Page 76 of Together Is Where We Belong

“I think it’d be a good idea if you and Luke stayed at the ranch,” I started. Her mouth opened and closed, but she refrained from speaking.

“I just think that if you’re here, you’ll feel safe. I’ll feel better knowing you and Luke are safe.” My breath held in my chest as she processed my request.

“That’s not necessary, Leo. You’re right next door. If I feel threatened, then I’ll come and get you or call you and you can come over,” she replied as she backed away from me a bit.

“Anythin’ can happen in the blink of an eye. I’m not sayin’ that to scare you. I’m sayin’ that as the truth of the matter,” I explained, hoping she’d see things my way. I’d feel so much better if she did.

“I don’t want to impose on your family. They’ve been gracious enough since I returned. We just got settled into a routine.”

“I know that, but hopefully it won’t be for long. And my parents won’t mind one bit once I explain the situation to them,” I tried to reassure her.

She took a deep breath at the mention of informing my parents of the situation.

“They need to know, firefly.” The old nickname slipped off my lips with an ease I didn’t think was possible, making Carolina gasp. “That’s the only way they can make sure you’re both safe while you’re here.”

I walked over and stood directly in front of her. Her head barely hit underneath my chin. She looked up at me with defeat in her eyes.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve your kindness,” she whispered as she rested her forehead on my chest, shocking me to my core. I hadn’t expected her to lean into me for comfort, so it took me a minute to react. I pulled her into my arms and put my chin on top of her head. She felt perfect in my arms, but I didn’t know if I could risk my heart again.

“You’re the mother of my son. You deserve all the kindness in the world from me after raisin’ him all on your own. He’s a great kid, and that’s all because of you. I should be the one thanking you. Not the other way around,” I told her as I pulled back just enough to look down at her.

“Thank you, Carolina. I can’t say that enough. When you could’ve ran the other direction, you ran back home to Haven Valley and gave me the chance to get to know him,” I said as I looked into her eyes. They welled with tears.

“You don’t have to thank me. He’s the best part of my world,” she whispered before she pulled away from me, away from my arms, and I immediately missed the feel of her there.

“Are you sure your parents are going to be okay with us staying here, Leo? This could take months to resolve. I don’t know if I can impose on them that long. I can always go to my parents,” she said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“You’ll be safer here. My parents won’t mind at all. They’ll love havin’ him here to spoil him. After they hear about the threat, they’ll likely insist on you stayin’ here anyway. I can set Luke up in my old room, and we can tell him it’s just another adventure. He’ll love it here,” I reassured her.

She looked around the property, a longing look in her eyes, before they settled back on me. Her tense shoulders relaxed as she let out a breath.

“If they agree, we can stay here for a little while. If nothing happens in a few weeks, we’ll go back home,” she said with a tremor in her voice.

“Thank you. You won’t regret it. Can I ask you somethin’?”

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t you come back when you found out about Luke?”

She let out a heavy sigh and wrapped her arms around herself.

“When I left, I had all these plans. To travel and take on odd jobs and just see the world. I felt suffocated here. I felt like everyone had my life planned out for me, but me. I watched my mom—she was truly the perfect mom—but she told me once that she’d given up her dreams of traveling the world so she could stay here with my dad and when I came along all she wanted to be was a stay-at-home mom. There’s nothing wrong with stay-at-home moms. They are rock stars. I didn’t want that to be me. I just wanted more out of life. A career I could be proud of. I didn’t just want my identity to be Leo Courtright’s wife and the mother of any children we happened to have. I wanted my future to be my own. Not what others planned for me. I almost came back just to tell you about him, but I took you not responding as a sign. I stayed away because I wanted my life to be on my terms. That sounds selfish when I say it out loud, but that’s where my mind was. That’s why I wrote you those letters. I wanted you to have the chance to know him,” she said as she looked up at me with worry-filled eyes.

“Thank you for tellin’ me. I don’t quite understand it, but at least I know now. You wanna head back inside and see if those cookies are done?” I said trying to lighten the mood, but in reality I had an urgency to speak to my parents.

“That sounds great,” she said, and we both turned and walked back to the house. I felt a little better now that she’d agreed to stay here, but I’d feel completely better once the person was caught and couldn’t threaten her anymore.

“You want a cookie, Dad?” Luke shouted as we entered the back door.

“Absolutely,” I said as I walked over to where he stood at the island and stared proudly at the cookies on the cooling rack.

Carolina stopped at the island, dug around in her purse, and pulled her phone out.

“I just need to let my mom know what’s going on and let my boss know I’ll be back tomorrow,” Carolina said to me and then turned to Luke.

“Save a cookie for me.” She smiled at him before she went into the front room.

“What’s goin’ on?” my mom asked.