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This time I was at least grateful I had kept some of my heart tucked under my sleeve, never allowing her to see it for what it was. She owned all of it, the entire fucking thing. If only she wanted to keep it.
* * *
The cab of the truck was quiet as we drove up to the house.
I was nervous to see her reaction, even with her not knowing it was mine. It made her acceptance or disappointment even more important. We didn’t talk about what happened at the house or what either of us said. Our relationship was fucked up. I knew it, and she knew it. We loved each other, in our own strange ways, enough that we were literally trying to create life, or at least not doing anything at all to prevent it. I considered it a challenge, and she wasn’t shying away from it, while also not confronting any of it.
It was better to just move past it.
Which was what I had been doing while moving through the motions of finding someone to watch Max and talking to the guys about heading to the Triple Y ranch. I wanted them busy while Callie and I headed up the bluff.
Now, winding through the roads that led to the top of the ridge, I wished she would say something. I wanted her to yell at me, or fight with me. Fuck, I wanted her to ask about the note that I promised to let her read. She hadn’t. I eventually offered the information and ended up just saying all that was on the note was an address. She merely nodded and got into the truck.
I hated this.
But it was going to happen no matter how badly I didn’t want it to. From the start, this is where we were going to end. Best to just let it unfold.
“Oh wow.” Callie sat up, peering over the dashboard as the house came into view.
My fucking stomach twisted with eagerness. She unbuckled, so she could see more from the edge of her seat. Her eyes were wide as she stared in awe.
“Whose house is this?”
Once I parked, I saw no other bikes or parked vehicles, so I focused on her.
She jumped out of the truck and raced to the edge of what would one day be my yard. Once I moved in, there’d be grass where she was standing, for now it was all dirt. She held her chest as she stared down into the gorge, viewing the entire town.
“You like it?” I asked, coming to stand next to her.
Tears lined her eyes as she continued to stare at the scenery, then she turned toward me with a tight voice, “Would it matter?”
I regarded her, letting the wind rustle my hair and blow her shirt up as we stared at one another and with a low murmur, I answered, “Yes.”
She searched my face, about to say something when we heard a door open and close from behind us.
“Well, you made it. Guess that means you got back into the good graces of my daughter and dug up my grave, you son of a bitch.”
Callie spun around, paling.
I turned in time to see her dad do the same. Simon looked the same as I last saw him. Dark hair with streaks of silver, tied back at the nape of his neck. Hazel eyes that matched his daughter’s and a jaw made of stone that rarely spread into a smile.
“Simon, want to explain what the fuck we’re doing here?” I asked, moving up the hill with Callie on my heel.
His stare stayed on his daughter.
Before I could repeat my question or push my irritation on him, Callie launched up the steps and ran into his arms, throwing herself at him. He caught her in a tight embrace as she cried, and he kept his eyes on the sky above, his face stern.
I could hear her crying things about missing him, regret, and having to bury him.
He muttered a few things I couldn’t hear, while stroking down the length of her hair. I hung back to give them a moment, remembering this was their first reunion in seven years. For whatever reasons they had, they’d both stayed apart that entire time, without so much as a phone call between them. Perhaps that was why Simon’s eyes were rimmed red now, or why his throat kept bobbing as he tried to control his voice.
Once he let her down and she swiped at her face, I decided to step closer.
“So, you two are back together. Seems I fixed what I had a hand in breaking.” Simon assumed, while we entered the house. Neither of us corrected him that this was just temporary.
I hadn’t set foot in the house in over a month, so it felt strange to be back inside. The main floor was all open concept with a substantial living room facing the valley, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The balconies from the second and third floors were visible from here as well, each one with this view.
Callie’s face was turned up, taking it all in.
