Blazing the Trail (Sunshine & Shadow Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

me?
    Hailey shrugged.
    April stood up. “I can’t
deal with this right now.”
    She stormed out of the
barn and up to her room, collapsing onto her bed. Everything was going wrong.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this when she came back. It wasn’t supposed to be
so hard. She grabbed her pillow and hugged it to her chest. She was exhausted,
and closed her eyes.
     
    A few days later, she
woke up and checked her phone. Her background was still a photo of Prime Time
and before she could stop it, tears were filling her eyes. She assumed Lex had
sold him, or given him away. She didn’t know. And she couldn’t dwell. She had
other things to think about now. Leaving the lodge, she met Kip in front of the
barn.
    “Hey,” he said, avoiding
eye contact.
    “Hi,” she replied.
    They stood awkwardly for
a moment before April took a deep breath.
    “Can we talk? Like...ever?”
    Kip looked at her.
    “I don’t get it, Kip. Why
aren’t you yelling at me? Screaming at me? You’re avoiding me, giving me the
silent treatment, and I get it; I know why. But it’s killing me.”
    “It’s killing you? How do you think I feel, April? You’re the one who left. You kissed me.
You fucked me and then you left, dammit! For him . How the hell do
you think I feel?”
    “It wasn’t for him, Kip.”
    “What?”
    “I didn’t leave to be
with Lex. I didn’t want to go. But Campbell called and said I had to. I was
under contract; what was I supposed to do?”
    “You could have said no.
You could have waited until I got home and we could have made a plan together.
But you didn’t. You chose to leave. And don’t treat me like an idiot; I
know you still loved him. I could tell.”
    April nodded slowly. “I
did love him. I did . But you were making things so much easier. Being
with you helped me forget. You made me laugh and smile. You fixed everything.”
    Kip looked up at her
through thick, dark lashes. “Then why’d you have to break it again?”
    April fixed her eyes on
the ground. She inhaled. “Hailey said you loved me...”
    Kip nodded. “I did, yeah.
I do...But that doesn’t change what you did. Maybe that’s why I’m so pissed.
Maybe I thought you felt the same. And maybe I’m angrier at myself for being
stupid enough to believe that you loved me back. Maybe that’s why I’m so
pissed.”
    “I do love you!
You’re my best friend.”
    “That’s not the kind of
love I mean, April...You know that. The shitty thing is that you chose him and I knew what a snake he was from the beginning.”
    “I didn’t go back for him
Kip, I promise. I went because Campbell told me I had to.”
    At that moment a giant
truck and rig pulled up the driveway. Kip approached the driver as he stepped
out.
    “How can we help you?”
    “I have a delivery for...”
He checked his clipboard. “Ms. April Cooper.”
    “From who?” April stepped
forward, reaching for the form.
    “Mr. Alexander Mitchell.”
    April looked at the horse
trailer. A man got out of the passenger seat of the truck and unlocked the back
door, stepping inside. April heard echoed footsteps, then a large chestnut
horse walked into the sunshine.
    “Prime Time?”
    She rushed to the horse’s
side, greeting him with a scratch on the forehead. The big horse dropped his
neck and nuzzled her stomach.
    She led him back to Kip
as he was turning towards the lodge.
    “Kip!” she shouted.
    He turned around and
walked backwards away from her, holding his hands out sideways. “Didn’t go back
for him, eh? Give me a break, April.”
    April watched him go
inside, dumbfounded. She began to shiver and knew Prime Time would be feeling
the cold.
    “I’ll be right back,” she
said to the truck drivers.
    She led the horse into
the barn. As she passed each stall, the Blue Haven horses stuck their necks
over the doors, sniffing the newcomer curiously. April stopped outside
Chinook’s.
    “Hey boy, come meet your
new friend.”
    Chinook stuck his nose
into the air and folded his lips