All Chapters of The Journey Collection: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Getting Miranda to the truck hadn't taken much effort. She had followed willingly, and I didn't hesitate to take advantage of her fingers laced with mine when I pulled her out to the parking lot of The Hut. It was hard not to acknowledge how it felt to have her back in my arms on the dance floor, or how much I'd missed holding her hand. And when she climbed into the cab of my truck, it took effort not to focus on the sway of her hips or her tight ass. There had never been another woman who did for me what Miranda Adams did, and that clearly hadn't changed. If it hadn't changed in six years, it wasn't going to in sixty.The ride back to Cross Acres proved uneventful. Country music played on a low volume, and Miranda stared out the window. I snuck glances at her and noticed she didn't even mouth the words. "Do you not listen to country anymore?""Hmm?" Not only did she not appear to listen to country music, she wasn't listening to me, either. I pointed toward the radio. "You can c

It didn't take long to pack my bag. I'd bought more at Walmart than I'd actually brought, and none of that needed to go back to New York. I folded it all and neatly put it into the drawers in my old dresser. It seemed silly since I doubted I'd ever be back to claim any of it, but it belonged here; I didn't. With my suitcase in tow, I glanced back one final time at the bedroom I'd grown up in. It was bittersweet, but at least now I wouldn't have regrets. I had come back. I'd tried to face the demons, even if I hadn't righted any of the wrongs. There was no sense in lingering. Nothing would change, regardless of how long I stood there. And for the second time in my life, I walked away. There were some decisions in life that couldn't be undone. I couldn't make reparations in this town for a choice I'd made years earlier. Teens everywhere disobeyed without the consequences my actions had brought. That wasn't my fate; this was. Daddy sat in the kitchen with Sarah when I reached the

The pounding that came from the hall startled me. Disoriented and unsure of what was happening, I sat up straight. My sudden movement jostled Austin. How he continued to sleep through the clamor was beyond me. My heart raced, although I couldn't say whether it was from fear or irritation. When the fog cleared, I realized that it was unlikely an intruder had bothered to knock, much less a knock as angry as the one that continued to rattle the wood."Miranda," Daddy bellowed. "I know you're in there. Open this door, right now."Crap, crap, crap. Any other day since my sister's accident, if my dad had come to my door, I could have let him in without hesitation. Not only had I always been fully clothed, so had Austin. Now, I sat on my knees in the middle of my mattress buck naked and paralyzed. Austin scurried out of bed the instant he recognized the voice. There was no way out. Nevertheless, Austin looked for places to either escape or hide while he gathered his clothes. "Girl,

I'd expected her to call. After the things Miranda had admitted, I thought she'd use my number when she got up. The minutes and hours barely moved on the clock. Exhausted wasn't a good way to spend a day on a ranch. The work was physical, the sun was brutal, and I needed it to end. Hearing from Miranda would have broken up the monotony, and I'd hoped the two of us could sit down to talk. The few hours of rest I'd had last night were spent mulling over every word she'd said. The things she had confessed brought on more questions than answers. I doubted I wanted the answers, but in the end, I'd need them. Since she hadn't called, it was clear, I would have to force the conversation. She needed to get her rental car from The Hut which gave me an excuse to be alone with her without making an issue out of it.But when I got back to the barn, the only vehicles there were mine and Brock's. I'd successfully avoided him all day, and if I played my cards right, I'd get out unnoticed. I didn

We had talked late into the night. I didn't know where her roommate was, but I was glad he hadn't interrupted. Eason would throw a monkey wrench into any progress I made once she realized she hadn't factored him into the equation. By the time she had convinced me to spend the night, I didn't have a commitment from her to come home with me. She had, however, admitted that she wanted to be together. If that meant I needed to sell my house in Mason Belle and relocate to New York, then I'd do what I had to do. Life without Randi was no longer an option.She held my hand and led me down a dark hallway and up a flight of stairs. Randi didn't bother flicking on a light until we stepped into her room. Her life had changed drastically while she'd been in New York. Her family had money by Mason Belle standards-at least they had while she lived there-but she lived in luxury here. Her bedroom was the size of my den and kitchen combined, her king-sized bed overflowed with pillows, and while I did