Page 81 of Together Is Where We Belong

He’ll never have you.

The instant the words returned to the forefront of my mind, regardless of how much I didn’t want to, I knew I needed to pull back from Leo, to halt whatever had just passed between us.

I couldn’t let anything happen to him. I had to pull back to protect him from me yet again.

“I know,” he said in a broken whisper. He pulled back, and instantly I regretted pushing him away, but I did nothing to pull him back to me.

It broke my heart to do it, but maybe, just maybe, whenever this was all over, I’d have the chance to fix the brokenness I’d caused.

twenty

Leo

Icouldn’t stop replaying the kiss Carolina and I shared last night. The way her lips felt on mine felt like a taste of home I’d long since forgotten. I felt like the piece of my soul that had been shattered eight years ago mended just a tiny fraction. When she pulled away, I immediately wanted to pull her back in, my promise to steer clear of her thrown completely out the window. Even though she was right. We shouldn’t. Too much was at stake. Luke being the number one priority at the top of the list. We couldn’t start something when I’d yet to resolve the feelings I’d kept buried of her breaking my heart and all the promises she’d made.

During the trail rides today, my mind kept wondering what kind of life I wanted to give Luke when I wasn’t thinking about Carolina and how conflicted I’d felt.

I wanted him to have a home like the one I grew up in. Even if that meant his mother and I weren’t together, I wanted him to have a place where the two of us could share moments together and make memories. While I loved living with my brothers, now I had a child to think about, and my brothers and I shared a three-bedroom house. There wasn’t enough space for Luke in the tiny rancher.

When our grandparents passed away, they left Ainsleigh their home, and Holden, Brooks, and I our own acreage within the ranch in the hopes that we’d build our own homes. The three of us hadn’t acted on it because we were still young and didn’t have families. My piece of property sat adjacent to where Ainsleigh and Gentry lived. Luke would love being neighbors with baby Olivia. I could see them now playing together outside as we had a barbeque.

Now that I had Luke to think about, I needed to come up with a plan. And I had the perfect one. Determination spread through me like wildfire to bring that plan to fruition.

Dad, can I see you later this afternoon?

Dad

Sure thing, son. Is everything okay?

It was just like him to worry, and I smiled down at my phone before I responded.

Yeah, everythin’ is fine. Just want to run somethin’ by you.

Dad

Come by when you’re done for the day. I’ll be in the office.

The day dragged on as I waited for the trail rides to be over. It was difficult to keep my mind on the task at hand as I couldn’t wait to talk to my dad at the end of the day.

Finally after what felt like forever, the day came to an end.

I said goodbye to Holden, Brooks, and Gentry and rode my ATV over to Dad’s office.

I opened the door to find Ainsleigh packing up for the day.

“Hey, Leo. Did y’all have a good day?” she asked as she picked up hers and Olivia’s bags. Olivia was strapped to Ainsleigh in her baby carrier asleep.

“It wasn’t bad. Everyone had a good time,” I told her as I walked over and gave her a side hug.

“That’s good. Do you need somethin’ before I leave for the day?”

“Is Dad in his office?”

“Yeah, he’s still in there. He doesn’t have any appointments that I know of, so you should be able to go right in,” she said as she patted the baby’s back.

“Thank you. Gentry should be on his way here soon,” I told her as I headed to my dad’s office. The door chimed behind me, and Gentry walked in.

“How are my beautiful girls,” he greeted them with a smile and took the bags from Ainsleigh.