“Will you go for a ride with me?” I smiled down at my beautiful girl.
She gave me that smile of hers that I loved so much as she winked and said, “I’d love to go for a ride with you. ”
Whitley had been talking nonstop since we got into the truck. I knew she was trying to keep my mind off of just finding out that my father had passed away—and the fact that he’d left me with five million dollars, six racehorses, and God knows what else was in all that paperwork.
And in the letter.
I wasn’t sure I would ever read that letter.
As we got closer to the area I had set up earlier, my heart started pounding. I pulled up and parked. I looked over at Whitley and smiled. “You ready?”
“Ah…I guess so. Ready for what though?” she asked with a laugh.
“I have a surprise for you, baby. ” I jumped out of the truck as easily as I could. I was still in a lot of pain, but I was trying like hell to hide it from Whitley.
I walked over and opened her door. She jumped out of the truck and looked around.
As we started walking toward where I had everything set up, she grabbed my arm.
“Layton, are we going to the old house?”
I smiled as I pulled her closer to me and crushed my lips to hers. When I pulled back, she still had her eyes closed.
“I miss being with you, Layton. I miss feeling you inside me. ” She opened her eyes and smiled.
I grabbed her hand, and we made our way down the path that had been worn by the workers.
“Have you been coming here, Layton? I don’t remember such a worn path. ”
As we came around the bend, Whitley dropped my hand and stopped as she let out a gasp. “Oh my God, where’s the house?”
I stared straight ahead and smiled. “I had it torn down. It was time for me to leave the past in the past. All that house did was remind me of a time in my life when I was angry and hurt. I’ve moved on, thanks to you.
I’ve forgiven my father, and I’m ready to start a whole new life. ”
I turned to see Whitley crying as she looked up at me.
“Layton…” was all she said.
I smiled as I leaned down and gently rubbed my nose against hers. “I want to show you something else. ”
She smiled as she took my hand, and we moved closer to where the house that my father had built for my mother once stood—the same house that had held too many memories of my mother for him to be able to stay with us, the house that had caused him so much pain he had to run and never look back.
As we got closer, the gazebo came into sight. The spot my father and mother had picked to build their house on was probably one of the best views on the whole ranch. It looked out over the hill country and just about had a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view. I had the gazebo built to face the west and east.
“Oh, Layton, it’s absolutely stunning. I’ve never seen such an amazing gazebo. ”
I had overheard Whitley and Courtney talking about a book where the characters got married in a white gazebo overlooking the west. They got married right before sunset, and Whitley had mentioned how romantic it was.
I smiled at the gazebo I had built. It was a classic octagonal gazebo made from cedar.
“Good Lord, that thing is huge. Oh my, Layton! The flowers…they’re all my favorite flowers. The roses…they smell heavenly. ”
I smiled as I looked at all the landscaping that had just been finished yesterday. Whitley turned and looked at me as we walked up toward the gazebo.
As she moved up the steps, she threw her hands up to her mouth. Both sides of the gazebo had seating areas. The front and back were open to the east and the west, and we could see perfectly out west.
“I had them clear out a few trees, so you can see the sunset even more now. ”