Scarlett spent far more time than strictly necessary getting ready for work that Monday morning. She changed her outfit three times and would likely have gone on cycling through everything in her wardrobe if not for Denver.
He rapped on her door and popped his head in when she told him she was decent. “Hey, you look great, Scarlett, okay?”
“Thanks,” she said, blushing furiously. “But it doesn’t really matter what I look like. I’m just going to work, and it’s not like Abbott will care how I’m dressed.”
Denver gave her a knowing expression comically adult for one so young. “Okay, S, if you say so. But you look great all the same.”
“S?” she laughed. “Is that what you’re calling me now?”
“You were bound to get a nickname someday. Just be happy I didn’t decide to go with Scar!” he called happily, already heading out the door for the school bus.
Scarlett putzed around the kitchen for as long as she could get away with it without being unforgivably late for work. Finally, she climbed into her car and started the drive. The route was the same as it always was, but today, everything felt different. Her nerves jangled inside of her like an oversized ring of keys. She might as well be heading into an interview instead of a job she’d had for years. There was only one reason for the feelings, too. Travis.
She’d decided that today, she would tell him how she felt about him. The prospect was frightening. She was working against an entire lifetime of experience telling her that she should never admit how much she cared, never make herself vulnerable because it was just setting her up to get hurt. But after her breakthrough with Denver, she’d finally realized the damage she was doing by not being open about how she felt. She didn’t know if it would make any difference to Travis to know that she was in love with him, but she had to take the chance. If she got hurt, so be it. And if she got left behind, she’d at least have the comfort of knowing that she’d been brave enough to try to convince him to say.
As she got closer, she wondered if Travis would even be there. Was it possible he’d already left? That question was easily answered, at least. As soon as she pulled up to the house, she saw Travis’s truck there just like always. She glanced around quickly, searching for any sign of him. She saw nothing, though, no evidence of him or anyone else. She climbed out of her car and walked quickly up the front pathway, her head down against the whipping wind.
“Scarlett!” Lizzie’s little voice cried out merrily, making Scarlett look up as she reached the front porch. “You’re here! It’s about time.”
Scarlett laughed, then bent down and kissed the top of her little head. “Well, good morning to you, too, sweet girl. But what do you mean, it’s about time? I’m not late.”
“Nope!” Thora answered, skipping down the porch steps and taking her by the hand. “Not late, but still, Lizzie’s right. We’ve been waiting for you for ages. Now come on. We’ve got places to go!”
Scarlett looked at Sophia, who was not just the oldest but also the most mature and reliable of the three. She expected to see patient indulgence there for whatever game her little sisters were playing, but Sophia looked just as excited as they were.
“Hold on, girls,” Scarlett protested weakly as they dragged her toward the barn. “Don’t you need to be off to meet the school bus?”
“We do,” Sophia affirmed. “But first, we have to deliver you to the barn door and wait until you go inside. Those are our instructions.”
By the time they arrived at the barn door, Scarlett was thoroughly confused. She thought about arguing with the girls and going back to the house, but she knew from first-hand experience how stubborn they could be. It was either argue and make them late for school or just go along with their plan. She opted for the path of least resistance, opening the barn door and slipping inside.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the barn’s dim interior. At first, she assumed the noises she heard could all be accounted for by the horses in their stalls. Then, as she got more used to the light, she realized that she was wrong.
In the middle of the barn stood Travis, the reins of a horse in each hand. The first horse was one she recognized. It was Snuffles, the sweet, gentle beast who had first helped Denver to come out of his shell. The second horse was one she hadn’t seen before. It was pure white and wore a bright red bow tied around its neck at a jaunty angle.
“Travis!” she gasped, her hands moving to her mouth in surprise. “What…what is this? What’s going on?”
He smiled shyly and stepped closer, leading the horses with him. “Well, Snuffles you recognize. She’s been missing Denver something fierce. And this here, her name hasn’t been decided yet. Technically, she’s my new therapy horse. I got a good deal on her from a horse breeder across town. But, honestly, she’s really for you.”
“For me?” Scarlett repeated softly. “I don’t understand. What do you mean, she’s for me?”
“Well, she’s very gentle. Good for new riders. I figured that if Denver wants to continue his lessons with Snuffles, we should have a horse on hand for you to learn from as well. That way the two of you can learn and ride together.”
“But I…I hadn’t thought I’d still be riding,” Scarlett said, confusion only growing.
“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Travis said, stepping closer. “But I think you could have fun with it if you gave it a chance. And,” he took another step closer, “I still have a lot I can teach you.”
“Teach me? You’ll still be teaching me?” Scarlett’s head was spinning. Everything seemed to be happening too quickly, and although she wanted to desperately, she couldn’t catch up. “But you’re leaving,” she stammered in confusion. “You’re going back to the rodeo, aren’t you?”
“No,” he answered gently, his voice so soft now it was hardly more than a whisper. “I’m not. I’m going to stay right here, where I belong. I talked to my dad, and we agree. Buckley is where I belong. There’s a place for me here now. I’m finally going to pursue my horse therapy clinic dreams.”
Her eyes prickled with tears. “Oh, Travis. I’m so happy for you. That’s wonderful, truly.”
He let the horses’ reins drop and stepped close enough that she could feel the heat coming off of his body. “It’s not the only reason I’m staying, Scarlett. I’m also sticking around because, as it turns out, I’m not so fond of the idea of a future that doesn’t involve you. Assuming you’re okay with that.”
All Travis could do was wait while Scarlett let his words sink in. He was more nervous now than he had been speaking to his father. This wasn’t the time to try and convince or persuade, though. He had said what he needed to say, laid his cards out on the table. Now, it was up to her to say whether or not she still wanted him. If she decided to stick to her guns and keep things ended between them, it was something he would have to respect.
“You look a little shocked,” he finally said when he could stand the silence no longer.
She laughed breathlessly and nodded. “Yes, I guess you could say that.”
“Is it a good kind of shocked, or the bad kind?”
“The good kind,” she said quickly, much to his relief. “Definitely the good kind. I have to ask, though. Are you sure? The rodeo has been such a big part of your life up until now. Are you certain this is what you want to do?”
Travis searched inside himself for any small part that might not be on board. It was an honest question, the right one to ask, and he wanted to give it his full consideration before giving her a truthful answer. When he was sure, he laid his hands gently on her shoulders and nodded.
“I’m not going to change my mind, Scarlett. I’m not going to wake up one day and suddenly regret quitting the rodeo. This isn’t some kind of spur of the moment, impromptu decision. It’s been in my heart for a really long time. I just haven’t been brave enough to do anything about it until now.”
“So, staying,” she said slowly, little tears suspended like starlight in her thick lashes. “It’s what you really want?”
He nodded. “It’s what I really want. To stay, and to be with you, if you’ll have me.”
He took a deep breath and held it while he waited for her answer. What she said now wouldn’t change his decision to stay. That was set in stone. He couldn’t go back to the rodeo life now, not after he’d so clearly envisioned what he wanted most. But if he lost her now, if it was too late, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life. Then she smiled, and it was like the sun breaking through dark, thick clouds.
“Oh, I’ll still have you,” she said, her voice shaking but her face radiant with a sunny smile. “You have no idea how much I want that. My whole goal today was to tell you how I feel. Denver and I had a long talk, and it finally sunk in for me how much I’ve been holding back. I’m so sorry that I didn’t make my feelings for you clear sooner.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” He lifted one of his hands to her face. As he ran his fingers lightly from her temple down her cheek, she shut her eyes briefly and sighed.
When she opened them again, they were bright and sure. “That’s very sweet of you to say, but you’re wrong. I do need to apologize. Because you were right. I was scared, and I ran. I was afraid of losing control.”
“Losing control? Of what?” He wanted to kiss her, badly, but first, he wanted to understand. He wanted to know what she was afraid of so that he could help her feel safe.
She shrugged. “Of everything. The only way I was able to feel safe and in control was by shutting everything out, not letting anything affect me—or, if that wasn’t possible, putting up a front so that no one would be able to tell I was affected. I’ve spent a really, really long time trying to protect myself from the outside world. The way I learned that works best is to make sure you never really let anyone in, never let yourself care too much about anything you could potentially lose. That’s a hard thing to unteach yourself.”
“Do you mind me asking what changed your mind?”
She smiled tenderly and moved closer to him, twining her arms around his waist. “Denver gets all of the credit for that. He’s a very impressive little boy. He helped me to see that being vulnerable with people doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can actually make your relationships stronger. He made me see that it’s okay to be vulnerable with other people—in fact, you have to be open when it comes to expressing love, or the other person might get the idea that you don’t really care about them. And by being vulnerable with someone, they can feel safe being vulnerable with you. I was ready to take that leap today—to tell you that I’m in love with you before asking you how you felt, whether you thought there was any chance for us to come back together. But you beat me to it.”
Travis made a mental note to thank Denver for his wisdom when he got the chance. He kissed Scarlett lightly on the forehead, breathing in deep of her sweet, honey scent. “You’re always going to be safe with me, okay? I promise you that. And Denver, too, if he stays a part of your life. I want to take care of you both, to keep you safe for as long as you’ll let me.”
“Really?” she asked, pulling away just enough to look up into his eyes. “Do you mean that?”
He nodded. “I very much do. I’ll be completely honest with you; I never saw myself as a family man. But after talking to my brother and my dad, I realized that I hadn’t thought about what I wanted for myself. It was always about who I thought I could and couldn’t be. And I don’t want to live my life like that anymore. This, right here, is what I want. Now, and forever.”
Travis felt a little week in the knees, saying all of that. It was more of his heart than he had ever revealed to another living soul. But by keeping it to himself, he had almost lost her, and he wasn’t going to risk that again. Maybe it wasn’t just Scarlett who needed to be kept safe. Maybe they needed to do that for each other.
She smiled, the most beautiful sight in the world, and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight, until her body was pressed right up against his. As they kissed, he realized something wonderful. This was exactly where he wanted to be.