“To Iowa?” he demanded in disbelief.
“Yeah, sort of a last-minute decision,” I explained. “I feel like I need to get away for a few days, and Steph’s about to have the baby. It feels like a good time.”
There was a tense pause, and I knew instinctively that he was warring with himself as to how hard to push the point. “Ellie, you know I don’t give a single fuck what they print, what they say. This is you and me,” he stated firmly.
“And you and I are still brand-new, Mason,” I reminded him quietly. “I don’t want my past to affect your life this way.”
“The only way you affect my life is by making it better than it’s ever been.” His voice was deeper than I’d heard before. He sighed, and I could practically see him running his hand over his closely shorn hair. “If this is what you need, then I support you,” he said after another silence. “I just wish you’d waited until we could talk this out. I just want to wrap my arms around you and tell you it’s gonna be okay.”
Tears welled in my eyes then, though I blinked them furiously away. “I wish that too,” I admitted, knowing my voice betrayed my emotion. “But I think this is good. I’ve gone way too long without my mom’s cooking,” I added hoarsely.
“When do you fly out?”
“I’m going to just head for the airport and see what flight I can get on,” I replied. I needed to be doing something. Sitting around in my loft wasn’t going to work. “It’ll probably cost a month’s salary with such short notice, but it’s fine,” I added breezily. “I’ll let you know when I land?”
I knew I’d just put us in very uncertain territory, and I braced for his response.
“You’d better,” he replied firmly.
I heaved a breath of relief. “Okay,” I murmured. “Bye, Mason.”
“Ellie, babe, even if I can’t be there to tell you in person, I’m gonna say it anyway and hope like hell you believe me. It’s gonna be okay.”
Tears burned my eyes again. “Yeah,” I managed. “Talk to you later.”
When I hung up, I flopped back in my seat, my phone clutched to my chest, a lifeline to the man I wanted to hold on to and desperately hoped I hadn’t just cut loose.
Chapter 10
ELLIE
“You gotta tell her who’s boss, butterbean!” my father hollered as I attempted to get one of his mares to bank right in our family’s training corral.
“Maybe if you didn’t still call me butterbean, she’d take me seriously!” I called back, met with laughter from my father and brother.
“They’re helping,” I muttered to myself, trying again to guide the mare. I was rusty, not having been on a horse since last summer, but still it felt right, and I knew with a bit more time I’d be back in the saddle, so to speak.
Lily had offered to look after Kodi while I was gone, which was far less of a surprise than the first-class ticket that had appeared in my email inbox soon after Mason and I had spoken. I’d debated refusing it—it had to have been outrageously expensive—but somehow, I knew he needed to do this for me. So I was going to let him.
I’d texted him soon after.Thank you for the ticket. <3
Anything for you. Text when you land safely.
His response had me quite literally swooning and questioning my sanity for taking space from a man who was quite literally a dream come true.
“Yeah, butterbean, get your shit together,” my brother taunted with a grin, pulling me out of my thoughts about Mason.
“Don’t you have a baby to catch or something?” I demanded.
He shrugged. “Not yet. Steph wants me out of the house. I’m drivin’ her crazy, so I figure this is an excellent use of my time.”
“I’m sure,” I grumbled as I brought the mare to a trot around the corral.
“That football star know you can’t ride a horse for shit?” he added.
I glared at him. “I can ride a horse just fine,” I gritted out. “And remind me why I came home for TLC again?”
“Dylan, stop harassing your sister,” my mother scolded as she joined my brother and father at the fence. “You all ready for supper?”
