“How do I know if Wade feels them, then?”
Waylynn reached for my hands and squeezed them. “He will show you, Amelia. Look at how Steed takes Paxton out once a week and they do something together. He makes sure she knows how special she is to him. It might be a walk at sunset or a beautiful, expensive dinner in a fancy restaurant. It’s the things he says to her, as well.”
I smiled. “Paxton is so happy. They’re both so happy and that makes me happy.”
My sister nodded. “Me, too, but they had their fair share of heartache. Sometimes I think we have to walk down the darkest path before we can see the light through the trees. With Jack, I thought I found my light, but he wasn’t it. He promised me a family if I gave up dancing and then hit me with every excuse under the sun as to why it wasn’t the right time. I didn’t listen to my heart, Meli. I listened to the idea that I couldn’t have a failed marriage. My heart knew early on Jack wasn’t the one.”
“You’ll find your one.”
Waylynn let out a sigh. “I know. Just look at our other brothers. Jesus. I’m beginning to worry about Tripp and Mitchell. Cord and Trevor, not so much.”
“Yeah. What do you think will happen with Mitchell and Corina?” I asked.
Standing, she shook her head. “Girl, that is a conversation over drinks. Come on, let me braid your hair instead of wearing it up. You know, just in case Wade finds himself behind you he’ll need something to grab onto.”
My mouth dropped as I pushed her back. “Oh, my gawd! You’re terrible.”
She laughed. “No. I’ve been hanging around Trevor and Cord too much.”
All talking stopped when I walked into the kitchen. Steed, Paxton, and Chloe were sitting at the kitchen island with my parents making tacos on the other side.
“What’s up, y’all?” I leaned down and kissed Chloe on the head, then Paxton on the cheek. Steed stood and kissed me on the cheek. “How are you feeling, Paxton?”
My sister-in-law wore a bright, beautiful smile. “I feel amazing!”
“I do, too!” Chloe stated.
I giggled. “I’m so glad! Chloe, do you like to feel your baby brother moving around?”
She nodded and placed her hands on Paxton’s stomach. “I’ll tell you when he wakes up and you can feel him, too.”
My heart melted. “Okay, pumpkin.”
Steed and Paxton grinned from ear to ear. Turning, I faced my mother.
“Hey, Meli. You look nice. Will you be joining us for dinner?” she asked, her brow lifted in a way that said she clearly knew my answer was going to be no.
“Thanks, but I have a date.”
Grabbing a water from the refrigerator, I held my breath. I had just put it out there for everyone.
What in the world is the matter with me?
When I turned around, all eyes were still on me.
“What?” I asked, my hand shaking while I took a sip of water.
“With whom?” Paxton asked, an evil little grin on her face.
“Yeah, Aunt Meli! Who you gonna kiss?” Out of the mouths of babes.
I laughed nervously. “I have a date with Wade.”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “What! My Wade?”
My head jerked to Steed and Paxton. “Um, I…Um…”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Paxton came to the rescue. “Chloe cat, we talked about this. Wade is not yours.”
Chloe faced Paxton, then me. “But he’s my best friend. If he falls in love with Aunt Meli, he won’t be my best friend anymore.”
My heart was slowly breaking. Chloe actually had tears in her eyes. Here I was worried about Trevor, when the person I really needed to be worried about was Chloe.
“Oh, no, Chloe,” I said as I rushed to her. “Wade will always be your best friend. I know there is nothing he enjoys more than your morning feed time.”
Chloe’s little lip trembled. “Did he tell you that?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“But…what if he forgets about me? And you forget about me, and we don’t have our dates together?”
Cupping her face in my hands, I said, “Chloe, that could never happen. You’re such a special little girl, and you always will be. And Wade is an amazing friend. He will always make time for you.”
“Hey, y’all,” Trevor said as he cleared his throat. Chloe and I both realized Wade had walked in with him at the same moment. Chloe wiped at her eyes and looked down.
When I glanced to Wade, he was smiling. He winked and lifted a bouquet of flowers. He pointed to me, then walked to Chloe.
“Hey, Chloe. Your Uncle Trevor told me you were here for dinner.”
Her blue eyes turned big and bright as she stared at Wade.
“What a lucky coincidence for me. Since I had to pick Amelia up and all. But now I can give you your flowers.”
Her mouth dropped open. “My…flowers?”
Oh, Lord. Could this man be any more perfect?
I had to place my hand over my chest. Wade’s gesture was one of the sweetest things I’d ever seen. My grin spread from ear to ear, more evidence that I was enamored with this man.
“Yeah. It’s ‘give your best friend flowers’ day today.”
The way her little hands covered her mouth made my heart melt. I was pretty sure Paxton was on the verge of tears. My mother, too.
“Really?” Chloe asked as she jumped up and down. One peek at my parents proved they were both smiling. “I didn’t know or I’d have gotten you some!”
Wade chuckled. “It’s okay. It snuck up on me today. Good thing Trevor here told me.”
I glanced at my brother. He walked over to Chloe and kissed her on the cheek. “How’s it going, squirt?”
“It’s goin’, Uncle Trevor!”
My mother reached out to Chloe. “Let’s put your beautiful flowers in some water. Shall we, Chloe?”
“Okay!” Chloe said as she hugged Wade and skipped off behind my mother to the sink.
Paxton kissed Wade on the cheek. “That was so sweet of you, Wade,” she said in a soft voice. “Thank you for thinking of her feelings.”
Wade flashed that handsome smile, his dimples on full display. “It was nothing, Paxton.”
Steed reached out a hand. “It was everything, Wade. Trust me. We appreciate it.”
Wade’s cheeks turned pink. He turned my way and let his heated gaze move slowly over my body. I had on a long, flowing dress that hit above the floor and hugged my curves nicely. It was casual, yet still dressy enough if Wade was taking me out to dinner.
“You look beautiful,” Wade said softly. He looked at me like everyone else in the room had vanished, and it was only the two of us.
“She always looks beautiful,” my father added. “I take it you’re the date, son?”
Wade nodded and reached across the island to shake my father’s hand. “Yes, sir.”
With a look that tried to scream I’m scary, my father crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t F-U-C-K this up, Wade.”
Wade took a step back and swallowed hard.
“What did you spell, Granddaddy?” Chloe asked, bouncing back to Wade.
“Grown-up words, pumpkin,” Steed said with a smile.
I took Wade’s hand. “I think we should head out before another one of the Parker men threatens you.”
Wade chuckled and laced his hand in mine, which caused my body to launch into a flurry of sensations. My pulse raced, my stomach fluttered, and my knees went weak.
Jesus. Get a hold of yourself, Amelia.
My chest rose and fell as I tried to act normal. If Wade holding my hand did this to me, I couldn’t imagine what making love would feel like.
I peeked at Wade as he said goodbye to everyone, and found myself lost in him.
Oh, yes. Wade Adams held a power over me that left me both excited and scared to death.
I wasn’t surprised to see Wade was a gentleman through and through. He led me out to his truck, held the door open, and helped lift me in. Wh
en he pulled the seat belt out and handed it to me, I playfully teased him.
“What? You’re not going to buckle it for me?”
Wade’s eyes turned dark as he took the belt and leaned over me in the truck. The feel of him pressed against my body instantly sent a throbbing pulse between my legs.
When he drew back, he flashed me the sexiest smile I’d ever seen. I was positive my heart was going to beat right on out of my chest.
“How do you do that?” I asked. My voice sounded breathy.
“Do what, darlin’?”
“You do something so simple and I turn to mush. Literally. My mind goes blank and my body acts like I’m fifteen again.”
He slowly ran his tongue over his lips, and I was gone.
So. Gone.
He shut the door and he never did answer my question, which oddly enough, turned me on even more.
“Get a hold of yourself, Amelia Parker. This is not your first rodeo,” I whispered while watching Wade round the front of his truck. And I swore he was talking to himself.
Once he got in, I took a deep breath. “So, where are we going?”
“I thought we would grab some dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m starving.”
He started up his truck and headed down the long driveway. We quickly fell into easy banter about work.
“So, how do you come up with all your stories?”
I smiled. “I’ve always loved telling stories. My mother said from the time I could form sentences I was telling her about my dreams.”
Wade chuckled. “Do you only write romance?”
“No, I’ve written a few historical novels. I love historical romance. It’s my favorite genre. Honestly, anything romance-related is my favorite to read and write.”
“No paranormal?”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Some. Romance is it for me, and how do you even know paranormal is a genre?”
“I have my ways. Why is romance it for you?”
I shrugged. “I kind of lost my dreams of ever finding my Prince Charming, so I write about someone else finding theirs. It’s why I make my heroes so swoon-worthy.”
“Swoon-worthy?” Wade asked.
“Yeah, you know he sweeps the heroine off her feet. Lets her know it’s okay to be saved every once in a while. That you don’t always have to be strong. You can lean on someone else and not have to feel weak.”
I felt the weight of his eyes staring at me.
“Guys feel that way, too, you know.”
My head jerked to look at him. “You want to swoon?”
He laughed. “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, sometimes I don’t feel very strong. There are nights I lie in bed and wish I had someone to talk through what a fucked-up day I had, or how much I miss my parents and sisters. Someone to lean on when shit goes sideways, you know? I imagine love to be a two-way street. You’re both there for each other, not only when it’s good times, but bad, as well. I’ve never experienced that type of love before.”
I was breathless. Wade’s raw honesty hit me square in the chest. I’d never had a man be so open with me. I remembered what he had said about his ex, Caroline, and how she left him after his family died and he sold the ranch.
“I thought I found love once,” I said, my voice sounding sadder than it should. “He turned out to be a cheating bastard and what I thought was love was just me thinking we would be a good couple.”
Shaking my head, I added, “I’m glad I saw the truth before it was too late.”
“Sounds like we’ve both been burned by what we thought was love.”
I focused back on him. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Wade turned the truck down a road headed in the opposite direction of town.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He grinned. “I told you, dinner.”
A lightness settled in my chest as I felt my cheeks burn from my wide smile. “I have a feeling we’re going on more of an adventure, Wade Adams. The only place this road leads is to the Hamilton family ranch and a make-out-slash-party-spot we all used to go to in high school.”
Wade laughed. “What happened to the Hamilton family ranch?” he asked, peeking over at me with raised eyebrows.
“Hasn’t had cattle on it in years. My father bought a good chunk of it after Mr. Hamilton took off with another woman and Mrs. Hamilton was left to run it. I went to school with the last Hamilton, Russ. He didn’t want to have anything to do with Oak Springs, the family ranch, nothing. After his father left, Russ hated everything that reminded him of his father. After high school, he told his mother to put it up for sale. She begged my father to buy it, but he couldn’t ever get her to come down on the price. Trevor said she was asking for way more than what it was worth. It’s been sitting on the market ever since. It’s kind of sad. It’s been in Mrs. Hamilton’s family for years. There have always been rumors the family women were cursed.”
“Wow. Why?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my mother about it. She grew up with Mrs. Hamilton.”
“So, tell me about this make-out spot.”
With a chuckle, I looked out the window. “It was really more of a party place. It’s actually on a piece of land that the Hamilton’s owned. It wasn’t fenced in so whenever we wanted to have a party, that was where we went. We called it the lookout. For years kids went there to throw parties, and I’m pretty sure a few lost their virginity there!”
Wade and I laughed.
“My father told me when he was in high school they would go there. You used to be able to see the Frio River, that’s why it was called the lookout. Over the years, trees grew up and blocked the view.”
“Did the family know kids were using it to party?”
I frowned. “I don’t know. I’m sure they did. Russ used to throw parties there all the time.”
Wade passed the little dirt drive that led to the lookout. So, we weren’t going there.
After a few miles, he pulled up to the gate at the Hamilton Ranch. The gate had been changed and a beautiful sandstone entrance was in place of the old rusted piping. I watched in awe as Wade pulled up like he owned the place.
“It did sell,” Wade said as he punched in a code and the metal gate swung open. “I bought it.”
My heart dropped and excitement filled my entire body. “Are you serious? You bought the Hamilton place?”
“Yep. After talking to Trevor and your dad, I decided to approach Mrs. Hamilton. Told her my story and that I was looking to start a new life. She dropped the price by nearly half. Turns out the day I called her she found out her ex-husband was getting married. She sold out of emotion, which sucks for her, but it was a win for me.”
I was so taken with shock, countless questions poured out of me. “I can’t believe it! Are you going to renovate? Will you live here full-time? Do you plan to ranch on it?”
He pulled through the gate and headed down the drive. “I’m going to open the ranch for your father’s cattle to graze, but I’ve got a few other ideas I’d like to play around with.”
I stared at Wade. “I think that’s amazing. You must be pretty excited.”
He nodded. “I am. I stumbled upon an area of the ranch I want to show you.”
My heart fluttered. “I’d love that.”
With a racing mind, I tried to figure out what in the world he was going to show me.
“The moment I saw it, I thought of your cabin.”
A warm feeling pooled in my chest. “I love that old cabin. There is something about old buildings that I adore.”
“I remembered you saying that, so I know you’ll love this.”
We drove down an old dirt road. Bluebonnets mixed with wildflowers, lining the sides of the road. It was beautiful and reminded me of a painting my mother had hanging up in her office.
“This is beautiful. I can’t believe how many bluebonnets are still out with it being so late in April!” I stared out the window at the open
field. “Wade, this is stunning!”
He chuckled. “I know. That field sold me on this place. Well, the field and that right there.”
The truck came to a stop, and I gasped. My hands covered my mouth while I took in the sight.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Look at it.” I opened the truck door and dashed out as fast as I could.
Spinning around, I looked at Wade. “How old is it?” I asked before turning to the old, stone, two-story house.
“Mrs. Hamilton said her great-grandparents built it. I guess the Hamilton family was one of the founding families of Oak Springs, along with your family, and the Hills.”
“They were. I believe Russ’s great-grandfather was the first town doctor.”
“The house hasn’t been lived in for years. Mrs. Hamilton said her great-grandfather moved out of the house and into a small cabin after his wife died. Said the memories were too much for him to take. So, this house sat empty. The trees and shrubs grew up around it, and Mrs. Hamilton said it was forbidden for any family member to live in the house. Something Dr. Hamilton wrote into his will.”
My eyes widened as I stepped onto the porch. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would he do that?”
Wade’s eyes turned sad, and he stared at the house. It was like a memory hit him.
He shook his head before looking at me. “Grief does weird things to you. Fills you with fear and doubt…and so much loneliness that you feel you might go crazy on any given day.”
I walked up to him and took his hands. When our eyes met I was stunned for a brief moment. Wade looked defeated. “There is something far more beautiful here than grief, Wade.”
“What’s that?” he asked, his voice cracking.
“Hope. Excitement. The idea of bringing happiness to something that deserves it and longs for it.”
In that moment, I wasn’t talking about the house. I was talking about Wade, the incredible man who stood before me. Who put others ahead of himself and cared with his whole heart. Who had loved big and who had lost so much.
He dropped my hands and cupped my face, his thumbs left a burning path as they swept over my skin.
His eyes captured mine, and I knew in my heart there was something else I was talking about.