Page 86 of The Promises We Broke
"Penny for your thoughts," Gage said as he helped me up into the passenger seat.
"Just thinking about what Aunt Helen said this morning. About living arrangements."
He paused, one hand on the truck door, his expression careful. "And?"
"And I'm wondering if she might be right. About it being silly to waste money on rent when I'm barely sleeping in my own bed anymore."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Are you asking me if you can move in with me, Billie Schulster?"
"Maybe I am." I felt heat creep up my neck. "Is that crazy? It feels crazy. We've only been together a month."
"We've been together a lot longer than a month," he said, reaching across me and clipping my seatbelt in a move that made me laugh. "We just finally stopped pretending we weren't."
As we drove back toward the ranch through the quiet November afternoon, I realized that for the first time in years, I could see a future stretching out before me that looked exactly like happiness. And it was happening in a cottage on a ranch we'd run around all summer when we were kids, with a man who'd finally realized we could find our way back to each other.
Chapter 30
Gage
November in Willowbrook meant early sunsets and the kind of crisp air that made you want to curl up somewhere warm with someone you loved. Which was exactly what I was doing, settled into the cottage that had somehow become ours. Billie had moved in gradually over the past two weeks, bringing her coffee mugs and books and the little succulent plants she insisted would thrive on the kitchen windowsill. It was a kind of domestic bliss that I still had to pinch myself to make sure it was true.
I was reading construction plans for the house renovation while she updated some patient notes at the kitchen table, both of us comfortable in the kind of companionable silence that felt like the most natural thing in the world. This was what I'd imagined when I'd dreamed of having a home. Not just a place to sleep, but a space filled with the quiet rhythm of shared life.
"Hand me that red pen?" Billie asked without looking up from her stack of patient files.
I reached across the small table to grab it for her, letting my fingers linger on hers as I passed it over. She smiled without lifting her head, the kind of automatic response that came from two weeks of learning each other's domestic habits.
A knock on the door interrupted our peaceful evening. Billie glanced up, and I caught something in her expression, a flicker of anticipation that made me suspicious.
"I'll get it," I said, but she was already pushing back from the table.
"No, I will..." she started, then caught herself. "I mean, you should get it. It's probably for you."
"Billie, what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on." She was a terrible liar, especially when she was trying to look innocent. "Just answer the door, Gage."
The knock came again, more insistent this time. I opened the door to find Dex standing on the porch, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, that tired look still lingering around his eyes.
"Hey," he said. "Can you come outside for a minute? I need to show you something."
"Now?" I glanced back at Billie, who was making a shooing motion with her hands. "What's this about?"
"Just come outside, man. Trust me."
I grabbed my jacket, more confused than concerned. "This better not be about me helping you move furniture or something. It's almost eight o'clock."
"It's not about furniture," Dex said, and there was something in his voice I couldn't quite read. "Come on."
I followed him outside, expecting to see his truck or maybe some piece of ranch equipment he needed help with. Instead, I saw my entire family standing in a semicircle around something large covered by a tarp. Booker, Trace, Xander, even Jasper was there. Cade was practically bouncing on his toes with excitement.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, looking between all of them.
"Language," Trace said automatically, but he was grinning.
"Uncle Gage," Cade said, unable to contain himself any longer, "we have a surprise for you!"
"A surprise?" I looked at Booker, who was trying to keep a straight face. "What kind of surprise?"
