Quinn slams into Leigh so hard that they both fall to the ground. One second I had my hand resting against the small of her back, and in the next I was left with dead air and two grown women laughing on the ground in front of me. The gravel can't feel good against Leigh's back, but you wouldn't know because she's got one big damn smile on her face.
"You sneaky bitch. I called you last night and you said you were just going to read before going to bed."
Leigh giggles and looks up at me. "I had a change of plans."
I smile down at her. Our eyes communicating so much, but no words needed.
"I'll say. A big brooding change of plans."
"He wasn't brooding."
Quinn sits up. I can't see her, but judging by the blush that's covering every exposed inch of Leighton's face from the roots of her hair to the top of her chest, my sister must be making some sort of crude gesture.
"Don't you dare," Leigh whispers firmly.
"Don't I dare what? Comment on what must have happened to make him stop brooding?" She laughs mischievously.
"Quinn, shut your mouth," she hisses back.
"Fine. Fine, mouth is shut." Quinn climbs off the ground and holds out her hand to Leigh, helping her up.
I was about to open my mouth and ask her where my hug was, but she turns around the second that Leigh was standing, and the expression on her face has me snapping my mouth shut.
"You know what I want," she tells me with a hard tone.
"Uh," I mumble.
"You know what I'm waiting for," she continues, wagging her brows.
What the--clarity strikes, and I have to bite back a laugh. The conversation I had with her in the barn when she was trying to figure out what was going on between Leigh and me comes back in a rush. "How about you let me worry about that now and leave it alone knowin' that there's a greater chance of you gettin' what you want if you don't scare my girl off before I even have a chance to take us there."
"I'm not sure if that's good enough."
Weird as hell, my sister is. "It's gonna have to be."
"What are you two talkin' about?" Clay asks, breaking into our little huddle.
"Nothin' worth repeatin' right now," I tell him, my eyes still on Quinn so she knows to keep her mouth shut.
"You said your girl." Quinn gasps the words out, her eyes wide as she looks between me and Leigh. "You said . . . holy shit! You said YOUR GIRL!" She screams the last part and leaves her mouth hanging open.
Leigh giggles again, but doesn't respond to Quinn.
"Did you know about this?" Quinn continues, glaring at Leigh.
"Uh, yeah . . . seeing that I'm the girl in question, I would reckon that's a good guess, Q."
"You knew and didn't tell me!"
Leigh steps closer to me, wrapping her arm around my back and digging her fingers into my side. I look down and see her wink, returning the gesture and pulling her closer to my side with one arm over her shoulders. Her other arm comes up, Quinn's wide eyes following the movement, and rests it against my stomach. I feel my abs clench with just the smallest touch from her.
"We're tellin' you now, Q."
"Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Oh. My. God," my sister mutters under her breath, eyes even wider. "Clay," she says with a gasp, reaching out blindly behind her to find him, not looking away from the two of us. "Clayton!" she screams when her hand can't find him.
"Jesus, Quinn, take a breath," he grumbles, grabbing her hand before she can slap him.
"It's happening," she breathes.
"You are the weirdest person in the world," Leigh says, laughing.
"I knew one day this would happen. I just knew it."
Leigh squeezes my side, but I'm too busy rolling my eyes at my sister to give her my attention.
"You're happy for us?" Leigh asks. Something in her tone makes me finally look away from Quinn. When I look down and bend so that I can see her face, I know this is a question that isn't being asked lightly. She really does want to know if Quinn is happy. How she has to question that with the way Quinn is acting is beyond me, but I keep my mouth shut and tighten my hold. She needs this, for whatever reason.
"God, yes," Quinn breathes. "You have no idea how happy I am. For both of you," she adds, looking away from the girl in my arms and back into my face. "So damn happy for you."
I know the last part is meant for me and me alone. I clench my jaw when the burn of emotion hurts my throat. Damn, that feels good.
"Just in case anyone is wondering how I feel, I just want to add, it's about time."
We all three laugh, the girls both a little wobbly, when Clay finally speaks, his deep voice washing over all of us.
Yeah, that feels real damn good.
After leaving Clay and Quinn, we grab one of the four-wheelers and head out. Leigh knows how to ride, but even though holding on to me isn't necessary, she still keeps her arms wrapped tight around my stomach. Her head resting between my shoulder blades feels almost as good as her hands rubbing against my torso.
Because the Davis ranch is so big, it takes us a little while to reach the line that used to separate the two ranches. Since Clay doesn't use this part of our property anymore, and there are no longer animals being housed on the old James ranch, the gate had been taken down, but I would never forget the line that took me to my sanctuary.
A little while later, accompanied by some squeals and laughter coming from Leigh when I hit the gas on the uneven earth we're riding over, we pull up to the part of the property I had been telling her about earlier. It doesn't look like much now. The old barn is still in good repair, even if it hadn't been used in years, but it would need work. I would never allow that piece of her past to be torn down, so it's a big focus in what I'm hoping to create here.
She climbs off, giving me a squeeze around my middle before doing so, and looks around her with her hands on her hips. Her face looks serene as she takes it all in. I imagine she's seeing what it used to be as well as what it will be. Her daddy was a damn fine rancher and you can see that in how well this place has stood with little to no maintenance over time.
"I want to turn the barn into the mess hall of sorts. I'll have to gut it, add a kitchen in the back, but I want to be able to keep a part of your parents here when we build this thing."
She looks over, her eyes wide. "We?"
"Yeah, darlin'. This is just as much a part of you as it is me."
Her hand comes off her hip and she reaches out for me. "It means a lot that you said that, Maverick, a whole lot, but honey, this is all you."
Grabbing her hand, I swing my leg over the back of the four-wheeler and jump down onto the grass at her side, keeping her hand firmly in mine. Her head tips up and she continues to smile at me. "Thought that I made it clear, but there isn't anything I do from this point on that isn't about the both of us."
"You did. I was just sayin', well, I didn't want you to think you had to do things a certain way because this used to be my family's land. There aren't any expectations from me. I'm still going to support you in this one hundred percent."
Pulling her into my arms, I wait for her fingers to push into my hair, wishing my hat wasn't on so she had more room to play. With her head tipped up and her body pressed to mine, I feel like the luckiest bastard on earth. That's all it takes, her in my arms and that smile trained on me.
"I don't think you'll ever know how much that means to me, Leighton."
Her face softens and the smile I love so much grows a little. She doesn't talk, but her eyes tell me what I want to hear. She's happy, damn happy if I'm reading her right. I vow right then and there with a small kiss to her forehead that not one day will go by without me making sure she always feels like she does right now, every single day.
22
LEIGHTON
"Heartbeat" by Carrie Underwood
I can't believe the difference that just one day has made.
Last night I made a promise to myself to see this out. To open my heart up again and move for
ward. Of course, I also made that promise not knowing if I would be moving forward with or without him, but standing here right now in his arms, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life.
And it's all because of him. Well, maybe not all because of Maverick. Knowing that Quinn and Clay support this and are happy for us goes a long way in my mind, solidifying that I'm in the right spot--at his side. Seeing the man that Maverick has grown to be and knowing why he was the angry teenager he was back then also made me realize that, had we had our chance then, we might not have been strong enough to make it through the troubles that haunted him. Don't get me wrong, I know he's still holding on to that pain, but the wounds aren't as fresh as they once were.
He's stronger.
I'm stronger.
Together I just know we'll be unbreakable.
This, right here and now, is our time. The only thing holding me back from believing that without any doubt is the knowledge that he's still got to let go of all that pain he holds deep inside him because, until he does, I'm not convinced he won't leave when things get too hard to handle emotionally.
He knows that too. Everything he told me last night attests to that. The only thing I can do is to promise that I'll be there to stand by his side and help him every step of the way.
Starting now.
"Come on, cowboy," I softly say. "Tell me about your plans."
He gives me a crooked smile before pressing another kiss to my forehead. His arms leave the loop they had been making around my body, turning me so that I'm tucked under one arm and curling one large hand around my shoulder.
"Like I said, the barn will serve as the mess hall, but also will be a place for everyone to hang out and talk shop. My hope is to make it half kitchen and dining, with the other half having couches and an entertainment center. They can watch footage of themselves that will be filmed in order to learn what they need to improve on, but they'll also be able to watch movies and shit."
"And shit." I laugh. "So basically, a living room and a kitchen all in one giant barn?"
"That's right," he answers with a smile in his voice. "On the left side of the barn, where there isn't as much land, we're going to have some small cabins built. Since I want to keep this exclusive in a way, the plan is to have no more than five or so riders here at a time. Each will have their own bedroom and bathroom, but they will all share one cabin. The other cabins will be built more like small houses for the instructors and staff to have to themselves. I think, going off the land I want to dedicate to that, I'll have almost ten cabins in all. The riders' bein' the largest in size."
"Wow," I respond, looking at the area of land that he had pointed to and having no problem envisioning what he is saying. "What kind of staff will you have on hand?"
"I'm hopin' at the least, three instructors other than myself. Each with a different specialty to offer the riders. Since we're goin' to focus on bull riding exclusively for now at least. That might change as time goes on. They'll have a cook, as well as a doctor on hand. The doc will help with everything from medical needs to teachin' them how to use their body as a tool."
"You've really thought this through," I praise, looking up at him.
"Yeah, darlin'. Like I said, steel-enforced roots."
My stomach flops at his words.
"Tell me more," I request with a wobble to my voice.
Maverick spends the next half hour walking me around the land, explaining where he wants to build things. His patience explaining to me what each "training area" will focus on, and why, really helped me understand the magnitude of this endeavor. I honestly didn't realize just how big these steel-enforced roots of his were, but hearing about it while visualizing his plans left me with no doubts that something this grand wouldn't be happening if he wasn't in it for the long run.
"So, there will be two arenas for ridin'," he continues. "One for practice and the other to emulate a champion-level ride. They'll use everythin' they've learned while here in that arena. We'll judge them just as they would be if they were on the circuit ridin' for the big purse. They'll be graded on everythin' from chute procedure and ridin' skill to dismount technique. They'll be filmed each time they jump on the back of a bull in this arena, so by the time they leave here, they'll ride just as effortlessly as they breathe."
"God, Mav. What you're doing here is amazing. This place is going to be something else."
"I hope so. I've started to put some feelers out, see who I can pull into this place with me. I'm excited, Leigh, and darlin', that's not somethin' I've felt about my future for a long time."
"I know you are. I can't wait to see you bring this vision to life. It's going to be beautiful, I just know it. You're going to have so many people flocking to Pine Oak to be trained under 'The Unstoppable' Maverick Davis."
His face turns serious, and I feel my smile slip a little.
"Honest to God, Leigh, hearing how much faith you have in me--in this--means the world, but I'm tellin' you right now, if I don't have you by my side every step of the way, all of this"--he trails off and looks around us before I get his attention again--"all of this means nothin' if I don't have you. Everythin' I want for my future is built around ours bein' interwoven. I don't want to do this without you. Do you understand that?"
I nod, not trusting my voice to talk.
"It's not just me that I'm building this for. I want it here, on your family's old ranch, not just because of the peace this place brings me, but because this is the first step in us mergin' our lives together."
"I'm not sure what to say to that, Maverick. Part of me wants to scream that it's too soon to be making decisions that mean forever, but an even bigger part of me knows that nothing we ever do will be too soon. Not us. I'm not saying that I'm not nervous--I am--but I know that something that feels this right couldn't possibly be wrong. I'm scared, but a lot of that fear is because of how much I care about you. I'm not lost when I'm with you. I don't feel the aching loneliness anymore. My heart beats strong and true again. Everything I've ever wanted, Maverick, that's what you're offering us here. So I guess what I'm trying to say is yes, even though I'm so scared of that future, I'm going to be here every step of the way."
He bends and takes my mouth in a slow, burning kiss, tipping his head just so in order not to have his hat knocked off. When I feel his tongue trace my bottom lip, I open with a gasp. Our tongues tangle together, and I feel tingles fire through my nerves when his hands curl around my body, holding me close to him. My own hands fist in the soft material of his shirt, desperate to find something to hold on to when my legs start shaking.
When we break away with a gasp, I look up at his full lips and feel a tremor rock through me when I see how bruised and swollen they are. All from our kiss. Judging by how his focus is also on mine, I have no doubt that they look just like his do.
I feel like I've been branded.
I hope I've been branded, because there will never be another man for me, not now . . . not ever.
After our talk, we spend some more time walking around the land. Seeing my old place in a new light now that I have a good picture of what Maverick is planning in order to build his training school.
I wasn't in a rush to leave, though, something that I made sure to voice to Maverick. His answering smile told me he was feeling the same way. This time together has been something we both needed. From his own admission, I know we had both been feeling the oppressing weight of our loneliness. But together now, there is a happiness filling the air that can't be denied. I know for me, that's not a feeling I'm in a hurry to have interrupted, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way.
We take some time before heading back to his truck to jump on the four-wheeler and race through the property. I don't feel the heavy sadness that used to hang from these pastures like a thick fog. They might have lost the meticulous standard of perfection that my father held his ranch to over the years, but even with the overgrown blanket of time, they still hold the footprint of my parents. Now with
Maverick here with me, and the knowledge that he's going to be breathing a whole new life into this land, I can't wipe the bittersweet smile off my face.
My daddy would be so proud. Not just of the plans that Maverick has for this place, but also because of the man he has become. He always loved Maverick, just as much as he loved Clay and Quinn, but like his daughter, he had a soft spot for the middle Davis boy. After overhearing a conversation between him and my mama, I know, even though he never voiced his thoughts to me directly, he was very aware of his only daughter's crush on Maverick. I'll never forget the words he had whispered to mama. He said, "It's bigger than life, how she feels for that boy and I couldn't be happier about that, but he's got to figure out his own heart before he can accept hers. Mark my words, honey, it will happen one day. I just know it."
I wish he were here to see that finally happen, but I know somewhere up there he's smiling his toothy grin down on us.
Maverick drops me off at my house after we go back for his truck. Quinn isn't there, thankfully, so I'm saved another tumble to the ground with her excitement. She hadn't called either and I'm equally thankful that she's giving me some time to wrap my head around the new status between her brother and me.
Clay's truck is there, but he didn't come to talk to us this time. Clay's stretched thin, another thing that Maverick told me, but something that I also knew from Quinn. Before Buford died, Clay had been spending a lot of time at the shop with her. Helping her find new ways to grow the business there, not that they needed it, she was as swamped as my bakery was. I know Clay had hoped to get both the shop and the ranch running in a way that he could oversee them from behind the scenes as the owner, but that hasn't happened yet. He's still very much the workaholic he was, only this time the weight on his shoulders is so much heavier.
Maverick left almost an hour ago, telling me that he would be back after he "handled some shit." I'm not sure what shit he needed to handle, but I was a little relieved to have time alone. So much has happened in such a short time that my head feels like it might literally start spinning. Not that I'm complaining. Still, it's nice to have some quiet for my thoughts.