Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Ladd laughed. “River Falls is out for you, then. We have exactly one light on Main Street.”
I felt my smile grow bigger. “Do you love it there?”
He nodded. “I do. We have a lot of tourists who visit our town, both in the summer and winter, due to the river, which the town is named after, River Falls. Grand Lake is a large lake nearby, and the ski resort in Granby. If you enjoy white-water rafting, snowshoeing, or fishing, then you’d love it there.”
“I’ve never done white-water rafting, but it’s on my list of things I’d like to try.”
“What else is on your list?”
I exhaled. “Riding a horse, especially in the winter. Well, learning to ride a horse at all. Hiking up a mountain. Learning to fly-fish—that’s a must. Riding in a car down a one-lane road with the windows rolled down and Fleetwood Mac’s song ‘Landslide’ turned up as loud as it can go.”
Ladd stopped once again and looked at me. “Will you marry me, Vivianne?”
Laughing, I rolled my eyes. “You hardly know me.”
“You just described my dream woman.”
My brows rose. “Did I?”
He grinned. “You did.”
I chewed on my lower lip for a few moments before I said, “I tell you what, Ladd Wilde, ask me one year from today.”
“One year? That’s a long time to wait, Viv.”
My stomach swooped at his use of a nickname. No one had ever given me a nickname, not even my parents.
“It is a long time, but I think it’ll be worth the wait. And somewhere in the back of my mind, a year from now, I think we’ll be worth the wait.”
His eyes searched my face before they landed on my mouth. I swept my tongue across them instinctively, and Ladd slowly lifted his gaze.
“Your eyes,” I whispered. “They almost look silver.”
A wide smile took over his face. “They change colors.”
“They change colors?” I asked on a laugh. “What other colors are they?”
Ladd slowly shook his head. “Uh-uh…not so fast. You’ve got a year to find out.”
He reached for my hand and laced it back through his arm as we started walking once again.
“What do your parents do for a living?” I asked.
“They own a cattle ranch. My father is the third generation to run it.”
“Is that what you’ll do when you get back to River Falls?”
“I’ll help with running it, sure, but I’d like to open up a sporting goods store.”
Surprised, I glanced at him. “A sporting goods store? What does your father think about that?”
He laughed, and I found I liked the sound of it. “He’s supportive, and he’s given me a couple years to make a go of it. If things don’t work out, then I promised I’d work on the ranch full time. But they will work out. I can feel it in my bones. I’m not going to give up until it does.”
“You’re determined, then?”
Ladd smiled. “I am.”
“And your father is supporting this decision?”
“He is,” Ladd said, a smile on his face. “Both of my parents are. I have three other brothers, so it’s not like my father needs me running the ranch to keep it going. But ranching is in my blood, I can’t imagine not being a part of it in some way.”
“You dress the part. So what you’re telling me is you’re actually a full-on cowboy? Not someone who is cosplaying one?”
“Yes, ma’am. Some say I’m the wildest of my brothers.”
“Is that so?” I grinned.
We walked in comfortable silence before he asked, “What about your parents?”
Forcing myself not to change the tone of my voice, I glanced at a building as we neared and asked, “Is this where we’re eating?”
Ladd looked up and nodded. “It is.”
“I adore this place!” I said, smiling at Ladd.
A wide grin appeared on his face, and he laughed once again. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait a year, Viv. Maybe not even six months!”
I could feel my cheeks heating, and somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that whether it was six months or a year, if Ladd Wilde asked me to marry him at any point in the future, I would say yes.
Things between Ladd and me took off like wildfire. Whenever we were both free, we spent our time together. Picnics, long walks, or simply sitting in the library studying for a test. I hated that I had to work so much, but it never bothered Ladd. If we had a free moment, we took advantage of it. Every second we spent together was cherished by both of us.
The summer before our senior year, Ladd had gone back to River Falls for a couple of weeks, but returned to Fort Collins to take a couple of summer classes. Those two weeks apart felt like an eternity. I had kept busy by working my two jobs, and we spoke on the phone every single evening. It was hard to believe we had been dating since April of our junior year and now it was October of our senior year. Soon, we’d both be making plans for life after college. The thought of Ladd not being in my life was something I tried not to think about.