Chapter Forty-Eight
Cowboys and Cowgirls
Rod
One Year Later
The faint whoosh of the wind is quieter than the fan that has been working overtime in Jordan’s childhood bedroom.
The house, the one part of her family ranch that has gone untouched, appears to suffer from window units that provide sparse air conditioning, and the natural solution in these situations – the dumbest solution that anyone could come up with, to be fair – is to spend the time outside.
‘This tops that freaky Bambi in your room.’
‘What?’ Jordan smacks me with the corner of the blanket, propping her head up so she can really add some oomph to it. ‘That’s Mister Wiggles to you. Be nice.’
‘It’s literally three feet tall, Curly!’ I retort. It’s true. Bambi is practically life-size. Tali has been lugging the thing around the house for the past week, all the while somehow still wearing the sunglasses Jordan gave her last year.
I brush the spot where the blanket just barely skimmed me all dramatically.
My stubble is bordering on more of a beard now, which is better than last month’s moustache thing that Jordan condemned me for, but not before Genny literally burst into tears when she saw it.
That was the final nail in the moustache’s coffin.
I went clean-shaven for all of three days before my beloved facial hair returned.
‘Who gave you that? It’s just … this huge deer … ’
‘You’re a guest in his house, Rodney,’ she reminds me.
‘Well.’ I grin. ‘Not out here, I’m not.’
Jordan squeals when I roll back over and smother her in kisses, our bare limbs tangled beneath the chevron-patterned blanket, threatening to ruin the picnic setup that was supposed to be fairly straightforward, but ended in making the most of the fact that out here in the fields, there are no family members to poke and prod us, no children to run after.
With a laugh, I pull away. I steady myself on my side and do the same thing Jordan does, my head perched on my hand.
The tiny red and black seed beads on the friendship bracelet around my wrist, a chunky-lettered J-DOG to Jordan’s HOT ROD, click when I adjust it.
‘What do you think would’ve happened if we hadn’t touched that fucking duck last summer? ’
‘That …’ She snorts promptly, which is what I usually do when I remember it.
That stupid copper duck. I grew up with the lore about it and the Dawsons told to me as a bedtime story on behalf of both Ma and Dad.
Of course, I know well as anyone that science says there is no possible way touching a duck that was probably rife with bacteria did anything positive for me.
But that summer, lots of logic went out the window.
For all we know, the Dawson family duck is our lucky charm.
‘I actually think there is a lot that wouldn’t have happened,’ Jordan goes on. ‘For instance, we wouldn’t have experienced Drunk Karaoke Night. We wouldn’t have gone to Amato’s. And we …’
Her ‘we’ trails off into space as her eyes follow my hands to the insulated bag behind me.
I tried to do a clever job of hiding it, but nothing escapes this woman’s line of sight.
Jordan narrows her gaze, but it quickly widens when I lean on one arm and set the navy blue ring box in front of me, between us, with the other, opening it carefully, before tucking a curl behind her ear.
Unruly, beautiful curls, which, if it matters, is my favourite version of her hair.
‘Thoughts?’ I muster a smile and hope she can’t tell my heart’s thundering like Genny’s entire barn of horses on the lam. I swear I feel my cheeks heat up anyway. ‘Concerns? Comments?’
‘I …’
It’s the most beautiful piece of jewellery Bianca and Genny claim to have ever seen, and I wholeheartedly agree.
It’s gold, and while it has a big fat diamond in the middle, the periphery is outlined in stunning filigree, set with tiny blood-red rubies: Rhode Island Reapers red.
I’ve never even conceived of anything like it.
And then, beside it, tucked into the little foam slat, is the paper ring the kids made last summer.
A pink Starburst wrapper or two, if I’m not mistaken, but still intact just the same.
‘I’ll never forget how I felt when I saw you, that night in Montana.
’ I keep my voice quiet, gentle, low, and just for us.
This entire moment, something that only we will remember, that we’ll keep to ourselves for the rest of our lives, knowing that we shared it.
‘Yeah, I’d messed up, and I was relieved that I might have a second chance with you, but Jordan …
I remember just feeling like everything was going to be alright.
Life is both so exciting and so calm with you, the way it’s never been before.
And man, you’re already a part of Tali’s life.
You hold our family down. In the way that we can ride out the storm, and when it passes, I’ll be able to put the pieces back together again.
’ I grip her hand tight, and she squeezes back, her deep, dark eyes holding onto mine.
‘’Cause I love you so much, and there’s nothing I can’t do when I’ve got you next to me, Jordan. ’
I watch her eyes swim with tears that don’t fall, and I practically hold my breath.
Other than bringing Tali home, this might be the singular most important moment of my life.
Getting drafted can’t even begin to hold a candle.
I learned a long time ago that there’s way more to life than lacrosse, something I’m still figuring out each and every day I spend with my family.
‘Would you love me,’ she laughs, choking back a sob, ‘if we have to scout out bathrooms at Super Bowls for the rest of our lives, and I fill the house with Redbridges and gluten-free pasta and … I bring Mister Wiggles?’
It’s impossible not to laugh along with her.
I do, but eventually, as we mellow out, I lean in and press a kiss to her forehead.
‘I’ll love you no matter what scary stuffed animals you bring.
I’ll love you when we grow old. I’ll love you if you forget my name, and I’ll love you if I forget yours.
I’ll love you till the end and then some. ’
‘When I was a little girl,’ she whispers, her thumb brushing across my knuckles, ‘I used to dream about being swept off my feet by this bold, daring cowboy riding the prettiest stallion I’d ever seen.
You …’ She grins and leans her forehead against mine.
‘You are very much not a cowboy, Rodney Wilson.’
‘You might be right.’
Jordan stifles a laugh. ‘But you’re so much more.
You made a place in your heart for this loose cannon of a cowgirl still trying to find her way home.
The best part?’ She extends a hand in front of her, and as I carefully slide the rings on, the gold glittering in the sunlight beside the faded pink of the Starburst wrapper, her smile only broadens.
‘I think I finally found it.’