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“I love you, Ben. More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
“Say it again.”
25
“These have been the best two weeks of my life.”
“Mine, too.”
“Is Paige picking you up?”
“Or Mark. I should see if they’re here.”
“Not yet.”
Ben got a text from Jimmy saying he needed to get through customs or he’d miss the flight.
“I gotta go, baby. I’m gonna miss you so much.” Ben pulled Liv in close. “I hate saying goodbye to you.” He put his hands on either side of her face. “Thank you for coming back to me, thank you for giving us a chance. I love you so much.”
Liv reached up and pulled him closer, her lips brushed across his and she kissed her way across his cheek, to the spot below his ear. “I love you too, Ben. So much,” she whispered.
“He did it to you,” said Paige on the ride home.
“He came to visit. This is different.”
Paige shrugged her shoulders. “Not that different. By the time you get back from Texas and put everything in motion, he’ll be on his way home. Just do it, Liv.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to Billy tomorrow.”
“You can do this,” said Jolene, in a comforting tone Liv hadn’t realized the woman possessed.
Liv and Micah had been working hard for three weeks—riding hard, riding fast, but the one thing Liv couldn’t bring herself to do was take him around the barrels.
“Start slow. Ride around the barrel, don’t try to hug it, just ride around it.”
In took three more days before Liv completed the entire cloverleaf pattern, and even then it was barely at a trot.
A few days later, Liv was starting to pick up speed. She knew Micah was itching to do it right, but each time she pulled him back.
“Let him go this time, all out,” Jolene yelled from the fence.
“How’s she doin’?” asked Mary Beth, standing near her.
Jolene showed her Liv’s last time. Thirty-four seconds.
“This ain’t a race timer, but it’s close enough. She’s ready, but she’s sure not gonna be happy with these times.”
“Does she know you’re timin’ her yet?”
“Nope.”
“Keep at her. Get mean.”
“What’re you talkin’ about?”
“She likes it when you’re mean, you remind her of her father.”
“I am never mean.”
