“So you’re really staying here? On the ranch?” I groaned and rolled my eyes, this had to be the millionth time that Devyn had asked the question, it still didn’t seem to sink in for him yet despite the fact that we had been hanging out for the duration of my recovery. He refused to leave my side for fear that I would run back to the city with my mom and brothers.

“Devyn if you ask me that question one more time I’m going to have to do something drastic.” I couldn’t keep the smile from my face or the laugh from escaping my mouth as I turned to see Devyn smiling just as happily at me as he had almost every other time.

Seeing him chase after me I squealed and began running in the opposite direction, though it was still like hobbling to some people. Devyn let me get a fair way before I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pull me up against him, we were both breathing heavily. Goosebumps seemed to bloom from my ear down, the ear that Devyn was currently breathing hard against.

Shivering a little I tried to shake the thoughts that suddenly entered my mind, “what drastic things will you do Leah?” I could hear it in his voice, feel it in the way he held me. Devyn had ideas running through his head that probably mirrored mine but I wasn’t going to voice them out loud in case I chickened out and backed away.

Turning in his arms I looked at his lips for a long time, they were inviting, soft and warm and curved up into a cheeky grin when I began staring at them too long. Eventually my gaze locked on to Devyn’s eyes and someone I knew he understood what I could not say, his grip around my waist tightened just a little bit before slacking again.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” I teased, kissing him on the cheek as I pushed against his chest. We were still inside the house and everyone was still sat at the dinner table, it was a last gathering before Peter and my mom went back to New York. Caleb had also made the decision to stay, getting his hands dirty was something he enjoyed...or so he said.

I still wasn’t convinced he was staying to get his hands dirty, I think he wanted to see if he could get himself a country girl just like Peter had managed.

Sure, it was amusing how quickly Sonia and Peter and declared their interest in each other but they had and they were both smitten. It made me wonder if I had moved too slowly with Devyn, that I hadn’t shown enough affection with him or want. My mind instantly turned to what could happen between us, sex...it was still such a foreign idea and every time I worked up the nerve to initiate anything more serious than kissing with Devyn I chickened out.

“I’m looking forward to it Leah,” Devyn’s whisper brought me back to the now, I was locked in his arms, in Declans home and I was totally comfortable with that.

Instead of pulling away like I usually did I threw my arms around Devyn and pulled him closer, everything that scared me melting away as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and buried his face in the crook of my neck. “It’ll be okay Leah.” Somehow I knew what Devyn was talking about and trusted what he said completely, out of the both of us I hoped he knew what to do.

The next day, while down at the airport in Big Falls saying goodbye to my mom and Peter I checked my cell phone and realized there were a few calls made just the day before from a familiar number. “Devyn, hang on I just need to check my voicemails.” I yelled to Devyn as he continued walking down the street.

“Hey Leah its Miller here, got you an entry into a surf comp happening in two weeks time. If you’re keen let me know and I’ll put you down for real...also, when the bloody hell are you coming back to civilization? I miss my favourite surfer!” Hanging the phone up I realized something, I was happy to give up my life in California but I wasn’t ready to give up the surfing. That meant surfing, school, working on the ranch and travelling would all need to be taken into consideration if I did decide to continue surfing.

“Everything okay Leah? You’ve gone a bit pale.” Caleb asked, for some reason I found myself being carried away by my thoughts a lot more than I was used to. Caleb stood right beside me with a concerned look on his face as he waited for me to respond.

“I..uh...that was Miller. You remember Miller, don’t you? He’s my unofficial agent and he’s found a surfing tournament down in California that I can enter,” the more I thought about it, riding the waves, paddling and being on the ocean again the more nervous I became.

“Are you going to enter? California is just a short trip away; we can all go and support you down there if you want.” The thought of the entire family coming to watch me surf made me want to vomit on the sidewalk but I shook my head at Caleb’s suggestion and waved him off.

Devyn was coming towards the both of us with a frown on his face; obviously he had noticed the pale colouring too. Caleb left just as Devyn arrived, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled my against him. This I had come to realize was a comforting gesture from Devyn, though sometimes it wasn’t comforting I let him still do it.

“You okay? You look as pale as the first snow falling.” My brain was yelling at me to lie, to make some stupid excuse up and carry on with our day. But my brain was also yelling at me to tell him the truth, the lies I often told grew so big they landed me at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

“I’m okay; I’m just a little shocked is all. I got a phone call from this guy named Miller. He keeps an ear out for local surf comp’s that I can enter and he called a few times yesterday to say that one was coming up in a few weeks.

“You gonna do it? I’d love to come and watch you surf, I’m sure Declan and Trisha would love to as well. Weren’t you saying Declan promised a family trip to the beach?” Letting out a loud sigh I laughed, feeling stupid at how I had thought Devyn might respond.

“I was thinking about it, but I didn’t know how you’d react to it...would you really come and watch me? What if I don’t compete well?” Devyn laughed at the last question, it annoyed me but I didn’t stomp off like I might have done, instead I stood and waited for him to explain himself.

“Did you forget about me at the rodeo? Leah, it doesn’t matter if you suck at surfing while we’re all watching. The fact is we’ll all be there to support you, we’ll all be there standing proud and trying to cheer loudest because you’re doing what you love to do.” I started crying, I couldn’t help it. Those were some of the nicest words anyone had ever said to me and I had not been expecting Devyn to say them.

“Oh no, did I say the wrong thing? Why are you crying? I’m sorry.” Through my tears I let out a choked laugh and threw my arms around Devyn, he was worrying about upsetting me but he had done just the opposite.

“I love you Devyn, they’re happy tears you doofus.” Devyn wrapped his arms around me and laughed. I felt comforted entirely in our little bubble and didn’t want to leave but the tooting of a car horn behind us disrupted our moment of peace and it was time to head back out to Butte and then on to the ranch.

“Only you can say you love me and call me a doofus in the same sentence.” Laughing again I wiped the tears away as we walked towards Devyn’s pickup and climbed in, I was glad we were driving back to the ranch with just the two of us...it meant a little bit more alone time before work.

So, what were you actually nervous about? I mean, it couldn’t be that I would disapprove of you accepting the offer to go to that surf comp?” Biting the inside of my cheek I took my time responding to the question.

“It’s not so much that...but you’ll understand that if I do get back into surfing I’ll be away a lot more? Like, I’ll probably be in California more than in Montana. At least that’s the way I see it,” I continued on. Devyn grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, the comforting gesture eased my worries. I returned the gesture and kissed Devyn’s hand, though my move wasn’t as seamless as his and we both laughed instead.

“Okay, maybe I didn’t actually think about it that way. But still, if it’s what you want to do Leah than you should do it. Sure, I’ll miss you while you’re away but you’ll come back...won’t you?” Letting go of Devyn’s hand I could sense where the conversation was headed, not liking the thought that we could potentially not be together in the future.

“Sure I would, I mean California is just down the road and maybe I won’t go beyond regional surf comps too...especially once school starts back.” Devyn nodded his head and thankfully didn’t ask anything else; I found it hard having this conversation. Mostly because it was forcing me to think rationally about any decisions I made but also because I was realizing more and more that the life I had just wasn’t practical anymore.

“Declan, I need to speak with you.” I left Devyn to park his truck down by the workers quarters; he had kindly dropped me off at the house before heading off towards the separate building though. I was glad as it meant I could speak with Declan alone without interruption.

“Sure Leah, what’s up?” Instead of going down into the office like we usually did, Declan instead sat down on the porch swing seat.

“See, I got a call from Miller. He’s a guy that used to scout the local surf comp’s for me, he left a few messages on my phone to let me know that there is one coming up in two weeks and will put my name in if I want to....” I died off, not sure how to ask for the time off or even if I could go down to California. I had long since accepted that I was no longer the parent out here but was still coming to terms with the fact that I couldn’t just get on a plane and fly out to a surf comp.

“Two weeks? That’s perfect timing, Trisha and I were thinking of taking that trip to the ocean...we might not be able to get good accommodation on such short notice but I’ll see what we can arrange. Did you want to go to the surf competition? Even if you don’t want to go, we’ll still go on holiday.” Yet again I was surprised and relieved to hear Declan’s response, it seemed my anxieties were all for nothing and I plopped down on the seat next to Declan.

“We can stay at the house? Peter said he has given it to me, there’s more than enough room there if we can’t get a hotel. Can Devyn come with us?” Declan didn’t even hesitate at my last question, nodding in response.

“We’ll stay at the house and yes, Devyn can come along with us. Don’t get too excited though, he’s staying in a room you’re not.” I hadn’t expected Devyn to sleep in my room but was beyond overjoyed; jumping up from the seat I wrapped Declan in the tightest hug I could remember giving before running up to my room.

 ____________________________________________

YAY! I finally know how I'm going to end this book! It'll happen in another five chapters, so hopefully I can round it out at a nice and even 40 chapters.

Sorry for the long wait, things are crazy here.

Also, happy NaNo everyone!!