Chapter 30 – Wilder
One month later...
I rarely thought about time before Teagan left for Austin.
Those early years with Willow as a baby flew by as I navigated the challenges of being both dad and mom to her while trying my best to shield her from the world and process my own trauma.
Back then, I still felt like a boy, uncertain about my path in life and failing at every turn. But Willow forced me to grow up and helped me heal. Time moved quickly during those years and the days passed me by and before I knew it, I had an eight-year-old.
However, since Teagan left for Austin, with no return date set, each day feels like an eternity.
I want to give her the space that she needs to bond with her daughter.
I can’t fathom the burden she’s carried for the past eleven years or the joy she must have felt when Riley found her at the clinic so unexpectedly, wanting to have a relationship with her now.
Still, selfishly, I want her with me. I’ve checked in occasionally via text but mostly forced myself to stay quiet, allowing her to reach out whenever she has the free time and provide her with the space she needs.
Because I know all about needing time and space to heal from past wounds.
But now that it’s late October, and the cooler weather has blown into Texas, I’m struggling.
The night before she left, I’d planned to ask her to move in with Willow and me permanently.
I didn’t see the point in us spending nights apart and I love having her around.
Even more than that, she’d become a part of Willow’s world, too.
Her news about Riley changed everything and made me rethink my entire life. I realized that I’m so in love with her, I’d consider leaving the ranch behind and moving with Willow to Austin just to be closer to her if she’d have me.
Hell, I don’t want her to just move in, I want to marry her. But I’ve forced myself to slow down, to give her time.
This morning marked the first cool day of fall, and the crisp air carried a sense of change while I got ready for work—a fresh start to my day.
I’d been missing Teagan more than I cared to admit, and with the holidays approaching, I want nothing more than to spend them with her.
I’d planned to ask her today how she’d feel about a visit from Willow and me, staying in a nearby Airbnb to keep things low-key, not wanting to disrupt her life with Riley, but as I opened the front door to head out to the fields, there she was, suitcase in hand, looking like she’d walked right out of my thoughts and into my home.
“What... what are you doing here?” I ask. I sweep her into my arms, my lips falling to hers as I kiss her hard. When we finally pull apart, she’s breathless from the intensity, but I hold on tight, not willing to let her go just yet.
“You’re here,” I murmur, nuzzling into her neck.
“I am,” she whispers, then gently pushes back to look into my eyes. “Let’s talk.”
I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I guide her anyways straight to my bedroom.
Willow’s still at school so we have the place to ourselves but in here makes me think of her and feels the most like home.
“It’s been a long month without you. Can we talk in my bed while I hold you? ” I ask.
She nods, strips down to just her bra and underwear, and slips under the sheets that still smell like her while I undress down to my boxers and meet her in the middle, holding her closely against my chest so that I can feel her heartbeat.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
She nods. “Louis Montgomery's lawyer send me a letter to Austin this week. He sold me his business.”
“He did?”
“When I left for Austin, I told him I wasn’t sure if I’d come back because of the situation with Riley.
I explained everything to him. He said he understood and respected my decision to live closer to her.
Three days ago, I got a certified letter from his attorney offering to sell me the business for one single dollar. ”
“What?!” I ask again.
She nods. “It turns out, it was never about the money for him to retire and sell his practice. He’s been saving for decades in preparation and could have retired years ago.
He just wanted to find the right person to take over for the families and city that he loves, and he said he finally found that in me. ”
“Wow…”
She sighs. “Even before the letter had arrived, I was feeling like it was time to come back here. Riley is incredible, and I’ve loved spending the past month with her and the Andersons, but I realized, she’ll always be a part of my life and past no matter my physical location, and I can visit without living in the city.
I don't want to disrupt her relationship with her family or her childhood by acting like another mom she doesn’t need.
So much of who she is—her interests, likes, and dislikes—is nurture, not nature.
She’s a beautiful, spunky, kind, and funny girl because of her parents, the Andersons.
My heart is full seeing how loved she is, it’s exactly what I always needed to know, but I realized, now that I have that fulfillment and peace, I no longer need to live there in Austin. ”
She smiles up at me. “And I also realized that I love you, Wilder Cameron. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. I want to move forward with my life with you in it.”
I rub my nose gently against hers and kiss her again.
“I was ready to come to Austin to tell you the same thing. Hell, I would have moved there if you wanted me to. I love you, Teagan Keating and I can't wait to meet Riley someday soon. She sounds incredible which makes sense given who her mother is. I’m so grateful your time in Austin was healing.”
“You would have moved to Austin?” she asks.
“Yes, baby. Right person, right time.”