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“He's spent his entire life protecting us,” Lux confirms what I already suspected. “Figure the least I can do is return the favor.”
Before I can reply, the front door creaks open again and Jackson strides in, starting to call my name but trailing off when his gaze lands on me. He freezes in the doorway. Brown eyes dart frantically between me and his sister, body tense like he's bracing for the worst. “All good?”
Smiling, Lux knocks her elbow against mine, subtly rolling her eyes at Jackson's display. “All good. Luna's just helping me make lunch.”
Weirdly, her soothing words do nothing to minimize Jackson's alarm. Instead, it increases as his frantic gaze bounces around the kitchen, checking for damage. “Please tell me you didn't let her anywhere near the stove.”
Asshole.
* * *
A weekend is all it takes for me to fall in love with Serenity Ranch.
There’s something about this place. It’s so… peaceful. Clean. Quiet. I feel like I can actually hear myself think for once.
I could do without the occasional waft of horse shit but otherwise, perfection.
Another thing that's perfect?
My boyfriend.
I would probably be content to sit on the porch watching him muck around all day. One, because him messing with his sisters is fucking adorable. Two, because for the love of God,those jeans. They're definitely coming home with us. There's no chance that I'm leaving those babies here to collect dust.
As though sensing me watching him, Jackson turns my way, eyes locking with mine and lips tipping up in a smile. I stand as he breaks into a jog towards me, letting out a whistle that makes me laugh and blush simultaneously. At his prompting, I do a spin, my skirt flaring out around me, and he whistles again as he gets an eyeful of bare thigh. One hand lands on my waist and tugs me towards him. The other pinches the hem of my skirt, rubbing the soft material between his fingers. “Ready?”
I have no idea what I'm supposed to be ready for—I just got orders to be waiting at a certain time—but I nod.
Showering me with words and looks of approval, Jackson tugs me towards the battered old truck parked outside the barn. We pass Lux on the way, who tosses him keys and a warning look. “Please bring her back in one piece.”
Theherin question? The truck Lux bestows an affectionate pat upon as Jackson opens up the passenger door. “I will,” he promises, kissing his sister's cheek and ushering me inside the truck at the same time. “Don't wait up.”
As Lux and the ranch recede in the rearview mirror, I turn to my chauffeur. “So, where are we going that we can't take your truck?”
“Some of the roads around here are a little rough. This one can take the beating better.”
“That didn't answer my question.”
He shoots me a boyish smile. “I know.”
Little shit.
I learn very quickly that he was right about the roads. If you can even call them that. They're more like organized trails of dirt. Overgrown, rocky trails of dirt that rattle us around mercilessly.
But the view is so worth it. Wherever he's taking me, the route is scenic as fuck. Sun on the verge of setting casts a golden light over everything, glinting through gaps in the trees towering on either side of us. I get a sense of deja vu as we drive, reminded of our first date. This time, though, when we steer away from the treeline and exit into a clearing, there's no movie screen waiting for us. No, there's better.
We emerge onto some kind of viewing point, a rocky outcrop jutting out over miles of lush land. A small gasp leaves me as I sit straighter in my seat, leaning forward slightly so I can get a better look at the view stretched out before me. “Where the hell are we?”
“The border between Serenity Ranch and the national park.” Jackson glances at me, amusement lighting up his face. “Pretty, isn't it?”
I snort. Pretty doesn't quite begin to cover it. Fucking beautiful. Idyllic, lush, picturesque, all those words and more. Green, so green. Ridiculously green. And vivid, like a painting. God, it almost hurts my eyes.
Not for the first time, I wish that I was an artist like my mom or Jackson just so I could view this place the way they do, so I could go home and recreate the scene before me with nothing but my mind as a reference, like I know Jackson will probably do. He'll probably stay up all night perfecting it, and wake up tomorrow covered in green paint that always manages to transfer onto me.
I'm so entranced that I don't even notice we're moving until the view is ripped away from me as Jackson throws the truck in reverse and swings around. “Hey!”
“Wait a sec.” He laughs at my impatience. Putting the truck in park, he gets out and circles around to open my door and hoist me out. Once again, he's pulled out one of his bed of the truck tricks; a familiar stack of blankets and an array of snacks wait for us as we clamber up. We have actual food this time, presumably cooked by Lux. I crack open one of the thermos' tucked into a carrier bag and get a whiff of tea, the other one letting out the delicious aroma of hot chocolate.
It's weird how after everything he's done for me, I still get overwhelmed. I'm still surprised when he does something nice, when he makes an effort, when he remembers little things like the fact that I fucking like tea. I don't know if that's something I'll ever get used to, being cherished. I'll try though.
