Change Rein (Willow Bay Stables #1)(30)

“I think he wasn’t waiting for the right girl. I think he was waiting for you.”

I have no time to catch the first tear rolling down my cheek without much effort at all. “I think I’ve been waiting for him too. I just didn’t know it is all.”

“Oh heavens, honey. We never know it. Falling in love with Charles was like being hit by a freight train.”

I laugh at her odd choice of metaphor.

“I never got over it, and I never want to. That man makes me fall in love more every day, and let me tell you, three boys later, that’s a damn-near miracle.” Looking over at me, she gives me a smirk. “Tucker men aren’t always easy to love, London. Lord knows I’ve considered settin’ Charles on fire once or twice over the years. But they’ll love you more than anything in this world, and they’ll love you until the day they die. There’s no better kind out there, even if I am a little biased.”

“I think I’ll keep him,” I whisper back at her as if it’s our own little secret.

It takes ages to say goodbye to everyone, and most of me didn’t want to, but it was getting late. On the quick drive home, I replay the evening over in my head. Each time I do, I’m more grateful than the last. I never thought another person’s family could feel so much like home, but I was so very wrong. The Tuckers feel as much like home as the zoo of my own I love so much, but Ashley healed a small piece of me with her love tonight.

As we come up the driveway, my heart seizes when I catch the unmistakable shape of a burned barn in the distance, and his body tenses behind the wheel. Unsure of what to say, if there’s anything to say at all, I rest my hand on his thigh.

While it saddens me deeply that it happened to him, I am also grateful, because it brought him to me. Although I didn’t know I was missing the other half of my heart, I would surely know now, and that would make all the difference.

Lights in the distance come into focus, and for the second time today, the breath on my lips is stolen by another beautiful home. It is entirely warm, and having met his family, I can see why it would be. The log beams are offset by brilliant floor-to-ceiling windows that gleam from the light of the moon. It’s not until we drive past the house that I come to know my favorite place in the entire property—the large horse fountain in the middle of his drive.

Like a child, I tap his shoulder. “Stop the car!”

“What?” He frowns in concern.

“Stop the car!” I yell again.

He complies, clearly confused by my sudden outburst of energy.

As soon as the car stops, I throw the door open and run softly over to the statue of a beautiful horse rearing up into the night. The water cascades down around him and the lights in the pool bring the image to life. Without thinking better of it, I kick my sandals off and climb into the shallow water.

Branson shakes his head as he walks towards me. “What are you doing?”

Lifting my arms above my head, I twirl around underneath the fountain. “It’s beautiful.” I laugh, the water staining the red of my romper to a dark plum.

“It’s beautiful, even when you aren’t in it.” He folds his arms over his chest.

I crook a finger and wink. “Don’t be a spoilsport, cowboy. Come here.”

“You’re crazy.” His eyes are full of love as he toes his boots off. After emptying his pockets, he climbs in so hesitantly that it makes me snicker.

“We’re all a little crazy, baby, and that’s half the fun,” I whisper, pulling him under the spray with me.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he presses his wet body against mine. “I love you.”

The smile on my face spreads—though I thought it wasn’t even possible—and the pounding of my chest against its confines rings in my head. “You love me?”

Call me a glutton, but I just want to hear it again.

“I do.” He wipes the wet hair off my face. “You’re every dream I’ve ever laid awake at night wishing for, and your every sin I’ve ever wanted to indulge in. You’re my fantasy and my reality every day. I love you, London.”

“I love you, too.” My lips crash onto his, and he sucks my bottom lip between his lips in a feverish kiss.

Branson told me he loved me as we stood in a fountain, soaking wet in our clothes the night I met his parents, and it was absolute perfection.



After toweling off my hair from the quick shower I’d taken in his bathroom, I slide into the somewhat skimpy pajamas I brought with me.

“Your mama’s somethin’ special,” I tell Branson, lying down on the bed beside him.

He puts his iPad on the dresser, props himself up on his elbow, and looks down at me. “She likes you.”

“I like her, too,” I whisper, my voice faltering a little as his hand settles over the thin cotton of my shirt on my stomach.

His thumb trails over my belly button as he speaks. “She’s the one who picked out our fountain.”

My eyebrows pull together. “Our fountain?”

“The moment I told you I loved you while ruining my clothes in it, it became our fountain,” he teases.

Burrowing my head into the pillow, I laugh. “Well, your mama has wonderful taste. I love that fountain.”

“I love you.” He’s quick with the words, but his eyes light up as he says them.