Chapter Thirty-Six
Three Weeks Later
“Are you ready to meet your daughter?”
I bobbed my head up and down, trying to fight back the stinging tears.
These last few weeks that was all I’d wanted to do, but I also wanted to make sure she was ready and the timing was right. I’d never get another chance at meeting her for the first time.
Stetson had shared everything—with my permission—with Lucy and asked if Ruby could come to Quincey Falls for a visit. Lucy was quick to agree. Stetson said that both he and Lucy knew Ruby was ready and that the news might even bring her the solace she’d been yearning for.
“I think she’s waiting for us in the stables.
Lucy said she couldn’t wait to be here and be with the horses.
” He smiled. “She even mentioned that Ruby couldn’t stop talking about meeting her birth mom.
” He added, clearly trying to ease my nerves as he slid out of his truck and made his way to my side.
He tugged me out of my seat and onto my feet, our hands tightly clasped. “Do you think she’s going to be angry with me?”
“No. I think she’s going to see a woman who cared so deeply for her that she gave her a family who loved her more than life itself. And now that family is gone, and she’s lucky enough to have another piece of her family in you.”
I smiled, squeezing his hand a little tighter. I didn’t have to tell him how grateful I was that he was here because he already knew. “Okay,” I muttered. “I think I’m ready.”
He ushered me toward the entrance of the stables. “Do you want me to let you do this on your own?”
“No,” I quickly answered. “No, I want you to be standing right here next me.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
We stepped inside, the scent of horse momentarily calming the nausea inside of me.
Ruby.
There she was, looking completely unbothered as she twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers. I’d seen her before, multiple times, but now seeing her as my daughter was something I could’ve never prepared myself for.
Her dark brown hair was almost an identical shade to mine.
Her eyes were big and beautiful and full of so much wonder.
Her little body radiated so much hope despite the bit of darkness that still hung above.
She was perfect, and I might not have raised her, but I did bring her into this world, and I was proud of myself for that.
“Ruby, girl, I have some news I want to share with you.” Stetson’s voice was calm, and thankfully so, because the slow rhythm of it allowed my heartbeat to settle down a bit. But despite the calmness in his voice, he couldn’t fight the tears in his eyes.
“Uncle Stetson, hi!” She beamed.
“Ruby, I found your birth mother.” The words barely escaped his mouth before he was overcome with emotion, an audible cry that mimicked a laugh fell out.
She didn’t say anything, she just charged toward him.
He wrapped his arms so tightly around her little body, putting one hand on her back and the other on her head. “I told you I wouldn’t give up.”
“I never doubted you.”
“Do you want to meet her?” He paused, gauging her response. “The decision is up to you.”
She pulled away from his grasp, looking older than thirteen. “I’ve waited thirteen years to meet her; I don’t want to wait any longer. But Uncle Stetson?”
“Yeah?” He stood from the crouching position he’d been in.
“Will you be with me when I do?” she asked, clearly and understandably a little wary.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said, his eyes finding mine as she leaned her body back into his, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“She’s here,” he blurted.
“Here? Like, at Rolling Meadows?
“Like right there,” he said, bringing his pointer finger to me. An imaginary spotlight illuminated me, and I’d never felt more vulnerable, but this moment wasn’t about me. It was about her, about Ruby.
“Scarlett?” Her eyebrows scrunched up at Stetson. “Scarlett is my birth mom?”
He nodded.
Ruby had already left his embrace and turned toward me.
“I am,” I said, and the words came out easier than I had expected them to, flowing right out of me like a waterfall.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Really.”
Before I knew what was happening, her little body was bounding into mine, the impact knocking me back a few inches, but I quickly rebounded and wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I could.
“Sorry,” she offered as she took a few steps back. “I don’t know why I just did that.”
“Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever be sorry. There are no rules when it comes to this kind of thing. You take your time and do whatever feels right to you. I’ll be here, by your side, no matter what, for as long as you’ll let me,” I offered.
My words weren’t shaky or hard to find, they were strong and confident, as if I’d been planning this moment for years.
She bound back into me, this time squeezing me tighter.
When I met her that night in Nashville at Stetson’s show, I had a strong urge to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay. At the time, I just assumed it was because of everything I knew, but now I knew it because of so much more.
I pulled her in closer, hoping to provide a different kind of comfort. “Everything’s going to be okay,” I whispered. The words drifted between us, and for once, I finally believed it, and I think she did too.
When we finally let go, she turned to Stetson. “Thank you for finding her,” she said.
My heart could’ve burst open right then and there. This gift, the second chance I’d been given, would be something I’d never take for granted.
“You’re welcome, Ruby, but I didn’t just find her, she found us too,” Stetson replied.
“Today was perfect,” I said. Both of us were lying on our backs, looking up at the stars.
We’d ended up in my favorite spot, the sound of the waterfall quiet but powerful and the stars were showing off, shining especially bright tonight.
“I had never pictured what it would be like to finally meet my child, but this exceeded any expectation I could have had.” The symphony of bugs played a tune in the background.
“Everything since you’ve come into my life has been perfect… well, minus the bullshit article, but I’m starting to think maybe that happened for a reason too.” He sighed, his chest falling underneath my head.
We let the silence in, basking in all that happened today and in the last eight months.
“Hold on, I need to grab something from the truck,” he said, sitting me up and gently moving out from underneath me.
I hugged my knees to my chest and let a smile creep across my face because for once in my life, happiness consumed me and there were no doubts hiding in the shadows, no guilt threatening to take it away. Just pure happiness.
“I had this made after the first night I met you because I knew you were someone special, someone who was going to have a big impact on my life. If only I would’ve known just how big.” He strutted back toward me.
Once he was close enough, the moon provided enough light to see what appeared to be a large wooden frame.
He crouched down next to me, his scent wafting into my nose and forcing me to take a deep inhale.
“This was the sky the night we met,” he said, revealing the picture inside of the frame.
“That night, after I walked away from you, I looked up at those stars and I swear they were telling me a story about a lost cowboy that came looking for answers and ended up finding them in more ways than one.”
“Stetson, it’s perfect,” I said, taking the frame in my hand and admiring every inch of it. “I love it.”
He took the picture from me, setting it down before planting himself firmly behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, and clasping his wrist in his palm. “You’re the calm to my chaos, the stars in my night sky, and the beauty in my mundane.”
I grinned, wanting to respond but not able to because I was too busy basking in his compliments.
“Do you see that?” He shot his hand toward the sky, his finger pointing to something off in the distance. “Just past the stars…”
“What?” I questioned. “I can’t see anything past the stars. They go on forever.”
“Exactly,” he stated. “That’s how much I love you. Past the stars.”
I swiveled around, catapulting my body into him and knocking him onto his back. “I love you too, Stetson Walker.”
There it was.
The fireworks. The butterflies. The love that felt infinite.