CHAPTER NINE
Brianne was back to baking. With a vengeance.
Today marked a week since the incident in the motel room. Seven days since Tyler had branded her his. One hundred and sixty-eight hours since he’d last touched her, kissed her, caressed her.
Her body still burned from the heat of his touch.
Retrieving a pan of cinnamon sugar cookies from the oven and placing it on the stove top, she removed her mitt and tossed it on the counter. She pulled in a deep breath, but it did nothing to ease the tightness in the vicinity of her heart.
She missed Tyler and what they’d shared that evening before she’d stopped the madness. Not the sexual intimacy, but the outpouring of emotion that had filled her heart. The ache for what could never be grew to startling proportions.
He’d maintained his distance, giving her the unconditional friendship she’d requested as they worked together to familiarize Roman Warrior with his new environment. On a business level, their relationship couldn’t be more perfect.
He’d been great with Daniel, giving the boy his undivided attention as he taught him how to break the fillies. Daniel was gradually opening up to Tyler, accepting him with a reserved respect that clutched at Brianne’s maternal instincts. Yet she found she could no longer deny Daniel the pleasure of knowing his “Uncle Tyler.” It was the only discreet way she could offer both son and father the chance to know one another.
And as each day passed, telling Tyler the truth about Daniel became harder to do. For as much as she loved Tyler, and as much as she wanted to share the secret with him, she feared he’d hate her for her deception, for marrying someone as spiteful as Reed when she’d been pregnant with his child, despite her reasons for doing so.
She hated Reed for manipulating the situation to his advantage, and she hated herself for being so weak and scared that she’d allowed him to take everything away from Tyler that he’d loved. The reining operation. The ranch. Her. And the son Tyler had no knowledge of.
But her regrets changed nothing, and neither did the tears burning the back of her throat. She’d decided to make the best of the situation as it was and leave well enough alone. But the past had a way of blending with the future, and there was no forgetting the young, innocent boy who was caught in the middle of the mess she’d made of things.
The object of her thoughts entered the kitchen at that moment, a huge smile wreathing his face. His eyes sparkled with excitement beneath the youth-size chocolate-colored Stetson Tyler had purchased for him when they’d gone into town together a few days ago.
She forced a smile. “What’s up, cowboy?” She playfully tugged on the brim of his Stetson, a smaller replica of the one Tyler owned, and her heart suddenly stopped.
With the hat covering his blond hair and his strikingly blue eyes staring up at her, his youthful features became more prominent, more defined. Daniel might have inherited her blond hair, but there was no denying the angle of his nose, the cut of his jaw, and the shape of his lips were his father’s. The resemblance was subtle, but in a few years, as he matured from a youth, to a teenager, to a man, there’d be no mistaking the similarities between Tyler and Daniel.
She felt the floor beneath her feet dip and sway and her hand grabbed the counter for support.
Daniel frowned at her. “Mom, you okay?”
“I’m just fine,” she managed, restraining the urge to confiscate his hat for fear of Tyler seeing what she had. She was being paranoid, she told herself, certain the likeness was more noticeable to her because she knew the truth.
“Where are you off to?” she asked, grabbing the spatula and removing the cookies from the pan to the cooling rack next to the oven.
“I’m going to help Uncle Tyler break a new filly.” He filched a few warm cookies and bit into one. “Will you come and watch?”
She wasn’t in the frame of mind to witness the closeness developing between father and son, but she couldn’t avoid it, either. And she wanted to support Daniel’s interest in the horses. “Maybe later, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, and started out of the kitchen. He got as far as the screen door when he turned around and raced back, lifting another handful of her cookies. “Uncle Tyler likes your cookies, too,” he explained, giving her an impish grin before heading out the back door.
Brianne glanced out the kitchen window, watching her son make his way down to the breaking corral and the father waiting for him. Betty was on her way up to the house, and Daniel waved to the only grandmotherly figure he’d ever known, telling her that his uncle Tyler was going to make him the second-best trainer on Whitmore Acres. Betty laughed, informed him that he made a mighty fine-looking cowboy in his new Stetson, and Daniel beamed.
Less than a minute later Betty entered the kitchen, and to Brianne’s relief she didn’t comment on the baked goods lining the counter. The cookies, cakes, and breads spoke for themselves. She’d always dealt with stress in the past by baking, but since Tyler’s return, she no longer found the diversion therapeutic.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Daniel so happy,” Betty commented with a smile. “Tyler must be the reason for the boy’s new lease on life.”
Brianne turned off the oven and set about pouring them each a glass of iced tea. “Yes, Tyler’s been spending a lot of time with him lately.”
Betty settled in at the table and accepted the glass of tea from Brianne. “The time they’re spending together is good for both of them, don’t you think?”
What was the other woman getting at? she wondered, trying to gauge the direction of their conversation. “As long as Daniel doesn’t get hurt.”
“I don’t believe Tyler would ever intentionally hurt the boy, Brianne,” she said, then added, “Or you.”
“No, not intentionally,” Brianne agreed very quietly, taking a sip of her cool drink. That much she believed. It was the unintentional part that made her nervous, when the anger and bitterness of the past collided with the present and exploded in fury. She shuddered at the thought.
After a long, quiet moment passed, Betty said, “Tyler still loves you, you know.”
Shocked at the other woman’s statement, she stared incredulously at her. “What in the world gave you that idea?”
Betty’s pale blue eyes twinkled. “Why, it’s obvious by the way he looks at you.”
Brianne shook her head. Hard. Obvious? Was her love for Tyler obvious, too? “That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed, and began dumping the baking dishes into the soapy water in the sink.
“Not really.” She shrugged, but the look in her eyes was anything but innocent. The woman was on a mission. “Jasper told me all about that silly friendship pact of yours with Tyler, but there’s more between the two of you than either of you want to admit.”
“There’s too much between us, Betty. That’s the problem. A ranch we can’t agree on, my marriage to Reed, too much hurt…” And too many secrets.
Betty looked thoughtful. “Maybe, if you give Tyler the chance and trust him, you both can help each other heal those hurts.”
How could she expect Tyler to forgive her when she couldn’t even forgive herself for robbing him of so much? And if she trusted him with the truth, she’d risk his pure hatred and condemnation for what she’d done. And where would that leave Daniel?
She rubbed her temple, feeling so lost and confused. A heavy pressure settled in her chest. Feeling closed in and afraid of the unknown, she grappled for an excuse to get away.
Grabbing the truck keys off a hook next to the cupboard, she blurted the first thing that came to mind. “I’ve got to run to the feed store for some supplies.”
Betty smiled and waved her hand in the air. “Sure, honey, you go right ahead and run along.”
And as Brianne exited the kitchen to the living room, she heard Betty add, “But you can’t keep running from the past, because it’ll always be there until you face it.”
“No doubt about it, Daniel, you’re going to be a fine trainer one day,” Tyler said, giving the boy’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze as they left the breaking corral. They’d spent an hour together, trying to calm a filly enough to get a blanket on her back. Daniel, Tyler was learning, had a deft touch with the horses, a way of soothing their fears with just a gentle touch. “And if you’d like, I’d love to teach you about reining, too.”
Daniel glanced up at him, blue eyes peering at him in a shy, hesitant way from beneath the brim of his new hat. “How come you’re always so nice to me?”
Daniel’s question, and the vulnerable note in his voice yanked at Tyler’s heart. So many insecurities for one so young. The past week he’d spent with Daniel had shown him a gentle, sensitive side to the boy. He’d grown fond of him, and wished, not for the first time, that Daniel were his.
Dismissing the longing weaving through him, he focused on convincing the insecure boy of his self-worth. “Because I like you, and I think we can be good friends,” he said simply, and honestly.
Disbelief colored Daniel’s eyes to a deeper shade of blue, just before he ducked his head and scuffed his boot against the dirt drive. “Why? I’m nothin’ special.”
Tyler stopped at the fence bordering the pasture. Leaning his back against it and propping the heel of his boot on the bottom rung, he stared steadily at Daniel. “Sure you are.”
“Reed never thought so,” he refuted, his tone tinged with anger and challenge.
Not Dad. Reed. Daniel never had any reason to think of Reed as a dad, and had missed out on all the fun learning experiences a father taught his son. Tyler wanted to give Daniel the masculine closeness and friendship that had been ruthlessly stolen from him.
“Reed, your dad, never knew how to appreciate a good thing when he had it,” he said, striving to boost Daniel’s sagging morale. “You’re a good, smart kid, and very special. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
Daniel looked at him for a long moment, as if gauging his sincerity and wanting to believe his words. The gradual trust shifting across Daniel’s expression made Tyler optimistic about the future.
Before Tyler could take their conversation any further, a Ford truck ambled up the drive. Tyler recognized the driver as Larry Henshaw, a nearby rancher interested in Roman Warrior’s stud services. As soon as the truck came to a stop, Jimmy, Larry’s nine-year-old son and a friend of Daniel’s, scrambled out of the cab and ran toward Daniel. Within minutes, the two were off and playing, leaving Tyler to conduct business with Larry uninterrupted.
Nearly an hour and a half later, Tyler shook the other man’s hand, having garnered a verbal agreement for Roman Warrior’s stud services to Gypsy, one of Larry’s quarter horse mares.
“I’ll get with Brianne and have a contract drawn up within the week for Roman’s services,” Tyler said as they walked from the breeding shed where Larry had examined Roman Warrior, to the main stables. Tyler glanced toward the house, searching for Brianne’s truck, but noticed it was still gone. He’d expected her to be here for Larry’s appointment, but she’d either forgotten, or something else had come up. “And as soon as you make a deposit, we can put Gypsy on the schedule.”
“Great,” Larry said enthusiastically and gave his leather hat a habitual tug. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Tyler. Your daddy was a good man ’round these parts, and Brianne has done well with the cutting business, but it’s nice to see Whitmore Acres expanding again.”
“Thanks,” Tyler said, though he was certain Brianne wouldn’t have been pleased to hear other people were supporting his frivolous ideas. “I’m hoping within a few years we’ll have a good solid reining operation running.”
Larry grinned. “That’s good to hear, and I’ll be sure to spread the word.”
Inside the stables, Tyler spotted Daniel alone, searching the stalls. “Where’s your friend?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Daniel said, his brow creased in concentration as he peered around corners and stacks of bales of hay. “We’re playing hide-and-seek and I haven’t been able to find him.”
“Come on, son,” Larry called. “We’ve got to get going. Your mother is going to have supper on the table and our hides skinned if we’re late.”
Tyler chuckled. “Can’t have that, now can we?”
Larry rolled his eyes. “You know how women can be.”
“Too well,” he agreed, unable to understand Brianne’s behavior of late.
Larry headed out of the stables, and Tyler started to follow when a rustling sound from up in the loft caught both Daniel’s and his attention.
“There he is!” Daniel squealed, and scrambled up the rickety stairs leading to the second-story platform, nearly losing his balance in his haste.
Tyler froze, staring up at the loft where Daniel had disappeared, unable to stop one unforgettable memory from replaying in his mind. He’d been twelve and had gone up to the loft to play with his army men. Reed had found him there. After kicking his miniature army camp in ten different directions, Reed had informed him the loft was off limits. They’d fought, and during their scuffle Reed had maneuvered him closer to the edge, then deliberately shoved him off.
Tyler’s body jerked and his stomach pitched at the vivid recollection. He could still see in his mind’s eye as he’d fallen backward, his hands helplessly grappling the empty air…and Reed’s malicious smile as he’d watched him plummet to the ground.
He’d ended up with a broken arm and a concussion. Fearing further retribution from Reed for “snitching,” he’d told Landon he’d slipped and fallen. Since that day, he’d never been up in a loft.
And he didn’t like that Daniel and Jimmy were up there unchaperoned, either. “Hey, guys, I don’t think you should be up there.”
Daniel stopped at the end of the platform and glanced down. “Why not?”
Tyler jammed his hands on his hips. “Because it’s not safe.”
Daniel dismissed him with a wave of a hand and walked out of sight. “I come up here all the time. Jasper cleaned it out for me. It’s kinda like a tree house, but without the tree.”
“It’s really cool up here,” Jimmy said. He skipped to the edge and came to a skidding halt that had him teetering for balance.
Tyler’s heart slammed in his chest, and he automatically positioned himself below where the boy stood. “Get away from the edge,” he said, his voice harsher than he’d intended. He dragged in a deep breath, and attempted to reason with them more calmly. “It’s getting late and Jimmy has to go home. I think you both should come down.”
“But it’s fun up here, Uncle Tyler,” Daniel said from somewhere Tyler couldn’t see. “I’ve got a neat telescope set up by the window. Wanna see it? Maybe you can come up here later when it gets dark and we can look at the skinny dipper together.”
“Maybe another night,” he said impatiently. He heard thumping on the floorboards as one of them ran from one end of the loft to the other. “Daniel and Jimmy, would you stop running around up there. You guys are going to end up hurting yourself. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you came down,” he requested for the third time.
“Aw, come on, Uncle Tyler—”
“Get your butts down here, now!” he said through clenched teeth.
“Betcha can’t catch me,” Daniel taunted his friend in a typical boyish way, ignoring Tyler’s demand.
“Bet I can!”
Horrified, Tyler listened as the boys chased each other, both of them growling and laughing. They came precariously close to the edge, oblivious to the danger, then sprinted out of sight again.
“Hey!” he bellowed, just as a loud crack rent the air, along with a cry of alarm. The next instant a “thump” echoed in the stable, and Tyler instinctively knew one of the boys had fallen.
“Daniel!” Jimmy cried, the sound ripping through Tyler like a dozen knives.
“Damn,” he cursed, and without hesitating he grasped the rungs on the ladder, leaving his childhood fear behind. He spotted Daniel first, sitting on the floor, looking dazed but unharmed. His foot had smashed through the first layer of the plank floor. Jimmy squatted next to him, his eyes wide as he watched Tyler approach.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Whitmore,” Jimmy said, swallowing nervously. “We were just having a little fun.”
Relief at finding them safe took some of the edge off his anger. “What happened?”
“The floorboard was loose and my shoe got caught,” Daniel said, reaching to pull the splintered board away from his foot.
Kneeling beside him, Tyler brushed the boy’s hands away so he could assess the situation. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it just scared me,” he said sheepishly.
“And you scared the hell out of me.” Tyler shot him a grim look and removed the loose flooring.
“Sorry,” Daniel murmured, lifting his undamaged foot out of the shallow hole.
Tyler’s stern gaze encompassed them both. “If you guys would have listened to me in the first place and came down when I asked you to, this never would have happened—”
“Hey, how did that old box get in there?” Daniel asked abruptly.
Tyler frowned at the interruption in his lecture, and glanced back at the hole in the floor. He stared in shock at the handmade wooden box he’d crafted in wood shop when he’d been in junior high. He’d made the box for Father’s Day for Landon, but the day before the big event, the box had mysteriously disappeared.
He’d always suspected Reed of stealing the gift, but like everything else, he’d had no proof. And Reed had hid the box in the one place Tyler was sure never to trespass again.
“Wow,” Jimmy breathed, looking at Tyler in awe. “Just like a secret treasure.”
Tyler wondered exactly what kind of treasures the box held.
“Let’s see what’s in it,” Daniel said as if reading his thoughts. Withdrawing the box, he lifted the lid. “Look at all this neat stuff.” Excitement laced his voice.
Stunned by the contents, Tyler sat back on his heels while Daniel revealed fragments of his childhood: his lucky rabbit’s foot, his favorite G.I. Joe action figure, a quarter horse patch he’d won at his first junior cutting competition, and other personal possessions he’d thought he’d lost or misplaced. To anyone else the items would be inconsequential, but to him each object had been special in some way.
“There’s even a picture of Mom in here,” Daniel said, taking out a wallet-size photograph.
Jimmy glanced over Daniel’s shoulder as he fingered what had once been Tyler’s lucky cat-eyed marble. “She sure was pretty.”
Tyler cleared the knot of emotion from his throat. “Let me see that.”
Daniel shrugged, handed over the picture, then continued rummaging through the box.
Tyler recognized the snapshot as Brianne’s senior class picture, the one she’d given him shortly after they’d started dating. He’d carried it in his wallet, until one day his wallet turned up missing. He’d thought one of the hands had lifted it, or it had fallen out of his pocket while he’d been riding. The truth burned through him like acid.
His wallet wasn’t in the box, just Brianne’s picture, her image slightly faded from handling. How long did Reed have his sights set on Brianne? Tyler wondered. Had Reed coveted everything he’d treasured?
“Hey, Uncle Tyler.” Daniel frowned in confusion as he handed him an envelope. “Here’s an old letter addressed to you. It’s from Grandpa Landon. I wonder who put it up here.”
Tyler knew who the culprit was, but kept the answer to himself, unwilling to explain the extent of Reed’s hatred to Reed’s own son. Insides twisting, he retrieved the missive that had already been torn open.
The envelope was addressed to him, at one of the many ranches he’d worked on for a short time before drifting to another spread. Left No Forwarding Address, Return To Sender, was stamped in bold letters across the front. He registered the date below those words, and realized the letter had returned before Landon died.
Reed had intercepted the letter, Tyler realized, leaving Landon to believe he’d ignored his attempt to find him. Guilt assailed him, along with a healthy dose of anger at Reed’s treachery.
“Aren’t you going to read it?” Daniel asked.
He dragged his fingers through his hair, hesitation and hope warring within him. After a few moments’ consideration, he pulled the letter from the envelope. Jimmy and Daniel’s voices receded and his heartbeat accelerated as he read the correspondence addressed to him seven years ago.
Dear Tyler,
I’d always hoped you’d come back home on your own, but now I realize I might not get the chance to see you again. I have cancer, and Dr. Owens has given me only a few months to live.
Two years have passed since you left Whitmore Acres, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about you, and hope you are happy. I regret shutting down the reining operation, and taking away the one thing you’d worked so hard for. My decision had been rash, based solely on the poor financial figures Reed showed me. Reed was managing the ranch, and I trusted his judgment, never believing his intentions were to deliberately drive you away.
Reed has changed drastically since you left. He shows no interest in the horses, or the land, and I fear he will run the ranch into bankruptcy. I am too weak to run the operation myself. That’s why it’s so important to me that you return to reclaim what is rightfully yours. Whitmore Acres is a part of you, and regardless of your parentage, you, too, have always been a part of me.
Don’t judge Brianne too harshly for the decisions she’s made. We all have to make choices we aren’t necessarily happy with, or proud of. She’s helping me through my illness, and little Daniel has brought me much joy. Even at a year, he’s already showing a love for the horses, and a fascination with the ranch. With the proper guidance he’ll learn to appreciate what will one day belong to him.
Son, I await your homecoming, and I pray you return soon. Whitmore Acres needs you to continue to grow and flourish. If I don’t make it before you return, don’t grieve for my passing, but remember me with fond memories, as the man who loved you and taught you about horses and the land. Take your inheritance and make Whitmore Acres something to be proud of, a legacy to pass on to your children as I’ve passed it on to you. My greatest hope is that the ranch will remain in the family for generations to come.
Love, Landon
The words on the paper blurred as a stinging moisture filled Tyler’s eyes. An overwhelming pressure squeezed his chest. Landon had tried to locate him, even though he’d given him no reason to want to. He’d allowed a bitter argument instigated by Reed to drive a wedge between him and Landon, instead of fighting Reed’s accusations about the reining operation failing. He’d let his resentment fester until coming home was no longer an option, but a mission he dreaded. It had been easier to stay away than to face Brianne’s betrayal, Reed’s deceit, and Landon’s disappointment.
An odd mixture of relief and anguish churned within him as he read through the letter again. He berated himself for being so selfish at the same time he absorbed the comfort Landon offered through his letter. Despite all his faults and weaknesses, Landon had found it within his heart to forgive him.
Now it was time to forgive himself.
Brianne found Tyler down by the east pasture watching the horses graze. His forearms were braced on the top rung of the fencing, his hip cocked to accommodate the old scuffed leather boot propped on the bottom rung. Faded denim molded to his lean and muscular frame, and she caught his profile as he turned his head and tilted back his Stetson.
He seemed deep in thought, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind. She came up beside him, but he didn’t glance her way.
“I thought you were going to be here for Larry’s appointment so we could discuss the terms of Roman Warrior’s services together,” he said, his voice low and sandpaper-rough as he focused his gaze on something out in the pasture.
“I forgot,” she said, hating to admit that truth. She’d been so wrapped up in the turmoil and confusion from her afternoon talk with Betty, that she’d let business slide. That wasn’t a good sign, and she’d be sure not to let her emotions rule her head again.
“We’ve got our first paid-for mare for Roman Warrior and plenty more interested prospects,” he told her.
She settled her arms on the fencing, wondering if he ever planned to look her way. Was he that upset with her for missing the appointment? “That’s good to hear.”
Finally, he turned his head and glanced at her. His mouth lifted in a slight smile, but there was something in his expression that made her own reciprocating smile stop before it formed. He looked different suddenly, older and ragged around the edges. Deep in his eyes revealed an ancient pain that tugged at her.
Wanting to offer the comfort he seemed to need, even if it was only a physical touch, she laid her hand on his arm. “Tyler, what is it?”
Without a word, he withdrew an envelope from his back pocket. She had the fleeting thought that he’d received a letter that would take him away from Whitmore Acres. Mixed emotions filtered through her, and a painful lump formed in her chest.
“Did you get some bad news?” she asked, surprised her vocal cords still functioned. Leaning forward, she tried to see who the letter was addressed to and who the sender was, but he held the correspondence at such an angle she couldn’t read the front.
“Not exactly.” Running his finger over the edge of the envelope, he looked back up at her, his gaze shadowed. “Down in the stables, Daniel and I found a box I’d made in wood shop. The box was stashed in the loft.”
“Oh.” What did a box have to do with the envelope in his hand?
Tyler explained how Reed must have hidden the wooden box there, and about Daniel getting his foot caught in the floorboard, which lead to the discovery. “The box was filled with a bunch of my stuff I’d thought I’d lost.”
“You mean Reed stole your things?” she asked incredulously.
“It appears that way. I found this letter addressed to me,” he said, finally revealing the front of the envelope and the attempt that had been made to deliver the correspondence. “It was from Landon, but I never received it, and Reed obviously intercepted the returned letter so Landon would think I ignored his attempt to find me.”
“What did Landon say in the letter?”
He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity, then handed her the unfolded letter. “Why don’t you read it for yourself?” he said quietly.
Taking the letter, she read the heartfelt correspondence. By the time she’d finished, tears of happiness brimmed in her eyes. “I told you Landon loved you.”
He smiled, the doubts and self-recriminations gone from his eyes. Very gently, he wiped away the trail of tears on her cheek with his thumb. “Yes, you did.”
Unable to help herself, she pressed her cheek into his warm palm, reveling in this brief moment of closeness between them. “Now do you believe it?”
“I think a part of me always believed he loved and forgave me for leaving the way I did,” he said. “I’ve just been too caught up in my own guilt to admit it.” Taking the letter back, he put it in the envelope. “Where did you bury him?”
“You know how much he loved this land. Before he died he asked to be buried here. There’s a plot out in the west meadow.”
He pulled in a deep breath and let it rush out, as if purging himself of any old, lingering demons. Then his clear and bright gaze captured hers. “I’ve got Roman Warrior scheduled to breed with Sweet Justice in the morning. Will you take me to Landon tomorrow afternoon?”
“Yes, if that’s what you want.”
“It is.” He stared at the envelope in his hand. A sense of serenity drifted across his features when he glanced back at her. “I think it’s time to tell my father goodbye.”
The following afternoon Brianne and Tyler were mounted on horses and on their way to Landon’s gravesite, the leather saddles creaking as the horses swayed lazily beneath them. The day was warm, the sky an endless stretch of blue as they strolled into a green pasture with a forest of trees banking either side.
Tyler thumbed his hat back and slid his gaze to her. The sun cast a sparkling gold hue to his blue eyes, making him appear young and happy. “If all goes well, next summer we should have ourselves our first foal from Roman Warrior.”
Brianne didn’t want to think or plan that far ahead into the future. Not when the present seemed so unstable and uncertain. “We’ve already generated some interest from the ad we placed for stud services. Two of my cutting clients want to purchase pleasure horses and another wants to breed one of his mares to Roman Warrior.”
A wholly masculine grin spread across his face. “Sounds like Roman Warrior is going to be busy the next few months. Didn’t I tell you he’d be a solid investment?”
“Yes, you did,” she conceded, running her fingers along Cameo’s soft neck.
“Then maybe you’ll be able to trust me a bit more.”
Brianne heard the underlying question and hope in his words, and knew he was referring to more than just the ranch and business decisions. He wanted her complete trust, personally and emotionally, yet that was the one thing she couldn’t bring herself to give him, no matter how much her heart yearned to.
It was difficult living with him, talking with him, and wanting him the way she did. But as always when she experienced that deep pang of longing, she reminded herself of the risk of letting down her guard and loving Tyler so completely. Daniel had accepted him as Uncle Tyler, and for now, that’s all she could allow him to be. A friend. Anything more would complicate their business relationship.
“Which way?” Tyler asked, bringing her back to the present and the twin trails leading in opposite directions.
“Over here.” She guided Cameo in front of the horse Tyler rode and veered off from the open pasture.
Tyler followed Brianne down a grassy trail that led them through a cool shaded forest of trees. Wildflowers bloomed all around them, and he breathed deeply of the scents of damp earth, fresh grass and cool, clear water.
Brianne brought Cameo to a halt, and Tyler stopped beside her, taking in the lush beauty and babbling brook in front of them. Clear water rushed over smooth rocks, the sound soothing and oddly calming.
“His marker is just over that knoll,” Brianne said quietly.
A flutter of nerves hatched within him. Suddenly, he felt like a kid facing a momentous task. “Will you come with me?” he asked.
She smiled, as if understanding his apprehension. “If you want me to.”
“I do.”
He dismounted, then reached up and clasped her waist to help her down before he tethered the horses to a low tree limb so they could graze. No words were exchanged as, hand in hand, Brianne led Tyler alongside the brook to a clearing in the meadow. More wildflowers blossomed everywhere upon the soft, high-grade soil, their stems swaying in the light breeze.
And then he saw the marble marker, just beneath a huge shady tree. Untangling his fingers from Brianne’s, he walked slowly toward the headstone and knelt before it, a knot of emotion forming in his chest. He read the epitaph, traced the words and numbers with his finger. A swell of tears burned the backs of his eyes.
Plucking at a stray weed, he threw it aside and reached for another. There was so much he wanted to say to Landon, but mere words and thoughts eluded him at the moment. Then, as if Landon were there with him and knew what troubled him, the guilt and agony and regret of the past nine years flowed from him in a breathtaking rush of feeling. And when it was over, a lightness settled over him, wiping out the loneliness and solitude that had filled his soul for so long.
He sat there for what could have been minutes or hours, silently communicating his thoughts and feelings to Landon and knowing in his heart his father heard him. He remembered all the good times he’d shared with Landon, and made peace with himself.
He unchained the past, letting go of all the bitterness and resentment he’d carried for too long. Whispering a final farewell to the man he’d called Dad, Tyler stretched to his full height and faced Brianne. She sat on a cluster of rocks by the brook, too far away for his liking, giving him the privacy he’d needed moments ago, but no longer wanted.
He approached her, and she slid off the rock and stood, watching him warily.
He gathered her in his arms, smiling at her startled intake of breath. She stiffened, and he embraced her tighter, until she finally relaxed and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him back.
“Tyler?”
He buried his face in the soft, fragrant hair she’d left unbound, never wanting to let her go. “Oh, God, Brianne. It feels so good. I feel so free and peaceful inside.”
“I’m glad,” she whispered against his ear, but there was a trace of uncertainty in her voice that tugged at him.
He pulled back and threaded his fingers through her hair. Tilting her head back, he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Everything is going to be just fine,” he told her, wondering who he was trying to convince. Then he lowered his mouth and kissed her, because it seemed so right.
The kiss was sweet, a rejoicing of spirit and soul. A promise of the future, of planting new, binding roots of love and commitment, and watching them grow.
If only she’d put aside her own insecurities and reach out and take what he so freely offered.