Page 42 of Come Back to Me

After the explosion, I hid so I wouldn’t be captured. But I was injured pretty badly. A local took me in. Hid me and nursed me back to health. After that, I had to blend in amongst them, waiting until I found a US soldier and disclosed my identity. It took months after that for them to sneak me out of there. Another few months to get me back to Texas.

And I apologize that it’s taken me another few months of recovering back at the ranch. Growing used to being alive again. While also coming to terms with you no longer being mine.

If you feel any further obligation to me, I want you to know, I release you. I wish you nothing but the best in your life. But don’t think I won’t still love you and dream about you. And on occasion, I may still send you a letter. Letting you know how I’m doing. If you wish, I’d love to hear from you as well.

I just know this baby of yours is gonna be something else. Because he has the most incredible mama.

Take care of yourself, Sugar. You never know, maybe one day, we’ll meet again.

Love always, Leo

CHAPTER 17

Giana

NOW

Leo has never seen the cabin in the fall. Not in person, anyway. Over the years, I’ve sent him a picture a time or two. Now there is social media, like Facebook, and he can see all kinds of photos from my life. I can see his too.

For years I tried to visualize what his ranch in Texas looked like. If for nothing else, Facebook has been good for that. The Jones Family Ranch is huge, with acre after acre of green pastures and cattle roaming. He and Marco did a fine job. Their parents would be proud, God rest their souls.

I can’t say I’ve been fond of Leo’s late wife. She’s not who I would’ve pictured him with. Though Nettie likes to remind me, I wouldn’t approve of any woman. She’s probably right. Rumor has it Leo disliked Michael as well.

But now, both Leo’s wife and Michael are gone. And Leo isheading back to Maple Ridge for the first time since 1969. To see the cabin, is what I’m telling myself.

“What if he wants to sell the cabin?” I ask Nettie, pressing my cell phone to my ear as I pace the porch.

“You really think he’s coming all the way here just to talk about selling?”

“Maybe.” I tighten my cardigan around me, the cool fall air whipping through the threads.

“I love you, Gigi, but you can really be dense sometimes. Leo is coming to see you. His wife passed away months ago. Michael is gone. After all these years, you two can finally be together.”

“Nettie?” I pause, worry coursing through me. “What if he doesn’t like me anymore? I’ve changed. I’m old,” I state the obvious. Even though it’s not like he hasn’t aged as well.

“Are you kidding me?” Nettie shrieks. “You’re just as beautiful and spunky as you were forty years ago. And in case you’ve forgotten, Leo didn’t just like you. He was in love with you. And that kind of love, it doesn’t just go away.”

I shut my eyes and allow Nettie’s words to sink in and settle over my shoulders. I cup the compass I’ve taken to wearing around my neck again. Crunching gravel under tires rumbles in my ears. I suck in a breath and open my eyes as the shiny rental car comes to a stop in front of the cabin.

Slowly, I lower my phone from my ear and end the call. My heart rate picks up speed, and I shuffle across the porch. Lead fills my steps, and I stop, waiting for him to get out of the car.

For years I imagined this moment. When Leo would come back to me. When he’d finally come home.

All the emotions building over the years come bubbling to the surface, and I can’t hold back the tears. He steps out of the car and my chest heaves at the sight. His pictures on social media don’t do justice to the real thing.

He is still Leo. Tall, lanky, a sexy smile.

Leo takes his cowboy hat off and holds it in his hand. He doesn’t even bother with closing the car door; he rounds the front of the car and jogs up the steps, not once taking his eyes off me. In an instant, he is in front of me. Without hesitation, without time to gaze and study one another, he scoops me up in his arms and embraces me, squeezing me close.

I melt into him, fisting my hands into the back of his flannel shirt, and sob into his neck. Inhaling his scent is like taking a step back in time. It’s everything I remember. It’s everything I find comforting. It’s home.

He’shome.

It’s not the cabin, it’s not Maple Ridge or Colorado. It’s Leo.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I cry.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come home, Sugar.”

---