“Me neither,” he replied, nuzzling into my touch.
“Then don’t you think it’s time we put this behind us and figure out how to bring our boy home?”
“Yeah, I really do.”
“Me too. It’s never going to feel like a home without him.”
“I know.”
“So,” I said, blowing out a long breath, finally beginning to feel steady and sure of myself again. “What do you think aboutus putting in a rush order from that steampunk place online and setting up the perfect fantasy for him? One that will be a gateway to our forever.”
“I am so down with that,” he replied, closing the distance between us to hug me tight.
As I held him beneath a dark, starry sky, surrounded by plants and twinkling fairy lights, I finally felt like I’d gotten back everything that bull-riding wreck had stolen from me. It was never the sport; it was always him and the unique dynamic we shared that I’d been missing. Bringing Payne home would be a high far greater than any eight-second ride and far more valuable than any buckle. Long past the days when we’d exhausted all the rodeo stories we had left to tell, we’d have him and a wealth of new stories, because those would never stop. Even when we were old and gray and needed to plan how we were going to get up off the ground after we had a picnic, we’d have him to keep creating new memories with. And that would be the greatest victory in the world.
Chapter Sixteen
Wylde
“You’re sure he got the invitation, right?” I asked for the third time that evening.
“I slid it beneath his door right before he picked up the food,” Thor replied. “And just in case something happened tothatinvitation, I stuck one to the cart of trays he was about to deliver, just to be certain.”
“Oh, okay.”
“You’ve got to relax and breathe,” he said, as much for his benefit as my own. “You heard what Derek said when he called us into his office.”
“Yeah, he said Payne missed us and to fix it,” I replied. “But we can’t do that until he gets here.”
“And he will. But the invitation said seven o-clock, and it’s only six thirty-seven, so relax. He’ll be here. I made sure to leave the costume with his supervisor in the kitchen, and she promised to give it to Payne at the end of his shift. So even if he winds up running late getting ready, he’ll be here. Trust in that.”
“I do; I’m just anxious and eager to see him,” I admitted. “I can’t believe I haven’t bumped into him between here and the greenhouse or even the petting zoo. I’ve dropped in every day,and not just because I miss the critters, but they are a big part too. I can see why he’s always so inspired by them. Rubbing a goat’s nose is like having a moist stem toy that occasionally faints in the middle of being petted.”
“Poor dude has real bird issues.”
“Yeah, he does.”
For a moment, I sat there chuckling, then bolted from the seat to look around. “I remembered to bring the smart speaker out, right?”
“You did; it’s right over there, plugged in and ready to go,” he replied, giving my shoulder a squeeze and exuding a bit of pressure to encourage me to sit back down. “Before you ask, you also remembered to upload the playlists; I watched you do it. We’ve got potato salad, pickle chips, deviled eggs, and the heaping batch of cheesy shrimp tea sandwiches you picked up an hour ago. Everything is ready, including the peach sweet tea and mango lemonade. Our outfits look amazing, and he is going to love everything when he arrives. So, keep your ass in that seat before I add Shibari ropes to the evening, which would kind of change the scope of the plans we had for the night.”
“No ropes,” I replied. “No way. I can’t hug him if I’m all trussed up and tied to the seat.”
“Then relax. He still isn’t late yet. We’re just early and eager.”
“So eager,” I muttered, breathing out a long breath. “I’ve missed everything about him. I never want to be apart from him like this again.”
“Neither do I.”
Five minutes later, my ass was still parked in the chair, but my knee was bouncing up and down, rattling the chain of the pocket watch attached to my costume. I couldn’t check my phone, because I’d left it in a drawer, and the pocket watch, while befitting of the outfit, was old and hadn’t worked in almost three years. I was tempted to ask Thor what time it was, but Icould see that he was getting nervous too. He kept touching his pocket like he wanted to pull his phone out and check it. Then he’d stop and rub his hands up and down his pants again.
We’d done all we could do, right down to making sure to line up a UTV ride for him, so he didn’t have to worry about how he’d get here.
Our heads popped up like startled jackrabbits at the sound of the motor, then we bolted around the side of the house so he wouldn’t have to knock. He was dressed in the steampunk white rabbit costume we’d gotten for him, while we were steampunk cowboys, like something out of a twisted version of the old west. It was so cool. Even as I’d been putting it on, I’d known I wanted to wear mine again.
It took effort not to rush him as he got out of the UTV, but when he started running, we bolted, nearly knocking him over in our haste to wrap him in a hug. He smelled like the coconut shampoo and conditioner he loved, while his tears dampened my shirt. My cheeks were wet too; there was no way I could deny it while I cried in his hair. On the other side of me, Thor sniffled too, so I guess pining for our boy had turned us into big softies, and I was perfectly fine with that. We stayed huddled together, holding on to one another, long after the UTV had driven away.
I think he inched back first, but only because he was peering between us, eyes wide, at the soft glow emanating from the backyard.