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Watching her now, so happy and carefree, something in my chest releases. I feel lighter than I have in years. Maybe coming back wasn't as big a mistake as I feared.
Chapter Eight
Shane
If looks could kill, the ones my brothers are sliding my way would get the job done. What did I do this time? Are they pissed that I married Samantha? They don’t seem mad at her in the slightest. No, they console her, but let me wallow in my misery. That’s the way it’s always been, so it shouldn’t shock me.
“Daddy,” Dakota calls, stealing my attention.
“Yeah, baby girl?”
“Can we ride the horsies?”
“We’re not really dressed for riding, honey,” I tell her.
“I know that, silly. We can change. This dress is itchy.” She emphasizes just how itchy by scratching everywhere.
I chuckle. “Okay. How about you go tell your mommy that you want to change? I’ll go change real quick and we’ll go.” I tell her.
She immediately takes off toward Samantha, weaving in and out of the crowd. So many people showed up to spread condolences and celebrate Wayne. It’s all a little much, but who am I to complain?
Wayne was a pillar of this community if ever I saw one. He was never too busy to deliver groceries to the needy. He would not only give you the shirt off his back, but he would put you to work to get back on your feet.
He lived by the adage, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach them to fish and you feed them for life.”
He even tried that with my dad after he took me in. He put him through private rehab, paying a small fortune to help him get clean. It worked for all of a few weeks before Dad fell back down the rabbit hole.
Wayne protected me from Dad’s mood swings. He’d come around and follow me, begging for money. When I’d say no, he’d beat the shit out of me and then empty my pockets. After the beating from hell, I’d act out. I’d go looking for kids my size to fight, knowing I could handle them. I thought it made me tough, but I was wrong.
Wayne taught me that all I was doing was being a bully. It wasn’t right for me to take out my aggression on others. He gave me another outlet by putting me to work with the fresh horses.
Wayne said the horses were a lot like me. He had brought them to this new place, taken from their families, and they were afraid. He taught me how to help the horses get comfortable with their new home, and I eventually loved being around them.
I spent months and months working with them until finally, my anger calmed. It was maybe a year into being in the Davis house when Wayne took us all to the rodeo. It was there that I fell in love with the wild ring.
Watching those men ride professionally made my heart race in a good way for the first time. I decided at that moment that I would be a bull rider when I was old enough. That became my dream.
Wayne supported me completely. He bought bulls meant for the rodeo, so I could learn to rope them. When he thought I was ready, he hired a trainer to come teach me. They both said I took to it like a fish to water. I became the youngest bull rider to grace the ring. I was flying high, and I never wanted to come down.
Riding was the best thing to happen to me until I fell head over heels in love with the Davis heir. When she told me she reciprocated those feelings, it blew every other good thing in my life out of the water.
Samantha started coming to watch me ride. Before me, she showed no interest in the sport. She showed up for me. Samantha screamed louder than anyone else when I won. My sunshine had faith in me even when I doubted myself. I started seeing our future mapped out before me.
“Do you think we’ll be together forever?” Samantha asks as we lay in a field of tulips.
“That’s the plan, sunshine.” I smile.
Samantha lets out a contented sigh as she snuggles closer to me. I cling to her. I can’t believe we went from barely being friends to being husband and wife.
“I love you, sunshine,” I whisper.
“And I love you. So much.” She responds. “Do you want kids?”
The question comes out of nowhere. I’ve never even considered it, but with Samantha, I think I do.
“I’m in no rush, but yeah, I think I do. So long as I have them with you.” I responded.
“I don’t mean now.” She giggles. “But I think it’d be fun to practice making them.”
