Page 61 of Together Is Where We Belong

The barn came into view, and Luke ran toward it. When he got to the door, he tried to pull it open, but his little arms weren’t strong enough and he let out a huff of frustration before he turned around and put his arms across his chest.

“It’s okay. You’ll be able to open it in no time,” I told him as I walked up and pulled the door open, just enough for us to enter. Luke walked inside, and I waited for Carolina to walk in before I followed, making sure to close the door behind us.

Luke skipped over to Bullseye’s stall, and the horse popped his head over the railing to greet us.

“Hey there, big fella,” I said as I ran my hand down the side of his head.

“Can I feed him a carrot?” Luke asked as he stood in front of the stall.

“You sure can,” I said as I walked over to where we kept the washed fresh produce we gave as an occasional treat.

I walked back over to the stall and Bullseye let out a sigh as he nodded in excitement. He loved carrots and apples, both of which I had in my hand that had been washed and cut up to avoid choking.

“Do you remember how I told you to hold it?” I asked as I handed over a few pieces of carrot and apple to Luke.

“I hold out my hand like this so he doesn’t nip me,” Luke said as he held out the food. Bullseye leaned over to try and take it, but Luke’s hand was just out of reach.

“That’s right,” I said as I lifted him so he could feed the horse.

Bullseye graciously took the food from Luke’s hand, causing him to chuckle.

“His hair tickles,” he said with a laugh, and I swear hearing his happiness healed part of my soul.

I looked back at Carolina, who smiled brightly, a smile that met her eyes this time as she watched Luke.

“You wanna feed him this last bite and go someplace special with me?” Luke turned to face me, and his widened smile was all the answer I needed.

He held out his hand and giggled as Bullseye ate the pieces of carrot and apples from his palm.

“Night, boy,” I told my horse with a rub of my hand over his nose.

“Where are we going, Dad?” Luke asked as I closed the barn door.

“You’ll see,” I said as we walked away from the barn.

I looked over to Carolina, who seemed completely relaxed as she walked beside Luke, who was between us. His little hand grabbed onto mine, my heart close to bursting at the happiness I felt. I looked down at him just as he linked his other hand into his mother’s. The moment not lost on me that the future I’d envisioned all those years ago now played out right beside me, only Carolina wasn’t mine.

Luke let out a giggle and broke me out of my thoughts.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him as he giggled again.

I looked over at Carolina and she shrugged her shoulders, but she started to laugh. The sound of Luke’s infectious laughter caused me to let out a laugh of my own.

“Swing me,” he said through his fit of giggles.

I looked over at Carolina again, and we both nodded as we started running and picked up Luke causing him to laugh more.

Carolina seemed more carefree in this moment, but I tried to force my focus on Luke. It was hard because all I wanted to do was ask her why crowds bothered her so much. Not that I thought she was lying, but it seemed like there was more to it than just being scared of losing Luke.

The tree came into view, and Carolina’s laughter died just slightly.

“What’s that?” Luke asked as he dropped our hands and took off for the tree.

I chased after him so I could watch for snakes.

We ran the rest of the way to the tree taking turns tagging each other. I bent over to catch my breath before I sat down and put my back against the hard bark of the tree.

Luke sat beside me and crossed his foot over his legs to mimic how I sat.