Page 88 of Bravo

“As sure as I can be,” he says as he turns back to smile at me. “Come on. Let’s get some air.” Bradyn exits the truck, and I climb out when he opens the door. We’re standing beside a pond, the moon glittering over its sleek surface.

Large oak trees surround us, aside from the break in the road and the pond in front of us. I take a deep breath, enjoying the crisp, clean air. It feels so good to be outside, to be standing beneath the bright moon and not huddled inside, trying to soak up whatever I can through those frosted blocks in the bathroom.

I hear something behind me and turn as Bradyn lowers the tailgate of his truck. He spreads a blanket onto the cold metal then retrieves a wicker basket from the passenger seat and sets it onto the blanket.

“Dinner is served,” he says, gesturing casually as though the man didn’t just put together an entire picnic for me.

Just for me.

Outside in the cold January air, all because I was feeling cooped up. The last hold I’d had on my feelings snaps. Since the moment I met Bradyn Hunt, I’ve been falling a bit more for him each day. It’s been hardly any time at all, but I feel as though I’ve known him for a lifetime. I’m tired of questioning how it’s possible. I want desperately to lean into it. Into him.

“You did this for me?”

“You were hungry and needed to get out. We’ve also secured the ranch, so the only way they’re watching us is from the entrance. We’ll be safe out here.”

“Bradyn—” My eyes fill.

“You deserved a break,” he says then takes a seat on his tailgate. “Come on. Have a seat, and let’s eat while it’s warm.”

CHAPTER 30

BRADYN

Kennedy crosses over and hops up to sit on the tailgate of my truck. As soon as she’s settled, I reach behind me and grab another thick blanket then tuck it around her shoulders so she doesn’t get cold. At least, it’s a bit warmer than the last time we were outside together.

And this time there’s no sleeting rain.

Ideally, we’d remain inside until this is all over, but I don’t want her to feel trapped. I feel like an idiot as it is, that I didn’t put two and two together and realize she was going to feel just like she did back then.

That’s the last thing I want.

“Warm?” I ask.

“I am.” She smiles at me. “What are we eating? It smells delicious.”

“Pot roast and potatoes,” I reply.

Her face lights up. “That was the first meal your mom made when I started working for the ranch. It was the first home-cooked meal I’d had since—” She trails off. “Since Cillian took me in.”

“Cillian is the veterinarian?”

“Yeah. He’s great. A good man.”

I take the lid off of a glass food container and offer it to her along with a fork. “Tell me about him.”

She sighs. “He’d lost his wife a few months before I showed up. They’d never had any children, so he was all alone. His apartment was over the top of his clinic. He helped me up the stairs and took care of me.”

“What made you leave?”

“I caught sight of two of Klive’s guys on the street about three months after Cillian first found me. I was worried they were getting close, so I took off in the middle of the night. I left him a note, told him that I was sorry but I couldn’t risk his life.” She shifts her gaze to the pond. “I still send him postcards every so often. I don’t know if he’s alive or if he even gets them, but I send them.”

“He’s alive,” I tell her.

Her head whips toward me. “What? How do you know that?”

“We looked him up. After you first told us about him. He’s alive and well, still running his clinic.”

Her eyes fill with tears, and I wish I’d told her this news sooner. “He’s alive?”

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