Her eyes soften as she takes a drink of her coffee. “I’m happy you’re here, you know. In Copper Lake. It’s nice having family around.”
“I’m happy I’m here too, Auntie.”
Cope’s invite to move in comes back into my mind, and my heart beats a little harder. I’m certain he was probably just swept up in the moment and from drinking. I meant it when I said it was a ridiculous idea… Yet, why can’t I stop thinking about it then? Picturing it—picturing us, living together. Going to sleep beside each other, waking up together.
What Cope said—how we’ve always felt right—was spot on. But we couldn’t move in together this soon…could we?
“What’s got you looking so introspective this morning?” Aunt Colette asks.
It’s right there on the tip of my tongue to blow her off, or lie about what I’m thinking about, but I don’t. Maybe she could smack some sense into me. “Cope asked me to move in with him last night.”
My cheeks heat as soon as the words leave my mouth.
If she’s surprised by what I said, she doesn’t show it. The only giveaway that she even heard me is the small smile playing on her lips as she brushes a hand over Aggie’s soft coat. “And you don’t want to?”
Huffing out a laugh, I say, “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just…we’ve only known each other for a few months. That would be crazy, wouldn’t it?”
She sits in thoughtful silence for a moment. I’m half-expecting her to tell me yes, that would be crazy. But she doesn’t. “When I was twenty, I used to enjoy going to a small, quiet park by my home. I’d go there to think, read, sometimes do crossword puzzles. One afternoon when I was there, a gentleman came and sat beside me. He looked about my age, and he was cute.” She smirks, wagging her brows at me. “Very cute. Anyway, he didn’t say anything to me. Simply sat beside me. This went on for weeks. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and one day, introduced myself. We grabbed coffee that afternoon, andit turned into a daily thing. Our relationship moved quickly. The way I felt about him was unlike anything I’d experienced before.”
When she doesn’t say anything else for a minute, I ask, “Well, what happened?”
My gaze is laser focused on the side of her head as she stares out into the yard. “About six months after meeting him, he had to move across the country,” she replies. “Military.”
“He left?”
She nods. “He did, but he asked me to come with him. Asked me to marry him.”
My eyes widen. “What did you say?”
A cold laugh leaves her mouth before her gaze drags over to meet mine. “I told him he’d lost his mind. Told him we barely knew each other, and I couldn’t possibly uproot my entire life for a man I hadn’t even known for a year.”
My pulse races, the blood roaring in my ears as I listen to this personal story she’s offering to me. “You didn’t go?”
“No, I didn’t go. I never did see him again, either.” I don’t know why that answer guts me as much as it does. There’s a sadness in her eyes as she recounts this memory. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“There’s never been a single other thing in my life that I regret more than not going with him. You know why?”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I shake my head.
“In the many, many years that have passed since he left, I’ve never met anybody who made me feel even half of the way he did in the short time we knew each other. Time doesn’t mean shit, Xander. Not when it’s real.” My aunt sets her coffee down on the table between us, bringing her gaze up to meet mine again. “Now, I’m not telling you to do anything you’re not ready for or don’t want, but if time is the only thing stopping you, then I urgeyou to get the hell out of that head of yours, and trust your heart. Trust your gut. If I could go back to that moment when he asked me to leave with him, I would say yes in a heartbeat.”
My mouth’s dry and my heart hammers in my chest. “But I’m here to help you,” I offer pathetically. “And he leaves for the rodeo soon.”
She tsks. “Those are just excuses, boy. I refuse to be your excuse. Refuse to be the reason you hold yourself back. It’s right next door; there’s no reason you couldn’t still help out with the animals over here. Not to mention, I have that boy who helps out around here now, too, thanks to you.”
Grabbing her coffee mug, she rises off the rocking chair, glancing around the yard before down at me.
“Do what feels right, Xander. Fuck the time.”
And then she’s gone, leaving me stunned over everything she just shared, and then her sweet parting words. Such an eloquent speaker, that one.
Once I finish my coffee, I get started on the morning chores. As usual, Aggie follows me around the yard while I do them, and I love it. Aside from Cope, she was who I missed the most while I was back in Washington. It’s late morning by the time I finish up and take a shower. When I get out, I have a text waiting for me.
Cope: Horseback ride… You free?
A smile graces my lips as I type a response.
