Whenever I hold Julep, I experience a feeling of weightlessness in my lungs that spreads through my limbs. Raina and I made this precious being, and the notion still floats around me like a dream.
She leans back, and I stare into eyes that look so much like my wife’s it takes my breath away.
Raina says Julep resembles Tiana. Same sweet temperament, thick inky hair, and bright smile.
But right now, her smile’s hiding behind a quivering chin.
“What is it?” Raina bends toward her and sweeps tangled black strands from her teary eyes.
“Jace says…” She sniffs and crosses her little arms. “He says he won’t marry me.”
“Not this again.” I rub my forehead and meet Raina’s eyes.
She grins.
Jarret ambles out of the field, steps onto the porch, and makes a beeline for Julep.
“Boys are dumb.” He crouches beside her. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”
”But I want to get married today!” She stomps her boot.
“How about instead, we go inside and tear into your mom’s biscuits and chocolate gravy?” He stands and holds out a hand.
Her eyes light up, and in an instant, her tears are replaced with a toothy grin. “Yes!”
I shake my head as he leads her inside. He and Jake indulge her the same way they did with Conor.
Across the porch, my sister plucks the song to a close and turns to press a kiss on Jake’s lips.
The stars are out, and the night is gleaming with possibilities. Maybe’s in the field with the boys. Jarret is occupying Julep, and I have a beautiful woman staring at me with a suggestive smile.
“Hey, Conor. Play that one again.” I stand and grip Raina’s hand. “Dance with me.”
“Under the stars?”
“Always.”
I escort her off the porch and bring her in close, lips touching, hips swaying as Conor and Jake serenade us.
Life is good. Better than good.
The cattle ranch is thriving. We’re not wealthy. We’re comfortable. Happy.
We’re doing what we were meant to do.
Working hard.
Loving harder.
In the place we love.
The terrain of childhood shapes the soul, and the soul never forgets.
It doesn’t forget the fields of Julep Ranch under a starlit sky.
The laughter of children running though the grass.
The strum of a guitar in the evening summer breeze.
Or Raina Cassidy, the mother of my child, the center of my heart, at home in my arms.