Page 22 of Reuniting with the Rancher

“Ourdaughter. And what? You expect me to only drop by when a tour moves through after I’ve lost ten years with her? She goes to boarding school for chrissakes. It’s not like you see her for breakfast every morning.”

“I was deployed,”he growled.

“And I don’t judge you for YOUR job.”

“Now let’s slow things down with a little love song,” Cashea raised voice crooned from the stage as she looked in their direction.

Shit, they were being rude as hell.She adjusted in her seat, the ache in her movement reminding her of their moments not too long before. The opening notes to LaLa Fair’s first number one song “Anchor Me,” started and how the fuck was this her life?

All the letters I never wrote,

Tattooed in my heart for you

All the heartbeats I ever felt

Anchored me to you

Lily sat through Cashea’s beautiful version of her song, loving the key changes and harmony while also hating the absolutely worse fucking timing. Grey stewed next to her and the song she wrote at the height of her postpartum depression about the loves she lost - Greyson and Ivy - played for what felt like the entire world. As LaLa Fair, she had armor. She was another person. As Lily she was politely bleeding out note after note.

“I hate this fucking song,” Greyson grumbled.

And..she was out. She normally didn’t leave during someone’s set, but it was that or shank a fucker with a beer bottle.

Standing, she blew Cashea a kiss, turned to Grey, and leaned in to make sure he heard every fucking word she said.

“I wrote this when I had PPD so deep my family wanted to put me on suicide watch. Music, of course, helped heal me. Helped me scratch out the thoughts itching my head about the two heartbeats outside of me, gone forever - you and Ivy. Helped me carve out how I was forever anchored to you. Helped me wish that someday, somewhere, you’d hear it and hear my heart calling to you.”

Didthat say three hours until a rideshare?Lily backed out of the app and back opened it again.

Fucking South Dakota.

“Hey beautiful, glad to see you ditch that jacked up asshole. I can give you a ride.”

Not bothering to look up, Lily shook her head. “I’m good, honey, thanks.”

“I know youhaveto be,” the voice said, too fucking close all of a sudden.

Shit. How did that happen?

Lily looked over her shoulder in time to see the man attached to the voice yanked up and back by some invisible force.

Fucking Grey.

Sure enough, Greyson quickly threw a booted foot on the man’s chest while leaning in, saying something that was surely illegal in most countries.

“Get in the truck Lily.”

“Grey.”

“You’re outside a bar, by yourself at night, staring at your goddamn phone, not using the sense that God gave you because you’re pissed off at me. And now I gotta kill a fucker unless you. GET. IN. THE. TRUCK.”

“What?!” she said with an attitude.

“What?!” the man on the ground yelped in shock.

He was a pain in the ass.“Grrr…”Turning, she limp stomped to his truck and waited at the back door.

“I’m not your goddamn chauffeur.”

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