Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
LANDEN
I joined a local one as a leader and every Saturday morning, a dozen rowdy teenagers come to the ranch where I teach them various equine sports.
Today so happens to be a lesson on barrel racing.
To no one’s surprise, more teens than usual showed up today. It makes me smile with pride at how much they look up to her. She’s wanted more than anything to make a difference and become a mentor.
And now she is.
Once she’s finished going through her tips and tricks of barrel racing, I chime in. “Her top secret is having me as her trainer,” I gloat, standing behind her.
She jabs her elbow into my gut, and I grunt.
“Ignore him.” Ellie stands with her hands on her hips. “We don’t let men take credit for our hard work, do we?”
“No!” Mallory shouts the loudest with the other girls because of course she’d come to annoy the shit out of me. She could get lessons from Ellie anytime.
But I’m pretty sure she’s here because of Antonio.
They’re the same age and never stop talking during the meetings. When I mentioned it to Wilder and Waylon, they threatened to “talk to him,” but Mallory begged them not to.
Then Tripp warned her that being the youngest in the family meant she had four older brothers to protect her.
Noah told her it sucked growing up with older brothers, but considering she was the first sibling to get married, and the youngest, she doesn’t have much to complain about.
“Let’s tack up the horses and we’ll get started,” Ellie says after going over some ground rules and expectations of the students.
I help the kids with their saddles and equipment, then make sure their helmets are secure.
No concussions on my watch.
Ellie works with them on posture, holding the reins, and other various skills. Though I step in to help when someone needs it, I love watching her in an element outside of riding.
She excels at teaching.
More patience than me, that’s for sure.
“Well, that was fun!” She beams once the last kid gets picked up.
“I enjoyed it!” Mallory exclaims. “Maybe I’ll be a barrel racer.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Last week you were gonna be a famous singer.”
“So? I can’t do both?” She gives me an attitude like only a fifteen-year-old teenager could.
Ellie snorts, patting my chest before she walks around me. “Good luck with that.”
“Sure, go muck the stables and you can practice singing at the same time.”
She shrugs. “Joke’s on you. I do that anyway.”
I spend the next hour cleaning the training center—putting the barrels away and sweeping the dirt to smooth it out.
“Hey, you done in here?” Tripp asks, popping through the entrance.
“Yep, just finished. Why, what’s up?”
“Just caught Antonio and Mallory makin’ out in one of the stalls.”
My jaw drops. “Shut up. Dad’s gonna flip his shit.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Dad…” He looks like he’s fighting back a smile. “The twins were with me.”
“Oh fuck.”
I follow Tripp to the stables, jogging most of the way there once I hear shouting.
“Let me go!” Mallory screams.
When I walk inside, Wilder’s got Antonio pinned to the wall like a corkboard and Waylon’s got Mallory’s arm in a firm hold.
“What’re y’all doing?”
“He was feelin’ her up. I saw it!” Wilder explains.
“No, he wasn’t!” Mallory argues, struggling to release herself from Waylon’s death grip.
“Cupping…of this area…” Wilder motions toward his chest, and I fight back a laugh at his attempt to discreetly specify where he’s talking about. “And touchin’ places he shouldn’t be.”
“Not if it’s over the shirt, idiot!” Mallory retorts, and I pinch the bridge of my nose.
No way she just said that.
“There should be no touching below the neck at their age!” Wilder squeezes Antonio. “You hear me?”
“Alright, release the kid before you catch an assault charge.” I get between them, helping Antonio down. He immediately darts out of the barn, and I shake my head at Wilder.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
He holds out his hand toward Mallory. “He was takin’ advantage.”
“No, he wasn’t. I kissed him first,” she admits.
“Mom and Dad are gonna kill ya,” Waylon tells her. “Let’s go, I’m taking you back to the house.”
“Y’all are such hypocrites. As if you weren’t having sex at my age.”
The four of us all snap our gazes at Mallory.
“What? I’m fifteen, not stupid. I’ve had the talk half a dozen times.” She rolls her eyes and then marches off toward Waylon’s truck.
“Jesus Christ, I’m never havin’ kids if that’s what they grow up to be,” Wilder says, brushing a hand through his hair. “That Antonio kid is lucky I didn’t put a pitchfork through him.”
I turn toward Tripp, clapping his back. “You’ve got a daughter at home…good luck in fourteen years.”
I walk through my front door and go through the living room exploding with Christmas decorations. Even though we’ve not even celebrated Thanksgiving yet, she was determined to make our first holiday together extra special.
Seconds later, I find Ellie in the kitchen wearing my favorite white T-shirt.
“My wife in the kitchen in just panties and a shirt making me dinner? Am I dreaming?” I slide my hands around her waist, pulling her into my erection.
“You wish,” she sasses, staying focused on the ingredients set out on the counter in front of her. “I’m workin’ on a cheesecake for the open house.”
“That’s not for like…three or four months.”
“I know, but I need to practice. Gramma Grace’s recipe is complicated as hell.”
Our dream house is in the process of being built. It’s in the same spot where we had our first date by the lake, and I couldn’t be more excited about it, especially for the day we get to move in.
I already have so many plans for us there.
Quickly scooping her up, I then set her down on the counter and step between her legs.
“Geez, give a little warnin’ next time.” She clings to my shoulders.
“I have a gift for you. Stay put,” I demand, then go to the living room where I hid it in one of the bookshelf drawers.
When we planned our wedding, we agreed to keep things as simple as possible, which meant no extravagant gifts to each other.
But I’ve been working on something special for her and instead of waiting for Christmas or her birthday, I want her to have it now since this month marks one year out from next year’s NFR.
“Close your eyes,” I tell her, walking back with the box.
She sighs, but then shuts them. “You better not be putting anything weird in my lap.”
“You suck at receiving gifts, don’t ya?”
She shrugs, and when I place it in her hands, she opens her eyes. They widen when she realizes what it is.
“Is this a scrapbook?” She traces over the photo on the front. “Is that the lake? Our lake?”
Grinning wide, I nod. “I took a photo of it and had someone make it into a pretty watercolor version. I had a large one framed for the inside of our new house. Thought it’d look good in our bedroom or living room.”
“It’s gorgeous, Landen! Wow…” Her gaze travels over every inch of the book. Little floral pieces surround the photo wrapped in a felt spine.
“I’m glad you love it. But now open it.”
She gasps when she flips the cover and reads the first page.
“My Year to the National Finals Rodeo,” she reads aloud, then glances up at me. “You made this for me?”
“I know how important this next season is as your comeback year, so I thought we should document it. I already put some pictures of you and Ranger in there, but every month leading up to finals, we’ll add a page with a new photo of you two and write an update on how things are going, what you’re workin’ on, what your goals are, and whatever else you want.
When it’s NFR month next year, you’ll have a whole year of your progress to look back on.
So no matter how you place, you’ll have a reminder to be proud of yourself.
Because no matter what, I’ll forever be proud of you. ”
Ellie will always be a winner in my mind, but I know she’s much harder on herself.
“And I included a photo of us inside so you never forget I’m your number one fan.”
“Goddammit, Landen,” she cries out, flipping through the pages. “This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“I hoped you’d like it.” I tilt her chin, stealing a kiss.
“I’d marry you all over if I could. I’m glad you coerced me into gettin’ hitched sooner.”
“Coerced or convinced with my tongue?”
She snorts. “What’s the difference with you?”
I shrug playfully, twirling a strand of her hair between my fingers. I love when she wears it down and wavy. “I knew what I wanted, and I went for it.”
“You sure did, Major Ego.” She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into her for a hug. “Glad that you did, too.”
I wink and she tries to wipe her cheeks before I notice she’s tearing up. “We could always do a vow renewal in a few years.”
“Maybe…but I love the memories we made on our wedding day. It was perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.” She presses her warm lips to mine.
“Agreed. Best day of my life.”
Saying I do to the girl of my dreams and then spending a week with her in their luxury treehouses just the two of us was another bonus.
I showed her all around Willow Branch Mountain and everything their resort had to offer.
We went shopping in their small town, tried out their restaurants, and then spent all evening in bed.
Although I hadn’t made it up there over the summer when we were going to discuss a joint statement over Angela’s parole, I’m satisfied with how things were resolved.
There are no more secrets between Ellie and me.
She got closure on her past and could finally move on.
And even if Angela deserved to serve more time, it wouldn’t have changed anything about what already happened.
So waiting to go back until our wedding was the best choice because it gave me the chance to have a fresh start there.
The worst part was coming home and back to reality.
But I know we’ll go there again soon.
Warren and Maisie made certain of that.