I let out a moan, and the naughty girl inside me was more than ready to come out and play. The only thing I could say was, “Yes…please.”

Garrett picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around him. He reached down and picked up the quilt. He walked over to the tree and placed the quilt behind me before pushing me against the tree.

He was about to lift me up and slide me onto him when he stopped. “Shit! Condom!”

I let out a laugh as he slid me down his body. He turned to go get one, and then he stopped. He glanced back to me, and I was about to say something when he put his hand on my mouth again. My eyes widened, and he shook his head.

“Truck. A truck is coming!”

I pushed his hand away. “Oh my God!” I yelled.

We frantically began searching for our clothes.

Where in the heck is my bra? The car! It’s by the car!

As I took off toward the car, Garrett jumped in front of me, and we ran right into each other. He started running in circles, and I couldn’t help but start laughing. I found my bra and attempted to put it on. Garrett was now dressed in his pants and shirt, and he was helping me get my skirt on.

“It’s getting closer, Garrett!” I said.

He picked up my garter and hose. We both looked each other in the eyes, and the next thing I knew, he was shoving them down his pants. Garrett spun around, and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the quilt. He began spreading it out, and then he pushed me down on it.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I tried to sit back up.

“Trust me! Lie back down and just look up at the sky.” Garrett lay down next to me and then said, “Shit! The condoms!”

He jumped up and kicked a bunch of dirt over them. Then, he sat down next to me right as the truck came around the bend. When I turned and looked at it, I noticed it was Mr. Bauer’s truck, and sitting in the front seat was—

Oh no, my father.

Garrett grabbed my hand. “I’m glad we had last night.”

I couldn’t help but let out a giggle as I sat up and waited for what was about to happen.

When Mr. Bauer got out of the truck, he immediately looked at Garrett.

“If I die in the next two minutes, always remember, I love you.”

I swallowed hard when my father got out of the truck. He looked at me and then Garrett.

I turned to Garrett and smiled. “Same goes for me.”

I reached down and grabbed Emma’s hand as I watched David and Dr. Birk walk up to us.

“Emma, Garrett, are you enjoying the morning?” David asked as he looked at me.

He knows.

Dr. Birk walked up and looked at Emma. “Emma, Mrs. Mathews said you and Garrett left earlier this morning to watch the sun rise. Why in the world are you doing this?”

My mouth about dropped to the ground, and Emma squeezed my hand. I quickly looked at David, who winked at me.

Oh God, my mother knows Emma and I had sex. Dr. Birk killing me would be better than facing my mother right now.

“Daddy, I don’t expect you to understand, but I can’t be away from Garrett any longer. I gave school a try, and I’m not going back. I’m staying here with Garrett.”

My heart started pounding as Dr. Birk slowly looked at me.

He nodded his head and turned to David. “Do you want to start, or should I?”

I stood up and stepped forward and cleared my throat. “Dr. Birk, before you begin, may I please say something?”

Emma’s father turned and looked at me. “Yes, Garrett, you may.”

I faced Emma and smiled. When she grinned back up at me, I knew what I was about to do was the right thing. I leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek before facing Dr. Birk and David.

“Dr. Birk, I know you don’t think I can provide a good future for your daughter since I gave up on school and all, but I promise you, I work my butt off every day on this ranch. My father built one of the best cattle ranches in the area, and I intend on making it even better. I want to give your daughter the world. I want to take her places where she’s only dreamed of going. My goals in life are simple, sir. Work hard, build an even better name for this ranch, and wake up every day and thank God for what he has given me. The most important goal though is to love Emma more than life itself, to shower her with attention, and to do my best to keep her safe, healthy, and happy.”

I saw the corner of Dr. Birk’s mouth turn up, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. When I glanced over at David, he nodded his head once at me.

Dr. Birk looked down at the ground and then back up at me. “Son, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say all of that. It’s important to have goals in life. Simple or not, they are our driving force to better ourselves. I have goals of my own as does Mr. Bauer over here.”

David nodded his head and placed his hands in his pockets.

“Now, I’m not saying I’m okay with my daughter coming home one day and saying she is dropping out of college. I think it is very important for her to get an education, and the same goes for you.”

I wanted to say something, but he held up his hand. “Garrett, I know what it took for you to walk away from your scholarship, and I know why you did it. I commend you for being the man you’ve become. But…you want something that is mine, and there is no way I’m going to give her up without some negotiations.”

My heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure everyone could hear it. “Negotiations?” I asked.

Now, it was David’s turn to talk. “Garrett, you know your father and I were best friends since we were ten years old. I respected him more than anything.”

I nodded my head. “Yes, sir.”

He cleared his throat and continued, “This past year has been hard on all of us, especially you and your mother. I’ve tried my best to be there for both of you, and…well, something has been happening over the last few months.”

I already knew where David was going with this. I’d seen him and my mother together. I’d noticed how he was the only other person besides me who could make her smile. For the last two months, whenever David had walked into a room, my mother would light up.

I nodded my head and smiled. “I’ve seen y’all together, David. I see how happy you’ve been making her.”

Relief spread across David’s face. He smiled and then looked away before quickly looking back at me. “Yes, your mother makes me very happy as well, Garrett. I’m happier than I’ve been in years. We’ve been talking the last few weeks, and with Billy going to college and planning on moving to Austin, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my own ranch. It’s much smaller than the Mathews’ ranch. Your father and I had actually talked about him buying me out.”