Take Me Away (Southern Bride 6)

But ever since yesterday in Saryn and Truitt’s kitchen when I saw Nolan, the memories were slowly trickling back in. It was as if my past was drip-feeding me clues, knowing it had to be slow-going for reasons I wasn’t yet aware.

Nolan and I had clearly been something much more than friends. I could feel his confusion when he looked at me. He was keeping his own pain hidden, and while he thought he hid it well, I could see the pain in his eyes. On his face.

The memory floated back down to me. “I’ll race you to the next pasture.” Before I could stop myself, I blurted it out loud.

Nolan visibly flinched but attempted to play it off. Then, with a sexy-as-sin smile, he replied with the very same words from my memory. “You won’t win.”

With a swift kick, I spurred Whiskey on. The feel of the wind against my face was thrilling. I had missed this. Goodness, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Texas.

A tree stood in the middle of the pasture, and I knew that was our ending point. The place where we had ended countless races. I glanced back over my shoulder, only to see Nolan’s horse not even breaking a sweat.

Then, he smiled, nudged the horse, and like a bolt of lightning, he ran past us.

“You cheated!” I cried out, and I swore I heard him laugh.

Whiskey and I were only a few seconds behind as I brought my horse up to a stop next to Big Mac Jack. I was laughing so hard, I nearly felt like I could cry. “This is magical! I haven’t felt like this in…I don’t honestly know now long.”

His smile was still on his face as he stared at me with a look that said he wanted so much more from me. It made my entire body shiver.

“Thank you,” I said.

Nolan gave me a slight nod, then looked away.

“There’s a spot over here I want to check out,” he said. “Maybe we should walk the horses. There’s a creek for them to get a drink.”

“Of course.”

“And I won, in case we needed to clarify that.”

With a roll of my eyes, I scoffed. “Pfft. You cheated.”

He chuckled. “How did I cheat? I didn’t even pick out the horses!”

I felt my cheeks ache slightly, and I realized it had been from grinning like a mad woman. I was truly so happy in this man’s company.

Then, Nolan’s smile faded. “Linz, did you remember racing like that before?”

A part of me wanted to tell him yes, but I needed to keep the memories a secret a little while longer. At least for now. I wasn’t sure why, but I wasn’t ready to let anyone know I had been remembering more and more. I didn’t want to hurt Nolan by withholding my memories, but I felt deep in my soul that I needed to keep this to myself, at least for now.

“I don’t think so.”

He nodded but couldn’t hide his frown.

“Did we race a lot? You and me?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked at me once more. “We did. To that tree, as a matter of fact. You loved being on horses. You even talked about training them once we got…”

“Once we got what?”

A look of utter panic swept over his face.

“Nothing. You always said if you didn’t do something with your art degree, you’d work with horses.”

I stared down at the reins in my hand and let my eyes move to the neck of the horse. I wasn’t sure how long I stared down at Whiskey before I said, “I can see myself doing that now.”

“Doing what?” he asked.

“Working with horses somehow. Maybe start a boarding barn. I’d have to buy a good-sized lot for it, though. At least twenty acres, if not more.”

All he did was nod and then focused straight ahead.

The sound of a creek slowly began to emerge, and I could tell Whiskey knew exactly where it was coming from. He picked up his pace, and I giggled.

“I think he knows where the water is.”

Nolan let out a quick laugh. “I know he knows where it’s at. You could let the reins drop and he’d take you there.”

Coming to a stop, Nolan got off his horse, tossed the reins over the saddle, and then walked up to me. “Need help getting down?”

“Nope, I’ve got it.”

Doing the same with my horse as he did with his, I drew in a deep, cleansing breath. “It’s so clean out here. Nothing like how Paris was.”

“It’s much quieter here too.”

“It is,” I said with a lightness in my voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time. I felt at peace out here, and I wasn’t sure if it was simply from being in the country, or if it had everything to do with being with Nolan.