Lost at Heart

  She was lost. She didn’t know where she was, but she was completely and utterly lost. Eyes a deep greenish-blue studied the road in front of her then the road behind her in her rear view mirror. Her old, beat up car was broken down in the middle of no where. She’d somehow gotten herself turned around, and she had no clue where she was. She looked around for moment before she crawled out of the packed car. She popped the hood and opened it up, and just stared at the old car parts.
  She had no clue what she was looking for. She didn’t know one blasted thing about cars except how to put gas in them, and how to drive them. Other than that she just didn’t know. She placed a hand on her stomach, which was starting to show her condition. She was pregnant. Alone, with no where to go, and pregnant. What was she supposed to do?
  She felt a shiver run over her and she wandered over to her car and she pulled on the coat that was sitting in the middle seat of the old beat up car. She bundled up in it and shivered softly looking up and down the winding road for a moment before she grabbed her purse and keys out of the ignition. She made sure all the doors were locked before she started to wander down the road.
  It wouldn’t hurt the baby. At least she thought it wouldn’t. She’d been sitting in a car for most of the day. Her condition at the moment wasn’t really all that noticeable though. She was about four and a half months along, and her stomach was starting to get that bulge in her stomach, but only a few women and very few men had noticed it. Of course there had been a man, a man she thought she had loved, but he obviously hadn’t loved her enough. Everett Sanders had known how much Johanna had wanted children. They’d been together for two years before all of this. She remembered how excited she had been, and how excited she had thought that Everett would be. Then he asked for an abortion. His words had torn her heart in two. “I just don’t want to ruin our lives over a mistake.”
  A mistake? How could he think that? His own blood. She’d told him she would rather go to hell then kill their child. She’d left him, and went to her parents. Everett had been the one to buy the apartment, meaning it was in his name, so she just decided she would be better off with her parents. Apparently, she’d been dead wrong. She’d told them the news, and they told her to get her things and go. Jo or her ‘bastard’ child wasn’t welcome.
  She shivered at the thought looking towards the road. She stopped when she heard a car. She turned to see an old blue pick-up truck pulling off the road. She watched as the person drove by and then pulled off. “Willow Brooke Farms” she’d read as it went by. She watched as a somewhat hold man stepped out. He couldn’t have been a day over fifty though. Forty-five at the most. She watched as he studied her for a moment. “Was that your car further down the road ma’am?” He asked as he stayed where he was. She didn’t move, except for the small nod in reply. “I could go have a look at it if you want. See what’s the matter.” He said gently. He noticed she hesitated for moment, debating the offer. He could understand the hesitation. She was a young girl, that much was obvious, and he was thinking that he saw a slight tell-tale bulge, but he wasn’t going to say anything.
  “You would do that for nothing in return?” She asked softly.
  “None what so ever. I’d be willing to throw in a night at my house too. It’s starting to get dark, and you seem to be weary.” He said gently.
  She nodded her head and walked over to him. “I’m Johanna Bishop, and I would very much appreciate and good place to stay for the night.” She said gently.
  He nodded his head gently. “Jared Martins, and me and my boy will be happy to have you.”


  Jared Studied the girl in his passenger seat thoughtfully, careful to keep his eye on the road. She couldn’t be much older than twenty six. She was just too young looking. She had that glow of pre-mother hood to her too. He wouldn’t miss that from a mile away, even though she didn’t seem all that happy at the moment. He couldn’t see why she should though. They were heading back to his farm with her most valuable things in the truck bed along with her clothes. Her car just wouldn’t work. He told her he would get his son to look at it, and help get the rest of her stuff tomorrow. He hated the idea that she didn’t have that much that was valuable to her, just one box marked memories and a suitcase that could barely fit two weeks worth of clothes in it.
  Jo watched the scenery woosh by as they drove through the old roads. She looked ahead when Jared pulled the truck onto a gravel road. That's when she spotted them. A small heard of what appeared to be colts and fillies running around happily. She watched them thoughtfully before she saw a couple of mares with their foals nestled in the sun. Off in the distances she saw a few people bringing in horses for the coming night, and that's when she realized that they were kids. She looked to Jared questioningly. "What kind of stables are these?" She asked curiously, studying him.
  Jared looked to her for a moment as they passed a couple of kids ridding in from a trail. "It's a correctional facility. A type of rehab you could say." He said as those stone gray eyes turned back to the road. She followed his gaze as they pulled in front of a lovely rock and log cabin. It had that woodsy, comfy look to it, and she could only imagine what it looked like inside. She imagined many masculine things since he hadn't said anything about a daughter or wife. Only a son. It was certainly a lovely house, and plopping right down in the middle of the stables made it all the more interesting looking.
  Jared got out of the truck as a man on a big Fresian stallion came up. She studied him for a moment thoughtfully as he dismounted. He was a little taller than Jared, and he was certainly more built, but she couldn't mistake that this was Jared's son. He was the spitting image of his father. Stone gray eyes, long chizzled face, and sandy blond hair, which she imagined was what Jared's had looked like in his earlier years than the graying head of  blond hair he had now. She saw his gaze turn to her as Jared got her things out of the back.
  She shifted nervously before she opened the door and stepped out to help with the few things that she had, but the man before her got to it first, while a stable hand took the Fresian off.
  "Miss Bishop, this is my son, Markus Martins. Mark, this is Johanna Bishop." Jared looked from one to the other. Mark only studied her for a moment before he nodded his head gently handing her the suitcase. She studied him for a moment before she took it. She watched him walk off. Probably to go take care of his stallion. "Don't mind him. He's not much of a talkative person around strangers." Jared said gently as he watched his son go to take care of Dead Man's Hand, or more commonly called Ace around the stables. "Here, I'll show you where you can stay for now." He said gently as he urged her on.
  The house was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside, and just as she'd suspected, the house had a certain amount of rustic masculinity. She thought if fit Jared though. He seemed like the rustic type of guy. She couldn't say much about his son though, other than thinking that he was a total hottie. She couldn't deny that. Those stony eyes had sent a strange tingle down her back. "Your room for the night will be up this way." Jared said as he led her up the stairs and came to a stop at the room that stood only a few feet from the top of the stairs.
  Johanna looked at Jared and smiled faintly. "Thank you." She said as she set her stuff on the bed carefully. "Do you have a phone I can use?" She asked as she turned back to Jared.
  He nodded and gestured downstairs. "There's one down in the kitchen. Don't be afraid to use it too much." He then exited the room and shuffled downstairs and out the door to help unload the horse feed he'd been hauling from town when he found Jo.