Page 42 of Lucky Cowboy
“Go ahead,” he said, his voice all patience.
“Well, I bought something big. A property. It’s on Country Lane Road.”
“Which Country Lane Road?”
“The one that’s there in Rocky Ridge.”
He went perfectly still. Then, his eyebrows rose all the way to the brim of his hat. “The one that here’s in Rocky Ridge?” he repeated, as if to clarify that he’d heard correctly.
“That’s right.”
But then his tone became cautious again. “Did you just tell me that you bought some property over here?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you know that riding clinic I’ve been thinking about?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s no reason whatsoever that I can’t do it there. I already found a home with a first-story suite for Dad. And it has a horse barn with stables and a dirt track. It’s exactly what I need. I even have a few pupils lined up.”
Mark’s mouth opened and closed a few times like a gasping fish. She didn’t know if this signaled a good response or a bad one. What if he didn’t want her there, after all?
“Mark? Do you have an opinion?”
“Uh, yeah…” He removed his hat, scratched his short hair underneath. “I think that’s phenomenal.”
“Really?”
“Of course. How long have we yearned to quit doing long distance?”
She grinned at him. “Months and months.”
He grinned back, that twinkle in his eyes visible even across this technological medium. “And now, we won’t have to be, will be?”
“No. No we won’t.”
EPILOGUE
The subsequent sixmonths went by in a whirlwind. Mark watched from the sidelines as Val did her first run-throughs with her initial handfuls of students, and though there were a couple of minor glitches, it’d been nothing that couldn’t be adjusted.
So, Val had since gone whole hog, as they said. She had her facility, about twenty-five students and another instructor, as well as a home and grounds of her own within ten minutes of Mark’s place there in Rocky Ridge.
Her living so much closer changed the entire dynamic of her and Mark’s relationship. Without the constant struggle of distance between the pair, dating became so much simpler. And with everything for her going well, and everything in his life going well—Blair even secured herself a full-time job in social work—things had improved to the point of almost being unrecognizable.
Fortunately, Val’s wounds healed up without issue. She had to complete some physical therapy to deal with some of the damage to her arm, and she’d likely always have a visible scar. But other than a numb spot near her elbow, she had full use. Despite this, though, she decided to retire from full-time trick riding. She rode Maybelline almost daily once her doctors gave the go ahead. Her days on the rodeo circuit, though, had ended.
Mark had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it kept her nearby, which he felt so thankful for. But on the other, he worried about her resenting the loss of her career. He hated that it’d been stolen from her by a violent act by a demented man with nothing but dangerous intentions. And every single day, Mark appreciated that she hadn’t been killed.
So after one of her practices with her young trick riders, he asked her about it.
“I mean, do I miss it? Yeah, I do,” she admitted, even though she didn’t seem despondent or anything. “But Mark, I love doing what I’m doing now. Helping these girls learn this craft and seeing the joy in their faces when they nail a new stunt…” She clasped her hands together almost prayerfully. “It’s the best thing ever. I don’t know. Maybe I was always meant to be a teacher.”
Mark thought about that. Other than her struggling during her recovery sometimes, she really did appear content. Maybe he shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she felt unhappy if she didn’t. Still, he had to press on that a little more.
“So, you like all this?” He indicated the green fields of the land she’d purchased. Right now with the fresh spring growth, wild flowers, and green spreading out across the landscape toward a softly rolling hill, it really was lovely. It smelled like clover and rich soil.
