He nodded. “I’m suddenly feeling like my chaps should have confetti and sparkles on them.”
“I can call Avery back, have her do that for you real quick.”
He grinned, pulling me in for a kiss, then said, “Maybe next year.”
“You’ll have to take care of it yourself next year. I’m sure she’ll be too busy decorating her own horse.” Saying those words would take some getting used to. Even though Avery had been asking every day since her party when she was going to meet her horse, it still felt foreign on my tongue.
Stepping to the side, I gave Callan space so he could set his boot in the stirrup and heft himself up into the saddle.
He looked down at me, the pink ribbon shifting on his hat. “See you when it’s done?”
I nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
I set a hand on his leg, reaching up on my tip toes as he bent down to press his lips to mine. Every kiss with Callan was a reminder that our lives were only getting better from this point forward, together.
I readjusted his cowboy hat on his head before he straightened in the saddle.
“See you in a few,” he said with a grin, then eased Ace into a walk so he could get to the head of the group. They were already lined up in the formation Charlotte had instructed them to stand in, so his mom gave him a playful side eye as he found his spot.
I took a quick picture of everyone lined up, with Callan and Ace standing just behind the banner Avery was holding. Her little hands were gripped tight on the material to keep it steady, and then they all started walking down the street behind the firefighter group ahead of them. Callan was a step late, caught up in staring back at me with a smile on his face.
In a crowd full of people, his eyes were glued on me.
“That’s love,” Lettie said, coming to stand beside me.
“What?” I asked, watching the next group start lining up behind them.
“The way he looks at you.”
I shook my head. “We just recently made things official. He couldn’t.”
Lettie was quiet until I looked at her.
“My brother has always hidden his feelings with kindness, never letting anyone past those walls he has reinforced in his head. In the past, he was made to believe he couldn’t be vulnerable without being controlled, yet he opened up for you after all those years of keeping to himself.”
My teeth gnawed at the inside of my cheek. “I’m not following.” Not because I didn’t know what she was saying, I just didn’t know if my brain was ready to hear it.
“You’re his light at the end of the tunnel, Sage. You and Avery. I didn’t think he’d ever let his feelings show for anyone, but then he found you. Don’t be like me and push that person away because the timeline doesn’t line up. Life is never going to be perfect enough to let someone in. You have to work to make it happen.”
It wasn’t that I was pushing him away, especially now. But I understood what she was telling me. Callan wasn’t someone I’d ever take for granted, and I quickly figured that out shortly after we met.
“I won’t,” I promised her. Lettie looked out for her brothers like they looked out for her, and I loved that about the Bronsons. Not many families were as close as they were, and it filled my heart thinking one day, Avery and I might be a part of that.
Some days, it felt like we already were.
Lettie and I watched in silence as they made their way to the end of the street, then circled back. The entire time, Avery had the biggest smile on her face, and halfway back to us, Callan leaned over to place his hat on her head. She beamed up at him, the hat clearly way too big for her with the way it bobbed.
Things were so perfect right now, regardless of what was going on in the background.
All my mind could focus on was those two and the way they completed me.
We were happy.
36
Callan
Reed and our dad worked to get everything packed and loaded up so they could head back to the ranch with the horses. Most of the crowd had dispersed, heading over to the fair right behind all the buildings. The short walk was convenient, which was why they always did the same events in the same town each year.
Avery had helped my dad with his side of things, her little hand always moving to adjust my hat on her head. I’d have to get her one of her own if she wanted to be a cowgirl, but for the time being, mine would suffice.
“Did you have fun?” Sage asked, finding me in the cluster of people.
“Not as much fun as Avery,” I replied. “Did you?”
She nodded as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her sundress. “You looked very cute up there.”
Heat rose in my cheeks. “I did, did I?”
Another nod. “Bit distracting, if you ask me.”
My arm snaked around her, bringing her close. “Is that so?”
Our noses were almost touching now as she fought a smile.
“Do you not like when I distract you?” I teased. Little did she know, she distracted me from any anxious thoughts that might’ve crept their way into my mind before. With Sage, I felt somewhat unstoppable.
“Depends how you’re doing it.”
