Page 87 of Rescued Hearts

The baby’s sturdy little legs made Honor smile, especially when it paused to nuzzle its momma, tail lazily flicking.

“So peaceful,” Honor breathed out.

“Yeah.” He brushed his lips over her temple. “I never thought I’d get back to this place, of just being on the ranch and watching something simple like that.”

She looked up into his eyes, heart swelling. “You’re here now.”

They had written so many of those emails together. And he had insisted on writing plenty on his own too, which Honor respected. Every day, they were moving down the rows on the spreadsheet…

And Gray was becoming less wounded. Some of the creases around his eyes were fading, and his shoulders weren’t nearly as tense as they were when Honor first met him.

They continued to watch the cows until the sun began to dip lower in the sky. Gray took Honor by the hand and gave it a light tug.

“C’mon.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

The sun dipped lower as they walked, the tangerine hues in the sky bleeding into pinks and golds. The colors she would use in her new Summer Sunset jewelry collection.

When they crested the rise that overlooked the lower field, she saw the kindling neatly stacked in the center of the fire ring and various lawn chairs and stumps for seating circled it.

She stopped short. “You built a fire?”

He offered her a sheepish smile and scrubbed a nervous finger over his upper lip. “Thought it was time I joined the fun instead of sitting in my bedroom pretending to write a novel.”

She slipped her arms around him. “Gray Malone, you’reactuallygoing to the bonfire. And youstartedit.”

“I know. The world’s ending.”

She leaned into him. “I adore this version of you.”

“I kind of do too.” Love burned in the depths of his eyes.

He continued to lead her across the expanse of grass to the fire. He bent and held a lighter to the dry kindling. Wisps of smoke curled upward into the sky.

Only a few minutes later, the hum of voices reached them as people approached. They came in twos and threes. Colt and Aspen holding hands, Oaks and Shiloh, who was laughing at something he said.

Dutch was there, deep in conversation with Willow about the horses. The way the man paid such close attention to Willow when she spoke made Honor pause and take note.

Gray issued a low grunt. She glanced around to see that he was watching the pair too, and probably saw the same interest scrawled across Dutch’s rugged features.

“You made it.”

They turned to see Crew standing there, a smile on his face.

“Still standing tall,” Gray responded, tucking her close to his side.

“Glad to see you made it over one of the hurdles.”

“Hopefully the hardest part. I never thought I’d get here. Let people back in.”

He followed Gray’s gaze to Honor. “Looks like she’s all in.”

Honor beamed and cuddled closer to the love of her life.

“Crew…I had an idea that you might be able to help me with.”

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