Waiting For Love (Love In Montana Book 2)

10 Years Ago

"Hey Rex, have you seen the new girl who's joined our school?" Asked Blake Davis, Rex's best friend. Rex Bradley Wilson was the hottest guy in the whole of the small town of Fordsville and the captain of the football team. All the girls of Fordsville High worshipped the ground he passed on. Everybody wanted to be his girlfriend but who did he want? No one. He didn't like the over eager girls of his hometown. Fordsville was a small town in Montana just fifteen minutes drive away from Great Falls. His granddad, Joe Wilson's ranch, Wildcreek Ranch was located at the far edge of Fordsville in the heart of the Rocky Mountains at the base of the Continental Divide. It was a picturesque place surrounded by mountains, fields and forests with a clear sparkling river running through it.

"In our batch?" Asked a surprised Rex. If there would be any such girl, he would definitely have noticed. Fordsville being a small town doesn't get many new people relocating to it. Here, everyone knew one another.

"No, in eighth grade, " informed Blake. They were in their final senior year at Fordsville High, where Rex's twin brother Rhett, his younger sister, Rihanna and his cousins too studied.

"Are you kidding me? I don't have time for kids!" Said Rex walking out of the locker room. They just had a rigorous games class where their coach Mr. Williamson shouted out instructions and overworked their tired muscles for forty-five  minutes till it was finally over and they finally walked back to their trucks to go home.

"Who's a kid here, bro. She'd just be four years younger, that's all," said Blake, climbing onto his truck. "See you at the big game tomorrow," he waved and drove off.

Rex nodded and waved him off. As he slowly walked towards his black Ford F-250, he noticed a thin girl waiting impatiently staring at the road ahead as if waiting for someone. She looked new to their school since Rex knew every chick of Fordsville High. She didn't look more than fourteen and her face had zit marks all over. As he passed her to go to his truck, he noticed her eyes. They were the most gorgeous eyes he'd ever seen in his entire eighteen years of life, sparkling green like emeralds with ember specks. But wait, was she crying? He stopped dead in his tracks in front of her.

"Hey, can I help you?" He asked her gently. She looked up at him and just shook her head. He saw the sadness in her beautiful eyes and couldn't just leave her. "You can tell me kid. I'm Rex Wilson, captain of the school football team. I'll help you," said Rex gently.

"My grandfather's truck broke down and I don't know the way back. I'm new here," said the girl, looking at her feet. She looked so fragile and helpless that Rex's heart went out for the poor kid.

"I can drop you to your house. Tell me any landmark, " he asked gently. The girl's eyes widened as she focused her attention upon the gorgeous guy in front of her. She had noticed him on the first day of school as all the girls only talked about him the whole day. Now she knew why. He was not only good looking but had a golden heart as well. On her first day at Fordsville High, she had already heard his life history that he didn't play around with girls nor did he have any girlfriend. He was a good guy in the true sense of the term.

"My grandparents live in the marketplace, " she told him.

"What's your grandfather's name?" He asked her with curiosity.

"Zoe Fischer," said the girl. "My granny is Stacey Fischer," she answered, hopefully.

"Granny Stacey is my granny's best friend," said Rex with a warm smile. "C'mon, I'll drop you home, " he offered. The girl considered his offer for sometime and then followed him obediently to his truck.

"You didn't tell me your name," Rex pointed out.

"Ember," she said shyly. Rex nodded. The name suited her. He drove her to her grandparents house. "Thank you," she told him shyly feeling overwhelmed that he showered his attention upon her when there were thousands of girls lined up for him.

"You're welcome. Bye, see you around," said Rex and drove off. Ember walked inside her house, her eyes shining brighter, her heart beating faster. She couldn't believe her luck that the most popular guy at school about whom she'd been hearing the whole day actually took out time for her. Her granny Stacey looked up at her with concern.

"How did you get home honey?" Asked her granny with concern. "You gramps is still struggling to start his truck. Why he doesn't get rid of it already, I don't understand, " said her granny looking cross.

"I know, his truck never starts when it should," laughed Ember. Granny turned to look at the girl with surprise. This was the first time she laughed. Ever since she came here she had forgotten to smile or laugh. Her parents' death had hit her hard and she was too hurt by her sudden loss to react to anything. Her parents, Mary and Fred Fischer lived in Chicago where Mary's family lived. However after their sudden fatal accident, Stacey and Zoe brought Ember back here to Fordsville and had looked after her ever since. For a week she was too numb with grief to lead a normal life but since she showed some signs of improvement, Zoe Fischer admitted her into Fordsville High.

"Who dropped you home, honey?" Asked granny curiously.

"Rex Wilson, granny. He's the captain of the football team at school, " said Ember as her cheeks colored and shy looked away from her granny's prying eyes. Granny smiled knowingly. She knew Rex of course. His granny, Jenny Wilson was her best friend. She knew what a charming and handsome young man he was. Quite a heartbreaker at eighteen!

"Ah, so you met the heart throb of Fordsville, eh?" She said with a chuckle going out to the garage to inform her husband that Ember was home. Ember went to her room and stood in front of the mirror. She noticed how excited she looked, how her eyes sparkled but those zit marks? They were ugly. She wished she could get rid of those. Rex would never give her a second glance.

Rex strode into the house and skidded to a halt seeing the delicious lunch spread out on the table. "Mom why did you have to make all these today. You know I have a match tomorrow," protested an unhappy Rex. He couldn't eat fattening and rich food today and her mom and aunts cooked all his favorites.

"We can't go hungry because of you," said Rihanna, his sister who was two years younger.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll make your favorite food again tomorrow, " assured his mom.

"Mom, why do you favor him so much?" Asked a displeased Rihanna.

"I don't. I love all of you,"  said Ruth Wilson, their mom.

"Delicious," said Rhett, his twin, chewing his food while eyeing Rex. Rhett was the quietest of the whole lot of them and although they were twins, they didn't resemble one another.

"Dude where did you dash off without us?" Asked Ryan, who was five years younger to Rex and Rhett. His twin Ryder agreed. They looked upset.

"Sorry, I had some important work after football practice," said Rex. He didn't want to tell them about Ember as the news would spread like fire and the girls would make her life difficult at school.

Their grand dad and their father and uncles arrived for lunch and the topic ended. They were the biggest dairy producers in the vicinity and also into horse rearing and sales. Rex, Rhett along with their dad, Keith Wilson trained the horses thoroughly before selling them Their dad's older brother, Kevin Wilson and his sons Rowland and Russell who were nineteen, managed the dairy farm.

Their dad's younger brothers, uncle Kendrick and uncle Kennedy looked into the animal husbandry part of their business as well as into the packaging of dairy products. Uncle Kendrick's wife aunt Helen was a vet and she kept a check upon all the animals on their farm and ranch. Their sons, Ryan and Ryder were five years younger while their younger sister Renée was seven years younger to Rhett and Rex. Uncle Kennedy, the youngest was quite cool and ran a big hotel in Las Vegas for which he and uncle Kendrick traveled a lot to Las Vegas. His wife, aunt Charlotte was a fashion designer and ran a small boutique in the Fordsville market place. Their children Raine and Ronald were the babies of the family, being ten years younger than Rex and Rhett and were adored by all.

"I came back with Sawyer since Rex just vanished with someone, " said River knowingly. She was Rowland and Russell's sister and six years younger to Rex and Rhett. Rex gave her a look to shut her up. Thankfully Sawyer skidded to a halt just then before the dining table and the topic was forgotten. He sat down beside Rex. Rowland and Russell's mom, aunt Katherine looked up at him with horror.

"Sawyer, wash up first. You're stinking," she scolded him. Sawyer grudgingly got to wash up. He was adopted by the Wilson's when granddad Joe Wilson found him as a new born baby lying abandoned near the riverside, a little away from Wildcreek Ranch and brought him home. Ever since Katherine Wilson lived him as her own and he called her mom. They all loved him and he loved them back.

Wildcreek Ranch was a noisy, loud but a happy place and Rex would never want to be anywhere else but here. His was a huge family and all of them were very close to one another.