Page 113 of Someone to Hold
“Right now, I’m wondering why you’re here.” I hold up a hand. “I mean, I’m glad to see you, but?—”
“You can’t get on a bull again,” she says. “I know you’re mad,but you can’t risk...” Her voice trails off as her eyes fill with tears. “I can’t lose you,” she says, a sob wrenching from her throat. “I love you too much, Chase Calhoun.”
And just like that, everything that mattered before Molly loved me vanishes. The doubt and fear and darkness—she’s chased it away with her light.
“I’m not competing.” I cup her face in my hands. “I’m done with bull riding, sweetheart. The only moments that matter to me are the ones I spend with you. Eight seconds, eight years, eight decades—I’m here for all of it. I love you, Molly.”
Her eyes search my face. “They said you were making your comeback.”
“Rumors are good for ticket sales.” I wipe a lone tear from the corner of her eye. “I’m giving some pointers to a few of the new guys, but I have too much to live for now that I have you and the twins. The only thing I want to risk is my heart. It’s yours to do with what you want.”
She smiles, her eyes drifting closed before locking on mine again. “I shouldn’t have reacted so harshly about you signing the contract. I know you were trying to take care of me.”
“No.” I shake my head, my thumbs stroking across her cheeks. “I should have talked to you before I made that deal. I was just so scared you’d say no because...” I swallow hard. “Because I don’t deserve someone like you.”
“Don’t you dare.” She grabs my arms, her grip fierce. “I said I loved you, and there are no take-backs. You hear me?”
A laugh rumbles from deep in my chest, and I feel something I haven’t felt in years—pure, unfettered joy.
“No take-backs,” I agree, grinning like a fool.
She wrinkles her nose. “So we can talk about subdividing the land?”
“No.” Her face falls, and I rush to continue, “It’s ours together. We’re partners, Molly. In life and business, I hope. I don’t want to run cattle. I want togrow flowers.”
She gasps as shock and hope mix in her gaze. “Are you serious?’
The words feel strange coming out of my mouth, but so damn right. “As a two-thousand-pound bull. I want to support your dream and make it into something we can both hold onto. Mostly, I’m going to hold onto you because I love you so damn much.”
She rises up on her toes just as I lean down, and our lips meet in a kiss that tastes like coming home. The crowd that has formed around us erupts into cheers and whistles, but all I can hear is the thundering of my own heart.
When we finally break apart, breathless and grinning like fools, Molly rests her forehead against mine. “So this is it? You’re in it for good?”
“So good, sweetheart. That’s all thanks to you. I came back to Skylark months ago, but right here with you in my arms is where I’ve found my home.” I brush a strand of hair from her face. “Youaremy home. The way you challenge me and believe in me even when I don’t believe in myself. The way you love those twins with everything you’ve got. It’s this moment and every moment after that I get to spend loving you.”
“I love you, Chase.” The sweetness of her smile makes my heart beat double time. “Forever.”
Whatever comes next, sunny days or stormy skies, Molly and I will face it together. And that’s the only forever I’ll ever need.
EPILOGUE
ONE MONTH LATER
Molly
I enter the barn and follow the sound of Luke’s gentle voice as he talks to our newest four-legged family member in the stall across from Gumdrop. Late spring sunshine filters through the windows, casting golden light across the hay-covered floor.
“You’re such a good boy, Kevin. Yes, you are. Don’t listen to Laurel. You don’t need your bangs cut.”
“He’d look even cuter with a trim,” Laurel calls from where she’s perched on a hay bale, rolling her eyes at her brother’s commentary. “And I bet his hair would get even curlier.”
I can’t help but smile as I watch them fuss over the Highland calf we adopted two weeks ago. When Ray called about a calf whose mother had rejected him and would need to be raised as a bottle baby, there was never any question about our answer. The kids named him Kevin within five minutes, and he’s been the center of their universe ever since.
Chase emerges from the feed room carrying Kevin’s bottle, and my heart does that little skip it does every time I see him. Don’t get me started on my reaction when he gives me one of those slow smiles of his. It’s too embarrassing.
He’s traded his usual work shirt for a clean button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and there’s something different about his energy. Like he’s vibrating with barely contained excitement. I guess we’re all smitten with sweet Kevin.
“Feeding time,” he announces, holding up the oversized bottle.
