I reverse from her driveway, not bothering to stop at home, and head for the ranch. The minute I cross the entrance archway;I already feel at peace. I’ll never get over the feeling of this place, this area, this field.
I spend the next thirty minutes getting Storm ready to ride, ensuring the tack is secure before I mount him. Once I do, I lean down and offer him a pet on the side of his face, and then we take off out of the barn.
The skies don’t look promising, but I’ve been in worse weather.
I know I need this time, though.
The same thoughts I had sitting in Blair’s driveway come back. I find them eating me alive every time she’s in my head, which is more times than I can count.
Storm sets into a steady gallop through the field, sending us in the direction of the trail I always go down with him. I call itmytrail. I found it by mistake and have never seen anyone else on it. It brings me just to the outskirts of town with a private view of the back end of Bluestone Lake.
I’ve come here so often that I’ve built benches for myself and a small fence for Storm to secure him when I need more time to sit with thoughts.
Today, my adrenaline is too high to sit.
I need to ride. And fast.
Everything about Blair is driving me wild.
I want that wild.
I want the freedom she has.
I want more with Blair; it scares me, and that fear holds me back. There’s this need inside of me wanting to know if she’s genuinely staying. The confirmation that this is her home forever and she won’t be running back to the city or her husband.
It sounds ridiculous, but I wouldn’t survive another heartbreak.
Can I make her stay?
No, that’s even crazier.
Storm picks up speed as if he’s sensing my mood, but my mind doesn’t stop spiraling.
I wonder if she feels the same way I’m feeling right now.
Is she holding back too?
I wouldn’t call this love, not this soon. But there’s chemistry there. Something is brewing in my gut, and the thought of anything with her makes my heart race at the speed of light.
I pull the reins on Storm, slowing us to a stop when we enter the open fields that lead us back toward the barn. My arms fall to my side as I close my eyes and lift my head to the sky.
“I need some guidance here. A sign. Anything that tells me what I should do,” I say to the sky, hoping the universe is listening to my plea.
Small raindrops land on my cheeks, and I open my eyes to see a wall of rain in the distance. That’s the fascinating thing about this open land and weather.
This overwhelming urge to go back to her house hits me.
She wasn’t home, but maybe she is now. Is that why I’m feeling this pull?
I nudge Storm forward in a slow trot to the barn before we get caught in the downpour headed our way.
I want…no, Ineedto know how she’s feeling about this, us, what’s happening here.
And there’s only one way to do that.
Something catches my eye off to the side and I have to do a double take to see, but a white car sits at the corner of the property. The same spot I once caught Blair sitting. A spot I know Lily told her about because it’s an ideal spot to catch the views of the sunset across the fields.
I pull Storm’s reins again to a stop, turning us to face her direction.
