“My meeting starts soon. Why don’t you go sleep off your hangover a little more? I’ll take the meeting on the porch so I don’t disturb you.”
“You’re too good to me,” she says with a soft smile. Tilting her chin up toward me, I lean down and give her a warm and gentle kiss.
She walks back to the bedroom and Dash takes off after her, losing traction on the hardwood floor, trying to keep his long body straight.
“Chill, little dude, she’s not leaving you.” I laugh.
Shit, it’s 11:10 a.m. and the meeting is in five minutes. I grab my laptop and a glass of sweet tea and get comfortable in my rocking chair on the porch. I like the fact that I now have my own designated rocking chair. It’s really starting to feel like home here.
I know Sorrel and I will both miss our lives here at the ranch and our afternoon lunches we spend together on the porch swing. I can picture living a slow life here with her, butI committed to at least one year of touring and we’ll make new memories together on the road.
If there’s one way to test a relationship, it’s traveling together. The stress of driving and being in different towns with sleepless nights started to wear on me when I was single.
It’ll be interesting to see how I’ll handle it now with another person. A person whose feelings I care about.
The Zoom call connects and the guys are all here. Even Ray—it’s important he gets all the details and dates of the tour too. Jake jumps right into it.
We now have a tour manager. Her name is Emily. She seems nice enough but I’m not sure how good she’ll fit in with me and the guys. I’ll make sure we all at least give her a chance. We start the tour off on September third, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and from there we travel around the United States with three shows on and three to four days off in between. We’ll be on the road until November fifth and then we break until the new year.
My stomach is starting to hurt and my nerves are on edge. It’s a lot to take in. There are more performances than I realized there would be. I’ve gotten way too settled in here at the ranch and I feel like my whole world is about to be turned upside down.
. . .
Later that afternoon Sorrel helps Sofia with her first barrel. She missed their lesson this morning due to her hangover but she’s feeling better now. I sit on the arena fence watching them. She’s a great teacher and so patient with her, really taking her time to explain everything. I imagine her teaching a little cowgirl of her own how to barrel race someday. She’ll be an amazing mother. My mind wanders and thinking about her bred makes the zipper of my pants twitch. I’ve never thought about anyonethis way and there’s so many feelings stirring in me I feel like I’m going to burst with happiness.
After their lesson we have dinner in the main house with everyone. When I finally get her alone, it takes everything in me not to grab her and rip her clothes off. She finally puts me out of my misery and we practice that breeding part I was thinking about earlier.
September is herebefore we know it. The last few weeks on the ranch have been nothing short of heavenly. I spent most of my days helping Ryder with ranch work. We fixed fences, worked on equipment, and made sure we have enough hay and grain for the Montana winter.Sorrel harvested the rest of her garden before everything died from the cold. I loved seeing her out there covered in dirt and squealing with excitement when she finally got a normal-looking carrot. She had started the garden over the summer as a new hobby when she quit rodeoing for that brief time. Her garden flourished just like she had. When I met her earlier in the year, I knew something inside of her was broken. But now she’s healing and reclaiming her wholeness. It hasn’t been easy but I’m damn sure glad to be part of her journey.
We leave tomorrow morning and I want to ask her to officially be my girlfriend.
“So, you gonna tell me where we're going? I’m not sure how safe being blindfolded on horseback is,” Sorrel says.
“I’ve got you, darlin’, don’t you know that by now?”
I put her on Duke and I have him ponying next to Whiskey so I can surprise her. I probably shouldn’t have rode Whiskeybecause she keeps pinning her ears and nipping at Duke every few feet.
“Quit being a bitch,” I tell her as I pull her head away from him.
“Well, that wasrude!” Sorrel laughs.
“Not you—the damn horse!”
“You really know how to woo a girl, Reed,” she deadpans.
I’m fucking this all up. I want it to be perfect. The sound of cascading water now surrounds us, and I’m sure she’s probably figured out where I’ve taken her. A grin tugs at her lips as I go to take off her blindfold.
24
SORREL
When Denton takes the blindfold off, a smile spreads across my face. He has a blanket set up on the grassy bank by the water. His guitar is sitting next to a small cooler on the blanket.
So that’s what he was doing when he snuck off earlier.
He thought I didn't see him when I had my head buried in my garden, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him on horseback with his guitar strapped to him and cooler in one hand. I didn't want to spoil his surprise so I kept it to myself.
He takes my hand, leading me over. He seems all flustered and I can’t help but snicker at him.
