Page 35 of Lost Trust

I close my eyes.

That does it.

A tear slips down my cheek.

“You’d let me bring him?”

“Of course. He’s your family.”

I wipe my cheek quickly. “This is too much, Bryce. I can’t just—”

“You can.”

I shake my head. “It’s too generous,” I say.

He steps closer. “You’re wrong. I’d be getting the most benefit. I have to hire someone. So, why not hire someone I can trust?”

“Not to mention the most qualified person for the job. A world champion? That’s gonna look good on our website,” Charli adds.

I laugh through my tears. “That was a long time ago.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Bryce says, gesturing toward the arena. “How lucky would this school be to have a former world champion teaching the next generation?”

He steps closer. “And you’re right; there’s no shame in waiting tables. There isn’t.” His voice becomes firm. “But it would be a damn shame for you to spend the rest of your life doing anything other than what you were born to do. And if competing isn’t an option anymore, then you should be mentoring.”

I glance back at the barrels, the dirt, the rails, and the open space. I can almost hear the sound of hooves pounding beneath me and feel the leather reins in my hands.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything right now,” Charli says as she settles beside me. “This weekend is about you and Ryder being wedding guests. You’re here to meet everyone. Enjoy the ranch. Explore the academy. Get a feel for Wildhaven.”

She leans in and bumps my shoulder with hers. “Talk it over with your little boy and then give us an answer.”

“I’m pretty sure you already won him over. He fell in love the instant he saw the horses and the cattle.”

“And the cookies,” Bryce adds.

“And the cookies,” I agree.

Charli claps her hands. “Good. Our plan is working, then.”

I laugh. A real laugh. The kind I haven’t heard from myself in a while.

I look back at those barrels and think maybe they’re a glimpse at something I thought I’d lost forever.

Marina

After our tour of the property, Bryce and Charli leave me at the house with Evelyn while they meet with the pastor who’ll be performing their ceremony tomorrow evening.

Instead of a big rehearsal and formal dinner, they’re doing a quick run-through before everyone returns to finish their work for the day. Then Bryce’s friends who’ve come into town for the wedding are dragging him and the boys off to the local watering hole for a few drinks while the Storm sisters have dinner with their dad and grandparents before spending the night together in their childhood home.

“I think Ryder and I will just take our dinner up to our room and give you all some privacy,” I tell Evelyn.

I’ve spent the last two hours helping her in the kitchen while Ryder carried a watering can around the backyard, following Earl through the garden like his little shadow.

“Nonsense. You helped prepare the meal. You’re gonna sit at the table and enjoy it with the rest of us,” she says, dusting the butcher-block island with flour before gathering the ball of dough and rolling it out.

“It just feels like we’re intruding on your family time. We’re already taking up Charli’s bedroom.”