Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Taylor
S tanding frozen, I let the mixture of emotions roll through me. I tried to speak as my face twisted with confusion, but the words were lodged in my throat. He was the last person I expected to see standing here in a horse stable. I actually thought I'd never see him again unless it was on the TV.
"Hey, Taylor." He smiled.
"What are you doing here?" I finally managed to push out. "How," I twisted, pointing back toward the house, "did you... I mean..." I turned back to him. "How did you get the new owner to play along with all this?"
"He's a friend." We both stood silently, staring at each other for a long moment. "I have two horses saddled up and ready to ride." He nodded toward the back of the stable. "You coming?"
My smile widened. "Yeah." My tone oozed with excitement, and my face lit up. I thought my riding days were over.
"Oh, wait." I frowned. "Bailey's out front waiting on me..." My voice trailed off when I recognized his scheming smirk spreading wider. "She's not out there anymore, is she?" He shook his head. "She was in on it." He nodded.
He led the way out of the stables, and even through my excitement, I couldn't help but wonder why he was here when, a month ago, he was willing to let me go forever. "I guess you'll tell me why you're here on the ride?"
"I'm here for several reasons," he said, stopping in front of a black and brown mare without bothering to look at me. He ran his hand down the neck of the horse. "One of those is because I missed you." His gaze lifted, meeting mine, and my lips curled into a grin. "I missed this," he patted the horse's neck, "and I have so much to tell you."
"To tell me?" I touched the tips of my fingers to my chest.
"Yep." He smirked, holding onto the horse's reigns as he stepped back. "Shall we?"
I loaded onto my horse, and he loaded onto his before we rode off into the open fields just like we'd done hundreds of times over the years. We rode in silence for a long time, enjoying the scenery and fresh air until we reached the creek at the back of the property.
"We should stop here," he suggested after about an hour of riding, pulling on the reigns of his white stallion, easing him to a stop, and I followed suit.
"The suspense is killing me." I chuckled as we led our horses down the embankment so they could get a drink. "So, what's going on?"
He smiled softly as he twisted, staring off into the distance before shoving his hands into his pockets. "Growing up, I couldn't wait to take you and get as far away from this small town as I could." I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "And then everything changed the day you announced that you were marrying Caleb. I changed. I wanted big city lights and loud music. I wanted to be surrounded by people and fans. I wanted to drown myself in whiskey until I forgot you." His smile widened as his gaze shifted, meeting mine. "Until you showed up and changed me again." He stepped forward until he was invading my space. "When you left Nashville, I realized that wasn't the life I wanted anymore."
"Cole..."
"No," he cut me off. "Just listen. I'm not coming back here for you. I'm coming back here for me. I didn't think I would, but I missed this," his gaze swept over the open land, "and I missed us." His hands curled around my hips. "Not the old us. The new us."
"So, does this mean you're moving back?"
He nodded. "My parents are ready to retire. They want to travel, so I bought the ranch from them, and they bought an RV and left yesterday."
"Wait," my brows pulled together, "how long have you been in town?"
"A few days. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before I saw you again."
I stared at him, shocked. "But what about your music and..."
"I'm not giving up my music." He smiled. "I can make music anywhere. I'll still have to tour occasionally, but we can figure that out later. For now, I'm going to add a music studio to the property where I can record."
I stepped back out of his grasp. This was a lot to take in, especially when I convinced myself that Cole and I were two very different people now.
"So what is it that you want from me, Cole?"
"I want you. I've always wanted you." Tears burned the back of my eyes. "I knew I was going to love you forever the first time I saw you, and I never stopped, Taylor, even while you were married to Caleb. I still only loved you."
"Then why did you let me leave Nashville without you?"
"Because I'm an idiot. A confused idiot. I thought that I wanted the city and the fame, but what I really wanted was you."
"You can't be sure of that."
"I am sure. When I was here with you before, I didn't miss the city life, but when I was in the city without you, you were all I could think about. I didn't realize it then, but the city life, the fame, the partying, the drinking, they were all terrible attempts to replace you. To replace that void in me that was missing you." A tear streamed down my cheek. "I was never in love with the city. I am in love with you." He cupped my face, swiping away my tears with his thumbs. "I'm staying even if you don't feel the same, but I need to know, Taylor, do you still love me?"
"Everything I've done, every decision I've ever made was because I love you." My words broke up into small sobs. "I still love you."
His arms wrapped around me as he lifted me from the ground, spinning me around. I laughed through my sobbing as I savored the feeling of being wrapped in his arms again. He stopped spinning, his gaze lifted, meeting mine. My hands cupped his face. "Cole?"
"Taylor."
"Are you sure about this? Because I can't handle losing you again."
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life. Well, other than that I knew I was going to marry you the day I met you."
I laughed as he let me slide down his hard body.
"I want you to move in with me. I hate that you're living at the bar."
I hated living at the bar, but this felt rushed. I knew I wanted to be with Cole forever, but I wasn't sure we were ready to live together yet. "Can I think about it tonight?"
"Sure."
"What about Bailey? Where will she live?" Was this why Bailey wanted to buy the bar?
"Bailey and I are working out the details." That was his polite way of telling me it wasn't my business. He would take care of his sister. "I assume she asked you about buying the bar."
I nodded. I somehow knew he was behind it. "Is she buying it because she wants it or because you don't want me to run it anymore?"
"Both."
"Cole, you can't come back here and take over my life."
He laughed. "That's not my intention. I know you don't want to run that bar anymore, and Bailey does. So, let us take it off your hands so you can follow your dreams."
I huffed out a humorless laugh. "My dreams are long gone."
"It will be dark soon." Cole sighed, and I was thankful he dropped the subject. "We should head back, get the horses settled, and I'll take you home."
Home. Funny how that one word could be so painful. I didn't have a home anymore. I had a bar with thousands of dollars in damages.
My gaze shifted to the distance. I wasn't ready to leave yet, but I knew he was right. "Thank you for this." My eyes met his perfect blue eyes. "All of it. The chance to see how amazing the property looks." A tear streamed down my cheek. "It will be hard to say goodbye again." He stepped forward into my space and cupped my face. I huffed out a sad laugh as our eyes met. "I promised myself I wasn't going to cry." I didn't want to cry. Today was amazing, and I was so happy for the opportunity to be here again with Cole, but I couldn't hold back all the pain, sadness, and pure heartbreak that overwhelmed me at the thought of saying goodbye again.
"We should go," he whispered as he used his thumb to wipe away my tears.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. "Our last sunset ride together here where it all started."
"Our last sunset ride before we close the doors of our past and open fresh ones. A new, fresh start for both of us. A new future."
I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. "That sounds amazing."