Without You (Love Wanted in Texas 1)

Grams looked at me and laughed. “The doll I made you when you were little? Why?”

“Yes! I love that doll. Emma and Banjo are the two things that make me feel happy—well, besides, Will and family. Oh! And our walks together make me feel the happiest of all.”

“Well, I’m glad to see I came before the horse at least.”

Grams and I both laughed as we turned around and started back for home.

Grace and I were in the barn, taking care of Banjo when Luke walked in humming a song.

Luke walked up and smiled at us. “Are we ready to party?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “We’ve had way too many parties this summer, Luke.”

“Come on, baby sister. You’re heading off to college. You’re going to the big city. Lord knows what will happen to you.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Luke, if I remember right, you got pretty drunk last week, and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ari had you training horses the whole next day as punishment.”

“Hey, I don’t mind working on the land I was raised on. Shit, that reminds me of the song by Sam Hunt, ‘Raised on It.’ I was raised on it! Worked hard and played on it. Hell yeah, ladies, it’s time to play on it.”

“Whose place? And who are we inviting?” Grace asked.

I instantly knew where I wanted to have our last field party.

“Will and Lib’s? How about if we make it just us and a few of our closest friends?” Luke said as he took the piece of watermelon from Grace.

I quickly agreed and pulled out my phone. “Let me see if Maegan and Taylor can come. They just got back from Baylor.”

“What are y’all doing in the barn anyway?” Luke asked.

“Ugh…Alex wanted to spend some time with Banjo,” Grace said.

“Alex, you know you can bring him to A&M. Oh, wait, you’re going to UT.”

I gave Luke a dirty look. “Funny, asswipe.”

My phone pinged, and I looked down at Maegan’s message. “Maegan and Taylor are down for a little get-together. She wants to know who we’re inviting.”

Luke laughed. “Tell her we are limiting it, so she can’t invite anyone from Fredericksburg.”

“Libby said it’s not a problem to have it at their place,” Grace said as she read her text message from Libby.

I smiled, knowing that Will and I could sneak off to the clubhouse.

Luke smiled and then pointed to Grace and me. “We can have alcohol, but don’t let Lauren or Taylor drink.”

Grace and I each rolled our eyes.

“Taylor doesn’t drink, Luke. Anyway, they are going to be seniors, and you let Colt drink.”

“Colt is different.” Luke shrugged his shoulders.

Grace placed her hands on her hips. “No, he isn’t, Luke.”

“Doesn’t matter. They’re not drinking.” Luke turned and began walking out of the barn. “Will and I will take care of everything. See y’all later.”

I giggled as I watched Luke walk out of the barn. I turned and looked up at my baby boy. “I’m going to miss you so much, Banjo.”

Banjo jerked his head up and down and whinnied a bit.