“Me too.” Orrin grins.
“Me three,” Declan adds.
“Me four,” Ryder speaks up. “Jordyn just doesn’t know it yet.”
“I’m proud of you, boys. You’ve found great women to live the rest of your days with. The road will be rocky at times, and having the love of your life walking next to you makes all the difference.”
“She texted me,” Ryder speaks up.
“What?” Orrin, Brooks, Declan, and I all say at once.
“When?” Orrin asks.
Ryder holds up his phone. “Just now.”
“Open it,” Brooks encourages him.
Ryder nods as he stares down at his phone. “What if she tells me to stop texting and calling? What if she tells me to leave her best friend and parents alone?” He looks at our dad. “What if she tells me to stop loving her so hard?”
“Ryder, love isn’t something you can turn off. You can hold it close to your chest, but look at Sterling. It’s eating him up inside, not telling Alyssa what she means to him. You have to be true to yourself, son. She can ask you to do that, but that doesn’t mean you have to listen. She’s overwhelmed, and I’m sure regretting leaving like she did. Open the message, Ry.”
Ryder nods. His fingers tap the screen, and we’re all watching him closely as he reads the message. Once he’s done, he closes his eyes and tilts his head back to the sky. We’re all quiet, giving him time to process. When he finally looks at us, there’s fire and determination in his eyes.
“Well?” Dad asks.
Ryder lifts his phone and begins to read. “I’m so sorry for leaving the way that I did. I didn’t know how to say goodbye to you. You’re in my heart, Ryder Kincaid. I was afraid I wouldn’t get on that plane if we made plans for our future. There are two sides to me. The me who wants a career in fashion and the me that’s given myself to you. They’re the same person, but I had to do this. I had to take this internship for my career. It’s always been my only dream until the night I met you. I know me. I know how I feel about you, and I had to just go, Ryder. I knew I wouldn’t if we had that talk. The plans we would make, I want them too. You are also my dream. I didn’t know how to have both. I’m sorry for hurting you.” He sets his phone back on his lap, and when he looks up, the emotion in his voice is showing as his eyes shimmer.
“She would never let me talk about it. She always said we had time. She didn’t know I was willing to wait for her. She never let me tell her. I shouldn’t have listened. I should have made her sit and talk to me.”
“Nah,” Dad says. “It worked out the way it was supposed to. Your love is being tested by distance. It’s one of those rocky roads of life. It sounds like whatever it is you’re doing, she’s responding. If you love her, if Jordyn is who your heart craves, keep it up. It’s going to be hard, but you go all in. Regardless of the outcome, you’ll have no regrets. You’ll never have to wonder about if you’d have fought harder for her, things would have been different.”
“That’s what work hard and love harder means,” he adds. “Love is work, and working to provide for yourself and your family is equally as important. Both are intertwined and make you who you are. Man or woman.” His eyes flash to Deacon. I’m sure they’re both thinking about how hard Ramsey used to work to ensure she made a life of her own before she met Deacon. Dad stands and walks to where Ryder is sitting. He places his hand on his shoulder. “We’re behind you, son.” He looks at each of us. “I’m heading to bed,” he says, just as the others come walking back to our site.
“I love swimming in the lake at night,” Maverick says. He and the others are oblivious to the heavy conversation they missed.
“I’m calling it a night.” Ryder nods at each of us before disappearing inside his tent.
“Me too.” It’s not terribly late. I’m hoping I can call Alyssa and say goodnight to her. After tonight’s conversation, there is no going back. I’m going to tell her, and then I’m going to love her hard until she gives me a chance.
I don’t wait to see what the others are doing. I climb into my tent, lie back on my air mattress, and pull up her name.
“Hey.” Her voice is soft.
“Hi.”
“Everything okay?”
“I wanted to hear your voice.” It’s not something I would have said to her as my best friend, but she’s more than that.
“Aww, camping brings out sweet Sterling,” she teases.
“Nah, I just miss you.” More honesty. I’ve been going on these trips our entire friendship, and I’ve never made a call like this or said these words to her.
“I miss you too.”
“It’s different this time.” Words keep rolling off my tongue like a runaway train. I can’t stop them.
“How so?”