5. Fable

Chapter 5

Fable

I t's good to know that airplanes don't trigger my panic attack the same way cars do. Also, the bus doesn't trigger it either. Apparently, it's big enough not to feel like a car, or maybe it's because it's so large, it doesn't feel like I'm in danger. So far, everything has gone smoothly. The security check point had been fast, and I hadn't even needed to take off my shoes. The plane is on time. And now I'm in the window seat with no one in the middle, giving me plenty of room to stretch out and not feel like I have to make conversation with the people around me.

I'm really hoping the vehicle the ranch is sending to pick me up won't be a problem. They said there'd be someone waiting for me with my name on a board. Jinx would have loved that. She would have had them write something silly on the board. Instead, I'd barely been able to convince myself to come on this trip, let alone do something funny.

The man sitting in the aisle seat in my row immediately puts on a large pair of noise cancelling headphones and goes to sleep, snoring before we've even taken off. They're still finishing up their checks, but everyone is loaded now. It's hardly a full flight, maybe half of it filled up. It's early enough in the morning that people try to avoid this flight.

I'd almost not gotten on the plane. This is a crazy idea, running off to Wyoming on a trip paid for by my dead best friend. My heart begins thumping wildly in my chest as I debate getting off the plane and going back home.

" Consider this my dying wish ," Jinx murmurs, leaning over me from the middle seat to look out the window.

I glance over at her. "You're already dead. It can't be your dying wish."

" Semantics ," she shrugs. " So what if we did things a little out of order? This is for your birthday in a few weeks, remember? You can't just not go ."

"I'm on the plane, aren't I?" I grunt back, my fingers digging into the arms of my seat as I lean my head back.

" That you are, Everhart ," she muses. " Remember, you gotta at least smash one cowboy for me. "

The next time I look, she's not there. I only see the sleeping man with his too large headphones. As I stare, a massive snore comes out of his mouth and makes me jump.

"Fuck," I sigh, leaning my head back again, settling in and trying to calm my nerves. The flight has one stop on the way, but I'll be in the air for at least four hours. I need to calm myself down, so I don't have a panic attack once we're in the air with nowhere to go. I pull out my own headphones and connect them to my phone before pressing play. A song from Jinx's and my shared playlist pops on, one of my favorites. I smile despite everything and close my eyes. The next thing I know, I'm waking up when we're landing at our first stop. I transition planes and do the same for the second flight, sleeping through both plane rides thanks to the playlist on my phone. Before I know it, the plane ride is done and I'm stepping off it into the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport.

Following the crowd through the airport in a daze, I keep out of their way mostly and wait for our baggage to come through the claim. When the siren sounds to let us know that our suitcases are coming, I watch for my purple suitcase and my sewing bag, only stepping forward once I see them coming. I drag them behind me and head for the ground transportation area slowly. When I come down the escalator, I take in the group of people waiting for their guests. One lady squeals and rushes forward to leap into a man's arms, a bouquet of roses in his hand that he drops in favor of holding her. A dad kneels down to hug his son who flew by himself with his escort. An older man smiles brightly when an older woman carefully steps off the escalator in front of me.

And then there's the handsome man holding a sign off to the side. He's wearing a black cowboy hat and dressed in tight-fitting jeans, boots, and a green button-down shirt. His skin is a beautiful shade of sepia brown which the sun had clearly richened like a blessing. He watches the crowd with a charming smile, his bright eyes tracing over each and every person in front of me. In his hands, he holds a sign that says, "Jinx & Fable Everhart."

My chest tightens and I almost miss the cue to step off the escalator, resulting in me stumbling off it ungracefully with my prosthetic. I'm wearing baggy pants, so no one knows that I'm walking on it, but still, I flush in embarrassment when everyone looks over at me. No one reaches out to help. No one asks if I'm okay as I catch my bearings and walk over to the man. I have to swallow back tears at the sight of Jinx's name. I should have emailed them and explained it would just be me. I could have avoided this.

" Aaooga! Aaooga! " Jinx's voice echoes beside me. " That man is scrumdiliumptious! "

My flush brightens when I walk toward him, my thigh starting to burn from all the walking through the airports. I could have had them wheel me around in a wheelchair, but I didn't want to make any fuss, and I prefer people don't know. Not until I want them to.

"Um, hi," I tell him as he focuses those pretty, deep amber-colored eyes on me. "I'm Fable Everhart."

His teeth are bright white as he flashes a large smile at me. "Afternoon, ma'am," he says, tipping his cowboy hat to me in a way that makes my heart flutter for a different reason. He glances behind me, looking around. "Are we waiting for your companion or. . ."

"No," I rasp, before clearing my throat in the hopes of getting rid of the roughness there. "Um, it's just me. Jinx. . . she couldn't make it."

He seems to notice my unease, but he chooses not to comment on it. Instead, he reaches for the craft bag in my hand. "Alright. Let me help you with your bags then, Ms. Everhart." He hoists my bag with ease despite the heavy sewing machine in it. "Cool last name by the way."

"Thanks," I say, watching the way his forearms flex as he reaches for my suitcase. "We picked it."

" That's right! We fucking did! " Jinx exclaims in my ear. As the man starts to walk toward the automatic doors, I follow, and Jinx is right beside me.

"I'm Gunnar Hall, the barn manager for Circle Bee Ranch, but today, I'm your limousine. You can call me Gunnar, or Gun, or baby. I'm not picky," he teases with a flirty smile.

I smile. "It's nice to meet you, Gunnar. You can just call me Fable."

He leads me through the doors. When he realizes my pace is significantly slower than his, he immediately slows his own steps until I'm able to keep up with him.

"Fable," he repeats with a smoothness and a drawl that makes me wonder if I've ever heard my name spoken correctly before. "It's nice to meet you, Fable Everhart."

" Look at that ass, Everhart ," Jinx says beside me. " I bet you could bounce a coin off that thing ."

I pretend to cough to cover my chuckle, and Gunnar looks over his shoulder at me, a smile on his very kissable lips. Jinx isn't wrong. The way this man's ass looks in those jeans should be a sin. Apparently, the myth of cowboys and their wranglers isn't a myth at all.

Gunnar carries my heavy bags with ease as he steps outside in the crisp mountain air. Right away, I see a large pick-up truck parked in the no parking zone. A cop is writing a ticket as we walk up, and Gunnar only smiles at him and takes the ticket.

"Thanks for watching her for me, officer. I'll pay this promptly," he declares before lifting my bags into the back seat and tucking the paper into his breast pocket. He turns to me before gesturing for the back seat. "Your limousine, ma'am."

I freeze, my eyes on the backseat. "I can't. . . um, this is embarrassing," I begin, wringing my hands together. "But is there. . . I have. . . issues with riding in a car."

He closes the back door. "No worries. My mama used to get car sick in the back. You can sit that pretty little behind up front with me." He opens the front door, and I hesitate, staring at the front passenger seat. "Unless you'd like to drive?" he adds jokingly.

My eyes dart to him. "Can I?"

He blinks, surprised. "Well, I was just joking, but. . . if you really wanna drive, I suppose you can. You ever driver a 3500 before?"

"Is that what this is?" I ask. It's a large truck and besides knowing it's a Chevy, I don't know much else about it, but it's not like I don't see these kinds of things all the time back in Florida. I've heard guys call them duallies, but I usually avoid anyone with an oversized truck since those guys are usually douchebags back home. This truck seems like it's large out of necessity though more than for show. At least there aren't any plastic balls hanging off the back of it. I'll never understand that trend. Men really like adding balls onto things that have no business having them.

" Could you imagine if women put vulvas on everything like men put balls? " Jinx laughs, shaking her head. " The riots that would ensue ."

It's a talk we've had before, one that we've laughed about. Right now, it takes everything in me not to giggle.

Gunnar winces. "I'll let you drive, but we go slow. You've got your license, right?" At my nod, he sighs and offers me his hand. When I slide mine into his, he leads me around to the driver's side, careful to make sure I don't get run over by the moving vehicles. He opens the door and helps me hoist myself up into the driver's seat. Only once I'm settled inside does he close the door and jog around to the passenger side. He climbs in and buckles his seatbelt. "Feel free to adjust the seat and mirrors. I'm taller than you so you probably can't see over the steering wheel right now."

I immediately reach for the controls and raise it higher. "Oh yeah. I couldn't see nothing before."

"Us skyscrapers gotta make sure to lift you shorties higher," he jokes with a wink.

I laugh. I'm hardly short, but Gunnar is definitely at least four inches taller than me. "I'd hardly call you a skyscraper. Maybe just a multistory condo building."

He holds a hand to heart. "The wound! Oh! I'm wounded!" he jokes with a grin. Then he points out the windshield. "We're gonna follow the roads that way. I'll give you directions as we go." He pats the dashboard. "Be easy on my baby. She gets enough wear and tear from the ranch."

I nod and throw the truck into drive before easing out of the parking spot Gunnar had made. People move out of the way, respecting the size instead of trying to cut me off. My eyes flick up to the rearview mirror where I catch sight of Jinx in the backseat, grinning, her eyes as bright as they always were.

" You're gonna have a hell of a time, Everhart ," she declares. " I can feel it ."