Chapter 21: Autumn

Dallas and I toasted in celebration of him being in Paris for six months. It started off rocky, with me going into work and him not knowing what the hell to do around the apartment, but ultimately it worked out for the better. I’d made reservations at a restaurant that wasn’t afraid to cook with grease and Dallas really enjoyed the steak with melted cheese he’d had there until he got the bill. Although his reaction had made me giggle, it also made me vow to find a few places that would remind him of home without costing $100 every time.

But for this occasion, the price was fine.

I smiled. “To six months in Paris!”

“Here, here!” Dallas exclaimed.

We clinked our wine glasses together over the luscious food sitting in front of us, and then began to devour it.

In the time since he had arrived, Dallas had found an actual rodeo that took place just outside of the city, and promptly started riding again. He entered himself as a newbie into some of the competitions, but then one of the regular riders recognized him and put him straight into the professional circuit. He traveled a bit with them around the country, but mostly, he stayed just outside of Paris. He rode when he could and when the rodeo wasn’t in town, he was hired as a contractor to help train other riders as well as to help with other people’s ranches. People were more open here, didn’t care why the animals trusted him only that they did. We didn’t talk about his lion much, but I knew he was in there, a part of the man I loved. Always had been.

“Has Bradley called you lately?” I asked, setting down my wine glass.

“Yep. He called a couple days ago. Says the calves are doing just fine and growing faster than he can keep up.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m thinkin’ ‘bout takin’ a trip out there soon just to check up on things.”

“I think that would be a good idea. You could stay for a week or two and give Bradley a break.”

“I don’t know if I’d wanna stay that long…” he trailed off.

“Well, I’ll come with ya if it helps,” I said, smiling.

Dallas had put his ranch hand on full-time duty, and Bradley checked in every once in a while to see how things were going. Dallas had traveled back once since he’d arrived in Paris and when he came back, I could tell how much he had missed me. We stayed up that entire night feeding each other food and making love on my couch, and when I’d woken up that following morning, he wouldn’t even let me go take a damn shower. So I knew that me going with him would help him to actually go back and check on things properly.

He nodded. “I think I’d like that.”

“I know,” I said, titling my head and smirking.

Dallas and I had also moved out of the heart of the city. It was a massive transition for me, but since Dallas was determined to learn how to drive and have a car of his own, transportation was no longer an issue. I still took the busses and trains into town, but he was now able to get around on his own without it breaking us financially, so when the residual payments from his ranch back home started dropping into his account, he started setting it aside.

I’d come home one day to see all our things packed in the one truck he’d found in all of Paris, and I’d had no clue what was up to his sleeve. He just told me he had a surprise for me, and when I looked up at my apartment, I could see other people already moving into it.

I jumped into his truck, fuming at the idea that he’d subleased my apartment without telling me about it first, but when we hit the outskirts of the city and the hills began to roll, I started to feel like I was at home. My eyes darted along the wineries, vineyards, and beautiful sprawling French mansions peppered along the roads we were traveling down. After taking a sharp right and hitting a gravel driveway, all the memories from the past few years came barreling back to my mind.

College. Dallas and his continual encouragement throughout my college years. My father getting sick. The summer horse camps I’d helped with. Dallas’s home. The horse accident and how he had taken such good care of me. The first time I’d told him I loved him. The way he had looked at the airport as I was leaving.

It all came flooding back, but tears crested my eyes when the beautiful home that was sitting at the end of it came into view.

“Oh my God,” I’d said breathlessly.

“It still needs some work, but that’s sort of what I do,” Dallas had said. He turned his gaze toward me and smiled.

“Holy shi-... this is ours?” I had shrieked in disbelief.

“Yep. Closed on it today. I was lucky to find a sublease that was lookin’ for a place quick.”

Overcome with excitement, I’d slammed myself out of his truck and went running to the porch. Seeing the beautiful rocking chairs over in the corner, tears had began streaming down my face.

And then, I’d heard whinnying in the background.

“Dallas…?”

He had laughed and said, “Come on.”

He’d then taken my hand to lead me around back. Stepping into the backyard, I’d been absolutely stunned to find three horses in the field with two different foals, and five bulls over in another part of the yard altogether. Hills upon hills sprawled out, and there was a silver barn way off in the distance.

“That’s the heifer barn,” Dallas had said. “There’s seven of ‘em in there. And don’t worry, I plan to ride the horses out to it until I can get me a four-wheeler or somethin’.”

“Dallas, how the hell are we affording this?”

“You just leave that to me.”

Apparently, one of the people he’d run into at the rodeo had owned the farm at one point, but was switching professions and looking to sell. He had injured himself pretty badly and was losing money bringing in people to take care of the animals he trained and took in after they were retired from the rodeo circuit. Naturally, that shit was right up Dallas’s alley. The price he quoted included all the animals, and Dallas simply hadn’t been able to turn it down, not when there were animals involved.

“What are you thinking about?” Dallas asked, watching me cut off another chunk of my steak.

“I’m sorry, I’m just still in shock with the house,” I said after swallowing a massive bite.

“I know, but I think I got somethin’ that’ll trump it.”

“Jesus, Dallas. I can’t handle anything else. Can’t ya just let a woman’s heart rest a bit?”

“Not a chance,” he laughed, his grin bringing a twinkle to his eyes.

I giggled and took a drink of my wine, and when I turned my head back around to him, there was a little box in his hand. I froze, feeling my entire body lock up with shock. I slowly turned my gaze up to his face. He clicked the box open.

Inside was a beautiful diamond ring, glistening in the dim light of the restaurant. Everyone around us had grown still to watch us, listening intently.

“Autumn August, you are single-handedly the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Ya make me feel at home in a city that I shouldn’t belong in, ya warm my body at night after I’ve been fightin’ with them damn bulls, and watchin’ you do what you love day in and day out lets me know I pushed you to do the right thing in college.”

Tears of joy trickled down my cheeks as my gaze slowly rose to his.

“When your mama sent me that phone call that day, I thought I’d lost you. I thought that I’d never get a chance to ever tell you I loved you again, or hold you close to me and kiss those sweet lips of yours, or even cuddle you into my side while we watched a movie. I saw all them memories slip away from me and it made me sick.”

I heard sniffling around us while tears glistened in Dallas’s eyes.

“I prayed to God that night that if He pulled you outta this…if you came back to me…I’d do all the things I never thought I’d get to do with you ever again. I’d take you on adventures, and I’d kiss your lips at night, and I’d hunker down behind you just to make sure you were safe every single time you slept.”

“Oh, Dallas,” I choked out.

“Autumn August, I love every single part of you. I have since I was 19, and I will until I’m 109. Will you do me the honor of marrying me? Of being my mate forever?”

The entire restaurant fell under a hush, and a smile bloomed deep across my cheeks. My body was shaking, and my legs were trembling, but when I shot myself into Dallas’s lap and crashed my lips onto his, the entire restaurant erupted into cheers and chants of congratulations.

“Yes, Dallas,” I whispered into his lips. “I will marry you.”

He took that beautiful ring out of the box and slid it onto my finger, and that’s when something was set on our table.

“Courtesy of the owner,” the waiter nodded.

When we opened up the little envelope, it was a note that simply read, “On The House.”

“I love you, Dallas,” I said, smiling through my tears.

“And I love you, Autumn,” he said, smiling back.

About the Author - Terra Wolf

I love to write about romance that isn’t your typical love story. My books allow my imagination to run free and explore every possible idea I have. That makes writing less like a job and more like a fantasy come to life.

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