Page 37 of Memories of the Past

Lyle nodded. “You aren’t sure yet? The place is up for sale?” He chuckled.

I shook my head, looking to see what movies were playing in the theatre. “Guess you could say it depends.”

“I see. Does it have anything to do with your lady friend?”

I never knew how Lyle did this. He’d asked me that when I was seventeen. I chuckled. “It might. Do they not run the movie night in the park any longer?”

Lyle shook his head. “No, damn kids now a days, they don’t want to sit out in a bug infested park. Hell, they just want to go to the air-conditioned theater. You’d think they’d melt or something.”

I chuckled once again. “Do you know if there is still that little private road off Pelican Trail that heads down to the bay?”

Lyle thought for a moment and nodded. “I believe it’s still open. At least the last time I’d heard about it, it was.”

“That might work,” I muttered under my breath. “What will you do, Lyle? Where will you go once this place sells?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I may see if someone down at Connor’s place needs some sort of help, or perhaps I’ll just rent a little place and put my feet up. You know, finally retire.”

“Sorry, Lyle. I feel like I’ve ripped the place out from under you.”

“Don’t you worry, Thomas. I knew it was coming. It was inevitable, especially now that your dad is gone. I never expected you to keep this old place. Ranching never was your thing. Perhaps had he understood that you’d not of had the relationship you did with him. He wanted you to run his dream, he never thought about the fact that you might not want that for yourself. Anyways, I think I’m going to go out and do a little work on the fences that need repairing.”

I nodded and watched as Lyle made his way out the back door. I had no idea what I was going to do. Aaron had asked me to return to his ranch, said he had a position open that I’d be perfect for, yet no matter how much I thought about it, my heart told me that Willow Valley was where I should be.

CHAPTER 16

Trinity

I stood in front of the mirror in my small bathroom, looking at my reflection, wondering what the hell I was doing. I let out a breath, picked up my hair dryer and began drying my hair. Once finished, I shut my hair dryer off, coiled the cord around it, and put it away before running my brush through my hair. Then I made my way into my bedroom. I had given him no instruction as to what I wanted to do tonight. Instead, I was leaving it all up to him. I glanced at the clock, hoping he would have canceled by now. Why had I opened my mouth? I wandered over to the closet and tried to find something to wear. It was hard to pick an outfit when I had no idea where he was taking me. Dancing? Dinner? The movies? Perhaps he was going to cook dinner?

I sifted through my closet and pulled out a pair of my favorite jeans and my favorite flannel shirt. I figured this was my most versatile outfit—dressy enough for dinner in a restaurant, cool enough for dancing, and warm enough for the theater.

I quickly dressed, then slipped my feet into my knee-high boots, and made my way into the kitchen. I reached for a glass and poured myself some water. Then I went over to the window and looked down at the street. There was still no sign of Thomas. Then I glanced to the small clock that sat on the bookshelf. It was almost seven.

I looked around the living room, at the mess it was, and to try and calm my nerves, I began cleaning up. I quickly picked up the dirty dishes, loaded them into the dishwasher, then folded the blanket I normally kept on the back of the couch. Then I wandered down to my bedroom and picked up all the stray pieces of clothing, throwing them into the hamper in the closet. Then I made my bed, something I normally did every morning, until these past few days.

Once I was satisfied, I went back out and checked the front window once again, just in time to see Thomas pull up. I grabbed my purse, patted Luna on the head, and made my way downstairs in time to meet Thomas at the back door.

“Ready to go?” he asked as I stepped out the back door, locking it behind me.

“Yep. Where are we are off to?” I questioned.

“You’ll see,” Thomas placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me over to his truck. He opened the passenger door and waited for me to climb in. “Come on, Trin, up you go,” he said taking hold of my arm.

I climbed into the truck and got seated, while Thomas shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

“So, where are we going?” I asked again, hoping he would cave.

“You’ll see.” Thomas grinned as he pulled away from the curb and drove down the end of the street, making a right-hand turn. We drove for a bit, and then Thomas slowed down, almost coming to a crawl before turning off the road into what appeared to be a driveway. We drove a little way until we came to an opening, and once we were in the clearing, I recognized it instantly.

We used to come here when we dated, so we could be alone. The hidden clearing at the edge of Willow Valley Bay, a place I could barely forget, but hadn’t been to since. We’d spent many nights down here at the water’s edge, on the dock, under the stars.

I could remember feeling every nerve in my body fire as I waited for him to make his first move when we had dated. Now felt no different. Only this time he didn’t make a move. Instead, Thomas opened the door and got out of the truck. I watched in the mirror as he walked to the back of the truck and opened the bed cover. What was he doing?

“Come here, Trinity,” he called. I looked in the mirror and saw him waiting for me, so I carefully climbed out of the cab and walked around to the back of the truck. He lowered the tailgate, and I was surprised to see a pile of blankets and pillows all laid out, and in the center a picnic basket.

“I racked my brains trying to come up with something tonight. Thought perhaps we’d do movies under the stars, until I found out they stopped that. Then it came to me. I thought we could share a picnic under the stars. If you give me your hand, I’ll help you up.”

I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t expected this. I hadn’t expected him to remember how much I loved being out in nature. I looked up at Thomas and smiled.

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