When It's Right(100)

Gillian bolted up the road. Blake tried to go after her, but Dee grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Let her go.”

His chest went tight and his jaw locked as he watched her jump into her truck and take off. “I made her cry.” Every ounce of misery in his soul poured out with those words.

“She’ll be fine. It just hit her that you love her.”

“She knows I love her.”

“Beyond you telling her you love her, you just showed her how much. You scared her. No one has ever loved her beyond everything. No one has ever been unreasonable about protecting her. No one has ever put her first. She doesn’t know how to deal with that.”

Blake stared at the empty road that Gillian disappeared down. “She ran away from me.”

“She’ll be back. Give her time to settle her heart. Once she sorts this out, she’ll be ready to settle into compromise with you. She won’t feel like she has to hold up the world on her own. She’ll know that she has you to lean on.”

“I want her to know that she can count on me. I want her to know that I’m here for her. She doesn’t have to do everything herself.”

“She knows that. Now. Give her time to get used to it.”

“I didn’t get to give her the card I made.” Justin leaned against Blake’s leg.

Blake automatically put his hand on Justin’s shoulder. “What card, buddy?”

“Her birthday card. I made it at school today.”

Blake stared at Bud and Dee, feeling the bottom drop out of his heart. “It’s her birthday?”

Bud shrugged. “We didn’t even realize.”

Blake felt as disheartened as Bud looked.

“She always forgets,” Justin said.

“How can she forget her own birthday?”

“Dad never did anything for our birthdays. Gillian takes me out for dinner. I get to have whatever dessert I want. Last year, I asked when her birthday was, and she told me. I made her a card at preschool and a clay fish. Today at school, when we were practicing the date and time, I remembered that her birthday is today. I asked my teacher if I could make her a card.”

Blake felt like shit. He didn’t know how to fix this. She’d done an amazing thing today. She’d brought Boots back from near death to racing and winning. She’d ridden him like a pro. Blake hadn’t congratulated her, he’d fought with her. The problem with Ken overshadowed everything. That threat needed to be eliminated.

He didn’t even have a gift for her. Hell, he didn’t even know it was her birthday. He should have asked for the date by now. Pissed off at himself, he should have known.

“You know what, Justin? I don’t think we should ever let her forget her birthday again. It’s about time she realized that having ­people love her means they want the best for her and that she’s important. I think Gillian needs a birthday party.”

Dee’s eyes lit up and Bud smiled. They hadn’t had a party at the ranch in a long time.

“I think we should give Gillian a real surprise,” Blake added. Gillian was already surprised by how much he loved her. She had no idea how deeply. He planned on showing her.





Chapter 26



Gillian turned down a long dirt road a few miles from the ranch, parked, got out, and climbed on the warm hood, her back to the windshield and her legs crossed. She sat for a long time staring at the rolling expanse of grass that gave way to the trees and mountains. Arms folded over her chest, her head resting on the glass, she simply took in the majestic scenery and thought about her life—­and Blake.

Her thoughts settled, the way she’d settled onto the hood of the truck. The quiet of the land settled into her, and for a moment she thought of the hustle and bustle of the city and how far away San Francisco seemed from her life, from her thoughts.

If she’d been in San Francisco, she’d have gone to the wharf and let the rolling ocean soothe her mind. Now she didn’t have the wind blowing off the sea or the fog to obscure the city and wrap itself around her in a misty blanket. Not here.

No, here she didn’t have the ocean. She had something better. She had Blake. He loved her. She hadn’t really thought about what that meant in her life.

He’d nearly lost his mind over Ken and her racing Boots. Underlying it all, he wanted to protect her because he loved her.

She hadn’t expected that. She hadn’t been ready for that kind of depth of emotion from him. She couldn’t expect him to love her and not be affected by the things she did or said. She couldn’t expect him to be a passive participant in her life. She had to let him in and trust him to take care of her when she needed it. Even when she didn’t ask for it. She’d handled Ken once. But even she had to admit this thing with Ken was getting out of hand. Maybe letting Blake handle him was the right thing to do.