Page 107 of Bull Rush

Her brow furrows, and I reach forward and slip my forefinger under her necklace, running the pad of my finger back and forth underneath it.

“I didn’t want to take my wedding band off either. I had to find a way to wear it out of sight.” Her jaw drops, and I brush the back of my hand gently underneath her chin. “I figured that if I ever got you back, it’d be another toy for you to play with.”

FIFTY-THREE

Hazel

A few weeks later,I find myself sitting next to Bea in the wives’ box at the Queen City Chaos game. Ramsey teased me this morning about the fact I didn’t technically qualify to be in here, and I reminded him that I was more than happy to elope at any time. He’s the one insisting on the lavish wedding and honeymoon in the offseason. Not that I’m complaining. This time I’m going to be able to do it exactly the way I want without any of the family pressures and worries I had when we were just kids in college.

“All right. Cheese coneys and drinks as promised.” Madison, the quarterback’s wife and Bea’s best friend, returns from the small catered food and drink bar at the back of the box and lays out the spread in front of us.

“I feel like I’m being spoiled.” I look around, feeling a little out of place at all the luxury in this box. Not that we didn’t have money, but I spend so much of my life in cut-off jeans and T-shirts, mucking stalls and helping run orders out from the inn’s café, that the idea of dressing up in designer clothes and sitting in a comfy climate-controlled lounge with catered food to watch football feels foreign to me.

“Get used to it.” Bea grins. “You’re stuck with us now.”

I smile back at her, wrapping my arm around hers and leaning against her shoulder for a moment in a half-hug. She is my anchor here, keeping me grounded and helping me navigate this new life I have with Ramsey in the city.

They offered Ramsey a generous sum of money to play the rest of the season, and his agent is already in talks for a multi-year extension. Old me would have been incredibly nervous about what that meant. But new me? Well, all it took was a few practices watching Ramsey on the field, and a few friends and family dinners at the Rawlings household, to realize he belongs here—and we could easily make this our second home. My only worry is all the extra staff we need to hire to keep things running more efficiently.

I’d covered more shifts in the inn and stables than I was willing to admit to myself, and I’m not going to make any of the rest of the staff work those kinds of hours in my absence. Those, along with all the bills for the stable repairs and the inn renovations—it’s all starting to add up. But I need to not think about that today. Today is Ramsey’s first day back on the field, and I’m only too happy to celebrate it.

“Everything okay?” Madison asks as she takes a bite of her coney, using her napkin to delicately wipe at her lipstick after.

“Just thinking about the inn. I shouldn’t be. Today’s his big day.” I stare down at the field as they’re finishing pregame warm-ups and setting up for game intros.

“Well… I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” Bea and Madison exchange looks.

“About the inn?” My brow furrows.

“Yes.” Bea nods.

“She won’t shut up about how amazing it is and how much she loved it. She keeps showing me all the pictures and telling me about the town.” Madison grins at her.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. If you ever want to come back, we can always make space at the ranch house if the inn’s booked up.”

“Have you ever thought about expanding the inn? Maybe putting some small cabins down by the river or even out on the prairie? Those views would be breathtaking to wake up to,” Bea asks.

“Can you imagine the morning yoga sessions?” Madison looks at Bea and then back to me. “Have you thought about offering spa services?”

“Well, I’d love to do all of that, but… we’re still just figuring out how to recuperate from the fire and get back on our feet again with the horses. We have a temporary setup, but the sooner we can get them back to normal…” I explain, looking between the two of them, but the way they’re watching me, I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something.

“So… we might be able to help with that.” Madison looks at me thoughtfully.

“We’ve been hoping to invest somewhere for a long time. We even had a place in Colorado for a while until it fell through. Water access issues among other things… But your place is infinitely better than anything we’ve found. We’re actually building a place here in the hills, but we’re doing so well and expanding so fast… we’d love to have a destination as well.” Bea gives an animated explanation, and I can’t help but feel the excitement of their energy.

“What kind of place?” I knew they owned a rapidly growing PR firm that mostly catered to athletes, but I wasn’t sure what that had to do with me or my inn.

“A retreat of sorts. Somewhere our clients can go for some peace and quiet. To get away from everything. Time with the horses. Spa days. Hiking. All of that would be perfect for what we have in mind,” Madison adds.

“We were hoping, maybe, if you’d want to talk through some of the ideas we have… we might be able to invest in Bull Rush Ranch and your inn. Help your horses and our clients. It’s a win-win for all of us, I think.” Bea looks at me hopefully.

“I mean… I’d love that, but are you sure? I’m not… we’re not very swanky. I don’t know if we could cater to some of your clients’ tastes.” I scrunch my nose in worry.

“First, the place is absolutely gorgeous and gives all of those quaint inn-in-the-country vibes that we want. And second, that’s what we’re here for. But only if it fits your vision. We don’t want to interfere.”

“No—I’m so excited about the idea of it. I definitely want to talk more.” I grin at both of them.

“Perfect. We’ll set something up this week before you fly back.” Bea grins.

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