Page 106 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
He’d been waiting. For her. Forhours. And all so he could say whatever it was he wanted to say.
She tried to keep her emotions in check but her heart was already racing with fear and hope. She took a deep breath. “You said you needed to talk to me?”
He nodded, turning to face her and setting down his coffee on the rail before doing the same with hers. “I wanted to ask you a couple questions.”
She smoothed her clammy palms over her wrinkled dress. Her heart felt like it was trying to escape from her chest. “Okay.”
His gaze fixed on her with such piercing intensity, she couldn’t move if she wanted to. His voice was gentle, but firm. “You have to promise you’ll be honest. You’re not allowed to say you’re fine. I don’t want you to spare anyone’s feelings or worry about anyone but yourself. I just want the truth, plain and simple.”
Fear shot through her at that. Her mouth went dry but she gave a firm nod. Honesty she could do. That was what she wanted between them, even if it ended in heartache.
He rested a hand on the railing beside them and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Emma, do you want to go back to Chicago?”
Her mind went blank. Staring into his deep blue eyes, so gorgeous, so earnest and sincere, her mind refused to work.
She answered slowly. “I should.”
His brows came down in that stern expression she knew so well. “But do youwantto?”
She swallowed, her heart thudding so hard it was a wonder it hadn’t scared off the birds in the tree overhead. She couldn’t think when he looked at her like this, but she couldfeel.Her heart was working overtime even if her mind refused to function.
She tore her gaze away from his, taking in the land that spread so far and wide it made her feel free and untethered. This place made her soul want to sprout wings and soar. Here, staring out at this view, the world and her future seemed limitless and ripe with possibility.
The image of her coming home to this house every night, sitting to eat dinner beside Nash, waking up in the morning and sharing breakfast together before she left for work. She pictured a classroom filled with sweet country kids like Corbin and Chloe, family barbecues on the weekends and heart-warming festivals.
Sweet country kids.
Hadn’t Principal Toulouse practically offered her a job?
She could take it. She could honestly have a life here.
Emma loved her family and the benefits of being in a city, but she’d never felt such a sense of belonging than she did when she was here on this land or when she was part of the community in town.
Her heart pounded even harder as questions started to brew in the back of her mind. But what about Nash? What would that mean for them? For her sisters? For his father?
“Emma?” His low voice wrapped around her, reminding her to stick to their agreement and be one hundred percent honest.
Did she want to go back to Chicago?
The answer was clear. She turned back to him with a sigh. “No. I don’t want to go back. I like it here. Very much.”
A muscle worked in his jaw, and his nostrils flared like he was battling emotions, but his voice was even when he said, “You know you don’t have to sell then.”
“No, I don’t.” She winced. “Although I’m not sure how my sisters will feel about that.”
She couldn’t even bring herself to think of Lizzy’s reaction if she chose to stay. But then there was Dahlia who was so eager to sell, not to mention the others and their individual concerns and desires.
The thought of all six of them weighed on her.
“It’s not like they’re going without,” Nash said. “The ranch makes enough of a profit that they’ll get their share.”
“Only a supplement,” she said. “That’s what the lawyer said. They’ll make more if we sell.”
“This ranch makes good money every year,” he insisted. “And it could make more with the right management and more involved owners to make the necessary upgrades.”
The confidence in his tone made her wonder. Those questions were back in full force, because…
What would her staying mean for him? For his family?
