Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“Me, in New York City?” I’d marveled, petting Hamlet, who had inserted himself below my feet as if he knew I needed extra cuddles too. “I’d look like a fish out of water.”
“You would,” she mused. “Still. After the grand opening, maybe you can take time away from the farm and sort some things out.”
“You mean—” Was she saying what I thought she was?
She shrugged, then glanced at Ainsley. “People will adjust; isn’t that what you told me?”
“Yeah… Maybe.”
But she had planted a seed, and an idea began taking shape. Even though I hadn’t heard from Julian, I still looked up ticket prices to New York City for the following weekend. If my memory served me right, he’d be home from the beach by then.
If I showed up only to be rejected, then at least I’d know—and then I could try to move on. I’d gone ahead and ordered the ticket even if I’d be out hundreds of dollars. I’d never done anything impulsive like that, so it felt good. It felt right.
“Such a great turnout,” Maggie said, sidling up beside me. She was proud of Sienna, I could see it in her eyes. Proud of Ainsley too, even if it did take Maggie a minute to get over the idea of Ainsley showing horses like her grandmother. If Sienna hadn’t talked to Maggie about it, I would’ve had to, which might not have gone over as well. But Maggie had come around, like she always did.
“It is,” I replied, just as I caught a glimpse of my parents and brothers talking to Ainsley at the petting zoo. It was awesome of them to show up, and there weren’t even any snide comments about the setup from Hunter.
In fact, things had been better all around between us since our chat at the fence. And when we’d shown up for Sunday dinner, I’d felt more comfortable, though that wasn’t saying much. Hunter must’ve had a heart-to-heart with my father about some things. Dad was less grumbly and more distracted, so maybe the focus was temporarily going to be taken off me.
“I wanted to say thank you,” Maggie said in a cautious voice.
“What do you mean?”
“For sticking by Sienna all this time. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
“It’s actually been the easiest part.” It was true. No way I would’ve walked away, unless she’d begged me to leave. “I may have finally come to terms with my own sexuality, but that didn’t mean I wanted to abandon my family.”
Maggie looked away guiltily, likely because her initial response to the whole situation had not been kind. She’d been angry with me, and I got the reason why. But we had come a long way since then.
“You’re a good man.” She patted my arm, glancing over her shoulder into the store, no doubt thrilled about Sienna and Brad’s status. “You deserve to be happy too.”
Christ, if I heard one more person say that, I might lose it. How welcoming would they truly be if I started bringing some guy around? The thought made me feel nauseous because no one could compare to the man who owned my heart.
And right then it was as if the clouds had parted and a ray of sunshine was beaming down on the crowd.
“Holy shit.” I blinked repeatedly, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me. Somehow Julian North was walking toward me through the crowd, and my stomach felt like it was on spin cycle.
“Melinda?” I vaguely heard Maggie say as my legs began carrying me forward.
Everything else faded away as my focus narrowed down to the man standing right in front of me. My fingers itched to reach out to him, to make sure he was real, but I wasn’t even sure what him being here meant.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be…”
“I hope this is okay. I wanted to see the grand opening for myself.” I deflated a little because he wasn’t here for me but to see his work come to fruition, and I certainly couldn’t fault him that. “And, well, Mom insisted that we come.”
“She did?” I glanced briefly over my shoulder and saw Maggie and Melinda locked in an embrace. It’d been a while since the sisters had seen each other in person too.
“Uh-huh,” he replied, wariness in his gaze. “And Sienna too. She texted me photos, then asked if we could talk.”
“About what?” That was when I noticed she’d come outside to greet Aunt Melinda too.
“About you and me. She said you were being all mopey because you missed me.”
“She did, did she?” I smirked. So she was working us from both sides? “What else did she say?”
“That she wanted you to be happy, and was apparently under some illusion that I could…well…”
His cheeks flushed as our eyes met, and I could feel my heart thundering in my ears. Fuck, was this really happening?