The sunshine turned everything golden as Hatchet used a slight pressure from his knees to get his horse moving in the direction he wanted. They had just finished putting in the last of the white post fencing around the south end of the fields the day before, and he was just checking to make sure that they hadn’t moved too much after a night of wind and storms.
The afternoon was getting warmer by the minute, chasing away the last of the few remaining clouds from the night before and casting a shimmering glow over fields that waved cheerily in the slight breeze. Or maybe that’s just those rose-colored glasses that Jackrabbit says I’ve been wearing for the past six months.
It was hard to believe that it had been nearly half a year since everything had gone down with Mad Dog. Since then Hatchet had taken all of his savings and bought a small ranch of his own. With the help of the Roadburners and, surprisingly, Elsie’s father.
His relationship with Mark McLaurel was still tense, but he was working on it for Elsie’s sake. It was obvious that she loved the old man, despite how often they disagreed on things, and he knew it was important for her that they get along. At least he didn’t hate the man as much as he used to. He didn’t feel a lot of the things that he used to – the rage, the anger, and the despair. He knew it was all because of Elsie. She’d changed his life, and it was all for the better.
Hatchet clicked softly to his horse to keep him moving, glancing over at the small herd of cattle that he was keeping an eye on, and just breathed in deep of the fresh air. For the first time in a long time, in as long as he could remember really, he finally felt free. At peace. Finally able to lay all the anger and rage to rest. And once again, he laid those changes all at Elsie’s feet. She’d changed him. His whole life was better for having her in it.
A tiny brown sparrow shot up from a thicket of tall grass. Hatchet watched it fly around in loops and circles overhead with a profound sense of happiness.
When he closed his eyes, it was so easy to remember that time in the jail cell, that tiny, claustrophobic box, where he had turned to daydreams to hold on to his sanity. He had dreamed of open fields and a little farm of his own. And he had dreamed of Elsie. And now it seemed that all his dreams were coming true. Hatchet didn’t know what he’d done to deserve it, but he knew damn well that he would hold on to it with both hands for as long as he could.
He blinked open his eyes once more, fantasy merging with reality, as he kneed the horse forward once more, tugging the reins to get them moving back towards the house and away from the fence.
He was halfway to the small, white-washed farmhouse when he spotted something moving in the tall grass that made up the grazing fields. Hatchet slowed, reining his horse closer to get a better look at what it was.
Hatchet dropped down from the back of his dark brown stallion. With a reassuring click of his tongue he fed the horse a few of the sugar cubes he kept in his pocket to before walking the few paces to where the disturbance was.
A sweet peal of laughter reached his ears and had a goofy, lop-sided grin drawing across his face as he tramped to its source. He just stood there for a long moment, taking in the picturesque scene and wondering how in the hell he’d got so lucky.
Elsie was kneeling in the grass, not noticing the bright green stains that tinged the hem of her white dress, and she was still giggling as the baby calf she’d been playing with wobbled forward on still unsteady legs, licking at her cheek.
Hatchet was filled with awe as he watched her, saw the way she connected with the young calf. It wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed her particular magic. She had a way with animals that he’d never seen before, and since she’d started taking veterinary classes she’d gained the knowledge to heal as well.
This particular calf had been born just a week before. It had been a difficult birth, but Elsie had been there the whole way to bring the tiny animal out into the world happy and healthy. He could see that it was what she was meant to do, even if her daddy still grumbled now and then about it.
Hatchet laughed along with Elsie as the calf danced away at the call of his mother, and the sound finally drew her attention.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, a brilliant smile curling up her rosebud lips and making her eyes look like sapphires in the sunlight.
A sudden realization crashed into him with all the force of a speeding train.
He wanted to spend the rest of his like with her, just like this. To spend every moment basking in her smile, in her laughter, in the love that shone like a beacon from her bright blue eyes.
Without a second thought, he walked over to her, dropping to one knee in the soft dirt beside her, and took her hands in his. Elsie was still smiling up at him, a question swirling in the depths of her eyes, but he was the one who asked first.
“Elsie Grace McLaurel, I know I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve this. But I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to try to. I swear I will love you until my last breath.” He found it hard to even inhale, and his nerves were suddenly thick. “Elsie, will you make me the happiest man in the world by agreeing to marry me and face this world together?”
She stared at him in silence for so long he was almost afraid she wasn’t going to answer his question. But then she was laughing and crying, throwing herself in his arms and raining kisses across his cheek in between her answer.
“Yes. Yes. Yes! I will marry you.” Elsie looked up at him, tears of joy swimming in her eyes. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
He stared down at her, so happy that he felt like he was about to burst apart in a million pieces and just float away on the breeze.
“I love you, too, Elsie,” he whispered against her lips, so soft and gentle and so full of tenderness that it had moisture stinging the corners of his eyes.
But he didn’t care as he claimed them. It didn’t matter. Only she did. Slowly, Hatchet laid her back on the bed of wildflowers, still kissing her, his touch running over her body like he couldn’t get enough of her.
He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her, and he was determined to prove just how grateful he really was. His grin was all sin as he stared down at her flushed face, his hand expertly undoing the buttons of her jeans.
Starting right now.