Page 80 of Promise You Forever

In my heart of hearts, I believe he loves you. The love that I see him hold for you is different from the one he shared with Amy. She was a lovely girl, but their love was young and tender, delicate. The love I see in his eyes when he hears your voice is timeless and deep. He looks the way your grandfather still looks at me. He’s a good man, butI don’t need to tell you that. Regardless of what he did, you know that.

I want that kind of love for you. I want that kind of love for Luke. If you’ve come back to the ranch, please consider giving him a second chance. You deserve to be loved unconditionally and wildly.

I love you so, so much. Please know that every time I can visit you from the next life, I will.

With the love of a million lifetimes,

Grams

I should have grabbed tissues. Tears stream down my cheeks as I reread the letter again. Then I laugh. I laugh and cry. She knew all along.

I hear the back door open and the sound of Luke’s heavy footsteps as he calls my name.

“I’m in the living room,” I say.

“What’s wrong?” he asks as soon as he sees me.

I hold up the letter. “I got this from Grams.”

He takes it, and his brow furrows as he scans the contents. “When did you get this?”

“My mom gave it to me while we were at dinner. It accidentally got put in my parents’ folder from the attorney.”

“She saw me sneaking around,” he looks at me with raised brows. “I never once saw her.” He chuckles.

“It’s good to know they would approve of us.”

“Would it matter if they didn’t?”

“No.” I grab his coat and pull him down for a kiss. “The only thing that matters to me is us.”

Thirty-Two

LUKE

Four years to the day of the first promise

My hands are sweating. My ass is sweating. Everything is fucking sweating. My nerves are at an all time high as I ride beside Eli who keeps chattering on about light fixtures for the new cabins. She has no idea that Jo’s ring is burning a hole in my pocket.

“Are you okay?” She looks over at me with wrinkled eyebrows. “You’re sweating profusely for a day that isn’t that hot. Should we turn back?”

“No!” Marco flinches beneath me at the unexpectedly loud answer, which only makes Eli’s brows rise higher on her forehead. “Sorry, boy,” I apologize to the stallion and pat his neck.

“Good thing I decided to ride Sky up here. Clover would have taken off at that.”

“You’re right about that.” That mare hates men.

“Am I talking too much about the design stuff? I know you said you wanted to go for a ride to get some alone time. I can change the subject. Or just stop talking altogether.”

“Don’t ever stop talking.” I love listening to her talk about anything. I’d listen to her all day long if I could.

“I love that you wanted to come up here and have a picnic by the pond. I haven’t been up here since the last time we were here together.”

“I know.” And that’s exactly why we’re coming up here. Right back to the place we started.

We’ve talked about getting married in an abstract, someday kind of way. But I know she wants Paul to be able to come, if at all possible, and the longer we wait, the more his mind deteriorates. I want her to have this memory with him.

We won’t open the ranch to guests until this time next year. We didn’t want to rush construction, and she’s set on adding a pool and converting one of the barns into the event space. All of this takes time. But I also can’t lie, I love how much of our days we spend together. We rarely fight, and if we do, we don’t go to bed angry. We talk things out, work through miscommunication and setting boundaries for ourselves.

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