Page 54 of Saddle Studs

I whipped around in my seat. Benny huffed in surprise but kept his eyes on the road. “Hold up, you knew all this time?”

Boone scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. We found out a month ago. Spoke to the lawyer,” Beau added. “The whole inheritance thing was… not real.”

“Then why…”

“Because you both were as happy as two pigs in a very warm and cuddly blanket,” Boone cut in. “You were smiling. You were finally starting to breathe again. We didn’t want to scare you away by saying it didn’t count.”

I looked at all of them. My heart swelled.

“I didn’t stay because of the inheritance,” I said. “I stayed because of you. All of you. This place. The people. Heck, even Dennis.”

“Damn straight,” Boone said with a smirk. “That horse’s got charisma.”

Beau chuckled underneath his mask. “Along with uniqueness, nerve, and talent.”

We laughed, the air light and easy. There was zero tension, zero anxiety. The truck was filled with love and family, the open road stretching out before us, full of new possibilities and memories.

I reached across the central console and grabbed Benny’s hand, no longer worried that his family was around to see us touch. “Come on, let’s go get you a first-place trophy.”

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens at the race today, I already won.” Benny lifted my hand to his lips and kissed.

In that moment, I knew that Benny hadn’t just come out a winner.

So had I.