Page 24 of Cowboy Bear's Hope

“And what about your family? When you found out about Rosie, didn’t they help?”

“Oh, um, no, actually. Well, it’s complicated,” I began, and surprised myself by explaining. “When I was in my late teens, early twenties, I went a little wild. Penny and I would sneak off to the rodeo and I was just dazzled by the excitement and the cowboys,” I whispered the last.

“You like cowboys?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“I’ve been known to admire a cowboy or two,” I teased.

“Just so happens, I’m a cowboy,” he murmured, and I snorted a laugh because as usual I was just that smooth.

Don’t be jealous.

“Anyway,” I said, dragging out the word. “After that, I got pregnant. So, when people my age were hanging out in bars and having a good time, I was learning how to take care of a baby and balance a checkbook. There wasn’t a lot of money.”

“That must have been so hard. Didn’t you have anyone to help?”

I shrugged my shoulders. Truth was, I never really thought about it.

I carefully set down Mr. Bunny Tail, satisfied that the tear in his seam was stitched up good as new. Turning to Dante, I braced myself.

This wasn’t easy—talking about myself—but there was something about Dante that made me feel like it was all going to be okay. Like I just had to be honest with him.

He had a quiet steadiness, a way of listening that didn’t just hear but truly seemed to understand.

With him, the words I usually kept locked away felt safe to speak.

Talking to Dante was easier than I expected, easier than it had been with anyone else in a long time.

I hadn’t realized how much I missed this—having someone to talk to, to open up to.

Sure, I had Penny, my best friend, but she had her own life to live now that she’d finally found happiness. I was glad for her, really, I was.

Sometimes, if I felt a little green-eyed monster sitting on my shoulder, I just brushed it off. I was only human. A woman with wants and needs of my own. But I’d been a mother for so long, pushing my desires away was second nature now.

With Dante, though, I felt all those yearnings simmering beneath the surface, coming back with a vengeance.

There was no pretense, no need to sugarcoat it.

“You know,” I began, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of my shirt, “it wasn’t easy. Going to nursing school while raising an infant... there were nights I thought I wouldn’t make it.”

“That must’ve been hard,” he growled, and damn if I didn’t feel that sound all the way to my toes.

“I don’t regret a single minute of it. Rosie is everything to me.”

My voice softened, my eyes searching his face for any flicker of judgment or understanding—was that even possible?

“She’s a wonderful child, Avery. You’ve done real good with her,” Dante said, his voice low and sincere.

His words wrapped around me like a warm blanket on a frosty night.

His praise was simple and heartfelt. It pierced through my ice exterior, heating me down to my core.

It was perfect.

I needed it. Just like I needed him.

So damn much.

His words were a validation I hadn’t realized I’d been starving for. My chest tightened, my heart swelling with an unexpected emotion that made my throat ache.

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