Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
COLTON
I didn’t sleep at all. The adrenaline from how the night unravelled with my parents, coupled with my anxiety about Kairi’s decision, kept me up until the sun began to peak through the horizon.
I climb out of bed, throw on an old riding outfit, and make my way downstairs. Everyone in the house is still asleep, but I can’t stay in here—I need fresh air. The sound of snoring coming from the living room catches my attention and I tiptoe to the archway entrance, finding my dad asleep there.
It’s not surprising; when I was a kid, my mother always kicked him to the couch for the night during an argument, refusing to sleep next to him.
I quietly make my way back through the kitchen, grabbing a carrot on the way out as I exit through the back door, the cool summer morning air greeting me like an old friend.
I spot a collection of cowboy boots near the door, my old, half-worn ones still sitting pretty, so I slide my feet in and make my way down the porch.
The property looks perfectly maintained, thanks to Cooper, but I find myself walking toward the stable doors. They creak as I push them open, the familiar scent of hay, and horses jolt my memories of mornings spent here before surfing became everything to me.
The morning light spills through the wooden slats, and dust floats through the beams. Most of the stalls are occupied, horses shifting and snorting softly as they begin waking up, but my gaze lands on the chestnut gelding at the far end who’s so still it almost looks fake.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I murmur.
Chestnut, who I named when I was a child, lifts his head at the sound of my voice. For a second, he just stares at me, ears twitching like he’s trying to place me after all this time, then he huffs loudly and nudges the stall door hard enough to rattle it.
A laugh escapes from my lips before I can stop it and I step closer.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. It took me long enough to come back.”
Chestnut huffs again, as if agreeing with me, and I reach into my pocket pulling out the carrot I grabbed from the kitchen.
Chestnut practically inhales it from my palm within seconds before shoving his nose into my chest like he’s demanding more.
I scratch the white patch between his eyes, smiling when he leans into the touch.
“You still love your snacks, huh?”
He stomps once in response, and I can’t help but smile.
I missed this; missed him; missed all of it.
Something about the familiar sounds of the barn waking up around me causes the tight feeling in my chest to loosen, and I can finally breathe easier for the first time since arriving here yesterday.
“Thought I heard someone sneaking around out here.”
I glance over my shoulder to find Cooper walking into the stable, two saddles balanced over his shoulders. He tosses one at me and I barely catch it before it smacks me in the face.
“The hell?”
“Do you still know how to ride or has Saltwater Springs made you a softie?”
I snort. “I didn’t forget anything.”
“Good.” He grabs Chestnut's reins and opens the stall. “C’mon then, let’s go for that ride.”
The wind tears through my hair as Chestnut gallops across the open hills, the rhythm of his hooves hitting the ground vibrating through my bones. Beside me, Cooper rides his own horse, completely at ease as we pass through the fields behind the ranch.
I forgot how good this feels.
The freedom of it and the adrenaline.
It hits me almost the same way surfing does in that split second right before catching a wave, when your heart kicks harder and the rest of the world fades away.
Except out here, there’s no cameras or interviews.
No rankings, or expectations clawing at my throat.
Out here it’s just open land and salty air.
We ride for what feels like forever before Cooper finally slows his horse near the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Mountains rise behind us while waves crash below, the morning sun turning the water gold.
I pull Chestnut to a stop beside him and whistle low. “Damn. I forgot how pretty this place is.”
Cooper doesn’t answer as he stares at the small private beach below.
“You gonna throw me off the edge?” I ask, mostly joking.
He lifts his gaze and stares out at the ocean. “I probably should, shouldn’t I?”
My grin fades.
Ah. Here it comes, The Harrison Lecture.
I brace myself for the inevitable speech about responsibility and family legacy, but it never comes.
“I think this whole family falling apart is my fault,” Cooper says instead, catching me completely off guard.
I blink. “What?”
He keeps his eyes forward, but his jaw is tight. “Callie wanted guitar lessons when we were kids, so I introduced her to Mason.”
Mason is Cooper's best friend and the local hidden talent.
“She started writing songs with him every weekend,” Cooper continues. “Now she’s halfway across the damn world being a popstar.”
“That’s not your—”
“And you.” He cuts me off with a humorless laugh. “I’m the one who started taking you surfing with us. Dad used to hate it because it distracted you from ranch work.”
I stare at him.
“He blames me,” Cooper says. “Pretty sure he always will.”
“Coop—”
“He lost both of you.”
The words land like a punch to the chest, and I realize just how much he’s been blaming himself for how everything happened.
I shake my head hard. “You didn’t make me leave, Cade.”
He doesn’t answer.
“ And you didn’t force Callie to chase music either,” I continue. “We made our own choices.”
“Well it didn’t stop Dad from acting like I handed you both the getaway car.”
I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck before looking out at the horizon. “Dad’s just pissed because none of us turned out exactly how he planned.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“He wanted me here forever.” I glance down at the reins in my hands. “But if I stayed, I would’ve hated my life.”
Cooper finally looks over at me.
“I’m glad you chose to chase after what you love,” he says. “You gotta do what makes you happy, Colt.” He pauses. “Just… don’t forget where you come from while you’re doing it. Don’t forget there’s people here who love you and want to see you too.”
Something in my chest cracks open at that because I’ve spent so long acting like Bluewater Bluffs was something I escaped from that I forgot it could still be home too.
No matter what happens in Saltwater Springs, whether I get the permanent spot or not, I still have a home to come back to.
Emotions lodge thick in my throat and I swallow against them, refusing to cry in front of my brother. “Thanks.”
Cooper shrugs again, “Don’t make it weird.”
A laugh bubbles out of me, and after a second I glance around. “Where’s Cade anyway?”
“While you’ve been off becoming a surf hotshot, the ranch has been under attack.”
“What?”
“Some hotshot interior designer moved to town a few months ago. She has rich investors backing her, and she wants to buy up half the coast and build some luxury resorts.”
My stomach drops. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Cooper shakes his head. “She’s been sniffing around the ranch too. Something about the view from our property being perfect.”
“What the hell?”
“She’s got another thing coming.” Cooper pats his horse’s neck. “Cade’s dealing with it. We all are. You focus on surfing.”
I stare at him. “You sure you guys don’t need me?”
“Positive.”
Relief and guilt twist together in my chest. “Thanks,” I say again, quieter this time.
Cooper smirks. “You can repay me by finally talking to Dad.”
I grimace immediately. “Hard pass.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He sighs. “That man misses you, idiot.”
I scoff. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Colton.” Cooper turns toward me. “He watches every replay of your surf competitions when he thinks everyone else is asleep.”
I freeze. “What?”
“And he pays to have a weekly copy of the Coastal Times delivered all the way out here too, just in case there’s news about you in it.”
My mouth actually falls open.
“And when that article came out about you and Griffin fighting at the bonfire like a year or two ago?” Cooper shakes his head. “Dad almost drove down to Saltwater Springs himself to pick a fight with Griffin.”
I stare at him, completely speechless. My father has never called, never said he’s proud, and most definitely has never said he misses me. Cooper just smirks at the look on my face before nudging his horse forward.
“C’mon, surfer boy,” he says over his shoulder as he takes off down the hill, and after a stunned second, I follow.
By the time we ride back up to the house, the sun is higher in the sky, and sitting on the front porch steps, elbows braced on his knees with a beer bottle dangling from one hand, is my father.
Well shit.
Cooper notices him at the same time I do and glances sideways at me slowly, already looking amused.
“Nope,” I mutter immediately, pulling lightly on Chestnut’s reins. “Not happening.”
“Oh yes it is.” Cooper grins.
He reaches across the space between our horses and shoves hard against my shoulder.
“What the fuck—”
I nearly fall right out of the saddle, barely catching myself before my boots slam awkwardly into the dirt. Chestnut huffs in annoyance beside me and Cooper grabs both sets of reins before I can recover.
“Looks like you’re walkin’ from here.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“And you need to talk to Dad.” He starts leading both horses toward the stables. “I’ll go muck the ranch for ya.”
“You mean muck the stalls?”
“That too.”
“Coward,” I call after him.
He just lifts a hand without turning around while I stand frozen in place debating whether I can run off somewhere into the hills, but eventually I force myself to head toward the porch to get this over with.
My father looks up as I approach and for a moment, neither of us says anything. He reaches beside him, grabs a second beer bottle, and holds it out. I stare at it like it might explode.
“Thought we might try this again,” he says gruffly.
Kinda early to be drinking, I want to say—but I don’t.
Instead, I slowly take the bottle and lower myself onto the step beside him, the wood creaking under my weight. He twists the cap off with ease before taking a long pull from his own bottle.
“Your mom told me to sleep out on the front porch until I make nice with you,” he mutters. “Managed to sneak back in halfway through the night and cozy up on the couch.”
A laugh threatens to break free from my lips immediately and I try to hide it behind my beer bottle, but apparently I inherited none of my mother’s subtlety because my father catches it instantly.
“Little shit disturber,” he grumbles.
A laugh bursts out of me, and my fathers mouth twitches like he’s fighting one too. When the silence settles between us again, I stare out at the property, taking a slow sip of beer.
“I’m sorry for letting you down, Dad,” I say quietly.
He sighs heavily beside me but I keep going.
“I shouldn’t have left things the way I did,” I continue. “I just…I wasn’t happy here anymore and surfing was the only thing that ever made me feel—”
“Colton.”
I stop talking.
He rubs a hand over his beard before looking straight ahead. “You don’t gotta explain yourself to me, and you sure as hell don’t owe me an apology for wanting a different life.”
My throat tightens unexpectedly as I blink at him.
He exhales slowly. “I shouldn’t have given you that ultimatum.”
The words hit harder than I expect and I have to look away so that he doesn’t see my eyes turn glassy.
“I was holdin’ on too tight,” he admits quietly. “After we let your sister run off to Hollywood, I think I panicked.” He lets out a humourless chuckle. “Thought if I held on hard enough, maybe I wouldn’t lose another kid too.”
“You didn’t lose me,” I say immediately.
Dad finally looks over at me then, eyes sharp beneath the brim of his hat.
“That so?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
A beat passes.
“Good.” He nods once. “That means you’ll be comin’ out here for Sunday dinners when there’s no competition, right?”
A smile pulls at my mouth before I can stop it. “Yeah,” I say softly. “I can do that.”
He lifts his beer bottle toward mine and I clink the neck against his with a quiet crack. From inside the house, music suddenly drifts through the open kitchen window. It’s some old country song my mother only ever plays when she’s in a good mood.
He groans under his breath. “Your mother’s celebratin’ already.”
I snort because knowing my mother, she was definitely standing by the window listening in.
A second later, my father starts singing quietly along to the chorus and I stare at him in disbelief for approximately two seconds before joining in under my breath too. By the second chorus, we’re both singing low and horribly off-key while pretending not to notice it.
Dad takes another drink before casually asking, “So I hear you got a girl. Will she be joining us for Sunday dinners?”
I choke on my beer, coughing hard into my fist. “Dad!”
He looks over at me, unimpressed. “What? I was just curious.”
I shake my head, wiping my mouth. “One thing at a time, Dad.”
He hums beside me. “Alright, alright.”
He takes another drink, resuming his humming, and I can’t help but smile at how painfully normal this feels, so much so that my chest aches. This is what I’ve been missing all these years, and I’m glad I could get it back.
Now all that’s left is to get Kairi back, for real this time.