And her greatest downfall.
Daisy shuddered as the icy cold began seeping in. She pushed off him to gather her dropped items before getting her sled. “Race you to the top of the hill right there.”
She jumped on her sled and took off while he was still gathering his stuff. Next, he was chasing her up the hill, flying fast and hard through fresh powder, his heart hammering with fun and joy. The thrill of the ride did not hold a candle to the thrill and joy he got from Daisy Rydell.
The woman he now loved and never expected he could.
Chapter 11
IT WAS JUST THE start of a new era. Time drifted slowly. Daisy and Asher endured many goodbyes and celebrated their reunions. The most difficult one was the first, after getting together that winter, and now it was becoming almost commonplace for them.
“How can I miss you so much? It’s only been eight hours.” Asher thrilled Daisy when she texted him while waiting for a connecting flight after their first separation. Daisy was hurting too. Aching with loneliness. But having a relationship that was separated by distance also gave them a perspective that was never too skewed from reality. Asher’s original hesitation to be with her turned out to be a positive thing in preparing them for these separations.
All the new electronic ways for people to see and talk to each other did alleviate some of the pain. She kept herself busy and so did he. He told Daisy about all the stuff he did on the ranch, especially after the snow melted and he could access it again. He repaired most of the fence, while he and his dad started working on the old farm equipment. He bought a few head of cattle and AJ helped him start forming a herd.
While he worked on his ranch, Daisy wrote papers, studied, and regurgitated information. She did group projects and presentations, walked the streets and window-shopped. She also partied now and then with other students, but not as much as she did before.
Their time, professions, and lifestyles remained polar opposites, yet their connection kept them together and was always spot on and right.
Summer brought Daisy home for four months. That did a lot to improve their relationship. It was deep on feelings and having the common background of shared lives but brief in the time they were together in the same city, as a couple. It started out idyllic, primarily because of hot, heavy sex and the shared desire for other types of fun. Then, things settled down. They had their first squabble. Then a fight. Then they stopped talking to each other for three days. They both grew complacent and kind of careless sometimes. In essence, they evolved as a couple, moving past all the fun and meaningful words. Their best behavior became more real, and they did not try to hide who they were when they got tired and stressed. Little things that seemed adorable and hot were sometimes worse than annoying and irritating.
When Daisy left for her senior year, their relationship was more solid than that first winter. There was a sense of endurance behind them now, as well as between them, but most importantly, they both embraced what lay before them.
Asher towed a trailer under the recently renovated, newly secured barn. The roof no longer leaked, and he could shut the doors to keep it warmer when the freezing temperatures arrived. The critter problem was also under control and he removed the decades of junk and debris that the Rieslings left behind. He kept all the relics that were either valuable or historically interesting. Rusted plows and a large combine harvester from 1868 were the kinds of artefacts Asher valued. The combine harvester was huge and had been pulled by many horses or mules. Rusted out after spending most of its life in the bottom of a ditch on the northern-most pasture, Asher had plans for it too. One day, he would haul it out and place it near his front driveway gate with a few shrubs and beauty bark to make a nice display and entrance for his ranch.
It was finally becoming just that. His ranch. The time he spent working on it and all the muscle aches, callouses and hours he invested made every square inch of dirt more precious and all his own.
Daisy spent a glorious winter break there, sledding and staying on his ranch. They even lit a fire in the house after he swept the chimney and repaired it to contain a fire safely. Making love on thick blankets they brought there and drinking hot chocolate from a thermos next to a roaring fire were favorite pastimes. They liked to ride their sleds down the hill Daisy chose and then build a hot fire to warm them up again.
“Do you realize what today is?” Asher asked Daisy. She lay naked in his arms, wrapped up with warm blankets and close to the fire. The rest of the house was jarringly cold. Asher had cleaned up all the mouse and rat droppings. But exterminating the critters was only the beginning. He had a long way to go before he could call it habitable.
“Of course, I do. One year ago, today, I told you I loved you and you finally manned up long enough to tell me how you felt.” Her head tilted back so she could see him, and she grinned mischievously.
“Yes. I’m so glad you forced me to man up. Daisy… I can’t imagine feeling this way about anyone else.” He leaned down and they shared a long, lingering kiss.
“I’m touched to see you created the exact scenario I first proposed. We should do it every year. To mark our special anniversary. No one else will know about it.”
He loved that idea. An odd feeling rippled through him, one that was becoming familiar. Daisy recklessly talked of their shared future in the coming years. Saying “someday” or “when the time comes” but the same issues separating them remained. Their clashing goals and lifestyles. So vastly different and at odds with each other.
But Asher could finally focus on the present, so he kissed her and neither one spoke for a few hours. They enjoyed spending time in front of the blazing fire, making love, and only stopping to throw another huge log onto the fire.
Then she was off again to the city.
“Come with me. Please. See it once as an experience. Even if you never do it again.”
Daisy finally persuaded him to come there in February. He came for Valentine’s Day to see New York City. She insisted they tour every single huge attraction New York offered. From Ellis Island to the Statue of Liberty to Central Park. She even dragged him to a Broadway play, and they rode the subway. Madison Square Garden and the Twin Towers Memorial were other highlights. Eating at gourmet small restaurants and walking forever on the famous streets and boulevards, Asher found endless attractions and people to watch.
“It’s way better than you thought, isn’t it?” Daisy asked as she grinned up at him in Times Square and kissed his mouth.
“It is intriguing and very interesting. No end to all the things to visit and see. I never could fathom why you liked to be here. I kind of get it now. But I can’t stay here. Not for too long. I’d go crazy having so much city around me. The humanity is overwhelming.”
That week in New York solidified his commitment to her and forged them even closer. Asher met her friends and had a glimpse of her life at Fordham University, which helped him visualize her identity there. And it wasn’t anything like he pictured. She was the same Daisy there as she was in River’s End. She didn’t change at all. Really, nothing could change Daisy and that was the key to sustaining their long-distance relationship. Any other person would have been the subject of doubt, but Daisy was always honest, and Asher firmly believed in her genuine dedication to him.