“You wouldn’t have lied,” she argues adamantly.
“How do you know?”
“Because, despite everything, you have always been honest to the core—even when it hurt.”
“Fuck. Katie, I love you with everything inside of me. I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I was such an idiot.”
“We were young, Jake. If you were an idiot, I was a coward.”
“We need to stop living in the past. We only have the future ahead of us now.”
“Now, I can totally agree to that,” she sighs happily.
I turn over on my side and look down at her. I slide a finger along the side of her face, relishing the feel of her soft, warm skin. “Tell me, baby, do you think you can handle a little exercise tonight?”
She grins up at me, her heart in her eyes. “I’m thinking between the two of us we can make it work, Jake. Together we can make anything work.”
“God, Katie,” I groan. “I do love you more than you will ever know.”
“That’s not true, honey. Idoknow because that’s exactly how I love you.”
I take her mouth in a kiss that is meant to express all the feelings and emotions I’m having but don’t have words for. My best friend Reed once told me that his love for Callie was bigger than any dream he ever had. That she made the dreams worth it. I never understood. For me, being a champion in the rodeo and living under the lights was all I could see. Now I realize just how blind and stupid I was. The world is right here under this one roof.
My family.
And it’s all I will ever need.
CHAPTER 13
Jake
“You realize there’s not a one of us that wants you to leave, Jeff.”
Jeff looks up at me with surprise. It has been three weeks since we met at the house and my entire world changed. I didn’t realize I could be this happy and it’s a feeling that I will never take for granted. It also feels so good that I can allow myself to be a little generous where my brother is concerned, and I admit that I’d like to see him find happiness.
Just not with Katie.
“I know. This is something I need to do, though. I don’t really belong here anymore. Besides, the last thing you need is seeing me around as a reminder, Jake.”
“I wouldn’t mind you being around,” I tell him and I’m not really lying.
We’re never going to be super close. That is impossible at this point, I think. Yet, we’re brothers. We’re family and those are ties that bind us together. Lennon might be seven but he’s very smart. There’s room for all of us. My son loves his uncle and if that day at the house taught me nothing, it taught me that Jeff loves my son and wants the best for him. I can even see why Jeff made the decision he made. It was wrong, but at least I understand it now.
“Maybe not,” Jeff allows. “If I’m around, though, Lennon would want time with me and right now, he needs time with his dad.”
“I know this can’t be easy for you,” I respond, not sure what else to say because he’s right.
“It’s not. I figure it’s my fault, though—at least a lot of it. I can’t say Katie led me on. If anything happened at all it was me fooling myself. You can’t build your life on the ashes of others.”
“So, you’re really selling out here and moving to Tennessee? You loved that land you purchased next to Mom’s.”
“I did, but the new owner gave me a decent price for it.”
I laugh because I bought it. It wasn’t because I wanted it. I bought it because it was next to Mom’s.
“It’s here for you if you ever want to come back.”
“Jake—”