Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hannah…

Roarke and I arrive at my little apartment, and I stop him before we head inside. “This place isn’t fancy, but I’m launching a business. I got a lump sum payout from my boss when he let me go, and I’m investing that in my business, not a place to live.” His hands come down on my shoulders, and he pulls me to him. “I know you were successful in L.A. I followed your photographer to follow you.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, Han, I did. I told you. I never got over you.”

“But you dated. You had to have someone—”

“No one who mattered, but there were times when I wanted to find someone. I wanted you to stop controlling my life, but there was no chance of that happening. What about you?”

“Same. Exactly the same.”

“No hot model or Hollywood star sweeping you off your feet?”

“I never got over you, and how can anyone compare to the Horse Wrangler?”

“Don’t do that. Don’t put me up on some pedestal, Han. I’m right here with you, and I’m no one without you.”

“I know that. I was young, too young maybe. I hadn’t found my own footing, my own confidence. Now, we’re the same but different. I think that’s good.”

“Then why are we standing out here? The apartment doesn’t matter.”

“No,” I say, smiling. “It doesn’t.” I push to my toes and kiss him. “I love you, Horse Wrangler, and yes, I’m calling you that. It’s very sexy.”

He arches a dark brow. “Is that right?”

“Yes. It is.” I twist in his arms and decide I know the perfect way to say goodbye to this apartment. I unlock the door, grab his belt, and tug. “Come inside, Horse Wrangler.”

…

After spending a few hours at my apartment, Roarke and I finally pack up everything we can fit in the car, and I run back inside for my favorite camera. I’m just walking down the stairs when a kid runs up them, smacks into me, and sends my camera flying. I cry out for my baby and dive for it, but it’s too late. It crashes to the ground. Roarke rounds the steps, obviously responding to my cry out. I glance over my shoulder, and the kid is gone.

“What happened?” he asks, picking up the camera pack for me.

“A kid knocked it out of my hands. I don’t even want to know if it’s damaged right now. Let’s just get out of here before I cry.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we start down the stairs. “We’ll buy a new one if it’s broken.”

“It’s six grand, Roarke. It was my first big purchase when my career took off.”

“We have money, Hannah.” We pause at the bottom of the steps, and he kisses me. “We’ll get another camera if you need it.”

The funny thing about Roarke is that I know he wants to take care of me, but I don’t feel owned or controlled. He’s never been that way. He’s just so damn perfect. Money doesn’t matter to him, and therefore, he’s generous with what he has, which I know because I’ve seen it firsthand. Those retired horses cost money to support, lots of money. So it’s not the offer of a camera that makes me love him all the more right now; it’s the reminder of his generosity and the way he’s already made us one.

…

I call Linda once we’re on the road. “What’s happening?” she asks. “You’re moving in with Roarke? What about Cindy? Wait. Is he right there with you?”

“Yes,” I say tightly.

“Okay, I’ll talk. Did he do it?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” she presses. “Really sure?”

“Yes and yes.” We talk a few more minutes and disconnect. I glance at Roarke. “How much did you hear?”

“All of it.”

Of course he did. “And?” I prod. “Say what you’re thinking.”

“I hope you really are sure.”

“I am, or I wouldn’t be moving in with you.”

“Good.” He glances over at me. “Because I love you, Han.”

“I love you, too, so stop talking about this. Let’s talk about the festival.”

And so we do. We talk about the festival and horses and my photography. We talk about everything and anything, and it feels good and right. We talk so much that there isn’t a moment of silence the entire ride back to Sweetwater, and when we arrive there, the town feels like home. Our path leads us right past my old family property when I spy that deer again. “Stop, Roarke.”

He halts the truck, and I point to the deer. “I saw it the other day when I stopped by and then again at your house.” I glance over at him. “She felt like a sign of hope. It feels special that she’s here now, while we drive home together.” Two baby deer dart out of the bushes, and I suck in air.

Roarke turns to me and catches my arms. “We have babies. A bunch of them waiting a mile up the road for you to sing to them.”

“I know.” I touch the strong line of his jaw. “You’d make beautiful babies.”

“We’d make beautiful babies. We’ll get a surrogate if we need to, Han. We’ll do what we need to do if that’s what we decide is right for us.”

“I never thought of that idea.”

“That’s why we figure these things out together, baby. We’re better together.” He kisses my hand. “Let’s go home.”

We settle back into our seats, and a few minutes later, we’ve just gotten the suitcases and boxes in the house when Javier rushes up the steps and meets us on the porch. “We have an emergency horse being flown in now. This one is in your wheelhouse. I was about to call you.”

“How far out?” Roarke asks.

“Twenty minutes.”

“We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Roarke replies.

He nods and then gives me a mock salute before he heads down the stairs while Roarke turns to me. “We got back at just the right time. Thank God.”

His response isn’t, oh God, we just got home, but good timing. “Yes,” I agree. “Good timing.”

“Let me get your things upstairs, and then we can head over there.”

“I’ll get everything out of the doorway. You go get ready for surgery, get up to speed on the case. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

His eyes warm with my understanding of where he needs to be focused right now. He grabs me, kisses me, and starts a jog toward the hospital. I get both our overnight bags upstairs and unpacked so that if this surgery runs late, Roarke can just pass out and rest. I’m just about to head back downstairs when I spy the boots on the chair. The boots that hold my ring. I walk over to the chair and pick them up, resolutely carrying them back to the bed, kneeling beside it where I stick the boots back underneath. That’s where they belong until Roarke pulls them out. We were meant to find each other again, and we did. We found each other. The rest will work out this time. Nothing is going to tear us apart. I truly believe that.