Page 38 of Samuel

“I care, Evie. I care about you and the baby.”

“I know that. But you also need to realize I’m not usually someone who needs so much help. I really have been taking care of myself all on my own for years. And I’m good at it.”

“Everyone deserves to not have to shoulder every burden in life by themselves.”

“Yeah? So who does that for you, Cowboy?”

“For a long time, that answer would have been no one. And just like you, I thought I was fine that way. But then, this little spitfire came into my life, not knowing her bluebells from her bluebonnets, and she took things off my plate. Things that I thought weren’t adding to my stress, but actually were. And I’m grateful I got over myself and that she was stubborn and stayed.”

Evie smiled, bringing the last bite of her snack up to her lips. She chewed slowly, her tongue peaking out to capture the few stray crumbs at the corner of her mouth. He watched her neck as she swallowed the last bit of sandwich down.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll let you know if I need to go anywhere, and you can take me.”

His hand reached out and squeezed her arm. “Thank you.”

Evie laid her head back on the sofa and he watched as her eyes drifted close.

“I’ll put away your groceries and get out of your hair.”

Her eyes popped back open. “Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

“Shh. Just rest. I’ve got it.”

Sam opened the four shopping bags and placed everything on the counter. After five minutes, he had everything put up either in her cupboards or in her fridge. Sam knew he needed to tell Evie about Lemon, but he’d convinced himself while putting things away that if she’d fallen asleep, he could just leave the news for the next day.

Turning, his eyes met hers. Damn. He was about to break her heart.

“How long have you been watching me?” he asked.

“A while. It’s like you belong here. You know where everything goes.”

“You organized everything how I would have, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m okay if you have to go. I know you probably have a million things to deal with after this morning. Oh, do you need me to look at insurance or start getting a hold of anyone? The sheriff? Game warden?”

“No. Don’t worry about any of that. I do have something I need to tell you before I go.”

“Okay.”

Sam sat down on the sofa, leaving room between the two of them.

“Lemon was one of the cows killed today, Evie.”

Her beautiful eyes went wide as his words sunk in. The tiniest space popped open between her lips, and a gasp hit him right in the chest. She began shaking her head softly back and forth as her eyebrows pulled together.”

“No, Sam. She wasn’t.”

“I’m so sorry, Bluebell. She was.”

“No!”

“I saw her in the field.”

“I don’t believe you. I want to see her too.” Tears were teetering on the edge of her lashes, but he could tell how hard she was fighting to hold them back.

“You don’t want to see that. I wish it wasn’t her, but it was.” Sam slid his hand over hers and squeezed. That was it. Evie’s tears fell in two heartbreaking tracks down her face.

She pulled her hand away from his, standing up from the sofa where she began to pace back and forth, wiping at her tears.

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