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The one place I longed to be, but was also scared to death of. Memories of this place were dangerously strong, but Chloe and I needed family. She needed a sense of normal after five years of utter crazy. And I needed to right a wrong that was long overdue.
Paxton.
I wasn’t even sure she still lived in town. For all I knew she was married to Joe asshole Miller. I pushed the thought from my mind.
“Let’s go see Granddaddy and Grammy,” I said.
Chloe fist pumped. “Yes! I’m so excited. Can I ride a horse?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“What about a cow?”
“If you want.”
Her eyes lit up as the gate swung open. “Really? I can ride a cow?”
Laughing, I nodded.
“Does Granddaddy have goats?”
“Yep.”
Chloe’s head dropped back in the seat. “I’m so happy, Daddy!”
I’d told Chloe stories about how I grew up on a cattle ranch with my six brothers and sisters. Each night when she went to bed, she’d ask for a story, especially if she was able to talk to my parents over Skype that evening. It had been hard keeping her from everyone. The memories of Paxton kept me from returning to Texas for the first four years after I left and then the nightmare called Kim was the next roadblock. But that was the past. I was looking to the future not only for me, but for Chloe.
“Is Texas like Oregon, Daddy?”
“No, baby. It’s a lot hotter and it doesn’t rain so much.”
She smiled. “More time to play outside! With my new goat!”
I chuckled. My father had told Chloe over Skype a few days back that he was going to buy her a pet goat. She had the name picked out already. Patches.
We drove down the drive, and Chloe took it all in. “Where’s the house?”
“Your grandparents own a lot of land, pumpkin. The house is pretty far back.”
With a nod, she turned and stared out the window. A little girl shriek came from her lips. “Cows! Daddy, look at all the cows!”
Even though I was queasy from the idea of being back home and the chance of running into Paxton, I was glad to see Chloe’s excitement. She was finally going to understand what normal was.
She gasped. “Is that our new house?”
I braked and stared at the house I’d grown up in. So many memories. All of them good. I couldn’t think of one bad memory I had growing up here on the ranch. Maybe Tripp putting that scorpion in my bed. Or Cord dropping the bale of hay on my head. I smiled. Yeah. That was what I wanted for my daughter. To grow up with family in the greatest place on Earth.
My parents’ ranch.
The two-story, sandstone house sat among live oak and pecan trees. Throw in a few magnolia trees my father had planted for my mother and it was the perfect setting. It wasn’t a small house, by any means. Over ten-thousand square feet.
“That’s the main house, pumpkin. We’re going to be living in the guesthouse.”
She studied me and I couldn’t help but be left breathless by the sight of my own daughter. Those bright blue eyes held so much hope in them. “How many houses do Granddaddy and Grammy have?” she asked, her blonde pony swinging as her head tilted in confusion.
Chuckling, I said, “One main house, two ranch hand houses, and two guest houses.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow.”
