Chapter Fifteen – Colt #2
She leaned her body back against mine, and damn if it didn’t feel amazing. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head.
“Do you remember all the times we would sneak to this cabin and spend hours here?”
I chuckled. “I do remember.”
“This is where I lost my virginity to you.”
“Same for me,” I whispered.
“It feels like it was yesterday, but it also feels like a million years ago.”
I wasn’t sure if I would ever truly be able to make it up to Ensley for leaving. A part of me would always blame myself for the missing ten years, and I knew she might, as well. The best we could do was move forward. With everything.
“You’re going to have to stop doing that.”
Ensley’s words pulled me out of my thoughts. “Doing what?”
She turned in my arms and looked up at me. “Blaming yourself. If we want to move on and see what happens, like I told you yesterday, you and I both have to let go of the past.”
I stared into her beautiful blue eyes. “I don’t feel like I deserve your forgiveness, Pip.”
Ensley let out a soft breath. “If anyone should know about how short life is, it’s the two of us. I’m tired of hanging on to the anger and hurt. Aren’t you?”
I nodded. “More than you know.”
“I’m not saying that I’ll forget, because it impacted the last ten years of my life, but I’m ready to try to forgive and move on. I also think today is going to be a very big stepping stone for you and your family.”
“For the rest of my life, I’m going to wake up every single day and thank God for you, Ensley.”
Smiling, she reached up and kissed me softly. “Damn right, you are.”
Laughing, I shook my head as I took a step back. “Should we just head over to my parents’ place?”
“No time like the present.”
I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. “Thank you for doing this with me.”
Her hands covered mine. “From now on, we’re in this together.”
“Together,” I softly repeated.
The drive to my parents’ house wasn’t long. They didn’t own a ranch as big as the Wildes’, but it still was enough time for me to go through the barrage of different emotions I was feeling.
“How many times have you wanted to turn around?” Ensley asked.
“Can you read minds now?”
She chuckled. “I can only imagine what you’re thinking. One second, I think this is the right thing to do, then the next, I’m wondering if now is a good time to do this.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “I could hardly sleep last night. I don’t know how my parents are going to react when I tell them I think it’s time to clean out Grady’s room.”
Placing her hand on my leg, she gave it a light squeeze. “You’re doing the right thing, Colt. I feel it in my soul.”
I stole a glance at her, and when our eyes met, she smiled…and a calmness I hadn’t felt in a very long time swept over me.
“Right now, I’m feeling like there isn’t anything I can’t do as long as I have you by my side.”
She huffed. “How did you make it the last ten years?”
“I honestly don’t know. Most of the time, I felt numb. I kept a smile on my face to hide my broken heart, but for years I felt like a shell. Moving through life simply to move.”
When she didn’t say anything, I looked at her once more. She was staring out the front window.
“That’s the perfect way to describe my last ten years, as well,” she said quietly.
I parked and turned the truck off. I glanced up at the sky and said, “Cold weather is moving in tomorrow. Today could be the last nice day for a while.”
Ensley leaned forward and looked out the windshield. “Yep, it’s going to be a beautiful day.” She leaned back and looked at me. “Are you ready?”
I exhaled. “As ready as I’m going to be.”
“I’ll be right there with you, Colt.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyes. I didn’t deserve this woman’s love and compassion, but I was going to be greedy and take it.
“Let’s go.”
We got out of the truck and walked up the steps of the front porch, hand in hand.
Before we even had a chance to reach the top step, the door flew open and my mother stood there.
Her eyes swept over us—noting our hands—and a huge grin appeared on her face.
She may have been in her upper fifties, but my mother was still a beautiful woman, and right now, her soft brown eyes sparkled as she wiped her hands on her apron.
“Do my eyes deceive me?” she asked, holding her arms open to Ensley.
“What is it you think you see?” Ensley asked with a chuckle, before walking into my mother’s embrace.
She hugged her, then pushed Ensley out to arm’s length and said, “A reconciliation of sorts?”
Laughing, Ensley conceded, “Of sorts.”
“Good morning, Mom,” I said, as I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Is Dad here?”
“Of course he is. We finished breakfast not that long ago, and I’ve been in the kitchen making some bread. Come on in.”
Ensley and I exchanged a look before following my mother into the house. My father stood right inside the door with a wide smile, as well.
“Have you two kids made up?” he asked, with a hopeful expression on his face.
Ensley glanced at me. “I’m waiting on your son to ask me out on a date.”
“Starting fresh, are we?” my mother asked, as she motioned us to follow her into the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air, and I couldn’t help but let out a low moan.
“That smells so good, Mom.”
“She’s on a baking mission. Sourdough bread, banana nut bread, and right now she’s got a cinnamon apple bread in the oven.”
“Would you like a slice?” Mom asked us.
“I would love a slice,” Ensley replied, as I nodded.
Soon, my mother had three different types of homemade jam on the table, along with freshly cut banana nut bread.
“Jacob, you can have one slice, and that’s it. You’ve already had some.”
My father didn’t argue; he simply took his slice and smiled at it like a man who hadn’t eaten in days. Then he paused and eyed my mother. “Did you somehow sneak kale into this?”