Promise This (English Version)

44. Still

They sat on the bench overlooking the wooded area behind the house. The dark sky was plastered with twinkling bright stars that, as everything lately, reminded her of Hamdan. The first night on The Smeralda specifically.

Pat twisted his beer open and took a big gulp. "I have to tell you something, but first... what are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Dad, we talked about this on the phone."

"And I still think something's not right. Now that the doctor says you can go back to training it's when you decide to come here?" His eyebrows pushed together.

She had already thought about the answer to that question. "He said I had to take it easy, it's not like I can just go back to where I was right away."

"Well, according to Bob you haven't exactly been taking it easy around here," Pat asserted, his blue eyes fixed on her.

"It's hard for me to stay still, I got it from you. And again, my foot is fine and Salem said I could come, so..." she shrugged. "I don't know what you're worried about," as hard as it was to not break eye contact with her dad, she managed to do it, hoping that would make her more believable.

Pat took another sip examining Sarah's face. He was still hesitant, she was sure and it was making her miserable not to be able to share the most difficult times of her life with him.

"So!" She exclaimed, attempting to diverge the attention. "What did you want to tell me?"

Pat's eyes fell to the amber beer bottle in his hands. "The Hickmans are selling their property."

That was not what she was expecting to hear at all. The Hickman family owned the neighboring ranch since always and were close friends with The Andersons.

"What? Why?" She asked in shock.

Pat leaned against the backrest. "Bill is tired and none of the kids seem to be interested in taking over."

As surprising as the news was, they did not call for a one-on-one conversation.

"Why are you telling me this?" Sarah suspected.

Pat inhaled deeply. "Your uncle, cousins and I are thinking of buying it."

"What? That's why you're here?" She guessed.

"Merge the two properties together," Pat continued. "Make this the biggest ranch around."

Sarah was at the edge of her seat. "But do you want to take on that at this point in your life? I thought you guys were getting an apartment in Austin!"

"Coming back to the ranch life was an idea that always circled around my head," Pat started explaining. "Your granddaddy never said a word, but I knew he was at least a bit disappointed that we moved to Dubai and didn't opt for working here, but all my plans changed after I got the scholarship to play college football," his fingers playing with the beer bottle cap. "Thankfully, your uncle did take over."

"But it's so much work..." She pondered.

"I'll be fine! The Hickmans have a good team working with them and the plan is to keep everybody. Besides," he angled his body towards her. "Do you see your old man lying around all day watching T.V.?"

Sarah smirked. "I guess not."

"Also, your mom and I know how much you enjoy the ranch life too and we thought that maybe... Now, don't feel obliged to anything, okay?" He assured putting a palm in front of her. "But we thought this could give you a good reason to come back. Someday. Whenever you decide to retire from endurance. After all," Pat's arm went over her shoulder. "This is where we belong."