Page 103 of Fake It Till You Make It

“Guess I’m glad I’m sticking around to learn all I can about the local traditions.” Bethany batted her lashes, and Eli saw how Amarie won everyone over. Her mother was extra, too.

“What’s happening?” someone in the crowd called.

“Eli’s going after Amarie,” Tobias announced.

“What?” came from another direction.

“Amarie took a spill and Eli’s running off to save her,” Gracie Lou called. “I’m going with Eli. Spread the word.”

Eli didn’t wait to see who followed on horseback, three-wheelers, or on foot. He had a future to catch.

“Me too.”

“Me three.”

“We’re coming.”

Eli didn’t stop to answer any questions or correct assumptions. “Ya,” Eli spurred his mount into a full gallop in the direction of his future, his love, his Amarie.

Eli galloped at full speed, jerking Harry’s reins to slow the horse down when Prince came into view.

“Kanaan, you can’t keep me here,” he heard Amarie yelling to his cousin.

Eli dismounted from Harry’s back, his chest heaving. “No, he can’t. But I’m praying I can.” He handed over his phone and the horse to his family.

Chapter Thirty-One

AMARIE SPUN ONhim. If eyes could slice, Eli would be chunky dog food stewing in his own gravy.

“What are you doing here, Eli Calvary?” Eli had dismounted in a rush, landing wrong on his ankle. He winced with each step, but he kept moving closer to Amarie, praying she didn’t get the notion to run away on foot. Not that he wouldn’t give chase, but it would hurt like a son of a gun in the morning.

Her appearance caught him off guard. Rolled wads of white paper napkin protruded from each nostril like walrus tusks.

“I-I came for you,” sweetheart,” he stammered, trying to catch his breath, shifting weight, without a lick of grace, to his good ankle.

“Is that so?” she challenged, stubborn little chin jutted forward. She glanced at his ankle. “Did you hurt yourself with the Hidalgo race around the lake?”

He caught the reference to Frank Hopkin’s mustang, Hidalgo, who’d won an endurance race against pure-bred Arabians in 1891. Well, Eli’s love for the woman in front of him was pure and undeniable.

“It’ll heal. Will you?” When she didn’t answer, he started with the obvious. He’d ease them into the harder conversation. “What happened to your nose? Are you hurt?”

He took in the car angled precariously close to the ditch at the side of the road. Billy, Jean, and Diana had wandered out of their enclosure and were now in the middle of the road. Had she gotten in an accident? When Kanaan had mentioned a spill, he assumed with the car, not in the car.

“My mom,” she bellowed, but then the sound of horns and shouts in the distance grew louder, drowning out her high-pitched shrieks.

Eli deciphered two words.Kitten. Poop.

“So, that was Bethany’s grand plan.” Eli chuckled, pulling Amarie into his arms.

“My own mother,” she half sobbed. “She could’ve toilet-papered my car. Now it’s too funky to drive.”

He held her tighter. Seconds passed before he felt the weight of her arms surrounding his torso.

“I love you, Amarie Walker. I can live without the vet clinic. I can live away from my family. But I can’t live without you.” Her breath hitched but she didn’t respond. Eli wouldn’t stop. Now that he had her back in his arms, he knew he wouldn’t last a day without her in his life. “I’m begging you for another chance.”

“I love you, too, but I’m scared. Scared you’ll disappoint me. Scared you’ll promise me the impossible.”

He sighed, stroking one hand over her loose coils. “I guarantee…” She stiffened in his arms. “Shh, listen to me. I guarantee I will disappoint you, but I’ll always love you, sweetheart.”