Chapter 51 Reese
After the rodeo’s shut down and all the lights are off, I walk to the trailer where Goldie’s waiting with Jarrett. They aren’t talking, but they also don’t look uncomfortable.
Progress.
Cap’s laying at Goldie’s feet snoring softly. Bending down, I press a kiss to her cheek and head for the shower. It’s cramped, but it’ll do. Cleaning up as fast as I can, I step out into the bedroom and pull on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.
I’ll be back early enough to change and get ready here before tomorrow’s events start for the youngin’s.
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Jarrett’s voice comes under the door and I wait in the bedroom while he does what he needs to. I don’t want to interrupt. “I shouldn’t have said those things about you.”
“You’re still young, Jarrett, it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you’re willin’ to do the work to fix them, that’s what matters,” she says and I can imagine the smile on her face. The softness of it.
Opening the door, I watch as Jarrett turns, eyes wide as if he forgot I was here. He stands, strides for the door and walks out before I can tell him to lock up if he leaves and I’m not back.
“Wow,” running a hand over my face, I chuckle. “He’s really on a roll tonight, huh?”
“I think he really means it, Old Man, you should be proud.” Standing, Cap shuffles to the side and lays back down.
“You’ve had such a good influence on him and you don’t even realize it, do you?
” She asks the question so easily, and I guess that maybe she’s got a point.
Maybe I’m not so bad at this whole big brother thing after all.
Pride surges in my chest, because I am proud of him. He’s trying, and the amount of growth I’ve seen in the past couple weeks has given me hope.
“You ready to head out?”
“I’ve got something I wanna show you,” she says, pulling me by the hand.
“Okay,” I tell her. I’d follow her anywhere if I knew she’d be there with me.
Her smile pulls up and she scrunches her nose, slipping her hand in mine, she pulls us out of the trailer toward her truck. Getting situated in here is a tight fit, but the smile on her face is worth it.
She drives through town, lights from strings in the trees illuminate the sidewalk.
It’s beautiful, especially the way the lights reflect on her face.
She catches me staring and I grab her thigh, rubbing it with my thumb while I watch her as she drives.
She pulls onto a dirt road, there’s a house with the porch lights on but she passes it by and parks.
“Stay here,” she says, hopping out of the truck to unlock the gate ahead of us. When it’s open, she climbs back in and drives slowly over a path you can hardly see from all the Alfalfa grown up. She parks the truck and nods for me to join her.
Her dress billows as she walks, hands roaming over the long grass stalks. She looks back, checking to make sure I’m following. Stopping near a creek that I hadn’t heard earlier she takes a seat along the bank just above where there’s wet mud.
Sitting beside her, she closes her eyes and tells me to do the same.
“What do you hear?” She whispers, and the sound of the town goes quiet. Crickets sing, frogs croak, and the water bubbles.
“Nature,” I chuckle.
“What else, smartass?” She asks.
“Nothin’,” I tentatively answer.
“Exactly,” she says, opening her eyes, and in the dark moonlit light her features are shrouded in night. Turning her head my way, a lightning bug flares and goes out. The subtle flame illuminating her in a crown of wonder.
Soon, more join, flickering and dying. It’s like our own personal sky of twinkling lights.
Something only for us.
Watching the green glowing bugs, I reach down, running my thumb over her bottom lip.
With my first finger, I nudge her chin up and wait, enjoying the serenity of her.
She blinks slowly, looking up at me with her guard completely down, and I know with every fiber of my being, that Lucy Maxine Tritt is the woman I’ve held out for.
“I love you, Lucy,” I breathe, moving closer to her.
She lets me close the gap and our lips meet in a crackle of energy that I can feel in my toes.
This kiss isn’t rushed, isn’t filled with lust and want.
It’s a kiss shared between two souls entwining.
When it breaks, she moves back only far enough for our eyes to meet under the full moon. “I love you too, Reese.”
Hearing her say those words is even better than hearing I’d broken a record for longest ride time. It’s better than… anything, because I know she means it. I smile like a love sick fool and respond, “I’m so in love with you I don’t know what to do with myself.”
We sit for a little while longer, until she stands and brushes off her behind. I follow suit without a word and she grips my hand. Walking us through the field she guides us to the house we passed before and unlocks the front door.
When the door shuts, she pulls me up the stairs into a bedroom not much bigger than the loft I’ve got at my house. It’s unmistakably hers, with pictures dotting every surface and a lone TV sitting on top of the one dresser in the room.
“Take me to bed,” she whispers into the quiet room, and I do. Taking my time with her, making sure she feels just how much I meant what I said tonight.