Cullen looked up at him. “Yes, I do! Katie stuck a rock in her ear on the playground last week.”
I kissed Cullen’s head, then stood up.
“Let’s go to the park!” Cullen said.
“Then, go get ready,” I told him.
He hurried off, and I turned my attention back to Rio.
“That’s over,” I said more to myself than him.
He reached for my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. “During nap time, we can celebrate in the shower,” he said with a grin.
“I like that idea,” I replied as he tugged me in for a kiss.
Maybe life had decided it was time to give me a break. If Rio March was going to be the way my story ended, then it was going to be a happily ever after worth fighting for.
Bryn
five years ago
I always wondered what the day would be like when I left this place. It seemed fitting that the sun was shining bright. It was a happy day. Sure, I had no idea where we were going, but Tory did. She’d said she had plans for us. Anything to get away from here.
I stood in the trailer that had been our home since Mom had been arrested. The past year, it hadn’t been so bad here other than the heat and my having to drop out of school so I could work full-time to help pay the bills.
Mabel Lynn’s death shouldn’t have made life easier, but it had. Tory and I managed to get by just fine. I worked more than her, but she struggled to keep a job. She had even applied at the feed and seed where I worked. My boss, Mr. McGiven, wouldn’t hire her. He had told me she was trouble and he was sorry. I hadn’t asked him to hire her, and I was thankful he hadn’t.
“You got everything you want from in here?” Tory asked me as she walked back into the trailer and looked around.
“Yeah,” I told her.
“Then, let’s get going,” she said and spun around and left.
We loaded down Mabel Lynn’s car outside. I started for the door when I heard Decker McGiven’s voice. I had met him while working for his dad. Decker was my first kiss and the first boy to tell me he loved me. Although I hadn’t believed him. He had simply wanted me to have sex with him, and I didn’t want that.
I walked to the door and looked out through the screen. He was arguing with Tory. She was blowing him off as she got into the driver’s seat. His gaze swung up to meet mine, and I stepped outside onto the wooden stoop with cement bricks for steps.
“I’m sorry, Bryn,” he said, walking around the car toward me.
I doubted his apology was sincere. Tory had told me she’d had sex with Decker, and they had continued to have sex after I broke up with him. However, Tory wasn’t easy to deal with, and I assumed Decker had found out how cruel she could be.
I simply waved and headed for the car. I didn’t have anything to say to him.
“I’m hitting the rodeo circuit in a couple weeks. Call me and tell me where you are,” Decker told me.
With my hand on the car door, I looked back at him. “I d-d-don’t th-th-think so, D-Decker.”
“I am so sorry. Please just listen to me. You can’t just leave like this and leave things hanging like they are,” he pleaded.
I shrugged. “N-n-nothing is h-hanging. It’s j-j-just done.”
Decker reached for my other hand, and I pulled it away.
“Bryn, I made a mistake. I messed up. I’m a guy, and you weren’t even letting me touch you. All I could do was kiss you. Then, she came along.” He pointed at Tory, who I knew was rolling her eyes at all this. “And she was easy. She basically threw herself at me. I was weak. But I love you, babe.”
My eyes shifted from Decker to the trailer two doors down. Another family lived there now. Rio March had been gone for over a year. When I heard the word love , I always thought of him. I was sure that if I could love someone, then it was Rio. Maybe I had loved him. I didn’t know.
“Good-bye, Decker,” I managed to say without a stutter.
I opened the car door and got inside.
“Are y’all done with the drama bullshit?” Tory asked as she looked in the rearview mirror, putting on red lipstick.
“Y-y-yes,” I told her.