Page 1 of Somewhere We Belong

prologue

Atlas

The town that my boyfriend,Theodore Malone, had moved to was quaint and gorgeous, nestled right in the middle of the mountains of Colorado. Sterling Ridge was a hidden gem equipped with mom-and-pop shops, a gossip network better than TMZ and a community that rallied behind their people.

Theodore had inherited his uncle Archie Malone’s ranch, leaving him with a shit ton of cows, goats, miles of land and a small cabin. Archie had lived alone with no wife and no kids in this small town, trying to make a name for himself, paving his own way. The Malone family had turned their backs on him since he hadn’t stayed to run the Malone farm in Texas.

Archie left everything to Theodore. I was here visiting him to see what he had inherited. He had been here for a few months, working hard with our boyfriend, Colt. There was a lot to be done and after I had arrived, we had been working grueling hours to get the ranch back to functioning at close to a hundred percent.

I had gone in to town to get groceries; we needed a good home-cooked meal. We had been eating TV dinners for too long and I was starting to get queasy every time Theo popped them into the microwave. A wave of nausea hit me just thinking about them.

The small grocery store was adorable and barely big enough for a cart to roam the aisles. I had way too many groceries, but I needed options since everything sounded good right now. A sniffle caught my attention as I made my way back to the register. A woman stood in the aisle counting her money as she looked at her small basket. She bit her lip looking up and I looked away in case she noticed me.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye, she was wiping her tears and then rubbed her belly, her very pregnant belly. I clenched my jaw wondering if she was struggling and if it would be bad if I offered to help her.

“Hey,” an employee exclaimed, catching our attention. “The snowstorm is rolling in faster than expected and we will be closing soon.”

“Thanks,” I said, not even realizing a storm was coming in. The road to the ranch was already bumpy and isolated, I couldn’t imagine how bad it would be with the storm.

“Thank you,” the woman said, as she picked up her basket, and looked at it before she put a few things on the shelf.

I waited a minute to let her leave before I scooped up what she had put back, seeing one of them was prenatal vitamins. Fuck, I looked for the vitamin aisle quickly. I found another bottle, rushed to the front, and luckily saw an open register. I helped the cashier keep an eye on the woman making sure she didn’t leave.

She left before me, my heart sinking that she would be gone before I could give her what I had purchased for her. I was a little too abrupt with the cashier, grabbed my bags and ran out of thestore. She was nowhere in sight as I looked around, even going around the corner to see if she had parked further away.

What the hell was I doing? My bleeding heart was at it again and her husband or boyfriend was probably here for her and I bought vitamins for no reason.

The clouds looked angry as I walked back to the truck, disappointed, quickly loading the groceries in the back before hopping in the car. Flurries had started to fall as I chose a playlist to listen to before backing up and heading to the ranch. I stopped at the last light before turning down the road that took me to the ranch when I spotted her. She was walking with her bags going down the same road to the ranch.

Her jacket didn’t appear thick enough and the jeans and tennis shoes didn’t look very warm either. What man would let his woman walk in this weather? The light took forever to turn green, letting me stew in anger at whoever was supposed to be taking care of her and when I turned, I prayed she didn’t get spooked. I slowed down in front of her, putting my hazards on. Maybe she would think I was less of a creeper if I looked courteous? She walked with her head down, only noticing the truck when it was next to her.

I lowered my window before she passed the truck. “Hi!” I said, way too loudly.

She looked up at me and I lost my breath. This woman was stunning. It wasn’t a flashy kind of beauty, she had big brown eyes, brown hair with full lips that enchanted me to kiss them. Words completely disappeared from my brain when all I wanted to do was stare at her.

“Hello,” she said slowly, glancing behind her, making me do the same thing.

She might have been debating if she should go back to town.

“Do… Do you need a ride?” I stuttered. “It’s… It’s really cold.”

Her wariness was warranted, but how could I make her feel comfortable?

“My boyfriend’s live up the road at Aurora Ranch,” I said, hoping she thought I was less threatening if I was gay.

“Boyfriends?” She raised a brow.

“Uh… yeah, Theodore inherited the ranch, I’m sure you’ve?—”

“I just moved here.” She interrupted me.

“Oh, cool, I’m here for a visit before I go back to med school,” I said, getting cold and I could only imagine how she felt. “I can give you a ride, I’m sure you need to get off your feet.”

She looked up and down the street as she debated if I was trustworthy, but I could see she really wanted to take my offer. A gust of wind hit and that made the decision for her. She opened the truck, setting her bags on the floor before trying to get in the truck. I held out my hand and pulled her up. Once she was in, I cranked on the heat and turned on her seat warmer.

“Alright, where am I taking you?” I said, smiling.

Being this close to her made me feel like I was on the edge of something life changing.

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