AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck me. She remembered. Of course, she did.
“I think I fell harder in love with you every time we came out here.” She smiled. “It’s why I was so sad when they started building the cabins. I figured your parents had plans to build more. There is space for it. And the bunk houses are usually full. Whatever happened to that?” she asked, pulling on my hand, and we started walking. She led me to her colorful porch filled with plants and flowers. I sat down on the rocking chair she kept out there and pulled her onto my lap.
“There were no plans for other cabins.”
“But you said—"
“I lied,” I confessed and watched a slew of expressions wash over her face. “You see the tree right there?” I pointed. It stood right between our houses and was easy to see from both our places. The tree was tall and old. Had probably been on the property for generations.
“Yeah?”
“We sat there the very first time we had a picnic. I made you—"
“A turkey and cheddar sandwich with chips and strawberries,” she interrupted. My grin grew. She remembered.
“Yeah.” I laughed and turned to drop a kiss on her forehead. “My hands were sweating so badly,” I shared, “We’d been riding out here for weeks, and I had tried to figure out a way to get us to just sit. Be out here alone for a little bit longer. I think Troy knew that, could see how I felt about you. He suggested I take lunch on our rides, andboom, the picnic idea was born.”
“Troy?” She laughed. My cousin was a hoot. Two years older than me and always up to something or into someone. The guy was a proverbial player. The day Troy ever settled down might be the day hell froze over, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t a good guy. Hard worker and loyal, like one of my own brothers, he always had my back.
“Wait. So, you planned those picnics? You didn’t just happen to have extra granola bars and waters in your backpack?”
“Hell, no.” I shook my head, loving the way she felt as she rested her body on mine. “I planned each and every one. When you were about to graduate… fuck, Sandy, I was so torn. I wanted to make a move. I was so damn scared the world was gonna steal you away. I was so damn ready to start our lives. But you were so much more than just a rancher’s wife. Not that there is anything wrong with that,” I quickly added because I knew my girl would start in on me. “You wanted a career, and I wanted you to have everything your heart could every dream or wish for.”
“Auggie—"
“Still do. So,”—my tongue ran across my bottom lip—“I decided that while you were gone, I would get started on building our future.”
Sandy
“Building our future,” I repeated and blinked.I would get started on building our future.His words and the tone played on a loop through my head. “Auggie?”
“Knew that once you started school, your mom would start thinking about retiring, so I made sure the cabins were done and finished before she left, so you could come back.”
“So I could… wait, Auggie—"
“It was selfish of me. And I got a feeling your mom knew what I was doing. Hell, I think my entire family and ranch knew what I was doing. But I didn’t care. I needed there to be a place on the ranch you could feel comfortable coming home to.”
“Coming home…”
“I wanted a place where it could just be the two of us. Where when you came home during breaks or holidays, I could steal away as much one-on-one time with you as possible.”
“So, you’re saying you lied to me, and these cabins were never meant to be for extra ranch hands?”
“You wouldn’t have accepted it or agreed to live here otherwise,” he explained, and there was no apology in his voice.
I wasn’t sure if it was the hormones or fatigue or what, but I was surprisingly not upset about what he’d done. “You built two cabins, side by side, in the spot we’d have picnics and talk, all so I could come back home to you?”
“Yes. I also built your cabin in a way where we could easily add to it. I’ll show you the blueprints tomorrow morning.”
“Blueprints.” My lips wobbled. God. My eyes fluttered shut, and I felt his body go taut beneath mine.
“Angel?”
“You really love me,” I whispered, and when I opened my eyes, all I saw were the beautiful blues of his. Blue and beautiful like the water of a tropical lagoon. The kind you stared at for hours on your computer because traveling there cost an arm and a leg.
But I didn’t need to go anywhere.
