“You’ve been in a terrible mood all day. You’re pale as a sheet. You aren’t eating. You’re right. That’s all very normal.”
“He left,” Avery finally admitted. It still hurt to say the words.
“Grayson? Mr. All Hat and No Cattle left you?” Laura sat down.
“He left his daughter, not me.” Avery was determined to extricate herself from the pain of the situation. It wasn’t hers, it was Quinn’s.
“Oh, Avery, that’s terrible. What reason did he give?”
“He didn’t give a reason. He didn’t say goodbye. He didn’t tell us when he’d be back or what he was doing. He just up and left. He isn’t answering his phone. I’m worried he’s...”
She didn’t want to say it. She had wanted desperately to trust him, to believe him.
“Have you called the police? I mean seriously, this could be a missing person thing.”
“He told his dad he had to go back to California. We called the business there and his home. They are unaware of his location and they also have not been able to reach him.” She buried her face in her hands. “That’s how they say it, like it’s a business call and not a worried daughter needing to know if her father is safe.”
“I’m sure there’s an explanation.” Laura tried to sound positive.
“Right, like he was done playing dad. He was done playing...” She rubbed a hand over her face. “Done playing with my emotions. That’s all he’s ever done.”
“Maybe, but maybe you’re wrong. Maybe you’ve been hurt so many times that you just expect people to walk out on you.”
“This feels like walking out. I love him. Why is it I can’t learn my lesson when it comes to Grayson Stone?”
“Because he’s charming and kind and he helps the elderly and women and kittens.”
“And then he leaves.”
It came back to his leaving. Always. It came back to Avery always feeling as if she wasn’t enough. She hated that feeling and she was determined to never experience it again.
Ever.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Where have you been?” Tucker asked as he slammed Grayson against the wall of the cook shack at the Pleasant Rodeo Arena.
Grayson pushed his friend off and straightened his hat. “What’s that for?”
“For walking out on them. I warned you not to hurt Avery and Quinn.”
Tucker’s fist came up and Grayson remembered how much he didn’t like having a broken nose. And tonight it was especially important that his nose not be broken. He had business to take care of.
Grayson put both hands up in surrender. “I’m not going to fight you. I’m just asking for an explanation. If you’d tell me how I walked out on Avery and Quinn.”
Something wasn’t adding up and his good mood began to evaporate under the heated glare of his friend.
“Come on, Tucker, give me a break. I need an answer.”
“You left without saying goodbye. You’ve ignored phone calls. You left your daughter hanging after promising to bring her tonight. But don’t worry. I loaded Flash and brought him. And Nina brought your dad so he can watch her barrel race for the first time.”
“I’m here to watch her, too.” Grayson was still lost. “What do you mean, I didn’t tell her I was leaving? I wrote a note and gave it to Nan. I even left a number where they could reach me because I knew my cell phone wasn’t going to work.”
“You left a note with Nan?” Tucker seemed suspicious. Grayson couldn’t say that he blamed him.
“Yes, I left a note. I went by the house. Avery was at work. Quinn was with a friend. Nan said she’d let them know that I had to leave town. I wanted to surprise them but I also wanted them to know I would be back today. Unfortunately, I had plane delays and couldn’t get back as early as I planned.”
“You’re going to have to tell Avery all this. And Quinn. But Quinn first. She’s been hurt and angry all week.”
“Where is she?”
Tucker pointed to the horse trailer a short distance away. His ten-year-old daughter was standing next to Flash, the horse saddled and bridled and ready to go. Grayson thanked his friend and headed her way.
She saw him coming and didn’t look happy to see him.
Grayson hesitated, wishing he knew the right words to say.
“I’m sorry.” He started there. “I didn’t mean to leave and have everyone upset. I left a note with Nan, but she must have forgotten.”
“Nan forgets everything,” Quinn said as she ran a hand down her horse’s neck. “But she wouldn’t forget to tell me goodbye.”
Grayson blinked away tears. “I didn’t forget, Quinn. I stopped and let Nan know. You weren’t at home. It was important that I go. It was unexpected business that I couldn’t ignore.”
“It was more important than us?”
“Never. You and your mom, the two of you are the most important thing to me.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
He grabbed his daughter in a hug that she briefly fought but then she leaned against him and cried. “I thought you weren’t coming back,” she sobbed.
“I promised I would. You have to trust me. I will work night and day to make sure you always know that you can trust me. I’m going to be here for you.”
“Why did you have to leave?” she asked.
“It was business. But I need to talk to your mom first. I need to explain to her.”
“That’s going to be hard to do,” Quinn told him. “She’s pretty mad at you. I heard her tell Nan that you did what you do best. You left without saying goodbye.”
“Well, then, I’m going to have to find a way to convince her that I’m not saying goodbye.”
“Huh?” Quinn looked confused.
“You’ll see.” He helped her on her horse. “Ride over to the gate. I have a surprise for you.”
* * *
Avery heard the crowds of people shouting and clapping. She had no idea what was going on in the arena and she really didn’t care. She’d been helping in the cook shack because they’d been shorthanded. That had meant she was in the back, making pulled pork nachos and passing them over to the ladies at the counter. She was hot, sweaty and really only wanted to get outside in time to watch Quinn.
“Hey, Avery, you have to come out here and watch this. I promise it’s something you don’t want to miss,” Tucker called out as he leaned through the window.
“No, thanks.” She made another order of nachos and Linda, the head of the concession stand, told her she was being relieved of her duties.
“I don’t mind helping,” Avery said.
“We’re good. Our second shift is coming in and you need to watch your girl run barrels. Thank you for helping out.”
“You’re welcome,” Avery said. She washed her hands and left through the back door of the building.
Tucker was waiting for her.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked as she tried to skate by him. “I need to go find Quinn.”
“She’s already in the arena.”
“Why is she in the arena? It isn’t time for her event yet.”
Tucker took her by the shoulders and made her face the arena. That was when she saw him. Grayson Stone on a big gray horse. Quinn was next to him on Flash. Each of them had a pole and they held a banner between them.
“No!” she said. “Absolutely not. He can’t come home and pull a stunt like this and get my daughter involved.”
“I think you should hear him out,” Tucker advised.
“I thought you were my friend.”
“I am your friend.” Tucker put a hand to her back and moved her toward the gate. “He needs to explain what happened.”
“Tucker, I just want to leave. I’m tired, hot and sweaty. Grayson is sitting out there with a Marry Me sign and he has Qui
nn holding that sign with him. I can’t go out there. I can’t let him humiliate me again.”
“Trust him.” Tucker said it so seriously that it made her stop. “Let him explain.”
She walked through the gate that he opened and into the arena to the cheers of the crowd. People she’d known her entire life sat alongside people who didn’t even know her name but they all clapped and shouted as Grayson took the sign and dismounted his horse in one fluid, heart-stopping motion.
He strolled up to her while Quinn remained seated on Flash, the pony prancing just a bit as the crowd roared. But Quinn had control. She calmed her horse and sat him with easy confidence, smiling at her mom and her dad.
“What are you doing?” Avery asked as Grayson approached her.
“I came back,” he said.
“Good for you. Meanwhile, your daughter thought you’d left for good because you couldn’t be bothered to say goodbye. You didn’t answer your phone or even text and let us—let her—know that you were safe and that you weren’t...”
She swiped at the tears, the stupid tears, and she stared up into his face, noticing the hurt and anguish.
“This might have been a mistake,” Grayson said as he glanced around. “It seemed like a great idea while I was planning it.”
“Did leaving seem like a good idea, too?”
“I didn’t leave.” He sighed and shook his head. “I did leave, but I left a note. Nan was the only one at home. I left a note with Nan. I had an urgent business meeting that I had to take care of. It was unexpected and I didn’t have time to explain.”
“What could be that urgent?” she asked. “And what did the note say?”
“The note promised you that I would be back on Saturday because I wouldn’t miss Quinn’s first competition for anything. The note told you that I love you and that I would miss you every day that I was gone but when I got home, I’d explain.”
She sobbed into his shoulder. “Explain what?”
He held her close. “That’s the surprise.”
“Tell me the surprise,” she ordered. “Seriously, Grayson, I’m standing in an arena with dozens of people watching and I’m not enjoying this.”
He had the nerve to laugh. “You’re very impatient. But first, I want you to know, I’m serious about us. You, me and Quinn. We’re an us. We’re not two separate families. I want us, Avery. Together forever.”
“How do we do that?” she asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“We start by living in the same state,” he told her. “I never planned on selling my uncle’s business. He left it to me and trusted me with it. But last week I got a phone call from a company that was interested not only in buying my business but my house, too. I took that as a sign that God also wanted there to be an us.”
“That does sound as if God had a hand in this,” she admitted.
He dropped to one knee and held out a ring. “Avery, I’ve hurt you. I’ve let you down. I’ve let myself down. But I think I’m finally the man I need to be in order to be the husband and father you and Quinn need me to be. Will you marry me?”
The entire arena erupted with dozens of voices yelling, “Say yes!”
She did say yes. And within moments Quinn had joined them. Grayson kissed his soon-to-be wife and pulled his daughter into the circle of his arms. They hugged and kissed as the crowds clapped and cheered.
Avery knew what it was to be loved. She knew what it was to be whole. And now her family was complete.
Almost.
EPILOGUE
June. One Year Later
Avery and Grayson were married in December, just six months after his very public proposal. They’d married in their church, and Avery had planned her dream wedding, because having Grayson meant she started dreaming again. Her dream wedding had included twinkling lights, white poinsettias and snow.
It hadn’t snowed but Grayson had hired a company to produce snow for the happy couple as they left the church building to the tolling of the bells. It had been perfect, romantic and everything that dreams were made of.
Most of all, it had been a moment of celebration with God at the center. That was their plan for the marriage and family they planned to have. They knew there would be tough times, there would be storms to weather, there would be heartache to live through. They also knew that God would guide them, bless them and give them joy, even during the difficult times.
Their house had finally been finished and it was more than Avery ever thought it could be. It was a little too big, because Grayson always seemed to go too far in his planning. The kitchen was huge. There were four bedrooms and not the two that Avery had originally planned.
More bedrooms weren’t a problem, he’d told her. They’d just have to fill them with more children.
Avery was wrapping a package, knowing he’d be home soon. He’d sold his business in California, relocated his horses to Missouri and he’d started a new contracting business in the Ozarks. He’d also invested in Tucker’s river outfitters business. His days were busy but he was home each night with Avery and Quinn.
On this evening in early June, the sound of his truck coming down the drive spurred her to action. She hurried to the kitchen, placed the package on the counter, then she stared at the dinner preparations. Grayson was still the better cook, but since her main job these days was to take care of the judge, she found herself spending more time trying to create dishes that her family enjoyed.
“What’s for dinner?” Quinn asked as she came through the door. She’d been outside with Flash and declared that he would never be too small for her. Since she was nearly as tall as Avery, that seemed doubtful. But they definitely wouldn’t sell him when Quinn outgrew him. Flash was theirs forever.
“We’re having taco casserole,” Avery said as she pushed the gift back a smidge so her daughter wouldn’t see.
“That’s my favorite,” Grayson said as he came through the door. “Or wait, maybe my favorite is you.” He pulled Avery close and kissed her.
“What about me?” Quinn asked.
Her dad picked her up and swung her around. “And you are my favorite daughter.”
“I’m your only daughter,” Quinn reminded him.
Grayson spotted the gift. “What’s that? Is it someone’s birthday and I forgot?”
“Not really a birthday,” Avery answered.
“Who’s it for?” Quinn asked, reaching for the gift.
“Not for you,” Avery replied. She took the present from Quinn and handed it to Grayson. “It’s for your dad.”
Grayson took the gift and gave her a wondering look.
“You bought me a gift?”
She gave him a secretive smile. “Something like that.”
He unwrapped it slowly, found the box inside and opened it. Quinn moved close to his side as he pulled a framed picture from the box.
He held it for a moment, studying the photograph, turning it, looking at it for a long time. And then a tear rolled down his cheek.
Quinn took the picture from his loosened fingers as he stepped to Avery and pulled her close.
“Is that a tadpole?” Quinn asked with disgust. “Why would you give him a picture of a tadpole when we have good pictures? Oh wait. Is that...”
“It’s a baby,” Avery and Grayson said in unison.
“No way!” Quinn shouted. “But babies cry a lot and they’re stinky. Did you really think this through?”
Avery couldn’t stop laughing, even as Grayson kissed her.
“Thank you for making me the happiest man alive.”
“This makes you happy?” Quinn said. “Babies are a lot of trouble.”
“Quinn, you’re going to have a little brother or sister.”
Quinn looked at the picture again. “I mean, that isn’t terrible...” And then she wrapped her arms around both of her
parents. “Us just got a little bigger.”
“Yes, we did,” Grayson said, hugging both of them in his strong embrace.
* * * * *
Dear Reader,
I’m so pleased to start this new series set in my home state of Missouri. I grew up playing on the banks of the James River. We caught tadpoles, swam, climbed the river bluffs and spent summer evenings camping under the starlight. As an adult, we still love the river. Camping, fish fries and canoeing are a big part of our lives here in southwest Missouri. For that reason, it was fun to create a series and a community that embodies both the river life and also the farming that is an integral part of our Ozark lives.
I hope you’ll enjoy these books set in the fictional town of Pleasant, Missouri. Like many towns that I know, it is a close knit town where neighbors help one another, churches are the heart and the soul of the community and friendships last a lifetime.
Avery and Grayson are complicated characters with a past that must be dealt with before they can trust each other and themselves. As they work to build a relationship that will keep their daughter safe, they learn that life’s storms can tear us apart but faith can build us up and keep us strong, even when faced with the unexpected.
I love hearing from readers! Please email me at [email protected].
You can also find me on Facebook, where I love connecting with readers: Facebook.com/brenda.minton.
Brenda Minton
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Love Inspired June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 35
