Page 102 of Worth the Fall
I was ready to move on. I had spent the last few weeks watching the Nash family, their undying love for one another, and craved it with every inch of my soul.
What was stopping me from having that kind of love in mylife?
Colton was still staring at me, worry written so plainly on his usual carefree face. I hated how much stress I had already caused him. I let out a long breath. “We need to get you ready for the rodeo,” I said as lightly as I could.
Colton shook his head. “I-I can call and ask if I can ride tomorrow. I want to be with you.”
I sniffed. “I really just want to…I want to move on, to start over. I don’t want to spend the rest of tonight, or my life, for that matter, dwelling on what happened. I’ve spent way too much time living in the past and letting it control my future.”
Colton looked slightly relieved that I wasn’t going to break into pieces right in front of him. “We can talk about whatever you want, for however long as you need.”
“I know,” I assured him, grabbing his hand and kissing it. “But honestly, I don’t want to. I want to get you ready for tonight. This is a big ride, and I am so excited for you.”
“I don’t want you to bury your feelings,” he urged.
Gosh, he was so sweet it was killing me. “I’m not. I’m just letting go of them, finally.” I looked up to the Texas blue sky that seemed to stretch out forever. “Let’s just go back to camp.”
He stood and held out his hand to help me up. I graciously took it and pulled myself to my feet.
I suddenly felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off of me.
It was glorious.
I looked at Colton with a newfound look on my life. “Thank you.”
He gave me a confused look.
I grabbed both of his hands and even managed to smile. “Thank you for being a light in my life.”
Colton beamed. “Are you kiddin’? Ally, you are truly the light of my life,” he said without an ounce of hesitation. “You make me wanna get up in the mornin’. You brighten up my days without even tryin’.”
I was the one to lean forward enough to plant a soft, sweet kiss on his smiling lips.
“You sure you don’t wanna hang out and talk for a while?” He asked again as I released his hands.
Yes, I would love to unload everything that’s been weighing me down for years, but what good would that do? I saw my mom again, and it caused more harm than good. I had what I wanted from the house. There was nothing I could say that would bring my dad back. So, I wanted to go back to the feeling I got when I forgot about my childhood. The feeling Colton gave me by just being himself.
“I’m sure.”
Colton pulled into the campground just a little after four.
The twins were in one of the pastures, riding their horses around. Jimmy was on the phone, laughing and walking around the trailers. Jo was standing over the campfire, mixing food in the Dutch oven sitting over it. Dennis stood at the grill, his hand on his hip.
Colton opened the truck door for me, helping me down from the tall seat. I didn’t want to explain what happened to Colton’s family, but it would be inevitable.
I could delay it…probably…hopefully.
“Hey, y’all!” Jo yelled, half jogging toward us. “How did it go? I was just about to get dinner started and-” She stoppedshort and looked between us.
I’m sure my eyes were as red as an angry sunset, and I could feel the puffiness beginning to grow in my eyelids.
Colton was doing his best to act like everything was normal. “Hi, Mamma.”
Jo looked like she was going to crawl out of her skin if she didn’t find out why both her son and his girlfriend looked like they had been crying for the past hour. “Hi…” she said finally. “We’re just about to finish dinner before the show.”
I smiled. “It smells great. How can I help?”
Jo looked between us again, but Colton gave her a not-so-subtle shake of his head. She nodded back and put her arm around my waist. “You wanna mix up the salad?”
