Chapter 67
CHAPTER 67
SIMON
I smelled bacon and eggs before I’d even opened my eyes and I grinned, rolling over to tell Abi how much I loved waking up on the ranch. Only, when I looked at where she was supposed to have been, the bed was empty.
“What the…” I whispered, blinking sleep out of my eyes. I pushed myself into a sitting position, but the bed was definitely empty and so was the room.
There was no sound or movement from the bathroom either and I groaned, dropping back down onto the bed. She must be downstairs with her sisters.
Last night, they’d warned me that their days around here started ridiculously early. Like four a.m. early, and judging by the fact that the sky outside was still a sleepy gray-blue and I could already smell breakfast, they hadn’t been kidding.
A few minutes later, I was still admiring the view outside Abi’s bedroom window, the rolling fields and the birds streaking through the sky, when the door opened. She walked into the room wearing her jammies and slippers, carrying two coffees and smiling when she realized I was awake.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” She sat down on the bed and handed over one of the mugs. “We’re headed to the rodeo in a couple hours.”
I sat up again, gratefully accepting the steaming mug. “Dang, Abs. You’re wife material. Coffee in bed. Yeah, I’m sold.”
She laughed. “Don’t get used to it. Usually, I’m up early and on a run by the time the rest of the world even starts stirring. Although that doesn’t really apply here. The Andersons are always already on the go by the time I open my eyes.”
“Would you like to go for a quick run this morning before we start getting ready for whatever we’re doing at the rodeo?”
“Heck, yeah.” Her lips curved into a wide smile, her eyes shining with soft emotion in the early morning light. “So, what do you think of the ranch and my brother-in-law? I feel like I hardly got to talk to you yesterday.”
I chuckled. “It was a bit of a rush after we got in, huh? A good rush, though. I actually like it here. A lot. I like the Andersons too. It feels like a real break after the last couple months, running between Fit Gal and the office.”
“It’s a whole different world down here,” she agreed, blowing steam across the surface of her mug. Her gaze moved to the window. “A beautiful world. There are some trails around the ranch that I’ve run in the past when I’ve been here, and it feels like you’re hundreds of miles away from anything even remotely resembling civilization. They’re the most relaxing trails ever.”
“I can’t wait.” We finished our coffee while she told me more about the Andersons and their ranches. Then we changed and put on some sneakers, heading out past the backyard and the fire pit where we’d hung out last night.
Neither of us said much as we ran, with Abi taking the lead around the ranch. I enjoyed every minute of it, not only because she’d been right about feeling so far removed from civilization, but also because of who I was with.
I loved that Abigail was active and liked the outdoors as much as I did. She was a full-on woman now, but she still had the same free spirit she’d had all those years ago. At least when she wasn’t at work. I’d realized that she was the consummate professional when an occasion called for it, but in her personal time, she was animated and sometimes even childlike in her excitement.
She seemed to still live life to the fullest and in bed? She fucking slayed me every time. I couldn’t get enough of how real and unrestrained she was. She went with what she felt and she responded to every little thing I did.
Being here with her and realizing what our lives could be like together, I knew I had to get my ass into gear and become the man she needed me to be. Which was mostly a guy she could trust and rely on. It wasn’t much to ask and I wished I had been that already.
As our footsteps thudded across the dirt and with the scent of earth and sunshine in my nostrils, I was also realizing that I needed to get out of my penthouse. That wasn’t the place where I wanted to start a life with her—and it wasn’t a place where I wanted to live my own life anymore either.
The longer we ran, the more I realized I’d been craving space. A yard. A place for a dog and children to run around. By the time Charlie’s house came back into view, I’d all but made up my mind to start house hunting soon. But I’d told myself before to hold off until the Fit Gal competition was done, and it was probably still best to do just that.
Abi slowed and turned to face me, her skin glowing and a wide grin on her lips. I caught up to her, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her to me.
“We should go get ready,” I murmured, smiling right back at her. I lowered my mouth to hers for a deep, passionate kiss. “Thank you for the run. It was awesome. So awesome that it clarified a few things for me.”
“Hmm? Like what?” she asked lazily, leaning into me as she looked up into my eyes. “Are you going to buy a ranch?”
I chuckled. “I would, but I’m not sure about waking up at four every morning to go shovel shit.”
“They don’t do that first thing in the morning.” She laughed. “I’m pretty sure they muck the stalls later on, once all the animals have been checked on and fed.”
“Oh, well that makes it much better.” I winked and took her hand. “Is that the kind of life you’d like? This. The ranch and the animals?”
Her smile faded and she turned her gaze away from my own, drinking it all in before she slowly shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I adore this place. I love coming to visit out here and I know it’s a long way off for me, but I’m really looking forward to bringing my children here to play with their cousins.”
My heart rioted in my chest at the thought of her having children that might not be ours, but I didn’t interrupt to mention it. When she finally looked back at me, she shrugged. “I can’t imagine living here, though. I love New York too much. I love our branch there. Eventually, when I’m closer to actually having a family, I might like to move to the suburbs, but other than that, I’m pretty happy exactly where I am. You?”
“Nah, I’m no cowboy, but I do like the space. Obviously, we won’t be able to get near as much of it in the city, but I don’t need a whole ranch. I’d settle for a nice backyard and lots of space for August to run around.”
Abi blinked a few times, then chuckled and shook her head at me. “Let’s not talk about anything like that just yet.”
I nodded, tightening my grip on her hand and leading her into the house to find Olivia cleaning up the kitchen. She smiled when she saw us. “Good morning. Nice run?”
“The best.” I nodded at the countertops. “Give me a few. I’ll come help you as soon as I smell a little better.”
She wrinkled her nose and pretended to cough. “Good idea. You’re rancid.”
I laughed. “Gee, thanks.”
Following Abi upstairs, I hit the shower in my own room, knowing I’d get way too sidetracked if I went to join her and I doubted we had time for that.
Making it back to the kitchen before she was done, I clapped my hands together and grinned at Liv. “Okay, I think I smell marginally better, so put me to work.”
Instead of moving toward me or even telling me what I could do, she swiped her tongue across her lips and braced her palms on the kitchen table, leaning forward a little as she gazed into my eyes. I could feel her assessing me, those lively greens of hers searching before she sighed.
“I know that look on my sister’s face.” She glanced at the staircase and paused for a moment, but when Abi didn’t appear and there was no sound from the landing, she turned her attention back to me. “She loves you, Simon. Now I don’t know what exactly is going on between you two or how you feel about her, but please don’t break her heart again.”
I looked her square in the eyes. “I won’t.”
“Promise?” She flashed me a nervous half-smile. “I want to trust you, but I don’t know if I can.”
“I understand, but I promise I’m not going to hurt her again and I know it’s going to take time, but I’m going to prove to you that you can trust me. What happened between us before is the greatest regret of my life. I won’t repeat those same mistakes.”
“Good.” She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Charlie and the boys will be done with chores soon. Do you want to help me set the table?”
“I’d love to.” I took a stack of plates out of the cabinet she directed me to, carrying them to a long table in the dining room. Liv came up behind me with cutlery and I looked at her over my shoulder. “Do you cook like this every day?”
She laughed. “No, but it’s a special occasion with all of you here, and besides, once we get to the rodeo, we’re going to be too busy to grab something to eat right away.”
As we worked together to get everything ready for breakfast, I asked her a little bit more about her life here just outside of Houston and answered any questions she asked me honestly.
Olivia was dressed in jeans and her cowboy boots, her hair in low pigtails and almost no makeup on her face. I’d seen pictures of her on social media back when she’d been an exec in Manhattan, and she didn’t look like the same person anymore, but there was a peace to her now. A serenity that I envied.
Then the horde descended and shattered any semblance of peace and quiet. Charlie’s brothers were like a hurricane sweeping through the place, but I had a great time joking around with them. When Abigail came to join us, I caught sight of her on the stairs, and just like what’d happened at the ball, my breath stalled in my lungs.
Dressed similarly to her sister, she seemed like she belonged in this life, but she was so dang beautiful while she was at it that my chest constricted. Her hair had been braided into some kind of feminine plait I couldn’t name, but it hung thick over her shoulder.
Even Colt let out a wolf whistle when he saw her, and I nearly decked the guy I’d thought was becoming a friend just a couple minutes ago. He winked at me when he caught me glaring, though. Abi saw the exchange and laughed, coming up and resting both hands on my chest as she smiled.
“Down boy. He and I are family now.”
I covered her hands in mine, drawing in a deep breath before I nodded and brought my mouth closer to her ear. “How unlucky is he?”
She smacked my shoulder and giggled. “Depends on whose point of view you’re seeing it from. I feel like he’s quite lucky to have me in his family.”
“Yeah, but not like this.” I grinned and tried to swallow the irrational bite of jealousy still trying to claw its way out of me.
Abi sat down beside me at the table, joining in the chatter and laughter around the table. The Andersons devoured mountains of food, their plates piled high with eggs, bacon, toast, beans, and even some fruits and cereal.
By the time we were done eating, there was barely a morsel left. We all helped Liv clean up before we hit the trucks waiting outside. We made our way to the rodeo as a group and I held Abi’s hand all the way, seriously loving the environment of the place once we arrived.
There was great live music, loads of food vendors serving stuff that looked absolutely delicious, animals, and tons of people all around. I glanced into Abi’s eyes after pausing to take it all in. “This is awesome, but do we know what we’re doing here yet?”
“Yeah, you and I are going to help Charlie and Liv take care of the animals. London and Liam are helping some of the Andersons at their booth and I’m not sure what the others are doing, but it sounds like it’s going to be a pretty busy event.”
As if to prove her point, Charlie came over to tell us it was time to get started, and I ended up helping take care of a bunch of baby chicks. Fluffy little yellow bodies chirped all around me and I laughed, surprised by how cute they were and terrified I was going to step on one.
Eventually, I just sat down and they were all over me in no time. Abi smiled as she watched me gently cuddle them, having to move them out of the way whenever I just wanted to move my leg. “Look at this. They love me.”
She grinned. “You’re a chick magnet. Literally.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, but I’m really only after one.”
Her cheeks flushed and she held my gaze but didn’t comment. It looked like Olivia and London weren’t the only Walkers who still needed convincing that I was going to stay this time, but that was okay. I was determined to find a way to make both Abi and myself as happy as we were right then for the rest of our lives—no matter what happened with Fit Gal in the end.