Chapter 35
JULES
S he felt as if her heart was split in two, a wedge of confusion driven through it as she traveled across town.
The plan was for her to go home and change before meeting back up at the ranch.
Riley had insisted he was fine for their basic duties and wouldn’t hear of her doing all the work for a second day in a row.
With a kiss and a promise to be there within the hour, she floated out to her car on cloud nine.
There was no denying that she was in love with him. It had snuck up on her quietly, between the long days working together and the ways he showed up for her. She had fallen in love with him. And she wanted to stay with him.
But the second she started down the road, doubt and worry began to creep in. She snuck a sniff of the oversized hoodie hanging on her body. Riley had given it to her for the cool morning air, his scent all over it. It settled her some, to inhale and feel his presence.
All her running was catching up to her now that she was ready to stop. “I just need a plan. I need to organize everything,” she assured herself aloud.
She needed to talk to Brett first, to tell him that she wanted to stay on and see if he needed another equine caretaker. Then she needed to figure out how she could make things work with the magazine.
Her heart screamed that she should tell them no. She wasn’t leaving in three days. But everything she had worked so hard to build was hanging on the line. And Jules was a Graham after all—she prided herself on the career she had pulled together from nothing.
Maybe they could go with the backup photographer without breaking the contract.
After all, they were the one completely upending plans.
That would be the route she would go. A part of her knew the moment Michelle called with the change of plans; she would turn it down.
She could take a trip any time, but the future she wanted was hanging in the balance now.
As she parked outside her apartment, her breathing hitched. The call to Michelle would have to wait. Because sitting on the stoop at the front door was her father. There was a large box at his feet and an even larger scowl on his face.
She climbed out of the car and crossed around the hood to the sidewalk. “Dad?” she squeaked as he stood to meet her.
“Hey, everything okay?” her father asked, concern creasing between his eyes.
She had still been at his house yesterday when the call came in.
Riley’s on his way to the hospital. Something happened .
Jules had been out the front door and bolting for her car before the second sentence even reached her ears.
She had sent him a message from the hospital, explaining the situation, but she never expected him to show up here because of it.
“I think so, yeah. He’s home and has some follow ups scheduled.” Stepping around him, she unlocked the apartment and stood in the open doorway. “Do you come just to check on?—”
“I am definitely working on finding more of that balance for you, but no not checking in. After you left, that was delivered for you.” He pointed at the large box sitting on the corner of the stoop. “It’s from the magazine.”
Michelle had told Jules she was sending it to the home address listed—she had assumed that was her apartment, not her dad’s house, then again, when she first signed the contract with them, she hadn’t leased the Denver apartment yet. Graham Equestrian was the address she had jotted down.
“If you did decide to go, I figured you needed whatever this is,” her dad explained.
She bit her lip and started at the box. “I’m not sure what is inside, but it is supposed to sweeten the deal.”
“Do you want to see what that could be?”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to take this trip to Argentina in three days,” she admitted.
“You want to stay here?”
“I do.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. You and Maddie always were attached at the hip.” Crossing his arms, the corner of his lip tipped up. “And maybe you decided this guy is worth taking the chance?”
Her face flushed. “Yes. He’s the best guy.”
“Then don’t make the same mistakes I did. A job means nothing when you have no one to share it with.”
Her heart raced; she knew he was right. “Thank you, Dad.”
“Sure, kid.” Nudging the corner of the box with his boot, he added, “I’m still curious about what’s in here though.”
She hadn’t kept the promise to meet at the ranch in an hour.
After they opened the box and discovered a state-of-the-art camera with multiple lenses, a tripod, and leather harness, she found that she wasn’t swayed a bit.
And she didn’t want to lose her momentum, so she promptly called Michelle to decline the project.
As she showered, dressed, and jumped in the car, she waited to feel any type of regret. The urge to run was familiar when she was second guessing a decision. But it didn’t come.
Instead, she found herself singing along to one song after another on the drive. The tethers that had been holding her were gone. The deeds done.
She felt free.
Of course, she still had to secure her job at the ranch. And there was a long road ahead of her and her parents in terms of repairing their relationships. But she had started to untangle things and was finally on a path of running towards something rather than away.
Actually, she was running towards someone too.
Parking beside the truck that belonged to the very someone on her mind, she jumped out and started towards the stables. But maybe—she paused. Maybe she should go up to the house and find Brett first. Secure the job to show that she planned on sticking around.
Her boots pivoted in the dirt, and she pointed herself towards the farmhouse instead. With Laurel on bed rest, the ranch’s owner barely left her side. It was a safe bet that she would find him there.
Climbing the hill with purpose, she reached the back porch and walked up the wooden steps. Through the glass doors she could see Brett, Laurel, and Cooper together. Laurel spotted Jules first, a knowing smile stretching across her face.
“You’re here,” the petite, very pregnant woman greeted her as she stepped inside.
Jules tipped her head to the side, confused by the surprise in Laurel’s voice. “Should I not be?”
“Maddie told me about the changed date for your trip,” she explained. “And then Riley seemed worried that you weren’t here when you said you would be. I hoped you’d return though.”
“That’s actually what I came to talk to you about.” Jules looked from Laurel over to her husband at her side.
“Because you’re leaving or because you’re staying?” Cooper asked from the armchair by the fireplace. He lifted his coffee mug to his mouth and slurped loudly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
“Either way,” Brett started, scowling in the direction of his surrogate brother. “I’m not the person to talk to about it anymore.”
Jules’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “You’re not?” Her heart sank as her body dropped down onto a barstool at the island. Was she too late? Had they found someone else to help with the role vacated by Laurel?
“I’m not. As of this morning, equine decisions are going to make more sense going through the head of our wild horse program.” Brett flashed an amused grin as Jules gaped at him.
With another obnoxiously loud slurp, Cooper said, “Might want to go find your boyfriend.”