“I don’t know if I’ll ever find myself there, Mav, but I hope you’re right.”
“You will,” I promise. “You damn sure will. One day when we’re grumpy old men we’ll sit right here on this porch and watch our kids and our grandkids together, Clay. They’ll run around these fields knowing a happy fuckin’ life built with nothin’ but love. Mark my words, brother. Happiness the likes you have never imagined is waitin’ for you. I want you to know that kind of contentment. The kind you feel deep in your bones. I hate that I hurt you with the truth, but I did it knowin’ that when you get past what you’re feelin’ right now it will be worth it.”
I back up when he moves forward. He’s had enough tonight and I have to give him the space to search through all the turmoil boiling inside him. He nods, and I hear him swallow thickly. Then his chest is slamming against mine in a rough hug.
“Love you, Maverick. Nothing will ever change the fact that you’re my brother. I can’t promise I’ll get past what I’m feelin’ tomorrow, but I want you to know that no matter how angry I am—none of that anger is directed toward you. You did what you had to do, and no one faults you for that. I’m proud of the man you’ve become.”
I cough, my throat bobbing as I force down the cry that almost came out.
“Love you too, Clayton.”
He pulls away and uses the back of his hand to dry his face. “I’m glad you have Leighton. I can’t say I’m thankful that this is what it took to give you her, but it does give me a little hope knowin’ that you’ve been in my boots too and still have that.”
“We aren’t them,” I tell him honestly. “We’re in charge of our own lives. Our own happiness, love, and future. I couldn’t dream of leavin’ her again, and I know she wouldn’t ever leave me. God willing, she gives me babies and I know with everything I am that I would never give them what Buford gave us. I was lost for a long fuckin’ time, Clayton, but I will not let them rule my future. We don’t live by their mistakes.”
“No, we don’t,” he agrees with conviction.
“You’ll find your own slice of happiness, I promise you that. Until then, I’m here every step of the way to make sure your path is clear when it comes ridin’ into town.”
“We’ll see,” he says with a sigh. “Let’s go check on Quinn. I don’t want her thinkin’ this is going to come between us. She’s not as tough as she tries to convince us she is.”
He steps past me and walks into the house. I turn and look up at the full moon. It kills me knowing that they’re both hurting, but even witnessing that pain, I know Leighton was right in pushing me toward revealing the truth to them. I meant every word I just told him. I know he wouldn’t be able to move on with the trust issues and anger that our past instilled in us. It held me back for too long. I wish I had had someone to push this on me years ago. I might have lost years of my life with Leigh because of the woman that birthed me and the man that raised me, but I will do everything in my power to make sure my siblings don’t lose that time too.
With a sigh, I push off the railing and turn to enter the house. No, not just a house . . . home. My home with Leighton. She’s standing in the doorway, her beast/cat in her arms, and her heart in her eyes. The illumination from the lights behind her cast her in some angelic-like glow. Fuck, I sound like a damn Hallmark card.
“Put him down, darlin’.”
She doesn’t question me. My tone is desperate. I need this stolen moment before entering the house. After placing Earl on his legs, she opens the screen door and steps into the darkness with me, the door shutting softly behind her with a low creak. She’s in my arms seconds later. Her legs come up and she wraps them around my waist with a little help. I drop my face to her neck and breathe her in, taking the strength her very existence brings me.
“I’m proud of you, cowboy,” she breathes; her softly spoken words make me tighten my hold. “They’re hurting because it’s fresh, but you’ve given them something they’ve been missing for a long damn time tonight.”
“What’s that, baby?”
“All of you,” she answers, and, fuck me, I stand there and have to fight to take a breath through the tightness in my chest.
“How’s Quinn?” I question after finally gaining control over myself.
Leigh pulls back and gives me a sad smile. “She wants to see her. Not tomorrow, maybe not even next year, but she wants it all the same.”