The Way Back Home: A sweet small town romance (Aspen Valley Homecoming Book 1) by Carolyne Aarsen

Author:Carolyne Aarsen [Aarsen, Carolyne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Misty Ridge Publishing
Published: 2021-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Is the boss settled for the night?” her father asked as Courtney set her cup of tea down on the coffee table and sat on the couch.

“I hope so. She’s pretty excited to get started on the playhouse. I keep having to remind her that the fort comes first.” Courtney wrapped herself in a blanket and picked up her tea, curling up in “her” corner of the couch.

“I can’t believe how thrilled she is about it.” Her father picked up the remote and muted the sound of the game show, turning on the sub-titles.

“I can. It’s most every little girl’s dream to have a place of her own. A tiny house.”

“Is that why you built that raggedy tree fort?”

“It was as close as I could get to my own playhouse. And I could share it with my friends.”

“I should have helped you more. But I always thought it was all about the horses with you,” he said.

“Mostly it was,” she admitted. “Put a lot of hours on those horses. It’s going to be hard-”

She took a sip of tea to swallow down the knot in her throat at the thought of her father selling them. She knew she had to be realistic, but still.

“I’m sorry we have to sell them,” her father said, not looking at her, as if afraid to catch her eye. “I know how important they were to you.”

“I can’t hold on to that claim,” she said, her voice quiet. Subdued. “It’s not like I spent a lot of time with them in the past few years.”

Her father pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “I think you would have come back home if Stijn hadn’t threatened you with Fenna.”

She was thankful he gave her that much credit. While seeing her horses again would have been a huge draw to return, thinking of spending time in this house with a distant father hadn’t given her much incentive those first few years away. And after having Fenna and then her divorce, Stijn made traveling too complicated and fraught with worry about what he would do with Fenna if she left.

“Cole will make sure they go to suitable homes.”

“I’m sure he will.” Time to change the subject. Cole had been too much on her mind on the way back from town even though Fenna had filled the silence in the vehicle with her chatter about the playhouse. After they had unloaded the lumber, her father had reminded Fenna that they first had to take down the old tree fort. Fenna had pouted but thankfully agreed, when he said he would see if they could keep some of it up if it was solid.

"And I really need to say something, Dad. I’m so happy with how involved you’ve been with Fenna. I can't tell you how thankful I am for how you’ve taken her in. I have to confess, I was nervous about it, and when we first met you at the airport–"

"I'm sorry," he said, lifting up his hand.

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