Page 135 of Promised to the Cowboy
“Better?” I ask.
She gives me a small smile. “Yes. I need it to last a long time, cowboy.”
Around us, the chaos continues.
Max tries to insert the end of a wooden spoon up Tom’s left nostril. Shay and Delaney resume arguing about gravity and structural cake integrity. Maggie has that dough broken and submissive—give her another minute and it’ll rise on command. Kitty has now organized the forest floor into something that looks like a tiny enchanted garden—she clearly has strong opinions about moss placement.
Wire appears at the back door carrying two coils of extension cable, takes one look at the room, and quietly backs out again.
Smart man.
I reach into my pocket and take out the folded legal update.
Evie’s expression changes. “You read it?”
I nod. “Enough. You?”
She nods and releases a shaky sigh of relief.
“You all right?”
She looks out the window at the eastern ridge, visible beyond the yard. She can’t see the runway scar from here, but that doesn’t mean it is gone.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel,” she murmurs. “I thought I’d feel safer.”
“You will.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. It’ll take time.”
She nods. “Alexander sent an email through his attorney this morning. Didn’t open it.”
My body tightens.
“I told the attorney not to send anything else. Then I deleted the email.”
Pride moves through me. “You didn’t want to know what he said?”
“No,” she replies, her voice certain. “I spent years waiting for him to say the right thing. I’m done letting him decide when I have to listen.”
I cover her hand with mine. “Good.”
“He’ll keep trying.”
“Probably.”
Her gaze drops to our joined hands. “But he doesn’t get access just because he wants it.”
“No.”
Her other hand moves to her stomach. “He doesn’t get her.”
“He doesn’t get either of you,” I say, then lean back in the chair as the room blurs for half a second.
Evie notices, like she notices everything about me. “How long were you in the barn?”
“Not long.”
