Finally, he looks at me. “So, this is it?”
I nod. “Yeah.” My voice comes out quieter than expected. “This is the place.”
He turns another slow circle in the saddle. “I can see why you picked it.”
The truth is, I’ve been picturing this place for nearly half my life. Back when I was a teenager, I’d ride out here and sit for hours. Dreaming and planning.
A cabin first. Then a house and a barn. A family—a home.
All the things that seemed impossibly far off in the future back then.
Albert dismounts.
I do the same. We walk the short distance toward the river. The water glistens beneath the morning sun.
He folds his arms.
“Well”—he glances at me—“I’ll have Matty start the paperwork this week.”
For a moment, I just stare at him. Even though I knew this day was coming, fulfilling a promise he and Grandpa Earl made to me and my brothers years ago, hearing him say the words makes it real.
He nods toward the land. “This acreage will belong to you.”
Emotion unexpectedly catches in my throat.
Mine.
He continues, “Build on it. Farm it. Raise a family. Steward it and pass it down to your kids one day.”
I nod.
“The only rule is the same one your parents got.”
“No selling outside the family,” I say.
“Exactly. If you ever want to leave, you sell it back to Wildhaven Storm.”
I look around again.
At the clearing I chose years ago. At the future I only imagined.
I turn toward him. “Thank you. I promise to take good care of it.”
The words feel inadequate for something this meaningful.
Albert shakes his head. “You don’t need to thank me. Just love it like I do.”
My throat tightens. “Don’t doubt that for a second.”
We stand there together for a few more moments. And for the first time since I was a teenager, sitting in this clearing,dreaming about someday, I can finally see the start of the life I always hoped to have.
Jovie
The knock comes exactly at ten p.m.
I roll over in bed and squint at the clock glowing on my nightstand.
Another knock sounds.
