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Smiling, I nodded my head and said, “Yes, we will.”
The second we walked through the door, everyone yelled surprise and I was faced with an onslaught of people that I had no idea who they were. A giant sign hung up that said Welcome Kathryn. I knew that was Joyce’s doing. The only two people I knew at this surprise party besides Tristan and his parents were Chris and MaryLou, Joyce’s friend.
The evening was spent being introduced to a plethora of people, drinking more drinks than I cared to count, and being in such a frenzied state of wanting Tristan, I could hardly think straight. The more I drank, the more I thought about what we were doing before walking into the party.
Making my way over to my man, I reached up on my tippy toes and said, “I want to finish what I started. And I want to go back to the shop and start training my ass for you.”
The drink in Tristan’s hand slipped out and crashed to the floor. Turning, he looked at his father who had been talking to I think Billy Saddler. Yep. That was his name. Owned one of the banks in town.
“Dad, Ryn’s not feeling well. I’m taking her home. Bye.”
Peter didn’t even have time to respond when Tristan reached down and picked me up. As he carried me out everyone began letting out whistles and catcalls. Waving, I yelled, “Bye y’all! It was nice meeting everyone!”
Pushing the door open, Tristan started jogging to his truck.
Opening the door and putting me in the truck, Tristan asked, “Honesty means everything, Ryn. How drunk are you?”
Giving him a come hither look, I purred back to him, “I’m tipsy but I’m nowhere near drunk.”
“Good, you’re about to have an evening you’ll never forget.”
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR TO my father’s office, I tried to push my nerves away. I had wanted to talk to him for a few weeks now, but something always got in the way of it. Not anymore. I actually had to schedule it on my calendar to talk to my own father.
“Come on in, Tristan.”
Opening the door, the smell of the leather hit me first. Smiling, I shut the door and made my way over to one of the leather chairs that sat in front of his desk.
He was reading through something and about to sign it. “I’ll have to send some of this paperwork over to you, Tristan. I just don’t seem to have interest in any of it anymore.”
Nodding my head, I said, “Yeah, of course, Dad. Send me whatever you want me to handle and you know I’ll take care of it.”
Looking up, he gave me a smile. It had been four months since his heart attack. Ryn and I were more than half way through with the building of our house. I couldn’t wait to get in there. Living with my parents was not something either one of us wanted to do. After two weeks of sleeping in my parents’ house, Ryn and I decided to just sleep in the shop’s bedroom. Of course, my parents knew why and never said a word about it. Even with our room upstairs, it still felt weird making love to Ryn with Mom and Dad downstairs. The one thing that pushed our decision was the night I went down to the kitchen and almost threw up after listening to my mother and father in the passions of having sex.
No thank you.
I watched as my dad signed the paperwork and set it to the side. Leaning back, he gave me that all knowing look of his. I wondered how long we were going to sit there and stare at each other before one of us began talking.
Reaching into his drawer, he pulled out the bottle. Setting it on the desk he slid it over to me.
“Your journey of love with Ryn has so far been a bouncy one, has it not?”
Glancing at the bottle, I nodded. “Yes, sir. It has.”
“This journey called love, it’s a crazy ride, Tristan. Like I told you and your brother before, love is a road we travel down. The road isn’t always a smooth paved road. There are times we feel so lost on that road that we want to take a detour, find an easy way out. That never works though, I think you’ve discovered as much.”
Nodding my head, I whispered, “Yes, sir, I have.”
“I look at you and Kathryn together, Tristan, and do you want to know what I see?”
Gazing into my father’s eyes, I asked, “What do you see?”
“A young couple madly in love. It’s almost as if the air around them is charged with the energy from that love. You can’t help but feel it any time they step into a room. It’s a powerful thing, love. It has the power to make you so incredibly happy you can’t even think straight, and the capability of completely destroying another person to the point of no return.” Nodding his head, he looked down. “When I told you the story of the journey of love, I left out something important.”
“What was that, Dad?”
Lifting his eyes, I couldn’t help but notice the tears forming. “Once you start the journey, there is no going back. Love takes a hold of your heart, Tristan, and it grips it like a vice. Hard and strong. But that vice can be broken easily. The journey is meant to be a lifetime, but not everyone gets to experience such a love.”
Swallowing hard, I looked away.
“Are you willing to fight for it, son? Not just a month from now, or a year from now, but twenty years down the road, will you be willing to fight for your love with everything you got?”
Tears formed in my eyes as I thought about how badly I had hurt Ryn. Going to talk my voice cracked. Closing my eyes, I cleared my throat, “I’m willing, Dad, with everything in my heart and soul. I’d die first before I ever hurt her.”
Smiling, he slowly gave me a nod. “Then you know what to do.”
Reaching out for the bottle, I pulled it into my hand. I was ready to commit the rest of my life to Ryn. I was ready to pour my heart and soul out to her. Standing, I looked at my father.
“I know the idea is to not read the letters.”
Dad nodded his head and lifted the corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“I’d like to change that tradition.”
Letting out a chortle, he said, “Somehow son, I knew you would.”
“I’d like for Ryn and I both to write a letter to each other. Then exchange the letters and read them together before tossing it into the ocean. I’m not very good with expressing my love to Ryn. I’m not romantic in the least bit and with this . . . I just think it’s important to share with each other what is in our hearts.”
“I think that is a beautiful new tradition, Tristan.”
Turning on my heels, I headed back to the door. Before opening it, I looked over my shoulder. “You and Mom read your letters to each other, didn’t you?”
Lifting an eyebrow, he said, “There is not a damn thing I can keep from that woman. Not a damn thing.”
Letting out a chuckle, I opened the door and left my father’s office. Gripping the bottle in my hand, I headed to the barn. I sat on the hay and started planning my future with, Ryn. The more I saw, the happier I was.
Our bottle would surely hit calm seas and rough seas. But it would last though the strongest hurricane. This I felt in the very being of my soul.
Walking through the house, Ryn carried a notebook while she took notes on things that I saw needed to be finished still.
“Looks like we are more than halfway done,” Ryn said with hope in her voice.
Looking toward the ceiling, I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’d say we were for sure over halfway done. The only problem I can see are the cabinets. The custom cabinet maker is running a few weeks behind.”
Ryn scrunched up her nose and said, “Crap, I forgot about that. Who picked those stupid cabinets anyway?”
Spinning around on my heels, I looked at her. “I believe it was you.”
Giggling, she took a few steps back. “What? I have no idea what you are talking about. None.”
Reaching her in record time, I pulled her into my arms. All the stress of taking over my family’s ranch and building this house had my nerves shot. I wanted to spend some time with Ryn away from it all. “I need a couple days out of here, Ryn. What do you say we head to the beach?”
Raisi
ng her eyebrows, her eyes lit up. “That, sounds like heaven. Would your folks mind?”
“Nah, I bet we could even talk Lark and Azurdee into coming down too.”
Ryn did a little hop. “Yes! Oh that would be amazing, Tristan. I haven’t seen Azurdee since I left Austin.”
Kissing the tip of her nose, I grinned like a crazy fool in love. “I’ll take care of it all. I’ll call Lark tonight.”
Dropping her head back, Ryn let out a moan “Oh man. A few days alone, no parents, no barking dogs.”
Laughing, I pulled her into my arms. “You, my dear, volunteered to help at the puppy doggy care place. I knew you weren’t going to be able to do a couple hours a week.”
Jetting out her lower lip and giving me her best pout, she said, “I can’t help it if I love the dogs. If someone let me get a dog of my own, I wouldn’t have to go there so much.”
“Oh no, you are not guiltin’ me into that bullshit. Forget it. No. Dog.”
Giving me a slight push, I took a few steps back. “Fine, but no sex for you tonight.”
Dropping my mouth open, I watched as she walked away. “What? How is that fair in any way?”
Waving her hand as if dismissing me, she put a little extra humph into her hip swing as she continued to walk away from me.
Letting out a laugh, I followed her out of the house and to my truck. Getting in, she looked my way.
“Would it be okay if we spent at least one day and night alone together at the beach? Then we can invite Lark and Azurdee?”
Letting out a deep growl, I wiggled my eyebrows up and down. “Hell yeah, we can have a day or two alone. Leave it up to me, baby. I’ll take care of all the plans. I promise it will be a trip neither one of us will forget.”
Smiling, she settled into the seat. “I can’t wait to see Azurdee and Lark. I have to admit, I miss home.”
A plan began to formulate in my head. I was going to make this trip one Ryn would never forget.
WALKING OUT ONTO THE BACK deck, I let the ocean breeze hit me in the face. It had seemed like forever ago when Tristan and I were here last. Lark and Azurdee would be here in two days. Tristan said he had a surprise for me and I couldn’t wait to see what it was.
