Mom comes out onto the porch, wiping her hands on a dishtowel, smiling so wide her cheeks crease.Dad follows behind her slower, nodding once in that quiet, solid way he does.Kenzie barrels out next, grabs Tessa, and pulls her into the house before anyone can say a word.I follow Tessa like she is my gravity, watching the way my family interacts with her.Taking in how she fits in a way no one else ever could.
Inside, the house is warm with the heat of the woodstove, the smell of cinnamon, and the familiarity of roasted turkey roasting low in the oven.
Eli comes into the kitchen, dining area, carrying some god-awful pumpkin centrepiece he claims he “crafted,” which looks like it escaped a children’s craft hour.
Kenzie shoves him.“Stop showing people that, you’re embarrassing us.”
Tessa laughs, warm and bright, and that sound goes through me in a straight line.Mom fusses, trying to make everything perfect.But it already is.Dad grins at me over Mom's head.He looks so relaxed today, like a weight has been lifted off him.Eli is talking to Tessa about a rodeo coming up in the city.Kenzie jumps in, asking Tessa when she will be heading back out to some of the farms and if she can join again.
It’s loud.It’s home.It’s everything I’ve been missing.
Tessa sits beside me at the table, her knee pressed against mine, her hand sliding down to squeeze my thigh every now and then as my parents reminisce.I watch her tuck a curl behind her ear, smile at something my mom says, and lean into Kenzie’s shoulder when she shows her photos on her phone.
And I don’t know when it happens, maybe somewhere between the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie, but something shifts.I start to see it.Clearly.
What I’ve been avoiding looking at straight-on.A future...A future here in Hawthorne Ridge with my family, Tessa at my side, growing old sitting atthistable, every year for the rest of our lives.I swallow down the knot in my throat and blink away the tears that I can't seem to control.I close my eyes for a moment and see her, pregnant, in the kitchen with my mom, laughing over old stories and sharing family recipes, her holding my hand under this table to steady me during every holiday, and her children...our children, running through the kitchen barefoot and out into the backyard.
I have been pushing this life away so hard, running headfirst into the life in the city.The life of the star hockey player.But right here, right now...I know.
It hits me so hard I have to reach for my water like I’m choking.
Tessa looks over, concern flickering across her face.“You okay?”
I nod, desperately trying to keep it together.“Yeah.Just… full.”
Her deep blue eyes, which still somehow seem warm, dance across my face, and then she smiles softly before returning her attention to my dad.
After dishes are washed and leftovers tucked into containers, the afternoon light starts turning that warm autumn honey-gold.
I lean close to her ear.“Come for a ride with me.”
Her eyes catch mine, bright and curious.“Now?”
“Now.”
I don’t bother explaining; I just take her hand and lead her outside.
We saddle Lady May and Duke for the ride.Tessa swings up into the saddle effortlessly, dress hitched up around her thighs, boots in the stirrups, hair loose and blowing in the wind.
Fuck.She knocks the breath out of me.
We ride across the fields, past the fence lines and the old barn, through the tall grass that brushes the horses’ flanks.Everything smells like earth and cold, and the stretch of autumn before winter takes over.She rides ahead of me sometimes, laughing when Lady May prances through a field of wildflowers.Other times, she slows, letting me move beside her.You can tell this is exactly where Tessa was meant to be, wild and free.She talks about the soil, the trees, and the ridge where the deer bed down.She’s more a part of this land than I’ve been in years.And somehow… She brings me back to it.
We reach my favourite spot, a clearing near an old maple with roots that twist like sleeping animals beneath the ground.I tie Duke’s reins to the low branch; Tessa does the same with Lady May.The light hits her then, all gold, glinting through her hair, turning her skin warm.She smooths her dress down over her hips, cheeks pink from the cold.
I step toward her, and she meets me halfway.
“You’re quiet,” she says softly.
I cup her face.“I’m just… taking you in.”
Her lip’s part, breath catching.“Nate…”
“I mean it.”My thumb traces the curve of her cheek.“I forget how beautiful this place is until I’m here with you.”
Her smile is soft and full and absolutely lethal.“You grew up with it.You probably stopped seeing it for what it is.”
“Maybe.”I breathe out and then lean in.“But you bring it back to life for me.Sometimes it feels like you are breathing life back intome, and I didn't even know a part of me was dying.”
