Page 73 of Breaking All The Rules
Austin chuckled. “No. That was the loft in the barn.”
“Ooh now. That sounds…”
“Romantic?”
A small smile ghosted her lips. “I was thinking scratchy.”
“Yeah, it was that, too.” A big laugh hooted from his mouth. “Come on, let’s go.”
They climbed in the vehicle and Austin set out across the open fields in front of him. He had planned on giving her a bit of a tour, but the last streaks of light from the brilliant blood-orange sunset were just fading and it would be dark soon.
Another time. Hopefully.
“So,” Austin said as he eased back on the gas to decrease the rock and bounce as he drove across the rough terrain. The shocks on his old pickup had seen better days. “Was riding a horse all that you thought it’d be?”
“Not really. I was thinking it’d be more like me flying bareback across the fields, my hair streaming behind me, wearing a fringed jacket and leather chaps. You know?”
Austin laughed. “Nope. But for what it’s worth, I’d have paid good money to see that.”
“Me riding across the plains?”
“You in a fringed jacket and chaps.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Austin Cooper. I thought your mama raised you better than that.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but my daddy didn’t.”
She looked like she was going to burst into laughter but stopped, distracted by the scenery as the last light of day softened the landscape to gauzy shadows.
“Wow,” she said on a breathy exhale. “It’s so beautiful. Does it kick you in the chest every time you come out here like this?”
“It does. I love it.” A swell of emotion flooded Austin’s chest. The family ranch was part of his heart and soul.
“But…” She frowned. “You didn’t want to work it?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Not like Clay. Don’t get me wrong, I want to always live here and be around to help out, be a part of its prosperity and its growth. But…the ranch is Clay’s calling. Me? I always wanted to join the police force.” He glanced at Beatrice briefly before returning his attention to the rutted landscape ahead. “I love it. Being a small-town cop. A Credence cop. That’s my calling.”
She blinked, clearly surprised at his admission. “Yeah?”
“Yep.” Austin smiled. “I’m gunning for Arlo’s job. I figure when he’s ready to retire in about twenty years or so, I’ll have enough experience to just slide on into the role.”
“You don’t want to hit the city again, become a detective or specialize in another area of policing? SWAT? Vice? Forensics?”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “I’ve done the big-city thing with five years in Denver, and yeah, I could bounce around other PDs for the next decade, trying to find the same kind of feeling that walking into the Credence PD every morning gives me, or I could just cut to the chase.”
“Well…go you.”
He changed gears as he traversed a gully, glancing over at Beatrice, her profile pensive. “Guess you can take the boy out of the small town but not the small town out of the boy, huh?”
Shrugging, she said, “There are worse things to have in you.”
“Brussels sprouts for one.”
“Kale.” Beatrice laughed. “I know that’s not very California of me, but—” She gave a little shudder.
They both laughed then. “Maybe I’m not ambitious enough,” Austin said as their laughter settled. “But it’s like what you were talking about earlier with Jill. Finding what you love to do in life is a gift. Why waste your life looking for something better or…different when it’s right in front of you?”
The heat of her gaze warmed Austin’s cheek, but he couldn’t look at her right now because he wasn’t entirely sure he was just talking about his job, and he didn’t want to spook her.
