Caramel | Rip Wheeler

Caramel - Chapter Eighteen

Rip had never ridden a clydesdale, he enjoyed his experience so much he had forgotten how nervous he was to approach Maria. That was until he spotted her sitting on a hill, looking out toward a river a few acres away from them. He pulled the horse to a stop, jumping off to walk the rest of the way toward her, he didn't want to scare her.

"Mexico." She said, sniffing the tears away. He sat down next to her, looking in the direction she was. "That's Mexico." She took a swig of the new tequila bottle she had in her hand, making a face as she swallowed.

He observed the other side of the river, crosses and fake flowers filled the desert. They were either propped up against cactus or stuck in the dry dirt beneath them. She glanced at him for a second. "What are you doing here?" He stayed quiet, shaking his head softly. When he didn't answer she looked back out toward the river. "Isn't it sad?" He now looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "They just wanted a better life. My uncle," She scoffed. "Obviously didn't want that for them. But I guess you can't save everybody, huh?"

He had never seen anything like it, being as he was closer to the Canadian border his whole life than he was to the Mexican border. "I have to stay." She said. "Don't waste your breath, you already wasted all of that gas and time."

"Why?" Rip asked.

"For my people." She looked around with a sad smile. "I'm too Mexican for the reserve and too Mexican for the ranch." She shrugged. "Here I'm just.." She sighed. "Myself. I'm Home."

"This ain't your home, Maria." He shook his head. "Your home is about two acres out of the Dutton ranch. It's a little foreman's house." She offered him a small, sad smile, but shook her head softly. "Come home with me."

"You know?" She bagan, ignoring his statement. "Everything on this ranch is imported from Mexico. The tile, the wood, the horses, the plants, the trucks, the fucking cowboys for Christ sake." She laughed sadly, tears pooling in her eyes. "But look at what he did to these people." She pointed to the hundreds of crosses. "What am I supposed to do with this, Rip?" Tears ran down her face. "He put blood on my hands." She opened her palms looking down at them.

"Maria." Rip sighed. "Come home with me."

"It's not that easy." She continued to shake her head, shutting her eyes in attempt for the tears to stop streaming down her face.

Rip huffed, reaching into his pocket. "It can be."

"How?" She almost laughed in his face. "How could this possibly get easier?"

"I can't go to court." He said, catching her attention. "There's nothing in this world I can offer you or anything that could prove us marrying each other but the love with have for one another."

Her head snapped to him, her heart dropping. "What?"

He opened the little black box, "I.." He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. "Come home with me."

"Rip." His name came out as a gasp, she was genuinely shocked. "Don't do this just to get me to come back."

"I'm doing this because I love you." He reached for her hand. "I want to love you for the rest of my life and.. I want to call you my wife."

"Huh–I-Rip?"

He laughed at the stutter she made out, a goofy smile filling his face. "Marry me, Maria." She looked down at the ring, raising her eyebrows and he snickered. "Come home with me, sweetheart."

She covered her face with her hands, shaking her head slightly before looking at him. "What? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "You're about the only thing I've ever been one hundred percent sure of, my entire life."

"I-" She stuttered again. "Okay."

His heart bounced in his chest. "Yeah?"

She began to nod, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yes, Rip."

He wrapped an arm around her, kissing her head as he pulled her close. He inhaled a breath of relief. "Let's get fucking married." He said, kissing her multiple times on the side of her head.

She pulled apart, setting her head on his shoulder. "What do I do with all of this?" She looked around with just her eyes, shutting them after. The view of the hundreds of crosses made her sick to her stomach.

"Whatever you decide, I'll be right next to you." He said. "You'll never be alone, I promise."

She was quiet for a bit, before she opened her mouth and sealed the deal. She hadn't thought about it as an option, but now it seemed like the only one left. "I'm gonna sell."

Rip lifted his head to look at her. "What?"

"I don't want anything to do with this ranch." She shook her head. "My cousin offered to buy it, everything in it." She nodded to confirm to herself. "I'm gonna take his offer."

Rip was taken aback, he licked his lips nervously. "I don't want you to think that us getting married means you have to–"

"I want to." She shut him up. "It's the only way." She looked back out to the sun setting over the crosses. "I can't be the person. It's not me."