“Which is whyIwill help you.”
Her eyes go round. “You will?”
“Of course. Now get some sleep. We can revisit the list another day.”
“No.” She grabs my wrist as I get up from the couch. “I want to do it now. This is probably the boldest I’ll ever be, and there’s no way I’m falling asleep anytime soon.”
“Are you sure? It’s late.”
“Yeah, I already have a few ideas.” She gets up from the couch to grab a pencil and a pad of paper, her hazel eyes sparking. I love that she’s biting back a smile instead of fighting off tears.
When she jots down her first idea, I immediately glance over her shoulder to read it.
1. Take swing dance lessons at the Long Neck
“I always wanted to take lessons, but I’ve been so busy, and the few times I could’ve gone, Austin shot the idea down. He said he wasn’t good at dancing, but I didn’t care. I just wanted someone to dance with me because I enjoy it.”
I have to fight back the urge to remark on how much I hate that man or how I would’ve done anything she asked just to see a smile on her face becausethat’swhat you do when you care for someone. Instead, I opt for, “That’s a good start. What else have you been holding back from?”
She writes down two more.
2. Cut my hair
3. Go to a ranching conference
She twirls the pencil in her hands. “I’ve wanted to cut my hair for two years, but I always chickened out.”
“What about the ranching conference?”
“Austin went to plenty, but always alone. He argued that someone needed to stay back at Copper Hill and that he was better at talking to strangers. I kind of wonder if he just didn’t want me to realize I could manage without him.”
I wince. This was supposed to be empowering for Lauren, but it feels like it’s just empowering me to beat the crap out of Austin. Thankfully she still looks upbeat, so we keep going.
“Can I add something?”
She hands me the pencil and paper, watching over my shoulder while I write.
4. Eat out alone
5. Do something that’s only for me and no one else
“I like mine better,” she says as she snags the pencil from me, flipping it around to erase what I just wrote.
“You can’t do that!” I slip the pencil from her grasp, but she grabs it back.
“It’smylist.”
I chuckle. “But you’re not going to grow if you only do things you come up with on your own.”
“Fine. But I have more to add.”
“Be my guest.” I gesture to the notepad.
She writes down two more items.
6. Go to a concert
7. Regenerative Agriculture
