Page 89 of Cowboy Bear's Hope

After Dante had come into the animal enclosure they’d set up inside the barn for Rosie’s party, leading her present, a beautiful brown pony named Trixie, with pink ribbons braided into her silky mane, he’d kissed me on the cheek and said he needed to check on something.

“I’ll be back before the party starts,” he promised, flashing me that reassuring smile of his.

That had been ten minutes ago.

Now, Rosie was busy fussing over Trixie, her little hands stroking the pony’s neck and adjusting the ribbons like she was preparing her for a beauty pageant.

Jed, bless his heart, was right there with her.

The older man had a way of making everything seem easy, like he was born to handle kids and animals alike.

He was a real Rosie whisperer. And he’d done an incredible job setting up the barn for the party, transforming the space into a petting zoo wonderland.

Portable fences divided the animal pens into neat sections, keeping the goats, chickens, ducks, and sheep in their own spaces so they wouldn’t crowd each other. Or, more importantly, so they wouldn’t make a mess before the kids arrived.

Rosie was happy, her laughter filling the barn as she talked to Trixie and Jed like they were her best friends. She was safe.

So why couldn’t I shake this feeling?

Dante’s absence gnawed at me, every second he was gone stretching out into an eternity. My mind raced with possibilities, each one worse than the last.

What is going on?

I tried to focus, to distract myself by helping set up for the party, but my nerves were making it impossible to stand still.

That’s when Penny arrived, and for a moment, the sight of her made me forget my unease.

She was wearing the most adorable pink swing dress I’d ever seen, the fabric fluttering around her as she walked.

It hugged her baby bump perfectly, paired with knee-high Frye boots that made her look like a picture-perfect cowgirl.

Well, a New Jersey cowgirl, at least. Don’t laugh—we exist.

“What’s up, Buttercup?” she asked, her eyebrows raised as she began arranging the dessert table with a practiced hand.

Her casual tone and the way she dove right into decorating should’ve calmed me, but the knot in my stomach only tightened.

I opened my mouth to respond, to brush it off, but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, I just stood there, clutching a stack of party hats like it was some kind of lifeline.

My heart thudded inside my chest, and my stomach turned.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever it was had everything to do with Dante.

The heck with this.

“Penny, I need you to keep an eye on things for me,” I said, grabbing my coat from the rack that stood by the big barn door.

Penny froze mid-decoration, her hands hovering over a tray of cupcakes. “Why? Where are you going, Av? Av?” she repeated, her tone shifting from casual curiosity to full-on concern.

“Avery, wait!” Kian’s voice rang out from behind me, sharp and commanding.

I turned, already shaking my head at both of them, my resolve hardening with every step I took toward the door.

“Something’s wrong,” I said, my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me.

“I can feel it. And I need to find out what. You two need to stay here and hold down the fort. Promise me.”

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