The House That Built Me

Coming Home

Ring ring

I roll over to grab my phone from my nightstand and look at the caller ID: Ryan "Hello" I groggily answer.

"Get dressed and come to the barn," Ryan says in a way too peppy tone.

"Ryan, it's 3:30 in the morning" I groan.

"I know. Just get dressed and come to the barn." He repeats

I sigh "Alright. Give me ten minutes"

When I walked into the barn I saw Ryan saddling a gray gelding, named Duke, and an already saddled Sundance tied up by his stall. "What are you doing?"

Ryan checks the straps on his saddle "Making sure I don't fall off of Duke"

I roll my eyes and walk over to Sundance "No, smartass. Why did you call me to come down here at 3:30 a.m.? Don't you have a job to do in a couple of hours?"

"Actually work starts now. Rip told me to take someone with me to check the fences by the reservation and I thought you'd enjoy the time away" Ryan says as he takes Duke's reins and leads him out of the barn.

"A few hours away from here is just what I need," I say to Sundance as I untie him and lead him out to join Ryan, who was busy checking Duke's saddlebag. "I still don't see why we have to leave so early the sun won't even be up by the time we get there," I say to Ryan as I mount Sundance.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we can make a stop on the way there. I packed coffee and last night's biscuits" Ryan says as he mounts Duke.

"Sounds nice. I think I know just the spot" I say before racing off.

"Clara!" Ryan frustratingly shouts from behind.

/

The fading moonlight glistened off the water as me and Ryan sat in silence on an old blanket near the murky pond in pasture six. I slowly sipped my coffee as I watched the sun just barely start to peak out behind the mountains.

"I've been meaning to drag you out here again. There's just something out here that heals the soul" Ryan says breaking the silence

I turn to look at him "Do you think my soul needs healing?"

Ryan sets his coffee down next to him and turns his body towards me "I think it's been almost a month since Lee died and ever since our talk the other night I've been wondering if you've started to figure out what your new normal is gonna look like."

"I've been wondering about it, just haven't figured it out yet." I sigh and look into Ryan's blue-gray eyes "I am going to be just fine Ryan. I promise." I say with a smile.

Ryan reaches his hand out and tucks a stray hair behind my ear "I'm still gonna worry about you Clara."

"I know." I reach up and grab his hand. A million thoughts start running through my head about what I should do next. A part of me is screaming at myself to kiss him and the other part is screaming for me to let go of his hand and move on with the day. Sundance makes the choice for me when he lets out a loud, frustrated whinny.

"I think Sundance is ready to go," Ryan says with a laugh.

I let out a chuckle and reluctantly let go of Ryan's hand. We both stand up to gather our things and mount our horses. We both spent the rest of our ride to the bordering fence in silence.

/

When me and Ryan returned to the ranch I noticed a familiar truck and trailer in the driveway. Ryan lets out a heavy breath and heads toward the barn while I head toward the owner of said truck and trailer.