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“I think that’s a long enough walk for one day,” I said, as we made our way up the driveway after a two-mile walk. We’d been walking every morning this last week, and he appeared to be almost back to his old self.
“Yeah. I’m going to miss these walks,” he said as he pulled off his jacket. “It’s nice having the sun out again, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s definitely warming up. I think it’s still fairly cold in New York.”
“Are you ready to go back and take the legal world by storm?” he asked as we stopped in front of the barn so he could check on the horses.
That had been the first thing he wanted to do once he was up and moving.
“Sure. I’m looking forward to getting back to my routine.” I ran my hand along Honey’s back.
“And you’ll be back for the opening of Tranquility?” he asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes. And Mom seems quite pleased that we went with her name,” I said.
“She sure is. And she told me about the mural you’re painting. She went into an awfully long, boring description about birds.”
I shook my head. “Yeah. It’s a long story. But I’m glad that she’s excited about it.”
“Well, you heard her at breakfast. She’s agreed to spend more time here now. If I had things my way, we’d live here full time. This is where I feel the most at home.”
I understood that better than he knew.
Better than I wanted to admit to myself.
I had obligations and responsibilities.
People relied on me at the firm.
“You sure do spend an awful lot of time with Cage and Gracie. Is that going to be hard when you leave?” He paused his brushing Honey to look up at me.
“Sure. But we knew it would come to an end. It’s been nice getting to spend time with them, but it always had an expiration date. No one is going to get hurt this time.” Last night had been emotional. Both my time with Gracie and my time with Cage. Something had shifted. Like we all knew the end was looming, so we were holding on tighter. Making every second count.
He nodded. “I’m sure you’ll see them when you come back into town.”
“I don’t really know how it will work, Dad,” I said, my voice cracking on the last word. I was trying desperately to be strong, but I was dying on the inside. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them.
To us.
“You can’t be so stoic that you don’t tell someone how you feel. If you don’t know how it will work, why don’t you talk to him about it? You’re leaving tomorrow. It seems like the right time to have the conversation.”
I nodded and blinked several times to keep the tears away.
Once I was home, I would be busy, and I’d forget about how much fun I was having here.
At least, that was what I was desperately counting on.
* * *
“I love our new paintings, Presley,” Gracie said as Cage and I settled on a blanket beneath the large tree in the front yard. She’d wanted to come sit out here so she could pick me a pretty arrangement from the wildflowers growing a few feet away in a little garden Brinkley and Gracie had planted together a few months ago. It had snowed, and of course, they had all died, but Cage told me that he’d gone and bought a few flower beds and filled them a few days ago after the snow had melted so she’d think they were back in bloom.
This man.
“I love them, too. But yours is my favorite.” I squeezed her little hand.
God, I loved this girl.
It was an unexplainable kind of love.
