed to be.

  The receptionist took her credit card and charged it $40 for the night. She got the key card and brought her small duffel bag up to the room. Ashley opened the door and saw that the room wasn’t much bigger than a closet.

  “It'll due for tonight,” she whispered to herself as she pulled the covers back and put her bag on the floor beside the bed.

  Ashley had forgotten to close the curtains in her room last night so once the sun came up at six-thirty she was awake and wishing she could go back to sleep.

  “Another hour would've been great.” She glared at the sun as it creeped further into her room. Thinking that she was going to have a busy day she got up and headed for the shower.

  Coming out of the bathroom with black slacks, her comfortable heels and a white tank top that fit her well she got dressed and put on her black blazer.

  Ashley smiled as Pueblo Horse Riding Academy came into view. In the morning light it was easier to see where she was going. She turned left onto the dirt and pulled up in front of a large red barn. She wondered if she had come to early but then she saw a woman fixing the fence that ran along the dirt road to the side of the barn.

  “Hello.” The woman looked up from the fence she was working on to greet her.

  “Good morning,” Ashley said, shutting the car door and walking up to the fence to talk to her.

  “Are you looking to get some horseback riding lessons today?” she asked Ashley.

  Ashley looked at her for a moment, noticing how attractive she was. Ashley had a secret that she kept for everyone including her family. She was into women. She knew that her family wouldn't be impressed so she kept it to herself. Jason didn't even know that she was a lesbian.

  Ashley looked at her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and saw that her jeans and shirt were dirty, probably from working all morning around the barn. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel and they seemed to look into Ashley's soul.

  “Uh, no. Not today anyway,” Ashley answered.

  “What can I help you with then?” she asked brushing some hair that had come loose from her ponytail out of her eyes.

  “I was hoping to be able to talk with Sara D'Angelo for a moment or two. Is she around?” Ashley asked, hoping this woman couldn’t tell she was being completely checked out.

  “I'm sorry but you missed her by a few weeks. She’s traveling around Europe. Sometimes I wish I could get out of this town,” she joked lightly.

  “Well that's kind of a letdown.”

  “I can give her your name and number if you want. That way when she gets back she can call you. I hope that you didn't waste too much time and trouble to find this place,” the woman said when she saw the disappointment on Ashley’s face.

  “It’s okay. Let me grab my pen and paper and I’ll leave you my info,” Ashley told her, turning around to go back to her car.

  Rummaging around in the car she found her notepad and pen on the passenger side seat. She hadn't expected Sara to be out of the state, let alone the country, when she came to talk to her.

  Ashley wrote down her name, cell-phone and her office phone so that way she wouldn't miss any call that might come through for her. “Here you go. Can you tell her that it's really important that I get a hold of her please?” Ashley asked the brunette, almost making it sound like an emergency.

  “I will deliver the message first hand and let her know. Sorry that you came all this way. Where are you from?” she asked Ashley.

  “Chicago. I was hoping to be able to get an interview with her actually for a book I’m writing about Zach Ellis,” Ashley explained.

  “I’ll give her the message the second she arrives,” the woman assured her, giving Ashley a small smile before going back to work on the fence.

  Getting in her car, Ashley felt like crying. She really hadn’t expected this. She knew that it was going to be a setback. She would be going back to Chicago with nothing at all on Sara. She knew that Jason would have something to say about not being able to find her.

  Once she got home and settled back in Chicago she looked at the clock. She should've taken Jason up on his offer to go to the Bears game. The more she thought about the woman she met at the riding school, the more she felt attracted to her. She just might go back there some weekend just to spend time with her. The one thing that she forgot to ask for was her name.

  Chapter 3

  The following weekend Ashley decided that she was going to fly to Los Angeles and talk with Zach Ellis again. She hadn't talked to him in almost three years. It was time to get some new information on him so that the biography was completely up to date.

  It was going to be a fun part of the project because now she was going to get to know Zach's family and find out what he was doing now. Ashley also wanted to get some pictures of him when he was a kid.

  Zach and his family lived in a two story white house with a beautiful garden. Getting out of the taxi she walked up the front steps and knocked lightly on the front door. She waited a few seconds. Maybe she hadn't knocked loud enough. Just as she brought her fist up to knock again she heard the door unlock.

  “Hello, I'm looking for Zach Ellis. I have an appointment to follow up with him. My name’s Ashley. He's expecting me,” Ashley explained to the woman who answered the door.

  “Yes, he told me that you would be visiting today. Please come in. My name’s Emily. This here is our daughter, Laura. She just turned two.” Emily led her in through the house and Ashley took a seat on the living room sofa.

  Laura’s blonde hair and blue eyes reminded her of her father but she could she some on Emily’s features too. Emily left the room and walked in with a tray of drinks.

  “I thought that since it was pretty hot outside that you would want something refreshing to drink. If that's not enough ice just let me know,” she told Ashley, sitting the tray down in front of her so that she could take her glass of lemonade.

  “Thank you,” Ashley said, taking her glass and taking a sip.

  “It's nice to see you again.” Zach sat down on the sofa beside her.

  “You too. I know it’s been a while since I have come by to talk to you. I was just wondering how you and your family were doing.”

  “We are actually doing pretty well. I’m a history teacher now. I love it,” he told her as she took out a notebook and pen and began taking notes. She also left her tape recorder on the coffee table.

  “I’m so glad that you’re moving on with your life,” Ashley said.

  Zach nodded. “I'm a part time coach for the football team too. I figure since I can't play football I can at least make a difference with these kids. In the beginning they were shocked that I was helping coach their team,” he laughed.

  “That’s great!”

  “I would like to become head coach but maybe later on down the road. Laura just turned two a few weeks ago and I want to make sure that I’m around as much as I can be. They grow up so fast.” He looked over at Laura and gave
her a smile as she was playing with her doll on the floor.

  “Are these the photos I asked you about?” Ashley asked him, pointing to the shoe box on the coffee table.

  “Yes they are. That’s all the pictures I could find.”

  “Here let me get this tray out of your way.” Emily told them, taking the tray and bringing it back to the kitchen.

  “Great. I knew that you wouldn't forget. I just wanted to make sure that's what it was,” Ashley said, lifting the lid on the box.

  “Have a look through them and if you have any questions at all I’ll answer them for you,” he told her as Emily came back and sat on the arm of the chair so that she could sit next to Zach.

  Ashley thumbed through the photos. She stopped at a Christmas photo of Zach when he was a boy. She saw that there were two little girls sitting with him. She smiled at the photo.

  “Those are my two sisters. They’re a few years younger than I am. I love that picture.”

  Ashley set the photo aside instead of putting it back in with the pictures. Looking at a few more she also set aside a picture from his high school years. He was in his football uniform and his proud parents stood behind him.

  “Can I take these pictures back to Chicago with me?” Ashley asked.

  “You can take them. I have the negatives.”

  “Thank you,” she answered, looking through another stack of photos.

  Ashley’s heart started beating a little faster when she saw a picture of Zach in a hospital bed. The woman standing beside him looked very familiar only she had short brown hair. Ashley knew that she had to be his doctor from the white coat and the stethoscope around her neck. But that wasn't what made her heart skip a beat. She could feel her cheeks warming up and her face growing red.

  “Are you alright Ashley? Is something wrong?” Zach asked seeing her face flush and her jaw line flexing.

  “Is this Sara D'Angelo?” she asked him as calmly as she could.

  “Yes, that's her. The picture was taken almost ten years ago now. It was after the first surgery when we thought everything was going to be fine,” he answered slowly, still concentrating on her face and trying to figure out what was wrong.

  “I have to go. I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly.” She stood up, giving him the best smile she could muster and took the few photos off the coffee table and put them into her notebook that she brought along. She shut off her tape recorder and pocketed it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, standing up looking confused.

  “Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry that I couldn't stay longer.” She apologized to Zach and Emily both who were giving her a strange look.

  “Okay, if you need to set up some more time just give me a call,” Zach told her, walking her to the front door.

  “Thank you for your time.” She smiled at him as he opened the door for her and she went outside. Going down the street she opened her cell-phone to call a taxi to bring her back to the hotel she was at.

  How could she stand there and lie right to her face. Sara must've thought she was a fool and that she would be easy to get rid of.

  Back in her hotel room Ashley turned on her laptop. Not knowing how long she would be staying in Los Angeles she hadn't booked a flight back home to Chicago. She opened up the browser and booked a flight to Denver.

  Chapter 4

  Ashley tried to control her anger as she got closer to Pueblo. She was driving her rental car at a racing speed. She could've said that she wasn't interested instead of lying about being away in Europe.

  Ashley turned off the main road, not caring about the bumps and pot holes as she drove quickly down the winding road. She parked the car in front of the barn.

  Sara was still fixing the fence, although she’d moved down a few yards from where she was the last time Ashley was there. Sara stopped hammering and looked up to smile at her, not knowing that Ashley knew who she was this time.

  “You must've changed your mind about the horse riding lessons,” she called out as Ashley walked up closer to the fence.

  “I came all the way out here from Chicago just for you to lie to me Sara. Why didn’t you just tell me to get lost?” Ashley asked her trying to keep her anger in check.

  “Look, I’m not going to talk about what happened to Zach. I'm not going to lie to you again but you’re wasting your time,” Sara said with her arms folded across her chest.

  “You could've just been honest with me.”

  “This place is a new start for me. Hardly anyone knows where I am. I don't even know how you found me.” She was blunt with Ashley but there was nothing else to say about it.

  “Fine,” Ashley told her, more determined than ever to talk to her.

  “Good.” Sara gave her a small smile and nodded her head.

  “Would you turn me away if I told you that I wanted horse riding lessons?” Ashley asked her, thinking quickly so that she wouldn't have to walk away.

  “It wouldn't really be all that great for business if I refused,” Sara admitted.

  “Okay then,” Ashley said trying not to get her hopes up. “I’ll come back later today. I need to find a place to stay. I’ll probably just go back to the hotel I stayed at the last time I was here to see you. Make sure you don't drop everything and run to Europe,” Ashley joked, showing Sara that she was slowly forgiving her.

  ****

  Ashley parked in front of the familiar hotel.

  “You couldn't resist coming back huh?” the receptionist asked her.

  “I guess not.” She paid and put her things in her room before heading back to see Sara.

  She parked her car in front of the barn again and saw that Sara was still at the fence, looking over her work.

  “Fence all fixed?” Ashley asked her.

  “No, I was just taking a small break.”

  “Just out of curiosity how did you know that I wasn't here for riding lessons the first time?” Ashley asked her.

  “What do you mean?” Sara gave her an odd look.

  “I don’t know. You kind of looked confused when you asked if I was here to take lessons,” she said refreshing Sara's memory.

  “Oh, well for starters the dead giveaway was your clothes. You looked a reporter.”

  Ashley raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

  Sara nodded. “I have lots of experience, remember? When you went back to your car for the notebook and pen that clenched it,” Sara explained.

  “I was that easy to spot, huh?” Ashley blushed a little.

  “Very easy. Speaking of clothing you can't ride a horse in that.” Sara looked her over. She had on a nice pair of gray slacks that hugged her body and a matching jacket.

  “I didn't bring any clothing with me to ride a horse. I came here on a whim to talk to you and give you a piece of my mind. I didn't think about clothing,” Ashley confessed to her.

  “That's alright. We are about the same size I'm sure. I'm just a little taller. I have some riding clothes you can borrow and then we can get started on your first lesson,” Sara told her.

  Sara headed away from the fence going towards the barn and Ashley quickly followed behind her. Heading to the left of the barn Ashley saw that there was a house hidden in the back. She assumed that it was Sara's home and thought how lucky she was to be so close to her business.

  Ashley got changed in the spare bedroom and put on the jeans and an old t-shirt that Sara gave her.

  When Ashley was ready, Sara brought her out to the stables. “This is Daisy. She’s a great horse for beginners,” Sara said, looking over her shoulder and she led out a gray horse.

  “Is it bad that I’m feeling pretty nervous?” Ashley asked her seriously.

  “Not at all. But I’ll be walking along side you so there’s nothing to worry about,” Sara stated, trying to comfort her a little bit.

  Sara grabbed the horse’s saddle off a hook in the stall and put it on the horse, making sure it was strapped tight to the horse’s body. “Alright, what you’re going to want to do
is put one foot in the stirrups and bring the other leg over to the other stirrup.”

  “Okay.”

  “Daisy’s very gentle and she knows that you’re a beginner,” Sara explained. She let go of the reins knowing that Daisy wasn't going anywhere and helped Ashley put her foot into the stirrup.

  Ashley felt Sara's hand touch her backside briefly as she helped her onto the horse. She jumped at her touch but she was too busy getting her other leg up and over to the other stirrup to dwell on it.