Page 125 of Wildflowers & Whiskey

My boots on the dry ground give me away instantly, and he turns.

In the space of a second, the distant dazed look is gone, replaced by something cautious, like he’s scared to move too fast around me.

“Coming along,” I say as I close the remaining distance.

He lets out a hum of agreement, bobbing his head while scanning the site. The silence between us is heavy.

“I’m ready to talk, if you are.”

I keep my eyes on the riding school instead of him, fingers flexing at my side. Workers going about their business, getting the job done.

The November sun sits warm over the ranch, the hills gone from vast colours of spring to waves of gold grass and burnt orange leaves on the trees. A few wildflowers still linger if you know where to look.

“I get it now.”

Wade’s brows pull together.

“Or… I think I do.” I rub the back of my neck. “Everything you kept a secret; I can see how you thought it would protect me. And how being distant may have been easier when all I did was blame you for something I thought I knew.”

Wade doesn’t move, I’m not even sure if he has breathed since I started talking.

“I’m still hurt by it all, but I’m starting to look at it deeper. You know, thanks to therapy.” A short, awkward sound leaves me before I can stop it. “You’ve done a lot for me in the background; I was just blinded by the anger. I’m sorry for that.”

“Colt.” Something stern moves through his voice. “You don’t owe me an apology at all.”

“I think I do for some of it because, maybe, if I had allowed you in, then you could have felt like you could have told me sooner…”

He looks at me, his features now softened.

“But Maeve… I have tried to see it from your perspective, but it’s hard for me. I get parts of wanting something good, but you could have had anyone else. Why her?”

Wade looks at the building for a long moment. When he speaks, the careful composure has loosened, words coming out easily without any thought.

“I’ve never felt anything as close as I’ve felt with Maeve. I meant it when I said I tried to stop it before it became what it became. She just… caught me off guard. Then, before I knew it, I had fallen for her.”

I go still. Fallen for her.

I expect the anger to return, but it doesn’t.

Wade just said those words out loud, to me out of all people, without any guarantee of how they'll land. That’s stronger than I ever thought he felt towards her.

“Do you love her?” I ask.

“Yes,” he replies, without missing a beat. “But that doesn’t matter anymore. I want to focus on us, and our bond. As father and son again because you, Colt, are always going to be my son.”

“It's going to take time,” I say. “I'm not standing here telling you everything's fine, because it isn't, not fully. But I don't want to keep doing this distant hating thing either.” I look at him directly. “That's not what I want.”

“What do you want?” he asks.

“Exactly what you want too.” I nod at the riding school. “To have a relationship… as father and son.”

Something opens in his face that I haven't seen there in twenty-six years. Honest, raw and hopeful.

“She left because of me, didn’t she?” I say. “Because she didn't want to be in the way of us fixing this.” I gesture between us.

“Colt—”

“If you mean it when you say you love her, you should be allowed to be happy after everything you’ve been through. And truth be told, I miss her too.” He looks puzzled. “Not like that, but as my friend here. And yes, it will be very weird to see you two together, but I will get over it eventually.”