by Natalie Dean
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Samuel said, already sliding out of the car.
She nodded, and her arm wound around his once more. It felt right. Like that was where it belonged. How could she connect with someone so perfectly who wasn’t meant to be in her life? It wasn’t fair.
Despite her taking small, careful steps, they ended up at her door far too soon. She opened it, then turned to say goodbye to Samuel. But the sight of him, all bathed in moonlight and looking at her like she was the center of the world, made her brain skitter away from logic and into overwhelming want.
“I think I’m supposed to say goodnight now,” she breathed, her heart thumping in her chest.
“Yeah, that’s the usual protocol,” he said, taking a step towards her.
She took a step too, their bodies almost touching, her chin tilted up to face him. “I’ve never been much for going about things the usual way.”
“Is that so?” his voice was barely a whisper.
“I think you know it is.”
He swallowed, his tongue coming out to wet his lips, and she couldn’t resist. With a simple push onto her toes, their lips were touching, sinking them into a heated kiss.
His arms wrapped around her back, tight and strong and wonderful. She could feel her heart beating against his, wild and rushing, and it was dizzying. And she was so relieved that his hands didn’t wander.
Their mouths moved together, her own arms coming up to wrap about his neck. She wished she could hold him like this forever, both of them drenched in the quicksilver of the night stars, a cool breeze cooling the fever that was quickly building between the two of them.
The feeling continued to ramp up, making her hands want to roam. She wanted to feel all of those muscles of his, to learn the landscape of him the same way she learned the landscape of the ranch. She wanted to taste and take and ask him inside, so they didn’t have to part.
But she also knew better. If anyone had taught her the trouble that came from rushing something that could be beautiful, it was her Ma. So, with a great surge of willpower, she managed to pull away.
But oh goodness, as if that didn’t test her further. Because Samuel was gazing down at her looking absolutely wrecked. His lips were kiss-swollen, his cheeks were flushed while his eyes were half-lidded and hazy. It certainly made her feel beautiful, desirable for him to be so affected by just a kiss. But it also made her want to… protect him in a weird sense. To do things right by him. And if he was going to leave in a week, it wouldn’t be right to invite him in and have them getting even more involved than it already felt like they were.
“Goodnight, Samuel. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Virginia,” he whispered, his hands falling from her and the cold instantly taking its place. “I’d like to do this again, if that’s alright.”
The smile she gave him was much shyer than she meant. But it was real. “I’d like that a lot, if you’re still around.”
“Yeah,” he said, his tone growing brittle. “If I’m still around.”
6
Samuel
If someone had told Samuel three weeks earlier that his aunt and uncle’s place would be more like a home than his family’s place ever was, he would have told them they were wrong. But as the days went by, as he spent more time with the animals and his cousins and of course, Virginia, he couldn’t help that he started to feel settled. Wanted. Needed.
The workers were pretty much all pleasant, with a few of the younger ones just needing firm correction every once and a while. There was one named Chris that Virginia introduced him to after their date, asking Samuel to show the much younger man around, and man if the kid didn’t take to him like a duck to water. After that, Samuel found himself with a shadow, training him on how to fix certain things or teaching him how things on the ranch worked.
It was nice. In fact, everything about the Miller Ranch was nice, and he kept finding reasons to stay longer.
Another one of the barns could use more weatherproofing on the roof. A section of the fence had rotted. One of the harvesters needed an overhaul. Some tines needed to be replaced on that. Extra help was needed tending to the newly born calves.
But eventually, inevitably, the Millers all started to come back.
It was Ben and Chastity first, the former taking over all of his duties as the head of the fieldwork. Then it was Bradley and his wife, the math whiz going back to scheduling and all of the simple stuff he used to cover. And then, finally, Benji started to swing by more often at the request of Dani, who got tired of him mother-henning her all the time.
So, about one month after he had arrived at his aunt and uncle’s place, he found himself feeling useless again. His place completely taken up by the people he had been covering for.
It was time to go home.
He kept trying to deny that fact, but as he struggled more and more to find busywork, as he spent most of his days teaching Chris more things, he wasn’t able to deny it for much longer.
He never expected his answer to come from his little brother, Sterling, when he called home.
He’d dialed his mother’s number, expecting her cool, collected greeting, but instead it was the younger of the twins who answered.
“Hey, Sam. Haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
“I imagine. From the way I hear it, our dear cousins do go about things in a pretty caveman way.”
“It’s not so bad, actually. The animals certainly seem to like it.”
“The animals?”
“Yeah. They’re happy here.”
“Happy, huh?”
For some reason he felt the need to defend his aunt and uncle. Sure, he had thought that they were a bit… silly at first, but after a month of living with them, working with them, he understood a lot of their ways.
“Yeah. They’re happier. Healthier. It makes sense from a business aspect.”
“You know, Sam, if I didn’t know better, I would say that you kinda like it there.”
“Well… I do.”
There was quiet for a moment on the line, then the sound of his brother moving to another room. “You know, you also sound happier.”
“You can tell that from a phone call?”
“Well, it’s about that obvious.”
Samuel chewed on his lip. “I do like it here. Everything makes sense to me. No one thinks that I’m too soft or a bleeding heart. They all respect me, treat me like I’m one of them. I’m not… I’m not just a placeholder here.”
“You were calling to tell us you were on your way home. Weren’t you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I was.”
Quiet for another beat and Samuel’s stomach twisted.
Sterling broke the silence. “Hey, so I know that I’m your little, little brother, but Sam, since it makes you happier there… what if you didn’t come back for a while?”
“What?”
“Let’s be honest. It’s not like Dad treats us like Solomon or Silas. He doesn’t even treat us like Sal. You’ve always felt kinda on the fringe here, and if you feel like you have a place there—if Aunt Annie and Uncle Douglas are willing to give you a spot—why not just… stay for now?”
“Stay?” Samuel repeated. He felt like an idiot. Stay? He couldn’t stay. He was a McLintock Miller. He had to go back to Texas and… do things?
“Yeah, Sammy. Just stay. Stand up to Dad and tell him you’re needed there.”
“You think so?”
Samuel tried to think back. Despite always feeling ‘less than’ his entire life, he always felt obligated to his family. Like he had to stay in their shadow where he belonged, even if a lot of the things they said or did grated against him.
But what if he just… didn’t?
“I guess I would have to make sure that they wouldn’t mind me staying here.”
“Yeah, that’d probably be a good idea.”
“Thanks, little brother. I appreciat
e it.”
“Of course. Just don’t tell our parents that I might have said something. I really don’t want to deal with that fallout. We’re still getting over Solomon turning down that marriage thing with the Vegrados family, and he’s the favorite.”
“You got it. Not a word from my mouth.”
“Thanks, bro. And word to the wise, if you do choose to stay, you might not be able to come back for a while when dad finds out.”
“Fair enough. Think you’ll visit me?”
“Yeah, when I got the time. You know how it is.”
“That I do.”
The call ended, and Samuel felt a surge of relief that he hadn’t felt in ages. But before he got too far ahead of himself, he needed to talk with his aunt and uncle.
Of course, he found Aunt Annie in the kitchen, busying herself over something now that her stiff brace had come off and she was in a soft support brace instead. If it were any other situation, he might have chickened out and tried at a time where she wasn’t concentrating so intently. But he needed to be proactive. He couldn’t worry about being a bother. He was just realizing that he had a whole new world of possibility in front of him, one he never allowed himself to believe, but he needed to seize it if he wanted to make it happen.
“Aunt Annie?”
“Hmm?” she asked, not tearing her eyes away from everything she was mixing.
“So, I understand that things are pretty crowded around here, but I was wondering, if maybe… just considering that harvest is coming up soon—”
The woman set down whatever she was doing and turned to face him, a soft smile around her wizened features. “Samuel, if you’d like to stay here, all you have to do is ask.”
He blinked at her, trying to figure out if she had actually just said what he thought she said. That didn’t make sense. People didn’t just give out places to stay or entire livelihoods just because. That wasn’t how the world worked.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? You’re family, Samuel. And we love having you here. If you want work, I’m sure we’ll be able to find you enough to be occupied, and even if you just want to hang out, that’s fine too.”
He closed his eyes, just trying to breathe deeply. It felt like the whole entire world was shifting under him and he couldn’t quite place his feet. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Why not? I’ll be honest, I’ve never really liked how your family treats each other, and I’m pleased as punch that you’ve fit in here and feel like you belong. So, if you want to stay, you can stay.” She paused. “If you’re planning on making it long-term, we can see about building you your own place somewhere private on the edge of our lands.”
“I… thank you, Aunt Annie.”
Before he knew what was happening, Aunt Annie was stepping forward and hugging him tightly. He felt his body almost crumple around her, and he held her gently as well.
Was this what it was like to belong? It seemed so. After everything he’d been through, all that expanse of loneliness and feeling out of place. He was welcome, and it was almost a bit overwhelming.
“Well,” Aunt Annie said, pulling away from him and wiping the corner of her eyes. “As pleased as I am to hear that you’re going to be sticking around, isn’t there someone else who might like to hear?”
He stared at her a moment, his mind still in shock from everything that had suddenly shifted. “Who?”
But Aunt Annie just playfully reached up to ruffle his hair. “Ginny, you goof. Or haven’t you noticed that she’s been a lil’ melancholy lately?”
He had noticed it, but it’d been the same feeling that he’d had growing inside of him as well. They both knew that their time together was coming to an end.
Except, now all of a sudden, it wasn’t. They could be together.
“Virginia. Right,” he said, heading out. “I’ll be back to discuss details later!” he called, vaulting off the porch.
His heart was thundering in his chest as he rushed to his truck, speeding off to the cabins. It was Virginia’s day off, so hopefully she would be at home.
It wasn’t until he was on the workers’ road that he remembered to slow down. The last thing he wanted to do on his first day of being a permanent fixture on the ranch was to slam his truck into one of the workers.
No, that wouldn’t do at all.
But still, it was painstaking to be patient as he drove there. As soon as he was at the cul-de-sac, he launched himself out of his car. Rushing up to her door, a million thoughts burst into his head, wondering what he would do if she wasn’t there, or if she was asleep, or anything else like that.
Thankfully, however, as soon as he knocked on the door, there was a grumble of “coming” and then footsteps approaching him. A few moments later, the door was opening, revealing Virginia in her pajamas.
Except they were only pajamas in the loosest definition of the word. It was a thin tank top and short, soft-looking shorts that were barely decent. It took a lot of effort to draw his eyes up away from her thick, golden legs and to that beautiful face of hers.
“Oh, hey Samuel. What’s up?”
He blinked at her, hardly believing that she was in front of him, looking up at him with a mix of shock and happiness. She was pleased just to see him. Her day brightened ever so slightly by his presence.
“I’m staying,” he blurted, his words failing him yet again with all of the rushing inside of him.
She blinked, her hazel eyes going wide. “I’m sorry… what?”
“I’m staying. I talked with Aunt Annie and they say they have a place for me here. So, I’m gonna stay. Permanently. Or at least for a long while.”
She continued to stare at him before a soft smile spread across her face. “I’m happy for you then. That’s really great.”
“Yeah.”
There was a beat of silence and he realized that she didn’t quite get why he was telling her this. Why he had shown up at her door all breathless and excited. Right, he needed to use his words.
“And since I’m going to be around, I wanted to know if maybe, if you were open to…” Deep breath. He could do this. If anyone deserved his courage, it was the stunning woman in front of him. “If you would be amenable to going steady—or whatever that’s called these days.”
Slowly, ever so slowly, a broad smile crossed her face. Closing the distance between them, her fingers went up to trace the edge of his collar. “Samuel Miller, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”
He felt his entire body flush, his heart thumping even harder. “I’m pretty sure I am, unless going steady means something different in these parts.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she murmured, her fingers tightening in his collar and pulling him down ever so slightly. “Samuel?”
“Yes?”
Her voice was soft and breathy as she rose ever so slightly onto her toes, bringing her face less than an inch from his. “Can I kiss you?”
“I’d be crazy if I said no…”
She closed the distance and then they were kissing again, his arms wrapping around her. She was an intoxicating blend of soft and hard, muscle and femininity. Soft, alluring curves that he could admire for days and hard-earned toughness that wouldn’t let him take anything that she didn’t willingly give.
He couldn’t say how long it went on, couldn’t describe how it felt to have her mouth move against his, but when they broke apart, he was satisfied to see that she looked just as kiss drunk as he felt. Her full lips were puffy and kiss-swollen, those perfect cheeks of hers bright with heat. The way she looked at him like he was the center of the universe and all she ever needed made him feel like he was on some kind of high.
A man could get used to that kind of look, even if he didn’t quite think that he deserved it.
There was so much feeling, so much desire, that he was kissing her again before he even could think, feeling her respond enthusiastically. It was a heady feeling, coating his brain and his heart a
nd overwhelming him with the intensity of it.
It was Virginia who ended up breaking the kiss, gently pushing him back against the other side of the doorway, looking a bit more wrecked than he had meant to leave her. But the fact that she was so affected by him, that he mattered to her, just made his heart beat that much harder in his chest.
“If… if you’re going to stay, we should celebrate.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, not realizing how ragged and low his voice sounded until the words were out of his mouth. “What kind of celebration?”
“Missy told me about this great hill that she used to picnic on. Got a clear view of the stars and everything. Maybe we can grab a blanket and do some stargazing tonight?”
He swallowed, taking a step back out of the door. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’m sure Ma will be happy to make us a spread.”
“Are you kidding? She’d be insulted if we didn’t take the assuredly full basket she’s going to give us. How about we meet at the porch at nine tonight?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good. Now you go and sort out all the details you definitely need to sort and let a lady collect herself.”
“Oh, you’re in need of some collecting?”
The smile she gave him was just absolutely heartmelting. “Well, it’s not every day that someone who could be the love of my life shows up at my door and asks me to go steady.”
“L-love of your life?” he breathed, his whole mind whiting out at that.
But she just reached up and patted his cheek, her fingers seeming to burn into him. “It’s a possibility. Nothing to get too worked up over.” She let out a little chuckle. “You and I seem plenty worked up enough.”
He let himself laugh ever so slightly. “Yeah, yeah, I think that’s fair. Alright, I’ll see you later, Virginia.”
“And I’ll see you later. And tomorrow. And the day after.”
“Yeah,” he said, his heart swelling right then and there in his chest.