And shit… it hits me all at once. Maybe this is really Tenn’s destiny. Maybe he has to take over the ranch now that both his parents are gone. And that means he’ll be living thousands of miles away, and even as this fills me with a weird feeling of abandonment, I also feel tremendous guilt for even worrying about this because it’s a selfish thought to have at this point.

“I need to get back to your house and get packed… make some plane reservations,” he says absently, looking utterly lost and vulnerable.

“Of course,” I say suddenly, pulling away and springing in to action. “I’m going to go grab my purse.”

“Apologize to your family,” he says softly.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I say quickly, and then fly back into the house.

I give a quick explanation of what’s happened, and my mom immediately jumps up wanting to assist. She offers to pack food and get online for plane reservations, making a move toward the front door to step out onto the porch and console Tenn.

With a gentle hand on her shoulder, I say, “I’ve got this, Mom.”

She nods and smiles sadly, sitting back down at the table.

“I’ll call you and let you know what’s going on,” I say as I turn away from my family.

“Call us if you need us, honey,” my dad says to my retreating back.

“I’ll cover you at The Last Call if you need to go with him,” Brody also says, and I have to smile at his offer. He hates bartending, so this gesture really touches my heart.

And I’m going to take him up on that because there’s no way in hell that Tenn is going without me.

He needs me but more importantly… I really need to be there for him. It’s something I feel compelled to do, not out of obligation, but out of a sense of connection I have with him. His hurt has become my hurt.

I manage to get Tenn loaded into my Jeep, and I know by the fact he doesn’t insist on driving that he’s out of it. Probably consumed with grief and even guilt, he does nothing but stare silently out the passenger window as I make the drive back to Nags Head. I rest my hand on his thigh and he places his hand on top of mine, then clutches my fingers gently.

By the time we walk into my house, I have a game plan in effect.

“Why don’t you start getting packed,” I tell Tenn firmly, giving him a push on his lower back. “I’m going to jump online and start checking out flight options. Do you want to fly out quickest or go through Raleigh and pick up Zoey?”

More pain flashes through Tenn’s face. “Fuck… I need to call Zoey.”

He looks lost as his eyes flutter around the living room, almost as if he can’t even decide how to pick up the phone to dial his daughter.

“She was really close to my dad,” Tenn mutters.

I know it’s a stupid offer but I go ahead and make it anyway, knowing there is no way in hell that Tenn would ever take me up on it. He’s not the type of man that would ever shirk away from his fatherly duty.

“Do you want me to call her?” I ask tentatively.

His eyes slide to mine, and I see the real Tenn underneath the grief. His lips quirk a tiny bit as he shakes his head. “Nice offer, Goldie… but you know I need to do this. Let me go ahead and do that now, and then we can figure out plane reservations.”

I walk up to him, press my body in close, and stand up on tiptoes, grazing a soft, gentle kiss on the side of his neck. “Okay. I’m actually going to go get you packed up and give you some privacy. Then I’ll make our reservations once you figure Zoey out.”

“Our reservations?” he asks with surprise.

“I’m going with you,” I tell him firmly, leveling him a look that almost dares him to fight me on it.

But he doesn’t, which is good, because there’s no way in hell I’m staying here. Not after I found out he loves me. Granted, he said it to my dad and not me, but I heard the words.

He knows I heard the words.

He knows I didn’t run, and it should tell him something that not only am I not running, but I’m pinning myself to his side in his time of need.

So, he might not have said the words directly to me yet, and I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to say them to him any time soon, but I suspect that we both know what’s going on here. It’s just right now… with this tragedy unfolding for Tenn, there are more important things to do than worry about mere words.

I need to show him how I feel.

Reaching out, I lay my hand in the middle of his chest and rub my thumb over his breastbone. Then I give a soft pat and turn to head back into the bedroom to get his meager supply of clothing together, and get me packed as well.

It doesn’t take long for me to get organized. I can hear Tenn’s soft voice in the other room as he speaks to Zoey, but I can’t hear the details of that conversation. I’m thinking this is good, because I honestly don’t know if I could handle listening to Tenn console a grief-stricken Zoey right now. I know what it’s like to experience loss at a tender age and it’s not pretty. Brody may not have died, and I may have been a few years older than Zoey, but it was a terrible loss all the same. It was as if Brody had died, and I felt my world had been turned upside down.

As soon as I’m done packing, I place a quick call to Hunter. He had already heard what happened from Brody and told me not to worry about my shifts and that they’d cover for me as long as I needed to be in Wyoming with Tenn. That was so sweet, and the perfect example of why I love my brothers, but I didn’t think I’d be there long. I wanted to help Tenn get through the funeral, but then I knew I’d have to return to my life. I just wasn’t sure if Tenn would be returning with me.

After I hang up with Hunter, I pull the large suitcase I have filled with mine and Tenn’s clothing off the bed and roll it over to the wall so it’s out of the way. I cautiously walk back into my living room, and I don’t hear Tenn talking anymore. I find him at my table, with my laptop open, leaning forward to peer at the screen.

He doesn’t look up to acknowledge my presence but says, “I’m looking at flights. You sure you want to go with me?”

I walk up behind him, curl my arms around his chest, lean in, and give him a tight hug. “Totally sure.”

“Well, it looks like there’s actually an early flight out of New Bern that heads to Detroit, and then in to Jackson. It’s the fastest,” he says as he continues to scroll through the choices.

“What about Zoey?” I ask tentatively.

“Brianna wants to bring her,” Tenn says, his words flat but accepting. “And that’s fine… I mean… she loved my dad too in her own weird way. She can get compassionate time off from her job.”

“How is Zoey taking this?”

Tenn takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, his hand falling away from the laptop. He places his palms over my forearms that are crossed over his chest and grips tightly as he eases his head back to rest against me. “She’s devastated,” he says, and his voice cracks.

I squeeze on to him hard, trying to suck the pain away from him that I know he’s suffering not only because his own father is dead, but also because he’s a father to a child who is suffering. I know Tenn… he’ll put aside his own misery to take on every bit of Zoey’s.

He lets me hold him for a few moments, even sighs when I lean to the side and press my lips to his cheek. I nuzzle against his skin and feel him melt just a tiny bit as he accepts my sympathy.

But then he’s pushing out of my hold and reaching into his back pocket. As he pulls his wallet out, he says, “Are you sure you can take the time to go with me?”

“Absolutely,” I tell him as I turn to grab my own purse so I can get my credit card out. “Hunter told me to take all the time I need.”

“That means a lot, Goldie,” Tenn says quietly, and shivers race up my spine over the gratitude I hear in his voice. It feels good… knowing I’m doing something that he really needs right now.