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Goldie wasn’t going to be able to make her a living; it would take time and money that she didn’t have, and so she did the only thing that was possible for her to do.
Her gram died, she came home from the funeral, texted a friend who agreed to offer Goldie on several social media sites, taking that burden off of Dakota while she took care of her grandmother’s things and mourned.
It wasn’t long after that, money had been wired into her account, and she had enough to fix up the souvenir shop, purchase inventory, and move her children to Strawberry Sands.
It was the only thing she knew to do. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have three things tied for the biggest mistake of her life.
Chapter 5
“Are we there yet?”Rachel asked, the whine in her tone as pronounced as it had been for the last three hours. “I have to pee.”
“Well, guess what? This is the town, and pretty soon, we’re going to see our new home,” Dakota said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
She slipped into somewhat of a depression since she sold Goldie. It had taken longer than what she thought it would in order to get things straightened out with her sister, and then Rachel had a program she had been practicing for and she didn’t want to miss. So Dakota had stayed a few extra days.
Although, she felt like every day counted. It was starting to get warm, and the tourist season would be in full swing in Strawberry Sands. Such as it was. She didn’t really remember it ever being much to speak of, but if she wanted to make a living there, she was going to need to take advantage of every summer day.
“Here?” Maddie asked quietly, shifting in the back seat as she looked out the window. She had slept a good bit of the way. Maddie was her calm, easygoing child.
She took after her father.
Dakota hadn’t allowed herself to think about things like that. Hadn’t allowed herself to sit and reflect or to even remember that her children had different dads. She didn’t want to accidentally tell them sometime. Although, the idea that she needed to was there in her head. The girls deserved a dad. Although, Dakota seemed to excel at picking men who didn’t care about their kids.
That wasn’t fair. Ryan hadn’t had a chance. Although, if he had cared about them, it would only have been from a sense of duty. Since he had been very clear about not wanting children.
Normally she didn’t sit around and think about those things. Water under the bridge was just that, water under the bridge that she couldn’t get back. Nor did she want it. But she supposed commitment to Strawberry Sands dug up those old memories. Or maybe it was selling Goldie. Or possibly the combination of both. That and the fact that her life had blown up, and she lost the only person who had always helped her hold things together. The loss of her gram had hit her hard, and if she didn’t have two children to take care of, she would probably still be in bed. With the covers pulled up over her head, crying because now she had to face life alone.
Except, she had to adult, because she had two children to raise. And there wasn’t anyone to help her. No safety net to fall back on, and no one who really cared.
She still had friends from her rodeo days, but a lot of those people were just as broken as she was.
Chasing a dream was nice in theory, but in reality, it often left the person broke, broken, and regretful of their many bad choices.
The championship she almost won was nice to think back on, but she would trade that in a heartbeat for a steady family, a good husband, and a little bit of security by the way of a regular house payment, and friends and neighbors she could rely on.
Not friends and neighbors who were scattered across the country, and nothing to her name except a run-down souvenir shop that hadn’t seen business for more than fifteen years.
