Page 72 of On the Wild Side

He glares at me, making me laugh.

“Thanks. I feel better.”

“Good. We have a lot of fence left to fix.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ABBI

“Mommy!” Daisy’s giggling as she pulls her marshmallow out of the bonfire and shows it to me. “It’s on fire!”

“Blow it out,” I tell her. “Like birthday candles.”

She blows and blows on it, effectively extinguishing the fire, and we get to work building her s’more.

We spent all day out at the Wild River Ranch. There was branding and castration, vaccines, food, and a lot of hard work. The kids watched most of it from the sidelines, in between coming into the food tent for snacks and drinks.

I’ve never seen my daughter’s eyes so big as when she watched what happened inside that pen. Assured that she would be just fine with Holly and Johnny, I spent most of the day in the kitchen tent with some of the other women, cooking and making sure that the ones doing the hard work were taken care of.

So many people from neighboring ranches came to help, too. Erin said that that’s normal and that the Wilds return the favor for the neighbors, as well.

God, I love it here.

I take a long, deep breath, enjoying the way the bonfire smells and hearing everyone’s chatter around me. Brady’shaving a conversation with Ryan and Remington, and every now and then, I can hear him laugh, and it settles me.

I always feel so much better when he’s nearby. I never thought I’d be the woman who depended on the presence of a man, but I never planned on meeting Brady Wild. It’s not that I can’t live without him; I know that I can do just fine for myself and Daisy on my own.

But with this man, I feel so much more at ease. As if I don’t have to be hyperaware of every single thing. I can relax a little, knowing that he will protect us, no matter what might come our way, and for the first time since I was twelve years old, I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief.

I don’t ever want to lose that.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Erin asks as she sits next to me. Daisy has run off to eat her treat with her best friends, and Erin takes my hand in hers and smiles over at me.

“I’m just…happy. Really, truly happy. And I sound sappy.”

“And you’re a poet.” She winks at me and leans in to rest her head on my shoulder as we watch the flames. “I’m happy, too. Who knew that we’d have to come to the middle of nowhere, to this beautiful place, to find where we belong?”

“Not me,” I admit and rest my cheek on the top of her head. “I’m in love with him.”

“Oh, I’ve known that for a while. Does he know?”

“Yeah. He knows.”

“Good. I’m really happy for you two. Also, if you end up getting married, we’ll be sisters, and that makes me the happiest woman in Montana.”

Married.Holy shit. “We haven’t talked about that.”

“You will. It’s just a matter of time. When these Wilds fall in love, they do it for life.” She pulls away so she can smile over at me, and then she sobers. “What’s wrong?”

“He leaves the day after tomorrow.”

Erin sighs. “I know. But just for a few days, right?”

“I guess so. I haven’t asked him much because I think I’ve been in denial that he’s leaving at all. And I knew that he was focused on getting through today so the ranch would be in a good place for him to go for a few days.”

“He’ll be fine. You know he will, Abbi.”

I nod, sure that she’s right.

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