Page 7 of Together Is Where We Belong

“If you hated her, seein’ her again wouldn’t matter. But I’m guessin’ the reason you’re so out of sorts isn’t just seein’ her again,” she continued, someone always knowing what was going on with each of her children.

Yeah, something did bother me. She wore rings on her left hand and had a booster seat in the back of her vehicle. I hated that I hadn’t moved on from my hatred of her, while she had a husband and a kid.

“She said she had somethin’ to tell me. I just don’t know what.”

“Did you give her a chance to tell you?” she asked with a stern look on her face.

No. No I hadn’t. But I just didn’t know how to handle the fact that she was back in Haven Valley let alone right in front of me. I needed time to process her return before I heard her confession.

I told my mama what I just thought to myself and waited for her guidance.

In the years since Carolina had left, I hadn’t been this open with either of my parents. I just couldn’t tell them how my heart was fractured, and I couldn’t trust any girl enough to hand it over again.

“You need to give her a chance to tell you, son. Whatever she has to say must be important if she was bein’ that insistent upon tellin’ you,” she said as she placed her hand on my arm and squeezed.

I knew she was right, but I feared what she had to say. If it were just to tell me how happy her life was now, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Thanks for the advice, Mama. I was goin’ to see if Brooks and Holden wanted to go out tonight, but I’m not in the mood anymore. I’ll just text them and tell them I’m headin’ home. I have a lot to think about,” I told her as I pulled her in for a hug.

“Oh, and Mama,” I said as I pulled back from her embrace.

“Yes, son?” she questioned with a sincere gaze.

“Carolina mentioned somethin’ about letters. Do you know what she’s talkin’ about?”

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that she’d written me more than the one letter that I received. But I did tell my mama if she ever wrote again to toss the letters because I didn’t have a need to know what she had to say. That much I do remember.

“She did continue to write to you, Leo. You told me you didn’t want the letters, and I didn’t want to upset you, so I didn’t give them to you.”

That was one thing I loved about Lillian Courtright. She respected her children’s wishes even if she didn’t agree with our choices.

I didn’t know if I wanted to know what the letters contained, but now that she was back, I didn’t know how to feel about them.

I nodded to my mama and kissed her on the cheek, not bothering to ask her what she did with them. I didn’t know if I had the heart or the courage to know the truth.

I headed back to the home where my brothers, Holden, Brooks, and I all shared. We’d moved in together a few years ago so we could have a solace away from the ranch. I loved my family and our ranch, but sometimes we just needed a break from it all.

The entire fifteen-minute drive back to the house my mind reeled with the possibilities of what Carolina had to tell me. I had no clue how to contact her to even get her to tell me this secret she apparently had to confess.

As I pulled into my driveway, I was no closer to figuring out my next steps. I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket as I got out of the truck to see my brothers pulling in behind me. Our mama must’ve told them. There was no way they’d both be here this quickly otherwise.

I sat down on the stoop of our three-bedroom house and waited for them to walk up. I put my head in my hands and pulled off my cowboy hat. So many emotions rolled through me, and I didn’t have the energy to rein them in before Brooks and Holden stood before me. Gone was the playful Leo they’d become accustomed to. Here sat the man full of so many emotions I didn’t know which one took more precedence over the other.

“Mama told us you ran into her. What do you need?” Holden asked. He was the brother who’d always wore his heart on his sleeve. His concerned question shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it did.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” I confessed, my head still hanging at my admission.

“The beginnin’ is always a good place to start,” Brooks joked, but I knew his words came from a good place, so I didn’t bother razzing him back.

I told them everything about our encounter, not bothering to leave out anything. I needed my brothers now more than ever if I wanted to make it through Carolina’s return.

They stood before me and let me get everything out, even questions I didn’t even know I had.

Why did she return now?

Why did I feel anything after seeing her again?

How would I handle her return to Haven Valley?