MAVERICK JAMES RODEO SCHOOL.
The large bold letters, with two huge posts connecting them to the black fence below, were created as spotlighting to what is being built behind those closed gates.
“You . . .” She gasps, her head shooting from the gate to look at me in shock before whipping her head back to gaze out the window.
“It’s important to me, Leigh, that this is just as much a part of you as it is me. The Davis name, that isn’t me . . . not anymore.”
“But honey,” she starts, her breath hitching, “people are coming for you. Maverick ‘The Unstoppable’ Davis.”
“They’ll still get that, darlin’. Doesn’t matter that Davis isn’t up there, not to them, but it does to me. They wouldn’t be gettin’ that if it hadn’t been for the woman who saved me.” She opens her mouth, but I shake my head to silence her. “If you want to argue with me later, you can, but not yet.”
She frowns, but after searching my face, she just gives me a curt nod before settling back against the seat to wait.
I put the truck back in drive and move to the keypad in front of the gate, punch the code in, and wait for our path to clear. I drive down the lane, looking ahead and seeing how much progress we’ve made in the months that have passed since signing the deed to the property. The old barn was finished a few months back, the bright red-and-white paint standing out against the green fields around it. The small bunkhouses that scatter around it were finished shortly after. The medical and equipment buildings were close to the main barn. Each of the training arenas were close to being finished. There were only a few more things left to complete, but for the most part, we’re almost ready to start going through the thousands of applicants that had started applying and pick our inaugural class of students.
Once I made news of the school I was starting public, there wasn’t a fledgling rider around that didn’t know about my training program and want to join. On top of four other instructors that I handpicked, Trey would be leaving the circuit to join me here after the season ended. He had come out to meet Leighton and see the land a month after I turned down his offer, and didn’t even give me a chance to get the question out before he was making plans to move to Pine Oak.
By this time next year, we’ll have a full staff and riders living here, spending their days learning from the best. There isn’t a training school in the United States that can offer the kind of knowledge that Maverick James Rodeo School will.
A familiar rush fills my body when I think about the future. The only thing that gives me more happiness than that is the woman sitting right next to me. I still can’t even really believe how much has changed since I rolled back into town angry about what I thought I had lost, only a mere half year ago.
“Where are we going?” Leighton asks, holding on to the door handle when we leave the road and start bumping through the field.
Instead of answering her, I look over and give her a wink. She just laughs and rolls her eyes. When we reach the fence that separates our property and the schools, I jump out to open the metal gate. We haven’t gotten to laying down the gravel for the road, so after I climb back in and pull the truck through, I make a mental note to have them come out sooner than later. If I keep driving my truck through this shit, Quinn will kill me. She’s already had to replace my shocks once.
It doesn’t take long to get us where I want to be. The same field that has always been so special to the both of us, that holds so many memories. I steal a glance at Leigh, seeing her eyes spark and the happiness she’s feeling making them burn bright.
She doesn’t wait for me to open her door; instead she jumps down and meets me at the front of my truck, looking around at the picnic that I had set up before coming to get her.
“Are you being romantic, cowboy?” she smarts.
“Depends. Will I get lucky if I am?” I quip.
“Since when don’t you get lucky?”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Come on, darlin’.”
I would have done this a long damn time ago, but I wanted to wait for the bluebonnets to bloom before bringing her out here again. She doesn’t mention it often, but I know seeing them makes her feel like she’s closer to her parents. I wanted her to have that comfort when I brought her back out.
“Thank you,” she says as she drops to the plaid blanket that I’ve spread out in the one spot where there aren’t any flowers, the brilliant blue that surrounds her painting one hell of a stunning picture. I swallow the thick lump of emotion and bend down to open the basket. I grab the bottle of the champagne I bought in Austin a few weeks back. I couldn’t tell you if it’s good shit or not, but seeing as it cost me a few hundred bucks, I’m guessing it is. Leigh leans back, bracing her weight on her hands, and gives me a wide smile. “Daddy would love seeing the James name up there.”
I make a noise in my throat and continue to pour our glasses before handing her one.
“I know you think it should be Davis up there, Leighton, but it’s important to me that I start this new chapter of our lives without it. I used to think that being a Davis is what defined me, but I know now that isn’t the case. A name only holds the power you let it. I’m the man I am today because I fought not to become him and it was because of you that I finally had the tools to win that fight. To me, that is everything. It’s you and me, Leigh, for the rest of our days.”
“Honey, all I did was love you.”
“And that love saved me,” I tell her honestly.
I let the silence linger as I wait for her to take a sip. I’m half tempted to down my whole glass, but I just swallow a small bit before sitting the glass on the top of the basket.
“Come with me?” I ask, taking her glass and sitting it in the other cup holder on the lip of the basket before standing and holding out my hand.
Her lips curve into a small smile, and she takes my proffered hand to help her stand. I pull her from the blanket and walk toward the end of the field. The small raise in the land gives us the perfect view of the school beyond. You can’t see everything, but a good portion of the school’s land is visible from the field’s higher elevation.
“You know, when I made my way back home, I dreaded every second it took to get me here. I was so fuckin’ angry, baby. I couldn’t even see past that for one second. Because of that, I didn’t see a future for myself anywhere. I was lost, so fuckin’ lost, Leighton.” I take a deep pull of air, looking beyond us while searching for the right words. She moves closer and wraps her arms around me. “I ran from you and I knew deep down inside me it was wrong before I even left this place. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were willing to forgive me for that. I will never be able to express how much that forgiveness saved me.”