“Thank you, Dr. Lachele.”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. You just better pray that Scarlett doesn’t change her mind by the time you see her again. And don’t you dare do what I think you’re about to do,” Dr. Lachele said. “You will not tell that girl you love her over the phone. I don’t care how scared you are, or how much you think she needs to know right now. You’ll tell her in person, and you’ll deal with the consequences of your own stupidity.”
Beau had no idea how Dr. Lachele had known that he was thinking about calling Scarlett and begging her to come back, but he agreed to her conditions—she was a professional, after all—then hung up the phone.
* * *
Scarlett hadn’t felt any better after leaving the ranch, and her thoughts were just as confused as ever. Suddenly, Adriana’s brilliant plan felt like the stupidest thing she had ever done. She loathed LA even more than before. Of all the people walking around this city, the only one in the world who mattered to her wasn’t here, and that was the worst feeling in the world.
Everything inside her was screaming at her to text Beau, but she didn’t want to be that crazy girl who wouldn’t give her man any space. Beau had obviously been pushing her away all this time for a reason, and the last thing she was going to do was bother him when she’d said in her letter that she would leave so he could think.
Scarlett had only been at Adriana’s for two days, but it seemed like an eternity, and she wanted to leave.
“Hey, Adriana,” she said with a plan in mind.
“Yeah?”
“Can we go on another road trip?”
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me that you want me to take you back to the ranch already. I think you should give it a little more time.”
Scarlett did wish she could go back, but that wasn’t what she was going to ask.
“No, no. I don’t want to go back to the ranch yet, but I do want to go to Vegas.”
“Wait. Isn’t that where Beau is going to be tomorrow?” Adriana shot her a dirty look, but Scarlett could tell she was mostly teasing. Her friend was just trying to protect her from getting her heart broken, and Scarlett knew her intentions were pure, but that didn’t make all her ideas good ones. She was realizing that now.
“Yes, but hear me out. Please.”
Adriana folded her arms across her chest, but then she said, “I’m listening,” so Scarlett stayed hopeful that she might agree to make the trip after she explained.
“Now that I’ve seen Beau ride, and I fully understand all of the dangers of bull riding, I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t go to Vegas. I don’t have to talk to him—he doesn’t even have to know I’m there. But I can’t miss his rides.” Scarlett had been pacing the room as she explained her reasons to her friend, and when she was done, she turned and tried to implore her with every ounce of puppy-dog face-making that she could muster.
Adriana took a deep breath. “Oh, fine. We can go. But no telling Beau that we’re coming. This is strictly an ‘in case you happen to get maimed or die’ scenario. Understand?”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Scarlett saluted her friend, and she couldn’t help smiling at the prospect of seeing Beau so soon. Even if it was from a distance.
* * *
Beau’s heart was hammering in his chest, and his whole body shook as adrenaline coursed through his veins. He’d been waiting all day for this, and now, as he was about to get on the bull’s back, he felt ready to conquer this ride.
This bull, Rock ’n’ Roll, was one he’d never ridden before, but that didn’t worry Beau at all. What worried him most was the fact that his wife wasn’t here doing this with him. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to make up for the mess he’d made with Scarlett, but he felt like he needed to nail this ride more than ever. Josh helped him on the bull, then carefully wrapped his hand up in the bull rope, all while yelling encouraging things to him.
“You got this, buddy. You got this,” was the last thing Beau heard when the gate opened.
The giant black beast spun out of the shoot, and Beau dug his heels into the sides of the animal as hard as he could. He felt like he was being swung around at the end of a long rope, and he fought for control. He knew he wasn’t even halfway through the ride, but images of Scarlett flashed in his mind, and he held on a little tighter. He wanted to do this for her. He couldn’t tell her how he felt, and right now he couldn’t show her either, but in his heart, this ride was for her.
The bull lunged forward, and Beau took advantage of the position to slide closer to his rope, gaining more control. Then he prepared himself for the next buck, and the next. His balance was starting to go, and he felt himself slipping to one side, but he knew he only had a second or so left, and he held on as tight as he could. He lost the grip he had with his legs completely, but somehow he hung on as the buzzer sounded. Then he left go and flew to the ground a few feet away from the bull.
Beau pushed himself onto his hands and knees and looked up just in time to see the bull charge in his direction. He tried to scramble to his feet as a bullfighter ran toward him, but he was too late. Rock ’n’ Roll lowered his head and charged at him. Beau turned so the bull would hit his protective vest, but he still felt like he’d just gotten hit by a truck, and he was grateful to look up and see one of the bullfighters step between him and the bull.
The bullfighter successfully lured the bull away from Beau, and Beau lay on the ground, trying to catch his breath since he’d just had the wind knocked out of him. Meanwhile, the bullfighters got the bull through the gate and out of the arena. When he could finally take a deep breath, Beau stood up and looked out into the crowd. They were all on their feet, cheering. He smiled, knowing that he’d ridden for eight, and he’d done it for her.
His eyes locked on his wife, her hands against the gates of the arena, her face pressed into a space in the fence. Talk about getting the wind knocked out of him. The sight of Scarlett, standing there, looking so earnestly at him…it was like heaven opened up and a light shone down on her. It completely took his breath away. He’d almost turned to run back across the arena after waving at the crowd, but luckily, that bright red hair of hers had caught his eye, and he’d taken a better look.
He couldn’t help but smile, and for once, he didn’t care about sitting in the dirt to wait for his score. All he wanted was her. All he could see was her. He ran across the arena and scaled the fence, then hopped over it to the other side. People crowded around him and clamored for his attention, but he didn’t care. He barely noticed they were there. His eyes were locked on the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life, and he couldn’t look away. The feeling from after his first ride returned, and it felt like they were the only two people existing in the entire world.
“Hi.” Beau’s hands were shaking. He still felt foolish for what he’d done back home, but being in front of Scarlett now, he realized that he loved her more than ever.
“Hi,” Scarlett said with a shy smile. She looked down for a moment, and when her eyes met his again, he saw that fiery determination in them that he’d seen at their wedding. Then she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett. I was stupid. You tried to tell me what you wanted, but I was too stuck in my own head to listen to you, or to believe that what you—this beautiful, talented, amazing woman—wanted was to be with me. Please forgive me.”
Tears were forming in Scarlett’s eyes, but she was still smiling as she said, “I forgive you, Beau. I knew that you just weren’t hearing me, but I was serious. This is what I want. All of this. I want to build a life with you even if it means that I have to watch you get beat up by a bull sometimes. I love you, Beau Lawrence.”
“I love you too, Scarlett. I love you more than I ever knew I could love someone. I’ve been watching the sunrise every morning, trying to make myself feel better, but I knew I could watch a million sunrises and never be happy again if I didn’t have you.”
/> Just then, the announcer’s voice came over the loud speaker. “All right folks, we’ve got a score for Beau Lawrence. He rode Rock ’n’ Roll, and boy, did he get rocked and rolled by that bull. I’ll tell ya, there are only two people who really know how scary that was, and that’s Beau Lawrence and whoever does his laundry.” The crowd roared with laughter, and the people closest to Beau and Scarlett pointed down at them.
“I’m guessing it’s that pretty little redhead he’s holding over there on the other side of the fence,” the announcer continued, and Scarlett blushed.
Beau laughed, then held her even closer. “What do you think my score will be?”
“I don’t know, but it’s gonna be good. You were amazing out there,” Scarlett whispered in his ear.
“Ninety-four point three. Ninety-four point three! Give him a hand, folks. That’s a new high score for your cowboy, and that will move him up to the top of our leader board. Now, we still have quite a few cowboys to watch tonight…”
The announcer’s voice seemed to fade into the background, and all the rest world beyond Scarlett and Beau along with it.
“Don’t ever leave me again, okay?” Beau said. His hand was holding her head next to his and his lips were pressed into her hair. He was breathing in her honeysuckle scent deeply, and he didn’t want to imagine another day when he couldn’t hold her close like this.
Scarlett shifted in his arms and turned her head so she could look him in the eyes. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere. I want this forever.”
Beau grabbed the backs of her legs and hoisted her up around his waist. Then he put a hand at the back of her neck and pulled her down to him so he could kiss her long and hard.
Her fingers slid through his hair and pulled him deeper into their kiss. Finally, her hands rested at the sides of his face, and she pushed away gently so she could see him. A smile played on her lips, and Beau swore he saw a twinkle in her eye. “You’d better go tell that announcer you do your own laundry, or I’ll make you ride home with Josh.”
Beau shook his head and laughed. Unpredictable.
Epilogue
Scarlett had never been surrounded by so many loved ones in her whole life. Her grandparents had died when she was very young, and both of her parents came from small families who weren’t very close. As she looked around the room, her heart swelled. Beau and his family had quickly adopted her as their own after they got married, and that bond had only grown stronger after their son, Asher, was born.
She looked over at Beau, who was chatting with her mom on the couch. She still couldn’t quite believe her parents had come up for a visit. It was like after Asher was born, everything changed. They suddenly wanted to see Scarlett and meet her son, and while part of her wanted to deny them access to her new, beautiful life because of how they’d treated her, she knew that all she’d ever really wanted was a close relationship with them. She would be punishing herself by holding a grudge against them, so she’d decided to forgive them.
Katie was standing in the kitchen with Drew and Taryn, and Scarlett was so happy her friend had been able to come all the way from Alabama to visit.
With as large as the crowd was that had gathered to celebrate her recently announced second pregnancy, the snacks and drinks were disappearing quickly. Scarlett went to the pantry to find more chips, and was surprised to see Josh—Beau’s best friend and one of the hands who worked for them on the ranch—talking to Lily in the hall. Josh and Lily had met at her wedding a couple of years ago, and they had seen each other a few times since, but the smiles on their faces and the playful way they kept touching one another told Scarlett that there might be something more than friendship developing between them.
“Hey, hey. Looks like you two are having fun,” she said as she walked by.
Lily’s face flushed, but Josh just laughed. “Aren’t you supposed to have fun at a party?” he said with a wink.
“Of course you are,” she said. Then she went on with her task of finding more chips. She wouldn’t tease Lily too much—she was young and was probably enjoying the attention from Josh. It had been fun for Scarlett—who had never had any siblings—to watch Lily grow into a woman over the past few years. At Scarlett and Beau’s wedding, she had been in her first semester of college, and now she was about to graduate. Scarlett smiled, and bet that this was what it felt like to be a proud big sister.
When Scarlett returned to the kitchen, Drew and Taryn walked up to her with huge smiles on their faces.
“We have something to tell you,” they said in unison.
Scarlett dumped the bag of chips she was holding into the almost empty bowl, then turned and gave them her full attention.
“Ooo, you do? It sounds exciting. Please tell,” she said, moving closer to them.
“We’re expecting too!” Taryn said, holding a hand over her stomach and giggling.
“I was wondering what was giving you such a glow,” Scarlett said excitedly. “I can’t believe our kids are going to be the same age!” Scarlett almost wanted to cry. Knowing that her children would have the friends that she had always longed growing up for meant the world to her.
She hugged both Drew and Taryn. “Can I tell the others?” she asked, her cheeks starting to hurt from all the smiling she’d been doing that night.
“Yes! Please! Then we don’t have to do it ourselves,” Taryn said.
Scarlett turned to face the living room where everyone else was sitting. “Excuse me! Excuse me!” She smiled at Taryn and Drew, then said in her best party-hostess voice, “Some of our guests have their own little announcement…Taryn is pregnant!”
Beau’s mother’s face immediately lit up, and she rushed over to the happy couple. “Oh, when are you due? I can’t believe it. This is so exciting!”
Scarlett left her friends alone to answer everyone’s questions and walked over to Beau, who was holding their sleeping son on his chest.
“Thank you,” she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. That wild hair—it still made her stomach flutter even years later.
Beau looked up at her with the most loving eyes. “For what? Look at all you’ve given me,” he said, pointing to Asher and then to her swollen belly.
“Oh, you played your part in this too. But I’m glad to be building this life with you. It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said, a contented smile on his lips.
Scarlett leaned down and kissed him once, and again more passionately, since no one was paying attention to them anyway.
“Did Taryn call Dr. Lachele and tell her the news?” Beau asked when they separated. “She’ll want to know.”
“No, but I should tell her to. I’ll do that now.”
“Make sure you tell her to act like she just found out. Lachele will be upset if she wasn’t the first to know. Remember what happened with Asher.”
Scarlett’s eyes widened, remembering how long it had taken them both to convince Dr. Lachele that they were, and always would be, eternally grateful to her for setting them up. And that just because they hadn’t told her the moment they found out they were expecting didn’t mean they loved her any less.
“Oh, yeah. You’re right. I’ll explain everything to Taryn. I’m sure she doesn’t realize how important Dr. Lachele’s ‘little munchkins’ are to her. We definitely didn’t until we went through all of that.”
Beau rolled his eyes. He hadn’t been thrilled with all the groveling, but both of them truly loved Dr. Lachele, so they did everything they could to make up for their error.
“You’re hot when you’re on a mission.” Beau smiled that smile that made Scarlett melt like ice cream on a hot piece of pie, and warmth filled her belly.
“You’re always hot.” She laughed.
Beau shrugged, then winked at her.
* * *
In the wee hours of the morning, while it was still completely dark out, Beau woke up and then roused his sleeping wife. She wouldn’t be pleased with getting he
r sleep interrupted, but he knew she’d get over it when she found out why.
“What? What is it?” she asked sleepily.
“Put your robe on. Let’s go outside.”
“Why? Is the house on fire?”
Beau laughed. That was probably the only reason why Scarlett would ever wake up at this hour. Being pregnant had made her so tired, but Beau wanted her to see this.
“No, no. But I want to show you something.”
Beau watched as Scarlett reluctantly got out of bed and put on her robe and slippers. Then the two of them headed outside to the front porch to sit on the swing that she had insisted he install during her first spring on the ranch. He’d spent a lot of time there, watching the sunrise, but he’d only gotten her out there a few times to watch it with him.
“I’m glad you made me put up this swing,” he said. “Something about watching the sunrise just makes life feel less chaotic. I know we’re on the road a lot, and it’s hard with Asher now—dragging him all over the place—but I appreciate you being with me. You’re like my sun, my constant. When you’re not there, everything feels different.”
“My first day here, I had no idea the house even faced east. I’ll blame the rain that day—I couldn’t really see the sun—but I’m so glad that it does. Especially knowing how much sunrises mean to you,” Scarlett said as she cuddled up to him on the swing. “The sun won’t be up for a while, though. Why are we out here now?”
“We aren’t out here for me. It’s for you. There’s a meteor shower tonight. I want you to see the stars fall. It’s amazing,” Beau explained.
Scarlett smiled. He knew that she’d fallen in love with the clear night sky and the billions of stars that were visible out here on the ranch, and that had made Beau fall even more in love with her.
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