I looked out over Rebel Blue and saw patches of yellow and red among the green trees. Fall was on its way. I was on the south side of the ranch this morning, making sure no heifers made their way through the fence. They’d been doing it more than usual this year, and we hadn’t been able to mend every hole in the fence quite yet.
So here I was.
Alone.
Maple and I walked along the fence. The silent morning made it easy to get lost in my thoughts. They were racing again, just like they had been when I came back to Meadowlark.
It was early, but I hadn’t really been sleeping that well, so getting out of bed wasn’t much of a chore, which was saying something.
I slept a lot better when I was wrapped up in my boa constrictor cowboy.
I was still so fucking pissed at Gus. He’d been trying to talk to me over the past couple of days, but my guard dog, Teddy, wouldn’t let him in my cabin. I knew if I talked to him, I would say something I’d regret.
Teddy had been staying with me for a few days, allowing me to mope but also giving me a chance to talk through everything going on—the fact that I won divisionals, what I was going to do next, and obviously, Luke.
“I still can’t believe Luke took a punch for you. He’s normally the guy that does the punching,” she had said while we were laying in my bed the morning after the race. “He’s down bad for you, Emmy. You should’ve seen him in the stands at the race. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. How everyone didn’t know the man was hat over boots for you before the whole kissing incident is beyond me.
“I’m sorry your big moment got overshadowed by Gus being a complete and total dickbag,” she continued.
“He really was terrible. I can’t believe the things he said to Luke,” I responded. Luke had flinched more at Gus’s words than he had at his punch. Luke could take a punch, but he couldn’t take his best friend hating him.
“He was so fucking awful,” Teddy said. “I know they’ll work it out, though. They would miss each other too much if they didn’t.”
“I hope you’re right. Thank you for stepping in when all of it happened. You’re the one that made him calm down, or at least just walk away.”
Teddy had known exactly what to say to Gus that day.
“I told you I’d handle him,” she said. “Have you talked to Wes? He seemed pretty calm about the whole thing.”
“Yeah, he is. He’s protective, but not in the same way Gus is. Wes can tell when people are unhappy, and I was so unhappy when I got home. I think he’s just relieved to see I’m doing okay,” I said. “Plus, he knew something was up when I opened the door in a familiar men’s t-shirt the morning after family dinner, and when Brooks wasn’t in the stables even though his truck was on the ranch.”
Teddy laughed out loud at that. “God, you two really are the worst at keeping a secret.”
“I know. I think my dad knew, too. It was like everyone was just waiting for us to slip up so we could all go back to normal.”
My dad had come down to my cabin after the whole punching situation to tell me that Luke was okay. Before he left, he gave me an Amos Ryder hug and said “I like it. You and Luke,”
“I mean, once I got over the initial shock of it, I think you and Luke make sense. And then when I watched him calm you down before the race”—Teddy fanned herself before continuing—“I was like, damn, these two are red hot.”
“Shut up,” I laughed.
“It’s true. I’ve never seen you just melt like that. And I’ve never seen Brooks’s face look anything other than careless. I think both of you bring out each other’s soft side.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Some love stories burn hot and fast, but you two are more low and slow,” she said. “It’s a strong and steady kind of love.” She was right. More than anything, Luke made me feel safe. “Gus will come around,” Teddy concluded.
I really hoped so.
I saw Gus this morning at the Big House and gave him the cold shoulder, which probably just pissed him off more. I didn’t care. I loved my brother–enough that I hadn’t seen Luke in a few days because I wanted to give Gus some time to come to terms with the fact that his best friend and his little sister were together.
In the grand scheme of things, a few days without Luke was nothing compared to the lifetime I planned on spending with him, but I still hated being away from him.
I knew Luke wanted to talk to Gus, to at least try and clear the air, but at this point, I was really sick of not being able to see him.
I loved him.
And I hadn’t even had a chance to tell him.
Luke was so unexpected, especially for a woman who’d spent her life checking off things on her to-do list. Nowhere on there did it say “fall in love with Luke Brooks,” but I did it anyway.
It also didn’t say “come back to Meadowlark,” but I did that, too. At first, I didn’t come back to Meadowlark—I just ran away from Denver.
Now, I planned on staying.
And I planned on staying with Luke.
As soon as Gus stopped being an overgrown man-child about it.
I swept my gaze over Rebel Blue with Luke on my mind. I missed him so much it was like I could almost hear him calling my name.
I sighed.
But then I heard it again. Maple’s ears twitched, so she must have heard something, too. That meant it wasn’t all in my head.
I pulled on her reins so I could guide her in a circle to find out where the voice was coming from. Due north, I saw a horse and its rider galloping toward Maple and me.
I would know that rider anywhere.
Luke.
He was riding through the ranch, pushing Friday as fast as he could go in the dewy morning. As he approached, I quickly dismounted Maple and looped her reins over the fence post we were by.
Luke jumped off of Friday, literally, when they were about fifteen feet from us. He somehow landed on his feet. Friday came to a stop near Maple. I noticed he wasn’t even tacked up. Luke had ridden through the ranch’s roughest trails bareback.
All to make it to me.
I looked at him. His chest was heaving and his eyes were bright. He didn’t have a hat on, so his hair was messy from riding. He looked like a man possessed.
In a good way. The best way.
It had only been a few days, but I felt like I hadn’t seen him in months. I couldn’t go another second without touching him.
We both moved toward each other at the same time, running to one another until our bodies collided.
He held me tight, like he was afraid I could disappear.
“Hey there, sugar,” he said in my ear.
“Hi,” I breathed. “What are you doing here?”
“I have something to tell you.”
I had something to tell him, too, but I’d let him go first. He pulled back and cupped my face in his strong hands. I held onto his wrists. His big brown eyes searched my face. He seemed nervous.
“I love you, Clementine Ryder,” he said earnestly. My breath caught in my throat. “I’m so fucking in love with you.”
Tears started to well behind my eyes as he spoke.
“You and your fucking skirt you wore to my bar a few months ago have turned my life completely upside down, and I never want it to be any other way.”
A tear snaked its way out of the corner of my eye. Luke caught it.
Just like he’d caught me countless times over the past few months.
“Don’t cry, sugar. You know I hate it when you cry.”
“These are happy tears,” I said. He kissed me then, soft and slow. The feeling of his lips on mine was one of those things I’d never get used to. It just felt so right—like, what were my lips even for if not kissing the hell out of this man? Our mouths moved together, and we were caught up in each other. His grip on my waist made me heat up from the inside out.
“You’re it for me, Emmy,” he said against my mouth. Now I wasn’t just drunk off his kiss, but off his words, too.
Kissing Luke made my head all fuzzy. In a good way. “I have something to tell you,” I said between kisses.
“Later,” he growled, and kept kissing me, snaking one of his hands lower on my back. I put my hands on his chest and pulled away. He looked at me hungrily, like a few days without me had driven him insane.
That made two of us.
But I had to get this out. “I love you, too, Luke Brooks. You’re it for me, too.”
Luke gave me one of my favorite smiles, the one that brought out the crinkles around his eyes, and I fell into his arms once again.
Home sweet home.
