Page 17 of Come With Me

“Okay, almost there. I want you to be surprised.” I stand behind her, covering a palm over her eyes.

“Ayden! Is this really necessary? I’m gonna trip and fall on my ass.”

“I’d never let that happen,” I whisper above her ear. “Trust me?”

She blows out a breath, shuddering against me. “Okay.”

My other hand squeezes her hip and directs her to keep walking straight ahead. The thin material of her shirt has my fingers itching to touch her bare skin.

“Just keep goin’. Almost there.” I keep my chest pressed to her back so we walk in sync.

“This better be an amazin’ view,” she chastises, and I chuckle.

“Trust me, it’s already good from here.”

She playfully elbows my gut, and I grunt.

“Ready?” I finally ask when we stand in the perfect spot.

When she nods, I drop my hand but don’t step away. Glancing at her face, I watch as her eyes widen and her lips part.

“Wow...you can see so much of the ranch up here.”

“Look behind us,” I say, and we shift. “The retreat cabins are over there.”

“Damn. I wish I hadn’t seen this. Now I’ll never wanna leave.”

“I was lucky to find this place when I did,” I admit, thinking back to when I was desperate to find a job.

“Maybe we can bring Serena here before she goes back to school in the fall.” Laney turns and asks.

“I’d love that. Could you take off work?”

“If I have coverage, yeah.”

Taking her hand, I lead her to the decorated rocks Mallory and Noah painted a year ago, and we sit.

“Can you tell me about Howie’s life? Did he stay workin’ at his dad’s garage?” I ask when we settle in next to each other.

“Yeah, he practically took over by the time he passed. Jimmy was gettin’ too old and tired of the long hours in the heat. Serena and I stopped in a lot to bring them lunch. She adores Jim.”

“So everyone in town knew she was mine and figured I’d just abandoned you?” The thought has a knife slicing through my heart.

“Ayden...” She stammers, but my phone interrupts.

“Shit, sorry. It’s Tripp.”

She flashes a small smile while I answer it.

“Yeah?”

“Disco’s on the loose. It’s all hands on deck. Can ya help?”

“Fuck. How’d that happen?” I shake my head.

“Little shit knows how to wiggle the lock with his nose, and I was in the tack room. He was long gone before I noticed.”

I snort. “Oops, shoulda warned ya about him.”

---