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  Chapter One

  Longing

  Kristin sighed as she considered the brochure LeAnn placed in front of her. The vacation would be a great deal of fun, but with everything on her plate right now, there was no way she could take the time off. Regrettably, she looked up at her best friend. “You know I miss the country, LeAnn, but I just got the new campaign build for Roger-Smith on my desk Friday. That’s going to eat up all my time for weeks. I’ll be working overtime, and there’s no way I can take a vacation in the middle of a project like that with a promotion on the line.”

  LeAnn leaned over the table, pushing the coffee cups to the side and pointing at the picture of the ranch house on the cover. “Come on, Kristin, this looks so much like that childhood home of yours you talk about. And it’s only a week. I mean, we could stay longer, but give it a week. You have far too much stress on your shoulders, and I think it would really help you get it together for this big project.”

  But LeAnn didn’t understand. As an image consultant, LeAnn assumed they were both in the business of PR and marketing, which was true. But LeAnn didn’t have the negative image of women in the industry to overcome that Kristin did in a big marketing firm. At Morrow-Waves Marketing, one of the largest firms in New York, it was cutthroat, and because so many men were so much more aggressive and ruthless about getting the job, women tended to suffer. She was one of the three women outside the secretarial pool, in a company of nearly two hundred executives. The odds weren’t in her favor.

  If she took vacation in the middle of a deal that would be one of the biggest accounts their firm landed, she would be a joke. Besides, she prided herself in her work, and she didn’t have much else to bank on in life. “I just can’t, LeAnn. It wouldn’t feel right.” She stared longingly at the brochure. A week at a real working ranch, with a chance to do ‘dude ranch’ work really tore at her heart. If LeAnn were trying to send her on a guilt trip, she’d succeeded.

  With a sigh of resignation, LeAnn threw her hands up. “I give up. You’re doomed to collapse under the weight of stress, but I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.” She stabbed at the last of her pancakes; her perfectly manicured nails are bright orange today and her sunny blond hair in a perfect coif at the nape of her neck. Her no-nonsense suit was black with white pinstripes, and the flash of orange blouse beneath was a perfect match to her nails, as were the pumps on her feet.

  Kristin Jenkins envied her best friend. Because of her chosen career path, LeAnn Hardwick met knew people everywhere she went. She rubbed elbows with models, actors, singers, CEOs, and other pretty, rich people that she only made prettier. But then, LeAnn had grown up in the outskirts of LA, near Hollywood. The environment had given her a down-to-earth perspective on life but put her head in the clouds as she watched the Hollywood starlings from a distance.

  Kristin, on the other hand, had been raised on a small ranch outside Dallas, and she had lived a very humble life. She’d never worried about her looks or her mannerisms until she’d met LeAnn in college. Four years at Berkley with LeAnn had changed her entire perspective, and she’d started dressing to look the part of the marketing director she wanted to be – and had become over the last ten years. But being so far behind the scenes of corporations didn’t allow her the contacts and prestige LeAnn built, and she was often in the shadows of rich, old men who weren’t so easy on the eyes and didn’t much care about how Kristin looked, as long as she made them money. She hadn’t made a lot of friends over the years, but she’d built a career that was going strong.

  “I’m not going to give in,” she assured LeAnn, though she’d already spent most of the weekend fretting over the new account, which was the entire reason she’d called up her best friend for lunch today. LeAnn was her rock, the only person in her life who kept her sane. “I’m going to work my ass off and land it, and then I’ll be promoted to VP instead of director.”

  “I truly hope you’re right. But remember, the offer is on the table, if you change your mind.” LeAnn winked, sliding a piece of paper that read ‘The Offer’ onto the table. Kristin had to laugh; her friend’s humor was quirky, dry, and ridiculous sometimes, but it got her through life, and she was sitting on top of the world.

  Folding the piece of paper into the brochure, Kristin left the money for the bill and the tip on the table, and the two of them left to shop. It was a routine. They didn’t get together for a meal or coffee unless they went on some extravagant run through town to buy a pair of Gucci glasses or a Michael Kors purse or some other such nonsense. And Kristin loved every minute of it, despite the fact that her bank account was half the size of LeAnn’s. She’d still done well for herself so far, and because she was frugal most of the time, she had the cash to blow on these rare occasions.

  This time, as they parted ways – LeAnn returning to her swanky apartment in Soho and Kristin heading to the edges of Manhattan and her tiny loft apartment that cost a fortune, but was right around the corner from her job, Kristin had a hard time returning home alone. Something was weighing on her, tearing at her in a way she didn’t understand, and being with LeAnn provided comfort for her. As she looked around her apartment, she wasn’t unhappy. She’d decorated, made it home, and she loved the neo-kitschy look of her place. But what it had in luster didn’t make up for what it lacked in livelihood. Kristin hated admitting she was lonely, and she kept telling herself that, one day, after she made it big in her professional life, all the personal life details would fall in line.

  She simply hadn’t seen the fruits of her labor yet. It was only a matter of time, and she had plenty of that. She was only 31, after all, and look how far she’d come already! Women were getting married and having families later and later, and Kristin was in excellent health. She had a whole lifetime ahead of her still.

  Deciding to enjoy what would likely be her last full day off for a while, Kristin quickly picked her outfit for tomorrow morning, made her Monday morning smoothie and put it in the fridge, and then took a relaxing bath before donning her favorite silk pajamas and lounging on the couch with some snacks while she watched reruns and reality TV for the rest of the day.