Page 81 of Breaking the Cowboy's Rules

“What?”

“Not biologically,” she clarified. “And let’s just leave it at that.”

“I’m not sure I can leave it like that,” Bodhi said. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sure that is fairly obvious.” She crossed her arms and looked down her nose.

He’d seen that look a million times growing up. He was screwing up and stupid in her opinion. Too. Damn. Bad.

“Not to me. Explain.” He could barely get the words out of his tight chest and his tighter throat. This was important, but it was taking too much time, time he didn’t have because he had to find Nico. Persuade her. He’d started off playing a game, but it had been real for longer than he cared to admit.

“I was home from law school, studying to take the bar,” Genevieve said defensively, “still grieving from my mama’s passing and, well—” She broke off. “I…”

“Genevieve.” Langston’s father half stood, her name a hoarse cry of a wounded animal.

She shut her eyes.

Bodhi felt the bottom of his world drop again.

No way. Not his mom who couldn’t get far enough away from her ranch and roots and horses fast enough. No way had she and one of Marietta’s most celebrated cowboys ever… Bodhi couldn’t even finish the thought. He wanted to hit something. He jammed his hands in his pockets, not sure his self-control was as good as his mother thought it was.

“Is my biological father still alive?” he demanded. “Healthy?”

His mom sighed. “Yes,” she said, her voice shakier than he’d ever heard it. His mother always sounded strong. Certain. Right. “I had been dating your father casually the last year of law school. He always wanted more so…” She stopped and drew in a breath and straightened with dignity. “I gave it to him.”

She finally looked at Bodhi. “I know it was wrong. But I felt like it would be the best solution for you. That’s why I rode you so hard. I was so afraid of you succumbing to your wild side. And alcoholism. I wanted you to have rigid discipline. Reach your potential. Not throw it all away.” Her voice held a desperate edge now, and she reached for his arm.

“Holy sh-sh-sh-sh—” He shook her off. “I…”

“You don’t have Huntington’s,” she said.

Bodhi turned away from his family, feeling totally uncoordinated. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened. But he wasn’t going to get some awful disease. At least not soon. God willing. And the rest of it could wait until he grabbed on to the most important piece of his happiness.

“You and I—” he pointed to his mom and adjusted his Stetson, trying to harness his stampeding emotions and galloping thoughts “—will talk later.” He tried to swallow what felt like a firepit full of ashes that had been stuffed down his throat. “You too.” He looked at who he suspected might be his dad. Damn. That meant Dandelion was his half-sister. He spared a look at her. She clutched one of Bowen’s arms. His other was wrapped tightly around her. She was safe, loved. “I need to retrieve my bride,” he said and headed out to the most important challenge in his life, in front of the only audience that mattered.

Chapter Thirteen

Nico was nearlydown the hill and away from the parked cars. She could see the lights on at the ranch house, which she knew was more than a mile away. Bowen and Langston had set up some solar lights to mark the ranch road to Plum Hill, so she could make it back to the house. But then what?

And she was running again.

Just like she had before.

Only she liked the promise of the life she was running from this time. She loved Bodhi and didn’t want to take another breath without him. But she couldn’t bear to think about his rejection when he found out who she was.

So you rejected him before he could reject you.

Her inner voice had more than a bite of snark, which pulled her up short. When did she become such a coward? When she’d understood the extent of her family’s culpability, she hadn’t run. She’d stood for justice. When her life was hard or painful, she’d dug in. She’d fought for what she wanted.

Even driving away with nothing more than a few favorite clothing pieces that didn’t necessarily belong together in a small weekender bag had been an act of courage. She’d wanted to find herself. She’d wanted to build a new life.

So why run away?

Why not fight for what she wanted?

She was a damn good lawyer. Top of her class out of one of the most fabled law schools in the country. If she couldn’t make a case for herself with the most important judge in the world, then she’d wasted years of education.

If Bodhi rejected her, at least she’d be facing him. At least she’d go down fighting. And if he didn’t, they could face the future together. Her career was uncertain. His health might be uncertain. But her love was not.

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