Page 29 of Worth the Fight

“No, she’s not. She’s inviting you because she considers you a part of our farm, a part of our family. You're working with us; you're helping us out. We all get together on Sunday to unwind. It's just a way that she shows appreciation, and she likes taking care of people.” I pause, seeing if he will agree. “It would really mean a lot, man, just think about it. This Sunday after your shift, just come on into the main house. And we'll all be there, okay?” I can see him mull it over, nodding slightly.

“Thanks, man, I’ll think about it.” He reaches out his hand for me to shake, and I clasp it, shaking once before venturing back down the hall toward the right water fountain.

Once I’ve secured the water and ignored the looks from the staff when I asked them to dump the full jug and refill it with ice, I venture back toward Nana’s room, noticing the door to Dean’s mom’s room is closed.

Once Nana’s room comes back into view, I rest the jug on my open palm, balancing it, ready to present it to her like the crown jewels.

“All right, your highness,” I call out once I step over the threshold, vision laser focused on the water jug, so I don’t drop it and make a cocky mess. “I have traipsed throughout the building, fought dragons and knights to bring you nature’s finest beverage. You’d never belie—” my words are cut off when I realize there’s a staff member standing at the foot of the bed.

No, not a staff member…

Someone who I have dreamed about every day and night for the last few years. Someone I have hoped and prayed, offered up everything under the sun to the Gods, that one day I’d get to see again.

My breath stills. My heartbeat nearly hitching in my chest. Something gives way, it’s a full body shock, and my leg starts to buckle. I grab on to the dresser that’s against the wall, practically slamming the water jug onto it before gripping the edge with both hands to keep from falling.

There’s no way this is real. Maybe the original water was toilet water, and I’m lying in a hospital bed somewhere, delirious from a severe case of giardia.

She turns to face me, her head moving first, long blonde hair falling across her shoulder as she does. Her mocha eyes widen and bottom lip pops open as if I’m the last person she’d ever expect to be standing in the doorway. Her eyes lock on mine, and I watch as her tear-filled gaze goes from complete and utter shock, to disbelief, to something that looks a hell of a lot like longing.

I realize at this moment that Magnolia has always been trapped in my mind the way she looked the last time I saw her. When I took her out to my parents’ field and stripped her out of her clothes so I could make love to her in the grass. We laid there for hours, and I traced the lines of her skin, feeling the warmth of her under my palm.

But the woman looking back at me has changed. Her long blonde hair falls in loose waves down her back. There are some shorter pieces around her face, framing her high cheek bones, making her look older, yet softer. She’s somehow more beautiful than my imagination let me remember.

“Hey, Mags.”

CHAPTER 19

Magnolia

I’ve always wondered what it would feel like if I ever saw Lukas again.

I used to imagine that I’d come to Copper Ridge to visit my family and happen to run into him in the grocery store. He would have a beautiful woman on one arm and his child held tightly in the other. I thought we’d politely smile at each other, make awkward small talk, and I’d leave with a lump in my throat.

Then once his voicemails started, I told myself it wasn’t safe to see him. Seeing him might make me want to give in, make me want to test the spark between us and see if it would catch fire. I thought that spark would burn me to ashes once again.

I knew I’d feel some sense of longing. Nostalgia, maybe. After all, my heart never got over him, even when he pushed me away. The few phone calls we’ve had left me drained—physically and emotionally. I can acknowledge that there’s something left between us, and maybe we’re trying to work our way toward something, but what that something is, is still to be determined.

But seeing his reaction to me, watching his face morph from disbelief, to confusion, and then to something softer, has my pulse thundering. I told myself I was terrified to see him. I would make this quick trip back home to see Nana and practically hide from him because I was worried that seeing him would undo all the growth I’ve made.

And I was one hundred percent right. Because seeing him take in my features, looking at me as if he’s seeing me for the first time, and that tether is back, pulling me into his orbit. I have to wrap my arms tighter around my core to physically keep myself from running to him.

“Hi, Lukas.”

“Mags,” he croaks, seeming to gather himself a bit. He stands tall, stepping fully into the room to set the water jug on the bedside table for Nana.

He hovers there for a bit, as if he might take that next step toward me, but then he takes a pace backward with his hands clenched at his sides.

He stands awkwardly, looking from me, to Nana, then back again, and then he opts to shove his fists into the pockets of his jacket.

He’s changed so much from the young boy I fell in love with.

Gone is the lean teenager, the twenty-year-old baseball player.

Gone is the fit Marine, the one with short, bristly hair and sadness to his eyes.

The man in front of me is somehow a combination of all of them. Even through his thick jacket I can see the swell of his shoulders, the hard-earned brawn that comes from day after day of work on the ranch. His thick muscle fills out the black henley underneath it.

He’s gained weight, I can tell, but he holds it so well.