Walking out of Gale Industries, Celine felt like a rockstar. She had given her very first pitch to get an equine contract and she felt good about it. It all started when Kim told her about an opportunity.They were in the hospital cafeteria eating mediocre food the same morning Celine had her fainting spell. It was a panic attack, not dangerous, but scary. Apparently, hyperventilating puts too much carbon dioxide in your body and starves your body of oxygen and if you do not have enough oxygen in your bloodstream you faint.All of a sudden Kim got, that, look on her face, and Celine internally groaned. She knew what that look was. It was the, I have a great idea that you are going to hate, look. Celine rose to escape, “I’m going to get some water, do you want some?”, Celine asked.“Yes, but hold on a second. I have an idea.”, Kim said grinning like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.“Can it wait until I come back? I’m thirsty.” Celine said making another futile attempt.“Can’t w
It was daylight and Celine was coming home to shower and change. From there, she was off to a prep school to pitch equestrian classes. She knew with this group; it was important to dress well. Luckily, she still had some very nice outfits hanging in the back of her closet, from when she was married. She texted Jacob and John that she was on her way home.JacobDon’t come yet. Your boySebastian’s here looking for you.Can I hit him? I always wantedto kick some billionaire ass.CelinePlease get rid of him. I need to getdressed I have a meeting at a school.If a billionaire wants to find you, there is nothing on this earth that can stop him so Celine should not have been surprised when he showed up at the hospital that evening. Luckily only family members are allowed in the ICU unit so when the nurse told her this incredible-looking man was there to visit her father, she told them to turn him away. What she did not count on was that Sebastian would wait for her, so when she left the I
With a fake smile that stretched like rigor mortis across her face, Celine shifted from one foot to the other trying to alleviate the ache from her high heels, and longed for the days when she did everything in boots. Her new role as an entrepreneur for Beaumont Equestrian made her feel like an imposter and she lived in constant fear, that at any moment, someone would see past her business attire and discover she was just a hick that was good at riding horses.“Everything looks good.”, the banker said. “The seventy thousand dollars should transfer this afternoon. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Ms. Beaumont?”, asked the bank teller.“That’s all for today, thank you.”, Celine said sustaining her counterfeit smile, and left for her next appointment of the day.It had been four months since she last saw Sebastian and, in that time, her father came home, the contract with Gale Hospitality was a success, and local schools were sending their kids by the busload to take clas
This time when he asked her out, she said yes, and even though she wasn’t excited about her date, she hoped when the time came, she would be. His name was Ethan. He was a few years older than she was and already had a healthy equine veterinarian practice. Ethan had brown hair with adorable curls that begged to be pulled, and big blue eyes that made her think of tropical waters or summer skies. He was tall, very tall, standing at six feet four inches and he had the kind of body earned through hands-on labor and not at a gym.Everyone thought they were the perfect match. Collette said if she wasn’t in the middle of a push-and-pull love affair with Dr. Gururaj she would snap him right up. And they were right, Ethan was divine, and she should be swooning at his feet and thinking about kissing his, pouty bottom-heavy full lips. Not psyching herself up to go on a date with him.In her heart of hearts, she still belonged to Sebastian, but that was not going to happen. Kim in her infinite wisd
Turning onto the dirt road to her house, Celine’s head was full of her date with Ethan, and her feelings about Sebastian. She resented having to “move on”. That’s how it felt, she guessed, to be the one who didn’t end the relationship. Sebastian had moved on, but she was stuck still loving him. Wasn’t that the entire reason she was, “Getting out there?”, to snap her out of her lovesick state?“Stupid lying asshat.”, Celine yelled and hit her steering wheel. She didn’t want to move one. She just wanted Sebastian. Hot mournful tears rolled down her cheeks, and the dirt road blurred. Why did he do this to her? He lied to her, and now she had to live life without him. “I hate him.”, she sobbed.Turning the bend, she saw her house and she accelerated planning to hit the brakes hard at the last minute in a satisfying act of pointless violence. At the last second, she saw a car parked in the road, blocking the way and she screamed and slammed her foot down hard on the brakes. Her body rocked
Beaumont Equestrian Center spent a lot of money on a fire system that was tested and maintained several times a year, but the one, and only time they needed to use the system, the fire raged undeterred. Where were the wet sprinklers and the alarm? Why hadn't the fire triggered anything? Was the system defective? Celine realized she was going to have to turn the sprinklers on manually. There was a lever on the side of the building, where she could turn the sprinklers on and hopefully put out the fire.Coughing and gasping from the smoke, Celine ran the length of the stables. The beam of her flashlight bounced across the ground until she found what she was looking for, the manual release. All she needed to do was pull the lever. Where was the lever? Did she have it wrong? No, she was positive this was the place, but there was no lever. Looking closer, she saw the lever had been torn off. What the hell was going on? Had someone accidentally done this and not reported it, or was this int
Celine was awake thinking when Collette came in with her cheery Mary Poppins voice. “Good morning.”, she sang, and Celine gritted her teeth. Instead of answering she closed her eyes. People went away if they thought she was sleeping.“Time to wake up, sleepy head.” Celine heard her bustling around the room, tidying up. “It’s so gloomy in here, no wonder you sleep all the time.”, Collette twittered like a happy little bird. Celine fantasized about finding a rock and throwing it at her. All that would be left was a puff of feathers littering the air.Suddenly, there was light glaring behind her eyelids, ruining her self-indulgent ambiance of depressive despair. Collette had drawn the curtains, that traitorous little harpy.“You’re going to have a visitor today.”, Collette chirped. “Look I got you some flowers. Aren’t they pretty? Here smell.”, She practically stuck the bouquet in Celine’s face who was lying on her stomach so the burns on her back could heal properly, and she had an oxyge
Smiling reassuringly at Celine, Ethan took the empty glass of water, set it down, and then turned in his seat to face Sebastian. “My name is Ethan Sommer. You must be Sebastian.” Dismissing Sebastian, Ethan turned toward Celine, a gentle smile lighting up his eyes. “Better?” Ethan asked.Celine nodded, grateful someone in this insane asylum was staying levelheaded. She, too, was trying to stay calm, and she took slow, shallow breaths. She didn’t want to start coughing again, but the tension in the room made her anxious, making it difficult to control her breathing.“Celine, we are going to take this outside so you can calm down, okay?” Ethan said and handed her the call button in case she needed help.He gave some kind of look at Collette, who sighed heavily. “He’s right, let’s take it outside.” Ethan and Collette walked outside leaving Sebastian standing there looking down at her.Sebastian reclaimed his seat next to Celine. Having him this close to her made her fingers twitch to tou
Paper covered Celine’s Desk like a coat of failures—bankruptcy documents, court documents, insurance documents, police reports, bills, bank statements, repossession notices, and loan documents. Most of them had giant red letters that said overdue, in arrears, and collections.At least her medical bills had not been added to the sizeable debt pile. While Celine lay convalescing, Collette had allowed Sebastian to take care of Celine’s medical bills, and after Celine mulled it over, she agreed.He also offered to rebuild the stables and arena, and she might have taken that money too, but it would not have solved their problems in time. The Beaumont family was so deep into debt that Carly from Smith, Carson & Associates Legal Firm recommended liquidating their assets and paying everything back. By assets, she meant everything they owned: land and home. They would have nowhere to live and no way to earn an income.Her father blamed himself; if he had been transparent and hadn’t taken those
Smiling reassuringly at Celine, Ethan took the empty glass of water, set it down, and then turned in his seat to face Sebastian. “My name is Ethan Sommer. You must be Sebastian.” Dismissing Sebastian, Ethan turned toward Celine, a gentle smile lighting up his eyes. “Better?” Ethan asked.Celine nodded, grateful someone in this insane asylum was staying levelheaded. She, too, was trying to stay calm, and she took slow, shallow breaths. She didn’t want to start coughing again, but the tension in the room made her anxious, making it difficult to control her breathing.“Celine, we are going to take this outside so you can calm down, okay?” Ethan said and handed her the call button in case she needed help.He gave some kind of look at Collette, who sighed heavily. “He’s right, let’s take it outside.” Ethan and Collette walked outside leaving Sebastian standing there looking down at her.Sebastian reclaimed his seat next to Celine. Having him this close to her made her fingers twitch to tou
Celine was awake thinking when Collette came in with her cheery Mary Poppins voice. “Good morning.”, she sang, and Celine gritted her teeth. Instead of answering she closed her eyes. People went away if they thought she was sleeping.“Time to wake up, sleepy head.” Celine heard her bustling around the room, tidying up. “It’s so gloomy in here, no wonder you sleep all the time.”, Collette twittered like a happy little bird. Celine fantasized about finding a rock and throwing it at her. All that would be left was a puff of feathers littering the air.Suddenly, there was light glaring behind her eyelids, ruining her self-indulgent ambiance of depressive despair. Collette had drawn the curtains, that traitorous little harpy.“You’re going to have a visitor today.”, Collette chirped. “Look I got you some flowers. Aren’t they pretty? Here smell.”, She practically stuck the bouquet in Celine’s face who was lying on her stomach so the burns on her back could heal properly, and she had an oxyge
Beaumont Equestrian Center spent a lot of money on a fire system that was tested and maintained several times a year, but the one, and only time they needed to use the system, the fire raged undeterred. Where were the wet sprinklers and the alarm? Why hadn't the fire triggered anything? Was the system defective? Celine realized she was going to have to turn the sprinklers on manually. There was a lever on the side of the building, where she could turn the sprinklers on and hopefully put out the fire.Coughing and gasping from the smoke, Celine ran the length of the stables. The beam of her flashlight bounced across the ground until she found what she was looking for, the manual release. All she needed to do was pull the lever. Where was the lever? Did she have it wrong? No, she was positive this was the place, but there was no lever. Looking closer, she saw the lever had been torn off. What the hell was going on? Had someone accidentally done this and not reported it, or was this int
Turning onto the dirt road to her house, Celine’s head was full of her date with Ethan, and her feelings about Sebastian. She resented having to “move on”. That’s how it felt, she guessed, to be the one who didn’t end the relationship. Sebastian had moved on, but she was stuck still loving him. Wasn’t that the entire reason she was, “Getting out there?”, to snap her out of her lovesick state?“Stupid lying asshat.”, Celine yelled and hit her steering wheel. She didn’t want to move one. She just wanted Sebastian. Hot mournful tears rolled down her cheeks, and the dirt road blurred. Why did he do this to her? He lied to her, and now she had to live life without him. “I hate him.”, she sobbed.Turning the bend, she saw her house and she accelerated planning to hit the brakes hard at the last minute in a satisfying act of pointless violence. At the last second, she saw a car parked in the road, blocking the way and she screamed and slammed her foot down hard on the brakes. Her body rocked
This time when he asked her out, she said yes, and even though she wasn’t excited about her date, she hoped when the time came, she would be. His name was Ethan. He was a few years older than she was and already had a healthy equine veterinarian practice. Ethan had brown hair with adorable curls that begged to be pulled, and big blue eyes that made her think of tropical waters or summer skies. He was tall, very tall, standing at six feet four inches and he had the kind of body earned through hands-on labor and not at a gym.Everyone thought they were the perfect match. Collette said if she wasn’t in the middle of a push-and-pull love affair with Dr. Gururaj she would snap him right up. And they were right, Ethan was divine, and she should be swooning at his feet and thinking about kissing his, pouty bottom-heavy full lips. Not psyching herself up to go on a date with him.In her heart of hearts, she still belonged to Sebastian, but that was not going to happen. Kim in her infinite wisd
With a fake smile that stretched like rigor mortis across her face, Celine shifted from one foot to the other trying to alleviate the ache from her high heels, and longed for the days when she did everything in boots. Her new role as an entrepreneur for Beaumont Equestrian made her feel like an imposter and she lived in constant fear, that at any moment, someone would see past her business attire and discover she was just a hick that was good at riding horses.“Everything looks good.”, the banker said. “The seventy thousand dollars should transfer this afternoon. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Ms. Beaumont?”, asked the bank teller.“That’s all for today, thank you.”, Celine said sustaining her counterfeit smile, and left for her next appointment of the day.It had been four months since she last saw Sebastian and, in that time, her father came home, the contract with Gale Hospitality was a success, and local schools were sending their kids by the busload to take clas
It was daylight and Celine was coming home to shower and change. From there, she was off to a prep school to pitch equestrian classes. She knew with this group; it was important to dress well. Luckily, she still had some very nice outfits hanging in the back of her closet, from when she was married. She texted Jacob and John that she was on her way home.JacobDon’t come yet. Your boySebastian’s here looking for you.Can I hit him? I always wantedto kick some billionaire ass.CelinePlease get rid of him. I need to getdressed I have a meeting at a school.If a billionaire wants to find you, there is nothing on this earth that can stop him so Celine should not have been surprised when he showed up at the hospital that evening. Luckily only family members are allowed in the ICU unit so when the nurse told her this incredible-looking man was there to visit her father, she told them to turn him away. What she did not count on was that Sebastian would wait for her, so when she left the I
Walking out of Gale Industries, Celine felt like a rockstar. She had given her very first pitch to get an equine contract and she felt good about it. It all started when Kim told her about an opportunity.They were in the hospital cafeteria eating mediocre food the same morning Celine had her fainting spell. It was a panic attack, not dangerous, but scary. Apparently, hyperventilating puts too much carbon dioxide in your body and starves your body of oxygen and if you do not have enough oxygen in your bloodstream you faint.All of a sudden Kim got, that, look on her face, and Celine internally groaned. She knew what that look was. It was the, I have a great idea that you are going to hate, look. Celine rose to escape, “I’m going to get some water, do you want some?”, Celine asked.“Yes, but hold on a second. I have an idea.”, Kim said grinning like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.“Can it wait until I come back? I’m thirsty.” Celine said making another futile attempt.“Can’t w