Page 124 of Then You Happened
When I see her in the simple sundress with a glass of wine in her hand, it calls on me to figure out how to change it all.
But I can’t.
I can’t fix lies by covering them up.
Fletcher of all people taught me that.
“Jack!” Her eyes widen, and a grin lights up her face when she sees me walking across the pathway.
Don’t shatter her happy.
Don’t dampen her wild tonight.
Let her celebrate.
Let her enjoy the moment of hope that she’s going to make it. That the ranch is going to make it.
Tell her it was nothing tonight.
Let her enjoy the beginning of her next time.
Hell, it won’t be the first lie I’ve told her.
And it sure as hell won’t be the last one.
48
TATE
“Tate!” Jack’s tone makes my heart drop. “Tate?” It’s loaded with an emotion I can’t quite place, but I drop the bucket of supplements I’m mixing and rush to find him.
“Jack?” I clear the doorway. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
We’ve been waiting to hear about whether Steely is planning to sign a long-term contract with us, on our terms, and it’s all I can focus on.
It’s too much to hope there’s news.
It’s too much to fear that the answer is no.
I’m about to call his name again when footsteps become faster.
“I’m nervous,” I tell him before I see him, and when I do, when I see the grin that lights up his face and the pride that is embodied in his eyes, I know. “No way. You’re serious?”
“They signed, Tate! They fucking signed!”
And before I can let the news hit home, Jack has me in his arms and is whirling me around in a circle.
“Oh my god.” The words repeat on my lips over and over.
I can’t let go of him. My arms are wrapped around his neck, my face is buried into his shoulder, my feet are off the ground, and all I keep thinking is if I let go, this is all going to go away.
That this isn’t going to be real.
“Every single thing they agreed to, Tate,” Jack murmurs, his lips pressing a kiss to my cheek. “The progress payments to tide you over, a signing bonus to help pay a huge chunk down on what’s late to the lender, another signing bonus for being their exclusive breeder . . . and on top of that, they have some interest in paying for a sire to breed with Ruby. Of course, they’d take their cut of the profits, but it’s a way to keep Ruby and make some money off her.”
“I’m afraid this is a dream,” I finally say as the tears begin. Each one shedding a little piece of the worry and stress that has owned me for so long.
“Not a dream. It’s a sure thing.” He squeezes me tighter and bends his knees so my feet hit the floor. He physically removes my arms from his neck, frames my face in his hands, and leans down so we’re eye to eye. “The ranch—your ranch—won’t be in foreclosure anymore.”
