Page 24 of Long Past Dawn
Dawn gasped and flipped over to glare up at me. “I would never do that to Heaven! What kind of person do you think I am?”
I laid my finger against her lips until she hushed. “I’m not saying you ever would. I’m saying there is no risk of taking what’s due to you. The only way to go wrong in this deal is not to sign those papers.”
My finger fell away, and she heaved out a sigh. “I never thought of it that way, but you’re right. But also, I’m going to point that out to Heaven. She’s going to want to fix that clause.”
“I doubt it,” I said, my gaze glued to hers. “Heaven wrote it that way because she trusts you and Tex. She knows if you sign the paperwork, you’re not going to screw her over. It’s going to be so you can continue to run that ranch together. No other reason.”
Dawn nodded slowly, the alcohol finally hitting her bloodstream and helping her relax. “You’re absolutely right there. I would sign that paperwork for no other reason, and she knows it.”
“That said, she also knows that life changes. If you or Tex decide to move on for whatever reason, you still deserve your reward for keeping the ranch going. At that point, the reward becomes monetary when she buys you out. Blaze and Miss Heaven are fully aware that clause is in the contract, just like it’s in my contract. The terms of the sale and the price you’d get for your share are also there. Miss Heaven has protected herself and you. You can’t go wrong becoming part owner in Heavenly Lane, Dawn.”
“I haven’t seen the contract, but if what you say is true, then there’s no reason for me not to sign.”
I gave her a finger gun and winked. “So, that’s decided?”
Dawn nodded, a smile tugging her lips upward. “That’s decided. Don’t get me wrong, Beau. I never wanted to turn her down. She just took me so much by surprise that all I could think about was how this would negatively impact her.”
I leaned back against the log and rubbed her shoulder to keep her relaxed. I craved physical contact with Dawn, and I wanted her warmth against me every opportunity I got. Now that I’d had a taste of her, I wanted all of her. I didn’t want to scare her away, though. “She knows, which is why she asked me to come tonight. I already knew about the partnership with Blaze, so the rest didn’t apply to me, but she wanted me to be here in case you had questions that you didn’t want to ask one of them.”
She tipped her head to the side to make eye contact. “Wait. If she asked you to be here tonight just in case I had questions, and you knew the answers, then you had to have known what she was going to tell us.”
My eyes widened, and I blew out a breath, banging myself on the forehead several times with the palm of my hand. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Dammit,” I groaned. “You’re so beautiful, and when I’m staring into your gorgeous brown eyes, I forget what I’m even sayin’.”
Dawn closed her eyes and swallowed before she responded. “I’m not upset. I understand what Heaven was trying to do. It’s okay if she told you what she had planned. I suppose she knew I was going to be hesitant, so I can’t blame her for that either.”
“Blaze spilled the beans when he told me about our partnership last week, Da—”
“Wait, you’ve known for a week and didn’t say anything?”
I laid my head back on the log and banged it over and over. “Why am I such an idiot?” I moaned, the sound echoing sad and melancholy through the pasture.
Dawn’s laughter zipped across and over it, filling the sky with bursts of light and my heart with an emotion that I didn’t want to define. If I thought too long or hard about it, I might suspect it was love.
“I’m teasing you, Beau. Man, you’re so easy to rile up. I don’t care when you found out. I know that you would never break a promise to a friend. I have no doubt that they both made you promise not to tell us.”
I smiled down at her, happy to see the twinkle back in her eye as the fire crackled behind her. “They did, and I never would break a promise. You can tell me anything, and I promise I won’t ever tell another soul.”
“I don’t have anything to tell you,” she said too quickly and too easily. “But thanks.”
“I may not be a well-educated man, Dawn Briar Lee, but I don’t need a degree to see that was a lie,” I drawled, my brow up in the air. “A huge one that I think you’ve been practicing for a long time.”
Slowly, Dawn rolled back over to face the fire. Putting her back to me was her way of flipping me off, I had no doubt, but I couldn’t let her go on thinking no one cared about her. We all cared about her, most especially me.
I leaned over, rubbing her shoulder until I could make eye contact with her again. There were tears on her cheeks, and she was biting her tongue to keep the sob from breaking loose. “Darlin’,” I whispered, pulling her up and into me. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but it sure is breaking my heart to see you so torn up about it. I can promise you that I don’t have the answers to the questions you keep asking yourself. What I do have are strong arms I can wrap around you when you need a hug, okay?” I whispered, my lips near her ear as I held her. “You don’t have to go through whatever this is alone. We’re all friends here, and friends stand by each other. Friends hold each other up when they hit a rough patch.”
Dawn clung to me but didn't say a word. The sobs she held inside shook her chest, and all I could do was kiss her temple and hope she could feel how much I cared about her when I kept my arms around her. I held her, letting my warmth comfort her, while the silence lingered between us. I was at a loss for what to say for the longest time until something she’d said before ran through my mind.“I was thinking about what you said in the café last month.”
“About what?” she asked, sitting up and discreetly wiping her face.
“Your offer to let me move into the house at Heavenly Lane.”
“I didn't mean to upset you by the suggestion,” Dawn said immediately, holding her hand up to me. Her fingers looked red and swollen again. That scared me. I took her palm and massaged it, being careful of her fingers that had to hurt worse than anything I’d ever done to myself.
“I know you didn’t, Dawn Lee. To be honest, the more I thought about it, the more I could see that maybe you're right. Maybe moving into the farmhouse isn't a bad idea. It would give Blaze and Heaven the main house to themselves, which they deserve, and keeps you from being alone at Heavenly Lane once Heaven moves out.”
Dawn ran her hand down my chest while I held her other hand loosely. “You're always welcome at Heavenly Lane, Beau. Heaven has already moved to Bison Ridge full-time, but she's worried about me living there alone, too. Cece was supposed to move in but can't get out of her lease right now.”
I trailed a finger down her cheek until it reached her chin, where I tipped it up. “I can take a room upstairs.”
