Weekend With Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 4) (15 page)

He didn’t go
to Bozeman. Gavin drove straight home.

Pulling down the driveway of the ranch, he saw light was just breaking over the horizon. Some horses were already turned out in the big pasture along the drive, a sure sign that the farm was awake.

Pulling into his spot near the house, there was light in the kitchen, meaning his mother was up. He didn’t know if he was ready for the questions she was going to ask, but if nothing else, he could use a big breakfast and a strong cup of coffee.

God, he felt like shit. And it had nothing to do with driving all night. He kept seeing Ally, standing in her sparkly dress, her back to him, strong and resolved. And hurt. He’d done that, and he wasn’t very proud of it.

Grooms and hands were laughing over hot coffee and muffins, and he heard the neighs and whinnies of horses in the distance. It was familiar. Comforting. The sounds of morning on the farm hadn’t changed in forever.

Walking into the kitchen, he was assaulted by the smell of bacon, sausage, and breakfast potatoes. There was warm, fresh bread still steaming on the counter, and looking around for signs of life, only his mother sat at the kitchen table scanning something on her tablet.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Gavin! What on earth! I didn’t expect to see you for a few weeks, at least.”

She rose and hugged him, sensing immediately that there was something wrong. “Hmmm,” she said, examining his face. “Sit down. I’ll fix you something to eat. Coffee?”

“Definitely.” He could use a good strong cup. His head was starting to hurt from the lack of sleep.

They didn’t talk for a few minutes. Instead, his mother fried up a couple of eggs and loaded them on a plate with bacon, potatoes, and some bread with jam. Refilling both his coffee and her own, Mom sat across from him and watched him eat. It wasn’t unusual; she often said one of her greatest pleasures in life was feeding her family.

“So,” she began. “What did you do?”

Gavin froze, a piece of bread just grazing his lips. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t be obtuse, Gavin. You’re here because something happened with Ally. So I’m asking. What did you do?”

“Why are you assuming it was me?”

“Because you don’t look angry, you look like you lost your best friend.”

That’s exactly what happened. But facing it, and his role in it, wasn’t easy. “I let my fool pride get in the way of the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m not completely at fault, but I should have… I don’t know… handled it differently.”

“Ah. I guess I shouldn’t ask for details, then.”

“I’m in love with her.”

“Really?” Mom said sarcastically. “You don’t say? That’s only been coming for about twenty years.”

“Mom. Stop.”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Gavin. How could you not know? The two of you have been headed for this for a very long time. So what happened?”

“The distance. We’re in two very different places.”

“So move.”

He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. His mother didn’t want him working an hour away, but she was telling him to move? And what kind of move was she talking about?

“One of you has to. And I’m not talking geography. You have to take a chance. This is not safe territory. You’re operating without a net, so to speak.”

“I don’t know what to do, Mom. I want to be with her. Marry her. Make a family.”

“But…” Mom wasn’t hanging on any formality.

“But I want to do it here. Or close to here, so my kids can have the same security I did growing up. Part of me thinks I should make that bold move, but there’s another part of me that believes in deep roots.”

“And Ally doesn’t agree?” His mother took a sip of her coffee, her eyes never wavering.

“I don’t know.”

Silence. This was one of those moments where he wished he hadn’t said anything because he was being judged. His mother didn’t have to say a single word to let him know he’d fucked up royally.

“I should have talked to her more. I know.”

“If you know, then why didn’t you? Isn’t this the same thing that happened last time?”

“Because she wasn’t talking either,” he said. “It’s not just me. What if she doesn’t want me in that life? You should have seen her, Mom. Smart, confident, she had total control of the event, of the people. She’s amazing. Maybe I just don’t fit with her life. Maybe that’s why the discussion was so one sided.”

“That’s nonsense, and you know it. Good grief. I’ve never seen two people have more trouble getting out of their own way than the two of you. Do you love her?”

“With all my heart.”

“And she loves you.” His mother was breaking the problem down to its most basic.

“She said she did.” Hearing her say it made him happy in ways he didn’t think possible.

His mother’s voice softened. “Did you tell her how you felt?”

“No. I didn’t.”

She was quiet for a moment. Eyes lowered, lips pursed. “I vowed from the second I became a mother that I would not strike one of my children, but so help me Gavin, I want to box your ears.”

“Mom…”

“No. Don’t
mom
me. You have some explaining to do, Doctor. And not to me.”

He did. He had to find her and get her to forgive his stupidity. Saying it all out loud made his path clear as day. And it showed him once again how much he didn’t deserve her. “I’m going to get some sleep. Then I’ll head home, figure it out.”

“So you just came to eat, or to get some sense kicked into you.”

Gavin smiled as he kissed the top of his mother’s head. “Probably a little of both, Ma.”

“Good boy. I’ll wake you up later and give you a hard time. Then we can head to church.”

He smiled. “I can’t wait.”

*

There was no
reason for Ally to stay at the ranch with Gavin gone, so she saw her friends the next morning, and then headed out towards home. Home being in Marietta, not Seattle.

That should have been her first clue that her time with him had changed everything.

Pulling up to the house, her parents were sitting on the front porch chatting with the neighbors next door. It was a typical Sunday morning in town. People were out for walks, happy to be done with the long winter. Gardens were being tended, and there was lots of traffic around the local churches. Small town life.

Simple. Honest. Loving.

Her mother rose from her chair when Ally’s pulled in the driveway, the look on her face a mix of curiosity and concern. Maybe she should have gone back to Seattle to avoid all the questions, but as she discovered, avoidance wasn’t her style.

She was, however, a “curl into a ball under the covers” kind of girl. She planned on doing that for at least a few days.

“Hey, sweetie.” Her mother reached out and embraced her. “I saw Christine this morning at mass. She told me you and Gavin had a falling out.”

“Wow, he didn’t waste any time calling his family.”

“Oh, he didn’t call. He arrived at their farm about five-thirty this morning. Drove all night. Plans on staying another day or so.”

What do you know? He’d done the same thing she’d done. He’d gone home. Not the home he’d made by himself, but the home where they had met and fallen in love, where their families were and hopefully where they would raise a family of their own.

Suddenly, Ally felt lighter. More hopeful. Maybe she could fix this without having to stake out his apartment or faking an illness at his hospital. Maybe she could just tell him what she was feeling, that she loved him, and all she wanted was to be with him, wherever that was.

Would that be enough?

Her heart was all she had to offer. It wasn’t perfect. It made mistakes, but it was the best thing she had. And her heart loved him. If she were honest with herself, Ally would admit that she’d loved Gavin Clark since he beat up a bully in her defense decades ago.

Decades. And she’d ruined it in minutes.

He had always been her knight in shining armor, her partner in crime, her confidant and her best friend. They were meant to be together, he was her perfect match, and Ally was convinced that both of them coming straight back to Marietta was a sign that they were supposed to work it out.

They had to work it out.

Handing her mother the bag she’d tossed over her shoulder, Ally planted a kiss on Mom’s cheek, and hugged her dad. These people had been her example growing up, loving each other no matter what was thrown their way.

She probably should wash off the car ride, but all she wanted was to see Gavin, to feel his arms around her, hear his deep voice, lose herself in his kiss.

There was no time to wait. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Where are you going?” Mom asked, grinning, already knowing the answer.

“To get my happy ever after.” She hugged her parents. “I think it’s my turn, don’t you?”

“Absolutely.” Her mother nodded, smiled, and shooed her towards her car.

This ride to Gavin was about trust. About letting someone else into her life. To relinquishing some control.

All she wanted was for him to forgive her.

For years, Ally had been all about controlling her future. And now she was going to do it again, and the stakes were higher than ever before. She just hoped she could get Gavin to forgive her, because without him, nothing else really mattered.

T
here was nothing
quite like sleeping the day away—when you’re twenty. When you’re thirty-one, you feel like shit, and you have the knowledge you aren’t falling asleep anytime soon.

Moving through the big house, Gavin had to smile at everything going on. Even on a Sunday, everyone was busy with something. His mother was in her sitting room reading a book, and his brothers were outside around the firepit, having beers together. It was a family day at home.

He found his father in the barn, checking on his favorite new foal. The male Quarter horse was already proving to be a handful, but he was going to be one of the crowning glories of the breeding program.

“How’s he doing?” Gavin asked as he approached the stall.

“Very well. Getting big. We’re trying to think of a name that suits. No luck so far.”

Gavin nodded and watched the foal and his mother interact. Every time the baby did something his mother didn’t like, she gently corrected him. It seemed the horse knew how to handle kids better than that mother at the wedding.

“Mom thinks I’m an idiot.”

“If this has to do with Ally, I’d have to agree.”

“Thanks for the support, Dad.”

“Do you want me to soften it up, Gavin? Chew your food for you, so it’s not too hard to swallow?”

“That’s not funny.”

His father pushed his hat back on his head. “No, son, it’s not. Be a man. Stop trying to blame everyone else for your mistake. And losing that girl would be a mistake.”

“I know. Believe me,” Gavin said. “I know.”

“That’s all well and good, but what are you gonna do about it, son?”

“Hope she forgives me.” It was possible she wouldn’t, and although Gavin didn’t want to think about it, it was a truth he couldn’t avoid. “Beg, maybe.”

“I have a feeling she will,” his father said. “But you better think up some real pretty words for that apology.”

“Yeah. I also need a plane ticket.”

His father hooked the safety netting across the stall opening. “Why?”

“Why what?” There were a lot of questions on the table, Dad needed to be specific.

“Where are you going?”

“Seattle.”

His father nodded, mopping the sweat from his forehead. “Okay, but before you go, you have company.” His father nodded his head toward the big field. There, sitting on an old swing that was hung in an ancient oak tree was Ally. Her back was to him, and for the life of him, he had no idea what to do.

“How long has she been here?” he asked.

His father glanced at his watch. “Oh, over an hour.”

An hour? “You could have woken me up.”

“Nah. Ally said to let you sleep. Your mother offered to feed her, but she just wanted to sit on that old swing.”

Of course she would. It was their special spot. When she’d come out to the farm, they’d head out to the field and Gavin would gently push her on the swing while they talked. It would go on for hours sometimes, but it never felt like it. The time they were together always went too fast.

He was at the final turning point with her. It was today or—

He left his father and walked out there, thinking about what the hell he was going to say. Why had she come?

Getting to her felt like it took forever, and a thousand possibilities ran through his mind. The sun was bright across the field dotted with daffodils signaling that winter was really over, and Ally seemed almost luminescent in the glow.

Once he reached her, he had to hold back and not just haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless. There was no telling what she wanted or how this was going to go.

Stepping up behind her, she turned her head, just in time to see him place his hands on her back, and give her a gentle push. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. “Have a good sleep?”

“Nah. Not really.”
You weren’t there
, he thought.