I know it’s not the last time I’ll see it. I’ll be back. And often.
But I’m traveling down a new road. Isn’t that what Colton said?
I have no doubt this one is right for me.
Oakley squeezes the back of my neck before tugging the tailgate up. With a quiet goodbye to the place I was raised, we head toward home.
Bell is lying in a shade spot when we park. She doesn’t rouse, which tells me she’s not hungry at the moment. Oakley and I haul my things inside, and it feels a heck of a lot like the beginning of the summer, when it was Oakley’s possessions being unloaded inside this house. Luckily, I don’t have any furniture with me. Only clothes, trinkets, books.
Oakley brings my toiletries to the bathroom, and I leave him to it, adding my collection of hardcovers and paperbacks to his bookshelf. It’s fairly empty, Oakley not being a huge reader himself. Even so, I get a sense of satisfaction slipping my books in with his. I leavePeter and Wendyfor last, unable to help but open it up again.
I find the passage where Peter is watching Wendy through the window, his sadness at being left out like a soft blanket set carefully over the words. I could sense it, that melancholy, even before I understood why the magical boy was sad over such a thing. As it says, he has countless joys in his life. Morethan most children. So why would he possibly be sad over one single thing he couldn’t have?
I get it now. That one thing represented so very much.
“Law?”
Oakley’s voice is soft as he crouches down beside me. His hand drifts over my shoulder, the touch so light, so simple, yet far more than he would have allowed himself in the past. It’s a door, a window wide open, where before there was glass.
“I’m fine,” I tell him, sensing his concern. “Just thinking.”
He hums. “Do you need some more time? There’s something I’d like to do today if you’re up for it.”
“What’s that?”
“A surprise. And no, I’m not gonna tell you. You’ll just have to trust me.”
I huff. “Easy.”
Oakley makes a pleased sound, waiting as I set the book on the shelf, the cover displayed. I swear, if I listen hard enough, I can hear the faint ticking of a clock. Standing, I follow Oakley out the door and into his truck.
My eyebrow wings up when he drives onto the road leading back to the ranch. “Is this surprise a dinner with my family?”
He snorts. “No, it’s not.”
“Hm. Horseback riding?”
“If you want,” he says. “It isn’t far, but we could get there by saddle instead of walking if you’d like.”
I glance at the sky, so bright today, even as the evening approaches. It’ll be cooling down soon, the start of fall near.
“Why not?” I answer, thinking a final summer ride with Oakley sounds just about perfect.
He shoots me a quick grin before taking the turn onto my family’sdrive.
Oakley parks near the milking barn, the walk to the stables shorter from here. A couple of the ranchers are inside, getting their horses settled before they leave for the day. Oakley grabs gear for Clover, and I saddle up Prairie, one of the family horses who isn’t used for work. She’s getting up there in age, but she perks up as I unlatch her stall, eager, it would seem, to go for a walk.
Once she’s ready, I swing by the tack room and grab a spare hat. I don’t wear them often, certainly not as much as Oakley does. But beyond being good for sun protection, slipping that leather on my head reminds me what it was like growing up around here. All the good parts.
Maybe I’m no cowboy when it comes down to it. But I’m a Darling. I’ll always be that.
Oakley’s smile turns into a grin when he sees me. “Looking good, cowboy.”
“You think so?”
“Mhm. All that’s missing is the rope.”
A clang comes from the direction of the horse stalls. “Gross,” Remi says, turning to grab a bag of feed. He hefts it easily.
