True Belonging 2 by Ella Cooper

Chapter Five

 

 

 

Flint

 

 

 

I was excited for my plan. Eliza hadn’t asked about it, which seemed a little strange, but I appreciated that. This was going to show her that she could trust me, and that I wasn’t going to betray her. For as long as she stayed on my farm, she was going to be safe.

After that forehead kiss, I knew for sure that I didn’t want her to leave. Her reaction only reinforced that.

We ate dinner, and I reminded her to get to bed early, since I was going to wake her up at five a.m. While I lay in bed, I thought of what I was going to do and smiled. Of course, there were some nerves settling in my stomach, but I pushed them away.

By the time I fell asleep, the anger of earlier in the day had almost entirely disappeared.

My alarm woke me in the morning at four, and I hopped out of bed excitedly after a night of pleasant dreams. I knew that there was no way Eliza would be awake yet, so I headed downstairs to build a picnic basket.

By five, it was perfect, and I placed it on the table before I went upstairs to wake her. For a moment, I paused in the door, watching her dark locks that were spread across the pillow under her head. Even like this, with her mouth open halfway through a snore and her limbs splayed awkwardly over the bed, she was a goddess. Her beauty sent electric sensations through my body.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” I teased loudly, making her jump up and swivel her head in fright. “It’s five o’clock, time to wake up.”

“Could you try not to yell at me like that?” Eliza said grumpily, rubbing at her eyes. “I almost fell out of the bed.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d be lying. Come on, get dressed.”

She waved me off and shoved her head into the pillow before she mumbled back, “Fine.”

I waited for her downstairs for another forty minutes. Then she walked into the kitchen with her hair tied up in a ponytail, dressed in jeans, boots, and a loose-fitting white T-shirt. Her face was still pulled into a tired expression, and she glared at me from across the room.

“Can’t believe you won’t let me have ten extra minutes,” she mumbled as she sat down at the table. “You’re so cruel.”

I pushed the mug of coffee I’d made for her across the wood and smiled, feeling amused at her disgruntled mood.

“You’ll get used to it, I’m sure,” I said, glancing over at the picnic basket that I’d moved to the counter. “Anyway, you look ready to go.”

“Go?” Eliza looked up from her mug. “What do you mean?”

“You know that I’ve planned a little something,” I pointed out, nodding toward the basket. “You can ride a horse, right?”

“I can…” she said, her eyes finally lighting up with curiosity. “Not very well, mind you.”

“That’s all right, Luna’s a good mare; she won’t throw you,” I answered, waving her off. “Once your coffee’s done, we can go.”

When she finished it, Eliza stretched herself out and got up from the table. “How far are we riding?”

“You’ll see,” I said as I took the basket from the counter and reached out to take her hand. “It’s a surprise.”

I led her out of the house and down to the stables, where Luna and Jackson, my gelding, were both already saddled up. I attached the basket to Jackson’s saddle before I helped Eliza up onto Luna’s back.

It was still fairly dark out, which was part of my plan. I wanted us to reach our destination with the sun rising in the distance. Eliza seemed slightly awkward in the saddle, but she didn’t look like she’d fall off. Besides, Luna was gentle enough for a child to ride her. As long as Eliza knew the basics, she would be entirely fine.

“Ready?” I asked, and she nodded at me with determination on her face. “Don’t worry if you can’t keep up. I’ll come back to get you.”

She pulled her nose up at my teasing and shook her head. “Don’t be embarrassed when I beat you, then.”

I laughed, turning Jackson away from the stables and giving him a light kick in the ribs. He leapt off in a gallop, not close to his top speed, but quick enough that the wind whipped through my hair.

Being on horseback has always been the most freeing thing in the world to me. No matter the stresses of life, riding could lift my mood to the stars. I always found myself smiling when I felt Jackson’s powerful body galloping into the distance beneath me.

I listened for Luna’s hoofbeats behind us, satisfied when I heard her keeping up. I didn’t think for one second that Eliza would actually try to race me. Even if she didn’t, Luna was much older than Jackson and wouldn’t be able to overtake him.

“Yah!” Eliza shouted, and she was suddenly beside me, grinning like a madwoman. “What’s wrong, Flint? You trying to lose?”

I stared at her in surprise. “This isn’t a competition. I’m the only one who knows where we’re going!”

“Mm, sounds like you’re chicken to me!” Eliza pushed Luna ahead, and they were quickly two lengths in front of Jackson and me.

I shook my head, amused that she thought she could actually win. It only took a slight encouragement for Jackson to push himself to full speed. Fairly quickly, we’d not only caught up and overtaken Eliza, but we’d left her far behind in a cloud of dust.

“Whoa, there,” I said when I slowed Jackson down at the foot of the small hill that I’d chosen for the picnic. It took another half a minute before Eliza pulled up behind us, grumbling something about the odds being unfair.

“You’re the one who wanted to race,” I pointed out as I had Jackson walk up the little footpath on the side of the hill. “I told you that you’d never beat me, even if you were on a faster horse.”

“Uh-huh,” Eliza answered, looking determined. “Next time, I’ll show you.”

“Sure, sure,” I said, making sure she’d realize I didn’t mean it. I walked Jackson around the crest of the hill, to a spot dotted with massive rocks. It had an incredible view over a majority of the ranch and was the place that I used to come to as a teenager when I wanted some privacy.

“This is beautiful,” Eliza breathed. She stared out over the vast plains, her eyes glittering in the atmosphere of it. I got down and tied Jackson to a nearby tree before I helped her down.

“I’m glad you like it,” I said as I tied Luna next to Jackson. “This is where I like to come when I need to clear my head. Free of my family and the world. It’s pretty nice.”

Eliza clambered onto the rocks, standing there with her arms spread wide. I loosened the picnic basket and joined her, my heart filling with a warmth that it had only rarely known before.

In the distance, the sun was rising, casting an orange glow over everything that it touched. In this light, Eliza was radiant, her features almost glowing themselves.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” she said, shifting toward me and immediately turning red. “It’s an incredible place.”

I sat down, opening the basket and revealing the assortment of breakfast foods that I’d brought for us. Eliza took a seat across from me, where she could still admire the view.

“So”—I cleared my throat—“my family hates me because I ran away from the ranch and abandoned them. That’s why they feel they deserve it more than I do.”

Eliza looked at me curiously, as if she couldn’t see the point in me revealing that. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I figure it would be easier to trust me if you know all my secrets,” I answered, swallowing before I continued. “The deepest of them is the hardest to talk about.”

Eliza didn’t say anything this time. I bit at my bottom lip, wondering if I was sure I wanted to tell her this. One glance at her convinced me that it was the right thing to do. Her eyes held concern instead of curiosity, a determination to listen instead of a lust for gossip.

“The reason that I ran away wasn’t that I despised my family,” I started, taking a slice of toast from the basket and offering one to her as well. “I was planning on staying on the ranch forever. I loved it here.”

“I can imagine why,” Eliza answered, looking out at the view and back at me. “It couldn’t have been easy to leave.”

“It was easier than staying,” I admitted with a sigh. “I had another cousin, named Elliot.”

Even mentioning his name was a stab at my heart. I hadn’t said it aloud in several years, and I hadn’t ever told the story again after the first time.

“I used to do everything with him,” I continued. “He was my best friend. Just a year older than I was. I looked up to him, and I considered him to be as close to me as a brother.”

Here I had to pause. The toast in my hand became almost unappetizing with the lump that sat shallow in my throat.

“One day, we’d gone riding, and I challenged him in a race.” The words were becoming more and more difficult to let out. “His horse saw a snake or something and began going wild with fear. It threw Elliot off, but he couldn’t get his leg out of the stirrup.”

The memory flitted through my mind. The screams, so loud, and then suddenly, the world going silent.

“He hit his head on a rock while the horse was dragging him, and it was all over,” I said, clenching my jaw as I tried to fight back the tears that threatened to overwhelm me. “I couldn’t deal with losing him, and I blamed myself. I still do. If I hadn’t challenged him, if we’d just ridden down to the creek like we’d planned to, Elliot would still be here. I didn’t tell anyone about that. They still think he just fell.”

The atmosphere between Eliza and me became eerily quiet as she likely felt the tension that had made my body rigid.

“I’m sorry,” she said after several minutes, reaching out to touch my arm. “That has to be hell to carry with you.”

“It is,” I admitted. “But I trust you not to tell anyone about this.”

Eliza looked away for a moment before she turned back to me. “My family wants my inheritance, too. They’ve bribed a psychiatrist, and they want to get a conservatorship over me. If they’re successful, they will get everything. That’s why I ran. It’s nothing like what you’ve gone through, but I’m terrified. They can’t find out where I am before I know how to fight back.”

“I promise you,” I said immediately, moving closer to her and putting my hand on her cheek, “for as long as you are here with me, I will protect you. I don’t care if they find you, they won’t take you from me.”

“I know,” Eliza answered as she leaned forward. Her lips brushed against mine, and I could no longer deny my feelings.

My hand moved behind her head, and I pulled her closer to deepen the kiss between us. Eliza’s tongue soon entangled itself with mine, and we were breathless within two short minutes.

Her body felt light and warm against me, her heartbeat quickening in the heat of the moment. I lowered my hands to her back, trying to get ever closer to her. The morning seemed to be on fire now as the sun rose over us.

Finally, we pulled apart, breathing hard and almost laughing.

“I really, really like you, Flint,” Eliza mumbled as she took my hands again. “I don’t think I could leave now, even if I tried.”

“Is it selfish of me to be incredibly happy about that?” I asked, unable to hide the smile that spread across my face.

“Not such a bad thing, if it is.” Eliza shrugged, blushing again. “Are you hungry, though? I’m starving. I want to see what else you’ve put in this basket of yours.”

I released her hand and got out the plates and glasses that I’d packed. We each gathered biscuits, toast, bacon, eggs, and sausages for ourselves before I poured orange juice into each of our glasses.

“I won’t lie,” Eliza said as she bit into her toast. “This is probably the best breakfast that I’ve ever had.”

“The view isn’t terrible, either,” I replied, keeping my eyes locked on to her. She laughed and shoved playfully at me.

“You’re so cheesy,” she said as she shook her head. “But don’t stop with the compliments, I like them.”

We spent the whole breakfast laughing and talking as the sun continued to climb higher into the sky. Even when our food had been finished, we still sat beside each other, neither of us wanting the experience to be over.

Two more times, we couldn’t ignore the tension between us, and we collided in passionate and fiery kisses for minutes on end. Then, we’d pull apart breathless, and the conversation would start up again.

“We should probably get back,” Eliza eventually said as she leaned back on her hands. “That barn isn’t going to fix itself.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I smiled, uncrossing my legs to stretch myself out. “Maybe the fairies will do it for us. I really don’t want to go back to the real world.”

“Neither do I,” Eliza admitted. “But we have to, you know. We’ve got responsibilities. I’m sure the animals got really cold with that draft last night.”

“That’s true,” I sighed as I started packing everything away. “Maybe we should work a bit later to finish the whole thing today. Don’t think we could, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

“I certainly believe in us.” Eliza got up from where she sat and dusted off her pants with her hands. “We’re a pretty good team, right?”

I nodded in agreement as I followed suit and got to my feet. We walked back to where the horses stood, and I tied the basket to Jackson’s saddle again. Eliza paused before she tried to mount Luna and turned toward me.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said sadly, her eyes downcast.

“What do you mean?” I frowned. I couldn’t think of anything that she needed to apologize for.

“Trying to race you,” she continued sheepishly, holding her right arm with her left hand. “I mean, you were going to tell me about Elliot and I… I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I insisted, lifting her chin so that she was looking at me. “There was no way for you to know, and anyway, that’s past now. Let’s go home, all right?”

I helped her onto Luna’s back before I mounted Jackson myself. We walked downhill slowly until we reached the bottom. Then I set Jackson into a calm gallop, and Eliza did the same with Luna.

My heart was fuller than it had been that morning, and I felt like I’d finally found someone who I could truly be honest with. Now that we’d shared our secrets with one another, a real bond was forming between Eliza and me.

The thought of it made me smile brightly as we rode back home. We eventually approached the stables around eight a.m. and returned both Jackson and Luna to the paddock. After brushing them down and feeding them, we walked up to the barn.

When we reached it, we were ambushed from the side by Lawrence. Instantly, my good mood soured, and I glared at him as he headed toward us. Eliza stood slightly behind me, but I could feel the tension from her as well.

“Lawrence,” I greeted him coldly when he stopped in front of me. “Thought you’d be done out here by now.”

“Ah, I was actually looking for you two,” Lawrence answered confidently, nodding over my shoulder at Eliza. “Good morning, little lady.”

“She has a name,” I said as I gritted my teeth. I was already annoyed, and I’d barely even spoken to him. “What do you want?”

“Look, there’s no reason to be so rude,” Lawrence chuckled. It seemed like there was something that was filling him with glee, and I didn’t trust that. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good news either for me or for Eliza.

“You haven’t given us one yet,” she said as she came to stand beside me and crossed her arms over her chest. “But I have a feeling that you’re about to.”

“I agree with her,” I added. “Why were you looking for us?”

“Well, you see—” Lawrence rubbed his hands together as if he was planning some kind of scheme in the back of his mind. “I found something out recently thanks to Kate that’s fairly intriguing. I knew that I recognized you from somewhere, girlie.”

Eliza froze next to me.

“I told you, she has a name,” I growled, already feeling defensive. “What is your point? I don’t have all day to stand here and chat with you.”

“Ah, all right.” Lawrence clucked his tongue as he stared Eliza down. “It looks like your family tried to have you committed, and you ran off. The news has been full of missing person descriptions of you. I’ve been thinking whether I should tell them where you are. After all, I did get their number, and it would be very easy.”

Instantly, I knew that he was going to try to blackmail us.

 

THE END OF BOOK TWO

 

The series continues with TRUE BELONGING BOOK THREE.

Turn the page for a preview.