Page 122 of Thaw My Heart

I love you, too, Kit. Please don’t come.

I’m not sure if Sadie remembers me telling her that I love her last night, but those three words have never felt more right. And after I admitted it to her while she slept, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Like I can finally breathe in the fresh mountain air. I love her with every beat of my heart, and I’m going to give her a future to look forward to. She doesn’t want marriage, but I know that she loves this ranch.

I can give her that.

I can give her a place where she feels safe.

Cole’s house is mostly dark when I walk through the double doors with Bandit, making my way to his office to find the papers tucked away in his desk. It’s a hefty legal file, around eighty pages long, requiring multiple signatures.

I’m about finished by the time Cole walks in, startled by the sight of me. “Kit, you’re here early.”

I set down the papers, taking him in. “I thought you might still be at the hospital.”

He nods. “They tried to keep me for longer, but I’m a stubborn man,” he smiles.

This I know to be true, and probably where I get my stubbornness from. “When is your surgery?” A question I’ve been struggling to ask him.

“After Christmas.” A heaviness creeps into my chest. “You don’t need to worry about me, Kit,” he reassures with a smile. “I’m not going anywhere. Now, what are you up to?”

I sign my name on the last line. “It’s done.”

“What?” He arches a brow, eyes falling to the large stack of papers in front of me. “You signed it.”

“I did.”

“It’s not even Christmas Eve.”

“Nope,” I rise from the desk, dropping his pen over the stack of legal files. “But it had to be done. Just need you to sign on your part.”

Cole hesitates, brows furrowing together, scratching at the bristly scruff under his chin. “Kit… this is. Well, you have no idea how happy this makes me.”

“Well, sign away,” I gesture to the papers, glancing at the time on my wristwatch. “I can run these into town quick and make it official.” The sooner the better, so I can tell Sadie the good news.

When I glance back up, he doesn’t move. He just stares at the floor. Deep wrinkles form on his forehead, drawing attention to the sprinkling of freckles around his eyes from many years of working in the sun.

“Uncle?”

He snaps back, coming back from wherever his mind drifted, shifting on his feet. “You know what we haven’t done in a while? Gone riding. Let’s go for a ride. You and me.”

But isn’t this what he wants? Why is he hesitating? “Cole, you just got back from the hospital, I don’t think⁠—”

“I’ll go tack up.” With that, he disappears.

Guess we’re going riding, then.

An hour later, Cole and I observe the ranch in the distance, sitting on our horses at the top of a peak. Lights slowly turn on, coming to life with the rising sun. Snow-covered fields and hills go on as far as the eye can see. Pine River curves and flows from the forest to the mountains, right down into Lone Pine Ranch, where it forms a wider section near the ranchers’ log cabins.

Ryker’s favorite fishing spot.

Everything looks massive from up here. A grand structure sitting proudly near the base of the snowy mountains, built into the curve of the land.

Our land.

“I love watching the ranch come to life in the morning,” Cole says, forming condensation clouds around his mouth from the frosty air. “It reminds me how alive Lone Pine is. That it lives and breathes.”

“It’s pretty amazing.” A new view I’d love to show Sadie. Maybe for our next date. “Although in your condition, Cole… we really shouldn’t be out here.” The cold air can’t be good for his lungs.

Cole’s gaze turns to his leather-gloved hands.