Page 77 of Promised to the Cowboy

I hear her breath catch, followed by a soft sniff. “Oh, sweetheart.” Another sniff. “I'm going to be a grandma?” Her voice wobbles with delight.

“You are.”

“Are you happy?” she asks softly. “Is everything okay with the baby?”

“I am happy.” I wipe my eyes. “And our little girl is fine.”

She squeals. “A granddaughter? Oh, that’s wonderful!” A short pause. “Does your father know?”

“No.” I keep my voice even. “And I’d like it to stay that way.”

“It will.” No hesitation. “I haven’t spoken to that man in over twenty years, baby. I don’t intend to start now. But… you know him. He’s bound to find out eventually.”

“Maybe. But it won’t be from me.”

“The only good thing your father ever gave me,” Mom’s voice softens, “was you. If I had to live every minute of that marriage again just to get you, I’d do it without a second thought.”

“Stop, my hormones are already on overdrive.”

Mom chuckles. “Yep. Welcome to pregnancy, honey. It’s the scariest, craziest, most wonderful ride of your life.”

“Mom, I think—I think I love him. Gabriel.” I pause. “But how do you know? How do you know if it’s really love?”

“Oh, baby, you just told me you drove from Nevada to Montana to find a man whose last name you didn’t know. You’ve been carrying his child for almost five months without telling a soul because you needed to be sure he was worth trusting.” A pause. “You already know.”

I open my mouth. Close it.

“Besides,” Mom says softly, “I can hear it in your voice. I’ve never heard you sound like this before.”

“Like what?”

“Peaceful.”

The word settles somewhere deep inside me.

Peaceful.

“I think,” I whisper, “I’ve finally found home.”

“I think you have too, baby. Tell Gabriel congratulations from me.”

“I will.”

“And tell him he’d better look after my girl.”

I smile. “He already does.”

“I love you, Evie. I promise I’ll come and see you soon.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

I sit there for a long moment after hanging up, debating whether to call her back and tell her the rest. About my father. About the poisoned well and the fire and the man who’s spent years trying to destroy the family I’ve only just found.

But what will it change? She’s hundreds of miles away. There’s nothing she can do except worry.

So I let her keep this. The joy. The excitement. The knowledge that her daughter is loved.

When all of this is over…