Page 127 of Downpour

“Brooke.”

I snapped out of the haze. “Huh?”

Ray was pushing away from Cassandra’s desk. “You ready to go back to the house?”

Hearing him call it that—like it was mine too—was everything I ever wanted.

We made our way out of the office and back to the house for a quick dinner before heading out to the bunkhouse.

Trucks, ATVs, and horses carried everyone to the bonfire that glowed in the middle of an open field. Ray needed both hands to drive the golf cart down the dirt path, so I simply rested my head on his shoulder and took in the view.

The sun lit up the pastures in seas of gold. The dark silhouette of the construction site jutted out of the earth. The exterior to what would eventually be a luxury lodge and restaurant was almost done, but they still had a long way to go before it would function.

The lodge was a mix of stonework, cedar beams, and massive glass panes. The architecture was breathtaking. I couldn’t wait to see it completed.

“You’re late,” CJ hollered from the circle of camping chairs, hay bales, and tailgates.

One of the ranch hands had a guitar out and was playing an old country tune.

Ray grinned. “Had to eat dinner.”

It was me. I was dinner.

“Where do you want to sit?” I asked him.

Ray glanced around. “I, uh… I’ll just hang out in the golf cart.”

My heart sank a little. I wanted to sit close to the fire, but Ray and I were a team. I wasn’t going to abandon him. There were a lot of people around; a lot of people he didn’t usually interact with.

“Sounds good,” I said as I settled in.

Ray laced our hands together and looked down at me with a weight to his gaze.

“I don’t think I’ve told you how fucking thankful I am that you’re here,” he said, just between us. He brushed his thumb over the top of my hand. “I know I don’t deserve you. But I’m grateful for every day I get to wake up with you beside me.”

I chewed on my lip. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

The lines around his eyes relaxed, but deepened over his nose. “Why do you ask that?”

“We don’t have a lot in common. You’re a lot older than me. I fell for you the moment I saw you for the first time, and I never stopped to think. I have a bad habit of not thinking before I speak or act, and I just?—”

Ray chuckled. “Look at Chris and Cass. Do you think they’re alike? Or Nate and Becks? She was a lot more like Cass when she first moved to the ranch. I know one thing for certain. I want this, so I’m gonna work for it.”

He reached into the caddy behind us and pulled out a plastic bag of blue and pink Sweet Tarts.

“My hero.” I laughed as I opened the bag and picked out a blue one. “What do you do with the other ones?”

He chuckled. “I eat the purple and yellow ones, and throw away the green ones. They suck.”

I tucked my feet under my butt and curled up beside him on the bench seat. “I love you.”

He kissed the top of my head, then my forehead, then my lips. We sat in silence, watching the flames lick up into the sky. Ray had a small length of rope he was working on. The monotony was soothing.

“Y’all just gonna hide over there all night?” Christian hollered from the tailgate of his truck.

“Yep,” Ray shouted back. “You’re lucky we graced you with our presence in the first place.”

Light flashed in my peripheral vision. I looked over toward the lodge and smiled as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a royal blue hue across the sky.

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