16. Ronnie
Ronnie
“Is something wrong?” Flint asks when he steps onto the back patio. He tugs the sliding glass door closed behind himself. Last night, Flint gave me his ring, and we slept in his bed. He held me through the night, just like he promised. I woke up feeling lighter than I have in months, maybe years.
We haven’t had a chance to see each other all day.
He was up early for his farm chores. I know he was able to swing by and see the boys for a few minutes this afternoon, but he quickly got called out to help with another crisis.
The thing about the ranch is there’s always something happening and someone that needs assistance.
He wasn’t even able to get away for dinner.
But he did come in after to play with the boys a bit before wishing them goodnight.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” I tell him, suddenly shy now that he’s here. He has a cushioned bench, and it’s perfectly placed under the shade of a tree draped in fairy lights. The cicadas are buzzing, and the breeze is rustling through the grass.
“And the boys are okay?”
“The boys are in bed now, and Grandma is at the kitchen table, watching Sylvester defeat more bad guys.”
He’s quiet, clearly trying to figure out why I sent him a text message telling him to meet me outside.
“I just wanted to hang out with you for a few minutes,” I say, not sure why I feel nervous. This isn’t exactly a date.
“You wanted to hang out?” He repeats, and he looks so delighted that it breaks my heart a little bit.
“Just you and me,” I clarify. “I love having the kids around and my grandma, but sometimes, I want you all to myself.”
“You can have me. All of me.” He crosses the patio and takes a seat on the bench.
I slide next to him and put my head on his shoulder. He threads our fingers together, making a soft noise of contentment that echoes exactly how I feel.
I don’t know how long we sit together in silence for. I only know that it’s the best part of my day. It’s amazing to be with someone whose presence soothes me, who calms me just by sitting down and holding my hand.
“I want to take you out on a date,” he finally murmurs.
“I’m free tomorrow night.”
“Bronco has me scouting the valley tomorrow afternoon. I’m supposed to be surveying the land. We could go together, maybe take a picnic basket, and expense it to the ranch.”
I chuckle. “I’m not approving a picnic lunch on an expense sheet.”
“We’ll call it a team-building exercise, boss.”
“Absolutely not. But I will go on the picnic with you.”
“It’s a date then.” He squeezes my hand. “Look, a shooting star.”
“Actually, I think that one is an airplane.”
“Well, you’d know more than me. The boys said you can name every star in the night sky,” his voice has that note of awe in it that he gets when he talks about me. It always makes me feel warm inside.
“I think they misunderstood. I can name some of the constellations.”
“Yeah, like which ones?”
“Well, turn your head that way. There’s Scorpius, named because it looks kind of like a scorpion. And there’s the Summer Triangle.” I take his hand and lift it. “That’s Vega, Deneb, and Altair.”
“Where did you learn all this?”
“My dad and I shared a love of astronomy. We’d camp in our backyard a few times every summer. I always thought it was magical. I planned to become an astrophysicist.”
“What stopped you?”
“Well, I started college right when my grandma had her first heart attack. Astrophysicists can make good money, but the path to getting there requires a lot of schooling. Even then, it’s not guaranteed you’ll get a job in the field. So, I switched to a business major instead.”
“You gave up your dream for her.”
“For a woman who stepped in and raised me when my mother died, who helped me through the deepest grief of losing my father when it was her son she’d just buried. How do you ever say thank you enough for that?” I shrug. “It’s hardly a sacrifice.”
“Don’t downplay it. What you did matters. A hell of a lot. And nothing says you can’t go back to school now. Plenty of moms get degrees while raising kids, and you wouldn’t be alone. You have me. I’ll make sure the kids are taken care of while you go after your dream.”
I put a hand on his face, feeling his soft beard in my palm.
“Thank you for that. You don’t know what it means to have that support.
But my dreams are different now. It changes once you become a parent.
Now, what I want is to raise happy, healthy kids on a big ranch and keep my grandma from being served a restraining order by Sylvester. ”
“You think that could be a problem?”
“Let’s say it’s a good thing she can’t drive anymore.”
“The vision appointment? Yeah, I’ll be back in time from lunch with Flint to drive them into town for that,” I tell Grandma over the phone. I forgot about the appointment entirely but thankfully she just got a reminder message about it.
“Good. There’s a nail place I’ve been wanting to try,” she tells me.
I add another sticky note to my desk. There are always five hundred sticky notes in various colors reminding me of the things I need to do.
It’s a fair mix of business and personal, but Bronco doesn’t care much about what I do.
He’s made it clear that as long as his ranch keeps running, he prefers to be hands-off.
It’s just one more thing I love about this job.
I have complete freedom over my schedule and my tasks.
Not to mention there’s some nice eye-candy around here. Namely, in the form of Flint.
“I was thinking purple. Emma May believes I’ll look best in jewel tones. She’s meeting me over there. Have you met her? She seems kind. Runs the grocery store and has fostered so many boys over the years.”
“I haven’t met her yet, but listen, I need to get a few things done. You’ll make sure the boys are ready?” I ask, glancing over the checklist in my planner. It’s a list of things to do in the summer before your kids start first grade and getting an eye exam was on it.
“Yes, I’m on it,” she answers and tells me she loves me one more time before she hangs up.
I work until Flint shows up, picnic basket over his arm with the biggest grin on his face. He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Are you ready for our not-team-building-definitely-not-sleeping-with-the-boss meeting?”
I laugh and slip my hand in his, allowing him to pull me into the bright sunshine. It’s going to be the perfect day.