AllFreeNovel
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“Time is the one thing we’re not guaranteed, kid.” Stede’s voice is steady. “We have to make our time. We have to make every second count. You can’t miss out on your life trying to get it together.”
I freeze at his words.
Stede looks out over the ridge, gesturing at the landscape. “This is what it’s all about.” Davis and I both rotate, following his eyeline.
In the distance, the splash and crash of Crybaby falls. The spires and cliffs of Meadow Mountain. Darkness breaking over the trees.
He’s right.
The dirt. The earth. Family. The girl in front of me dancing in the firelight.
I’d be a damn fool if I didn’t make her mine forever.
“Fuck.” I open my hands. Let out a breath. It’s like a weight’s been released. “Thank you, Stede.”
Stede stands and raises a hand without looking back. “Out here, it’s all about the people you know,” he replies. “And you know me, and that’s all you need to know.”
Davis nods, but his eyes are distant, his mind elsewhere.
With that, I leave Davis to brood on whatever it is eating him while I head back toward the group. Laughter rings out. And there’s Ruby, shining like a diamond in the firelight.
Too beautiful for words.
And she’s fucking mine.
I need to tell her about the ranch, but first I need to tell her something else. I go to her and take her hand, pulling her away from the others.
“What’s up, Cowboy?” she asks brightly, turning her magnificent blue eyes on me.
I touch the brim of her cowboy hat. Stars freckle her cheeks. “Thinkin’ about things.”
Ruby lifts on her toes and presses her lips to mine. “What kind of things?”
“Thinkin’ about the sunrise.”
She tilts her head. “Try tonight?”
“Goddamn right we do.” My palms ride over her shoulders. Her body arcs toward mine, the beat of her heart pulsing against my chest. “Thinkin’ about you and me and what’s next.”
She wiggles her eyebrows playfully. “And what’s that?”
“Thinkin’ about how I’m plannin’ to marry you.”
She gasps. Her eyes widen and she sucks in a shaky breath. “Oh, Charlie.”
“Soon, Sunflower,” I warn, taking her face in my hands. “I’m gonna put a ring on your finger and pray like hell you take my last name. Because you own me. For the rest of your life, Ruby, I’m yours.”
The days of wondering what I want, of walking around like a broken man, are gone.
I’m building a future with Ruby. A family. A garden. Her in my bed. Rocking chairs and whiskey and flowers and sunshine.
Until the end of goddamn time.
“Will you be my wife, Ruby? I’ll love you well, Sunflower. I’ll make you happy.”
She’s crying now, nodding into my chest. Tears streak over her cheeks, soaking the front of my shirt. “Shhh, baby. Don’t cry.” I kiss the top of her head, inhaling her strawberry scent. Then, lifting her face, I swipe her tears away with my thumb. “Happy or sad tears?”
“Happy.” She’s smiling so brightly that my own lips rise. “This is without a doubt the very best sunflower day.”
