By the time they arrived back at the ranch, the wind was blowing fiercely and the sky had turned dark. Thunder and lightening crackled in the distance. They took the horses into the stable and ran into the house just before the rain started. “Looks like you just made it. Its gonna be a bad storm.” Donna commented. “Can you get the candles out of the pantry?”
“Sure mom.” Holly shrugged out of her jacket.
“What can I do?” Micky asked.
“Help Joe bring in some more fire wood.” She told him. “And hurry, I don’t like the way those clouds look.”
Micky gave Holly a quick kiss on the cheek and then ran out to the barn.
Holly brought a stack of candles over to the table and started setting them up when she saw her mom smiling at her. “What?”
“Nothing, I’m just happy for you.” Donna giggled. “He’s a good man.”
“How do you know? You just met him this morning.” She continued setting candles in shallow holders.
“A mother just knows these things.” She explained. “Someday you’ll understand.”
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The storm was worse than any of them had imagined. At least seven tornadoes touched down within the county. Electrical and phone lines were down, trees were uprooted and buildings destroyed. The only form of communication was CB radio.
Holly paced frantically and finally grabbed her jacket, throwing it on quickly. “Where are you going?” Joe asked.
“I’ve got to get to town and open the clinic. There’s going to be a lot of hurt people.” She replied.
“I’m going with you.” Micky stated grabbing his own jacket.
“You should stay here.” She told him. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’m going with you.” He restated firmly. “No arguments.”
“Alright.” She smiled. “Let’s go.”
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The drive back to town took over an hour. There was a lot of damage and flooding along the roads. People were already waiting at the clinic when Holly and Micky arrived. She worked quickly to open the doors and start seeing patients. Micky helped as much as he could by getting the supplies that she needed and trying to assess which patients needed the most medical attention. He cleaned out wounds and bandaged cuts and scraps.
Whenever he had a chance, he watched Holly. He hadn’t felt this strongly about someone in a long time. That had done nothing more than talk and kiss, but he knew he was falling in love with her. She had been hurt it the past, but he wanted to be the one to mend her broken heart.
There was only one problem and that was the distance between them. He had already found a small ranch that he wanted to buy and he had met with a realtor. But he wouldn’t be able to move into the house permanently; he would still need to be in California most of the time. And if he didn’t buy the ranch, he knew that Holly could never leave the clinic and move to California with him. He also knew that long distance relationships rarely survived, but he was more than willing to try. He hoped that she would feel the same.
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It was early the next morning when Holly saw her last patient. She and Micky cleaned up the clinic and then drove back to the cabin he was renting. They were both exhausted and hungry but that was not what was bothering her. In two short weeks, she had fallen in love with him, but he would be leaving the following day to go back to California. After all, he was only on vacation and no matter how strong her feelings were for him, she knew she couldn’t ask him to stay. And she couldn’t go with him. She didn’t know what the future would hold for them, but as they walked up the steps of the cabin hand in hand, she knew that she wanted to spend their last day together in his bed in his arms.
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Continue to Part 7
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