Chapter 35
Brooks
This morning is a complete one-eighty from yesterday.
Instead of my stomach being in knots, I’m calm and relaxed.
Most importantly, I’m not alone. I pull Aspen closer to me, grateful that she’s here.
The past forty-eight hours were a nightmare, but having her back with me is the outcome I was hoping for.
She wiggles in my arms.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
She grunts in response. She’s never been a morning person.
I nudge my nose against her cheek. “I’m gonna make you pancakes. You want blueberry or chocolate chip?”
“Chocolate,” she mumbles into the pillow.
“Coming up.” I give her a quick kiss before I slide out of bed, leaving her cocooned in our blankets.
I put on a pot of coffee and look out toward the ranch.
The sun is rising over the mountains, indicating a new day and a new future for me.
For most of my life, I thought I’d end up here alone.
That I’d have no one to share this with.
But now, it feels like my life is starting all over again.
I’ve done the hard work, and now I finally get to enjoy it. And with the woman of my dreams.
I get to work on the pancakes, cooking them slowly so they get nice and fluffy and also so Aspen gets a little bit longer to sleep.
When I’m flipping the last one, she saunters into the kitchen with a yawn.
I turn to look at her and can’t help but smile.
Her curls are a mess. I didn’t go easy on her last night.
And she’s wearing one of my Moonlight Ranch sweatshirts.
It comes down to her upper thighs, giving me a nice view of her long legs.
She makes herself a cup of coffee while I plate up our breakfast.
“If you keep making me breakfast like this, I’m going to get used to it.”
“Good,” I tell her, taking the seat next to her at the island. “I want you to get used to it. My woman gets whatever she wants.”
I’ve barely cut into my first pancake when there’s a pounding knock on the front door.
I look at Aspen. “You expecting anyone?”
She shakes her head, and I let out an annoyed exhale. An intrusion this early in the morning is never good.
But I can, with full certainty, say I was not expecting to see Lacey standing on the other side of the door.
“Lacey. What are you doing here? Is Zach ok?”
Her face twists into a look of pure disgust. “Is Zach ok?” she mockingly repeats. “No, he is not ok. He just found out his father is dating his ex-girlfriend.”
I sigh. I wish Zach would talk to me about this instead of siccing his mother on me. I guess I should’ve known she would try other means of contacting me when I didn’t respond to her texts or calls. But in my defense, I’ve been busy. Lacey was last on my list.
“Tell me it’s not true, Brooks. Tell me he’s mistaken.”
“He’s not mistaken,” I admit. “Aspen and I are together.”
She looks at me like she has no idea who I am, and really, she doesn’t. She’s always seemed to think she had some sort of weird claim over me since we have a child together. But whatever claim she had ended the moment we broke up.
“Have you lost your mind?” she asks.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“She’s the same age as your son.” Technically, she’s two years older than Zach, but now doesn’t feel like the time to bring that up. Plus, it’s none of her business.
“Yes, I know how old she is.”
Her eyes widen when she realizes that I don’t care. “So, you’re choosing her over your own son then?”
Just like Lacey to jump to conclusions. “No. Of course not. But Zach has pushed me away at every possible turn over the years. Because of you, I assume.” She rolls her eyes.
“He wants nothing to do with me, and as much as that kills me, I can’t keep fighting a losing battle.
I didn’t mean to fall in love with Aspen.
It just happened, and I’m tired of putting my happiness aside for everyone else when no one else seems to care about me.
“I understand Zach isn’t happy right now. I don’t expect him to be ok with this. But I’m hoping that one day he’ll realize that Aspen and I are together for us and not to hurt him.”
Lacey shakes her head. She’s certainly not the one I want to be explaining myself to. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a father.”
Those words always sting, but I can’t act like they’re not kind of true. Especially at this moment. “Yeah, well, neither of you ever gave me a damn chance.”
She huffs a laugh and tries to look over my shoulder to where Aspen is sitting, but I shift slightly, blocking her view. “Have a nice life with your little whore.”
“Hey! You watch your fucking mouth, Lacey. Now I see where Zach gets it from.”
I couldn’t believe the things Aspen told me he’d said to her. I should’ve followed him out of my office that day. I could’ve gotten her away from that quicker. I should’ve known he would go to her next.
“At least I’ve given him a loving home and plenty of support,” Lacey tells me, as if that’s any consolation.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Lace. The kid has no respect for anyone except himself.”
“Oh, please. Don’t try to turn this around on me. You’re the one that fucked up here.”
“I’m willing to own up to my mistakes. You’re the one who can’t look past your own ego to see that our son is not the little saint you wanted him to be. Now, if we’re done here, my breakfast is getting cold.”
She opens her mouth to say something else, but I shut the door before I have a chance to hear it. Out of everyone in Blue Haven, Lacey is the last person whose opinion I care about. I’ve stayed silent about how she’s treated me over the years, but I’m done trying to be the nice guy.
I walk into the kitchen and sit back down next to Aspen.
I focus directly on my food, because as much as I don’t want to admit it, Lacey’s words got to me.
I do feel like I’ve failed Zach as a father.
And while I know it’s not entirely my fault, I feel like maybe I could’ve tried harder.
Maybe I should’ve made him spend his weekends with me even when he didn’t want to.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given him as much freedom as I did.
I really thought that as he got older, he’d come around and want to spend time with me. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.
Aspen rubs my back and asks softly, “You ok?”
I take a deep breath. “Yeah. Just not how I wanted this morning to go.”
“I imagine we might have a few more mornings like that once people find out about us.”
I put my hand on her leg. “Well, whatever happens, we’ll get through it together.”
“And you know you’re not a bad father, right?”
“I don’t know. Kinda feels like it sometimes.”
“You were way too young when you had Zach. I think you did the best you could at the time. And there’s only so much you can do for someone who constantly pushes you away.”
The tension relaxes in my shoulders. Of course, I already knew what she’s saying, but it feels nice to hear it from someone else. Especially from her, since she got Zach’s perspective too.
“Thank you, darlin’.” I lean over and give her a gentle kiss on her lips. “Now eat your pancakes. We’re going riding in a bit.”
She smiles and picks up her fork.
The stables are busy today. Beck is gearing up for a morning trail ride with three families when we finally get there. I texted him earlier to make sure he left mine and Aspen’s horses in their stalls. He wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed anyway.
He waves at us when my UTV pulls up. I grab Aspen’s hand as we walk toward him, and I catch his eyes falling to our hands. A small smile tugs at his lips.
“Well, look who it is,” he says in greeting.
“Hey, Beck.”
“Mornin’, Ms. Aspen. I take it to mean you two are official now?” he asks.
I pull Aspen toward me and kiss her. “Yep.”
“Ok, a simple yes or no woulda been fine,” he teases. “Get out of here before I have to be witness to anything else.”
We both laugh, and I start to lead Aspen over to our horses, but she stops.
“Beck?” she says.
“Hm?”
“Thanks for not judging us. I know you and Brooks probably don’t talk about your feelings much, but I want you to know that we both appreciate how supportive you’ve been. I’m so glad Brooks has such good friends.”
“I appreciate you saying that. You’re part of the family now, too, Aspen. You ever need anything, you know where to find me.”
She nods and then turns back to me. Her eyes are beaming with happiness, and I know in this moment that I’ve made the right choice.
Aspen is my family. She’s my partner. No one else has ever felt right because I was waiting for her. It doesn’t matter how we got here. All that matters is that we’re here now.
We ride out on the trail. It’s a little bit longer than the ones we normally go on, but it’s one of my favorites. And I know we’ll be alone for most of the ride.
Aspen’s horse trots behind mine through the trees.
The mornings are cold now, but it’s one of my favorite seasons on the ranch.
I love the sound of hooves on crunchy leaves and the wind through the tree branches.
I inhale the cold air. Yes, fall is a season of change, and that’s exactly what I’m going through right now.
We reach a point on the trail where I jump down and tie our horses up. Aspen and I walk the rest of the way up to the top of the hill. This spot overlooks the entire ranch.
“This is it, darlin’. This is our life. Are you ready for that?”
She looks over at me, her smile brightening her entire face. “I’ve been ready, Brooks.”
I pull her into my arms.
“Thank you for giving me a home and a family, Brooks. This is everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, darlin’. Thank you for staying.”