Broken Love (Broken 4)

Ava threw her arms around her father and hugged him. “I love you so much.”

Courtney smiled sweetly as she watched the scene play out along with me. “Will the dress be ready in time?”

“Yes! Lucy has a seamstress in Helena who promised she can have the dress done by Valentine’s Day.”

“My baby is getting married!” Courtney cried out as both her and Ava hugged for what seemed like forever.

We spent the entire drive to Austin talking about everything from our wedding to cattle ranching.

Ava and I had decided we wanted the wedding to be simple. It would just be the two of us in a simple ceremony on a beach in the Bahama’s. The only real thing we had planned was her dress and the honeymoon.

“Call me the moment you land,” Courtney said as she kissed Ava goodbye on the cheek.

With tears in her eyes, Ava nodded. “I promise I will.”

Reed reached out and shook my hand. “Tell your parents I said hi. We’re looking forward to coming and visiting when y’all get settled.”

“Will do, sir. And thank you for giving us your blessings.”

He smiled, and for the first time since Reed found out about Ava and I, I saw something in his eyes. Happiness. “The only thing I ask you to do is love her and take care of her, Ryder.”

“That will be easy to do, Reed. She is the only reason my heart beats.”

He rolled his eyes. “Save that shit for her, not me.”

With a laugh, I nodded. “Will do.”

Ava and Courtney hugged one last time at security. Ava started crying, so I wrapped my arm around her waist and led her to the line. Resting her head on my shoulder, she sniffled.

“I’m sad and I’m happy. Please don’t mistake my tears for sadness,” she softly said.

My finger went to her chin as I brought her eyes to mine. “It’s okay to be sad. You’re leaving your family and moving to a new state. I don’t blame you for feeling sad, Ava. I was sad when I moved to Texas.”

She nodded. “Ryder, when we get back to Montana, can we spend tonight in the stone house?”

“Of course, I figured we would.”

She wiped her nose and looked into my eyes. Those baby blues looked lost. “Is everything okay, baby?”

Swallowing hard. “I read something in Kate’s diary that I need to talk to you about.”

My heart leapt to my throat. “O-okay. I promised my parents we’d have dinner with them, but then we can say we’re tired and head to the house right after.”

She chewed on her lip and I couldn’t ignore the sick feeling that was settling into my stomach. I had no idea what it was she wanted to talk to me about. I knew it had something to do with Kate and she was clearly worried about it. It had me wondering if I really wanted to know.

Sometimes it was best to leave things left unknown.

“DINNER WAS AMAZING,” Ava said with a huge smile. I knew she was happy to be back in Montana. I could almost see the change in her when we walked out of the airport. It warmed my heart knowing she loved it here as much as I did.

“I’m glad to have you back and to see you walking without that dreadful cast,” my mother said as she and Ava cleared the table.

“We’ve got this if you two would like to talk business,” my mother said. She motioned to my father and he gave her a knowing look.

Once they were both in the kitchen he stood.

“So, I heard from my lawyer. Once your marriage with Ava is final, the house in Helena gets put into both your names.”

I stood and walked over to him and gave him a light slap on the arm. With a wide grin, I said, “Thanks, Dad, for getting all of that taken care of.”