“I want to make sure that it’s the right decision for me and not just because my mother is telling me it is. I want to be the one to decide what I do next.”
I loved how strong she was and how determined she sounded right now.
“But...” Ty interrupted but Grace put her hand up to stop him.
“You guys hurt me the other day, and I hate that, but I realized I should have stayed for us to talk it out. In the past few days, when I thought we were over, it hurt more than when I thought I’d have to let go of my Olympic dream when Charlie quit. I just don’t know what to think of it.”
I moved to the edge of my seat.
“I don’t know who I am without riding and competing. You keep telling me how strong I am, but if I decide not to do that, I’m going to feel lost and unsure of myself. Would you still want to be with me?”
“Of course, we would. We will want you no matter what you decide.” Ty ran a thumb down her cheek.
I couldn’t take being apart from her any longer. I scooted my chair in front of her.
“I want to see what this is between us and explore it. I owe it to us to give this a chance. Right?” She reached out for me.
I grabbed her hand within my own and let out a deep sigh.
“We think you owe it to yourself to see this through. Don’t give up all your hard work just yet. If you want to keep competing, even the littlest hint of desire, then you should give it a shot. We aren’t going anywhere. We’ll be right here waiting for you when you return if that’s what you want.”
“While I want to be with you, I have a lot to think about. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I can’t just jump right back in with you guys right now. Not until I know what I’m going to do. It’s not fair to either of you or myself.”
“We understand.” I didn’t like it, but I understood she wanted to figure this out on her own first.
Ty grabbed Grace’s other hand. I brought the one I was holding to my lips and kissed her knuckles.
She looked at me.
She was finally ready to start directing her own life and was figuring out her first steps. We would be there to help her if she needed it, but there were some things that she needed to do on her own. Like right now. Grace stood and stroked a hand down each of our cheeks.
I wanted to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything was going to be alright. Wanted to take her back to our bed and make sure she never left. But we stood and were the gentlemen we should have been all along and walked her back to the bunkhouse.
We each placed a kiss on her cheek before she went inside. I didn’t know when I would see her again. When we would hear from her. There wasn’t much we could do until she was ready, but for the first time, I felt hope.
We had told her we would accept any decision she would make, but I didn’t know how I would survive if she said she was leaving the ranch. Leaving us.