Red laughs. “Then don’t let us stop you. Ladies first.”
After we’ve all gorged ourselves on the diner’s delicious offerings, we all sit back and break into small conversations with those around us.
I catch Starchild’s gentle gaze across the table and try to get a read on her. That’s when a thought hits me out of nowhere. She knows something I don’t. I instantly feel more off kilter and out of control than I have in months–ever since the reading of my grandfather’s will, come to think of it.
What did the tarot reading say? What did she say to Blair?
Did she tell her she’s meant to stay in Timber Falls? Or that there’s some other path for her that means we’ll be leaving my family…my mountain?
What about Gramps’s legacy? I freeze at that, having not thought about it until now. My entire body turns to stone. What about the inheritance clause? We’re supposed to all stay at theranch for two years before it officially becomes ours… will we lose it if I leave?
I shake my head to myself. I can’t–won’t–be the reason my brothers don’t get to keep the ranch. It’s ours. It belongs to all of us. It’s our birthright… our spiritual home.
Tugging my hands under the table, I twist my fingers together, realizing I’m sweating like it’s a hot summer’s day and not fifty Fahrenheit outside.
That’s when my vision starts to tunnel, the room feeling impossibly small… stifling. Suddenly every breath I suck in becomes harder to hold, my chest squeezing impossibly tight.
“Hey. Sutton, it’s OK” Blair says, her hands gripping my jaw and holding it in place until she’s all that I can see. “Slow, deep breaths, yeah?” She turns to Mags and talks to her quietly, all the while, slotting one of her hands between my clammy ones to lace our fingers together. The contact grounds me and like always, she’s the salve I’ve always needed. Slowly, the pressure holding my body hostage starts to ease.
If ever there was proof that this woman–my One–was attuned to me, this is it.
Mags looks over to me with a soft, understanding gaze. “Sure thing,” she says, waving her arm out toward the door. “Take the back door, past the restrooms and you’ll see there’s some stairs that lead up on top of the book shop. The sky should be clear, so you’ll get a beautiful view up there.”
“Thanks,” Blair murmurs before turning back to me. “C’mon. Let’s go get some fresh air.”
“I’m OK,” I say, my shaky voice giving me away.
She leans close and drops her voice to a whisper. “You’re not and that’s OK too. Let me take you somewhere so you can catch your breath and we can talk.
Five minutes later, having followed Mags’s instructions to a T, we walk out onto the rooftop of the two-storey brick buildingthat’s not only home to the diner, but the town’s bookstore and post office.
“Mags wasn’t lying. It’s truly beautiful up here,” she says.
“It hasn’t got a thing on you,” I say, loving the way her gentle eyes meet mine before she slowly narrows them.
“That was cheesy as hell, doctor.” Her twitching lips make me want to kiss her quiet. But that has to wait because now more than ever, I needsomething…anything…. justsomeidea as to where we’re headin’.Literally.
Blair moves in close and loops her arms around my neck, her fingers toying with the hair on the back of my head. Closing my eyes, I rest my forehead against hers, taking her lead and matching her breaths. In… out… in…out…
“It’s going to be OK, Sutton,” she says quietly. “I wasn’t trying to upset you by not telling you what Star had to tell me. You’ve got to know I’d never want that. I’ve just been working through some things in my head, but you’re not one of them. I don’t thinkusis something we’ll ever need to worry about. I know what I want and that’syou. It’s always goin’ to be you. I’ve just been feeling torn betweenwhereto go andwhatto do.”
I nod, staring deep into her soulful blue eyes, the same ones I want to look at for the rest of our lives together.
“Can we take a seat?” she says, tilting her head over to a hanging swing not that much different from the one I have back at home.
Once we’re settled, I lift her legs over mine so that we’re as close as can be. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asks.
“Bringin’ me up here. Recognizin’ I was spiralin’ and knowin’ just what I needed to stop it.”
“Sutton, I love you. I’m going to spend the rest of mylifewith you. It’s my job to look after you just like you’re always looking after me. We’re equal partners in this.”
I nod, still staring at her in wonder. The girl of my dreams is now the woman I get to call mine. Whatever I did to earn the mountain spirit’s reward ofher… I’d do it all again in a heartbeat just for moments like this.
We fall quiet, my hand stroking back and forth over her denim-covered thigh, the move soothing me and helping to settle my mind.
“Where do you want me to start?”
