Page 74 of Cold Foot Cash

“Hey,” Harley said, stunned all over again.

“Hey, sis,” Carolina said thickly as she approached. She hesitated, and then pulled Harley into a hug.

Harley stayed stiff for a few moments before she softened, and wrapped her arms around her sister.

“I’m sorry,” Carolina whispered. “I was wrong.”

“It’s okay. You were going through a lot. I tried to be understanding.”

Carolina eased back. “You always are.”

“Are you upset with this?” she asked, gesturing around the decorated bar.

“Umm, no. I just found out Alissa tried to rent this place out too.”

Dylan interrupted them briefly and placed a cold canned margarita against Carolina’s palm, then jogged back toward the bar. Carolina laughed a baffled sound and held up the can. “Thank you,” she called after him. Looking impressed, she opened the tab and continued. “Alissa was, I guess, planning to throw a last-minute party at the place Lance proposed to you with all of their dumb friends—a total Harley-bashing-party. I guess it didn’t really hit me until now what a douche ball couple they make. This celebration is way better. The bartender told Alissa to kick rocks, and closed the entire bar down for your party. Look,” she said, pointing to Tammy, who was walking by with aBar Closed for Private Eventsign to put in front of the entrance. “I’m glad your new friends did this. I should’ve…” Carolina’s eyes were so full, and she looked like she wanted to say so much. “I should’ve been the one planning this for you, Harley. I saw the whole process, and saw you get hurt, and I bowed out this week because of my own selfish reasons, and that’s on me.”

“Well, you’re here now. Everything is okay. I’m just really glad you’re here.”

Carolina hung her head and then looked back up at her. “Cash is hot, but he isn’t my ex. He never was. He invited me, and then he talked to me.” She pursed her lips into a soft smile. “He told me how much I mean to you, and then he told me how much you mean to him.” She sighed. “That man is all yours.”

Harley looked around and found Cash sitting up with Kade and Dylan by the bar, leaning back onto it, one leg stretched out in front of him, glowing gold eyes on her. He wore that little crooked smile she loved so much. “I hope he will be someday,” she admitted softly.

“Do you want to introduce me to your friends officially?” she asked. “I’ll try to fit in.”

Harley giggled and threw her arm over her sister’s shoulders. “You won’t have to try hard. Just be yourself. They’re good people to good people.”

And she meant that with every fiber of her being.

This week was supposed to wreck her. It was supposed to be the end her life as she knew it, but it felt like just the beginning.

This week was built to devastate her, but it hadn’t.

She was still standing, and Harley owed part of it to Cash, and to his Cold Foot Crew.

She never would’ve called this happening in a million years. She’d grown up thinking that when she got married, it would be forever, and it would never end, and she would never stop fighting for it, but life happened. Things went sideways, and she had to accept that it didn’t matter how much she’d tried, if the partner quit, she couldn’t drag him through life.

She’d learned so many lessons over the last couple of years, and discovered so much about herself.

She was destined to be falling apart right now, a bottle of wine deep, just trying to numb out, and feeling all alone, but Cash had stepped directly in front of that fate and turned things around. Maybe he really was an angel. She wouldn’t tell him that though. Instead, she would keep calling him Cashew, and appreciate every thoughtful thing he did for her.

He'd entered her life when she was at her worst, at her messiest, and he hadn’t backed away. He hadn’t run. He couldn’t save her from the storm, but he’d chosen to stand in the rain with her, just so she wouldn’t be alone, and she would always remember that. Her heart would always remember.

He’d read her text—I’m alone—and he’d come to be with her. He’d brought his Cold Foot Crew to Bozeman just to celebrate Day One with her. He’d messaged her sister and fixed things.

Cash was a fixer.

And whatever he discovered about himself as he fulfilled his promise to figure out what had created the hole inside of him, she would be here for it. She would love him through it.

She would be honored to stand in the rain with him, as he had done for her.

Today was the end of something hard, and the beginning of something that felt so important.

Day One of the rest of her life, and she could make it look however she wanted to.

She was free.

Harley could feel Cash’s attention on her as she introduced Carolina to the others, and after she was finished, she excused herself and made her way over to him. She settled between his legs as he sat relaxed on the barstool. His hands went to her waist so naturally, and there were butterflies in her stomach. She’d truly thought she would never get those again after everything that had happened.

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