“Oh, hush.” Colleen rounded the end of the house and she was crying as hard as Liz.

Raylen held out his left arm to Colleen and she walked into it, laid her head on his other shoulder, and sobbed. He didn’t know what to do with one weeping woman and now he had two hugged up to him, soaking his shirt with their tears.

“You still want those wings?” Liz asked.

“More than ever. What’s the price?” Colleen asked.

Liz wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. “I’ll sell them to you for your roots, but know this, if it hurts this bad to clip my wings, it’s going to cause a lot of pain to rip up your roots.”

“Right now, I would hand them to you on a silver platter. Watching him leave was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. How can I feel like this after only a week?” Colleen asked.

Liz smiled through the tears. “Craziest thing in the world, ain’t it?”

“At least you don’t have to have a long-distance relationship,” Colleen said.

“Neither do you. Four hours out there. Take your vacation time and go spend it with him,” Liz said.

Colleen swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her denim jacket. “Mama will have a fit.”

“Mine did, and it didn’t kill me. Maddie will be angry, but you’ll live. It’s part of the price we have to pay to follow our hearts,” Liz told her.

Colleen nodded and pulled out of Raylen’s embrace. “I’ve got to go to Randlett. Got to be at work at four today. I’ll call you, Liz.”

Liz stepped away from Raylen and put a hand on Colleen’s arm. “Think about going out there. He’ll call you but…”

Colleen hugged Liz. “I know. He’s cocky as hell, but there’s a little insecurity there. I promise I’ll think about it, but it takes at least a week after I put in a request for that kind of time. I’ll let you know when I figure it all out.”

“I’ll be right here or at work or riding horses to pay for all the help with my party, but I’ll have my phone,” Liz said.

Colleen disappeared around to the backyard. Liz swallowed another lump in her throat just thinking about the decisions ahead of Colleen. If that had been Raylen driving away, her heart would have shattered.

“Well, that puts things in perspective,” she mumbled.

“What’s that?” Raylen asked.

“There could be a worse scenario than Mama and Aunt Tressa leaving,” she said.

“And what would that be?” Raylen tucked her hand in his and started walking toward his truck.

“Watching you drive away,” she answered.

“That ain’t happenin’, darlin’,” he whispered as he sealed that vow with a long, lingering kiss.

“Where are you takin’ me?” she asked.

“Mama says Danny Boy needs a slow walk around the pasture and she wants me to do that. But there’s about a dozen mares that need some exercise. Want to ride off those tears?” Raylen asked.