Ryland slides in behind us, his hand finding the spot on my lower back, and smiles down at me. “Just trust us, you’ll love it.”
Annabelle giggles, pressing her fingers by herlips before adding, “Yeah, trust us.”I can trust them with my heart, a little voice sings in the back of my mind.
“Okay,” I reply, and Annabelle’s smile completely melts me.
I realize that I never asked Ryland about Annabelle’s mother or why she isn’t a part of their life. It makes me sad for Annabelle, knowing how it felt to have an absent parent. But that sorrow is replaced with joy as I watch her hop from my arms and run into her father’s. She’s nothing but a ball of happiness and love, a reflection of her father’s parenting. The sight of them together makes me swoon.
I take out my phone and snap a quick photo of them, wanting to freeze this moment in time. While the two of them finish preparing dinner, I walk around the living room. One of my favorite things to do in someone’s home is look at the photographs they hang on their walls. To me, it tells a lot about someone’s heart with what they display in their home. I wish that photographs were like tunnels, that you could crawl inside them and go back to that moment.
Photographs of Ryland’s younger years hang near the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Zane and him hiking together. Ryland sitting next to his Nan on the porch. Ryland’s mother wrapping her two boys in a tight hug and smiling so brightly. Pops looking proud as the boys hold up a large fish. So many sweet photographs I've seen before.
Then I move through the living room and see moments I've missed. A grown Ryland with his Pops next to their company office. Many photographs of family members with Annabelle, always surrounded by love. The ones that tug my heart the most are, of course, the photographs of Annabelle throughout the years, watching her grow through each image.
Behind his couch sits a large canvas of Ryland holding a newborn Annabelle in his arms. I don’t know why it's bothering me at this moment, knowing how much I have missed since leaving, but it does. Here we are, days away from thefarmhouse being finished, and I’m expected to return to my life in Rockdale. However, I don’t want to leave.
I want to stay.
I sense Ryland behind me. The scent of him wraps around me, filling my nose. I turn and look at him as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. As he unfolds the leather and pulls out a small piece of paper, I notice it’s not paper but a photograph. It’s the Polaroid image of me at fifteen, standing in front of the oak tree at the farm that Ryland captured what feels like a lifetime ago.
A bashful grin tugs against his lips as his hazel eyes move from the photo to my face. “I’ve carried this with me ever since the day that I took it.” he admits.
My heartbeat picks up, a growing reaction my body seems to have when I’m around Ryland. He brings his arms around me and places my head perfectly onto his chest. I breathe in his scent again and close my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy every bit of this embrace.
“I love you,” I whisper, loving how comforting it feels to say it.
I feel his breath catch, like my words affect him just as much as his do to me. He gives the top of my head a kiss, the gesture zipping down my body and tingling my toes. “I love you, Rainbow.”
We hear Annabelle shout that dinner is ready, and we make our way to the table hand in hand. She catches our hands together and gives me a grin as she points to a chair. “Raine sits here.”
I take my seat, folding my long skirt under my legs, and notice the plate she sits before me has Disney characters decorating it. “You broke out the fancy china tonight, I see.”
“Fancy china?” she asks, scrunching up her nose.
She points to the chair that sits in front of me and has Ryland take his seat. “Sweet, I scored the Aladdin plate,” Ryland states and beams at his daughter.
“It’s your favorite,” she says matter-of-factly before sliding into the seat next to me. “Daddy knows all of the songs and likes to act like the Genie.”
My eyes widen. “Oh, I would love to see that!”
“I bet you would,” Ryland adds before taking a drink from his cup, which also matches his plate.
We reach out and intertwine our hands together before bowing our heads and thanking God for our meal. Then, we dig in. And the food is absolutely mouth-watering. Ryland filled a toasted tortilla with the chicken, potato, and cheese concoction along with sour cream and picante sauce.
“Oh my gosh,” I mumble through a mouthful. I don’t miss how Ryland’s eyes brighten with satisfaction. How they trail down my face until they land on my neck as I swallow. “This is delicious.”
“Told ya!” Annabelle shouts, tossing her hands in the air with a beaming smile, earning a chuckle from her father that slithers down into my heart.
After we finish up dinner, I help Annabelle wash the dirty dishes. We end up soaked in water with beards made out of bubbles. Ryland laughs and snaps a few photos of us before snatching Annabelle away to get her a change of clothes. When he comes back into the kitchen, I have the dishes dried and put away.
He hands me a Kentucky blue sweatshirt to change into. I go into the bathroom to change and inhale his scent, knowing there is no way I’m giving this back to him. I take off my soft-pink tank top and pull the sweater over my head. Thankfully, my skirt is just a little damp. As I step back into the living room, Ryland’s eyes are heavy-lidded at the sight of me in his clothes.
“I’m keeping this,” I tell him before Annabelle jumps between us, clothed inBlueypajamas, and pulls us to the living room couch.
“Can we please watchAladdinbefore bed, Daddy?”
Ryland looks at his watch and then to me before asking, “Want to watchAl?—”
“Yes!” I say a little too loudly, earning a laugh from him.
