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Tears pricked at my eyes as I reached for the small note attached, my fingers trembling.

Miss Stewartt,

I hope you’ll accept this gift because it’s not returnable and won’t fit my tough guy image.

Mr. Stone

A shaky laugh escaped me as I brought the paper to my nose, inhaling deeply. His scent clung to it—the same rich, woodsy cologne that had once lingered on my skin, in the sheets, in the air between us.

Colton told me it had already sold, but that was because he had bought it.

And like a fool, I hadn’t expected it was him at all.

My heart pounded, adrenaline surging through my veins.

I was an idiot.

A damn fool for not at least giving this a chance—for not giving him a chance.

Pacing back and forth, I lifted the glass to my lips and took a long, burning sip. Trying to steady myself. Trying to drown out the war raging inside me.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t just walk away from everything I had built, everything I had worked so hard for. The apartment, the car, the carefully curated life within these four walls.

Stopping in front of the painting, I let my gaze trace every hue, every swirl, every stroke that brought me back to that night—to the two months I spent falling in love.

Then, I looked around my home.

The sleek furniture. The expensive decor. The cold, lifeless perfection of it all.

None of it made me feel the way Colton did.

Every physical thing I had ever bought, every achievement I had ever earned—it all felt hollow compared to the way it felt to love him.

But was that feeling enough to uproot and change everything forever?

Taking a leap, taking a bold fucking stance for someone else…was that what I wanted to do?

I needed time, but if I gave that to myself, I had an intense fear that I’d talk myself out of it. Just as I had time and time again.

“Fuck it.”

Chapter 44

Colton

BEING BACK IN Montana was exactly what I needed.

For years, I had spent as little time in this town and on this ranch as possible. My history here ran too deep, too tangled in things I didn’t want to face. But now? Now, it was the only place I wanted to be.

It’s been a few weeks since the talent show and the public announcement. Things had settled into an almost unnerving quiet.

Bill resigned without a fight and hadn’t made a peep since. Cooper finally stepped into his new role at Stone Ranch, and surprisingly, things were going well.

He brought someone from his old ranch to work under him. I had expected some brawny cowboy, built like Cooper himself, but instead, a five-foot redheaded woman in a pair of worn-out Kimes jeans and mud-caked boots had shown up.

Not that I doubted her abilities. It just wasn’t what I expected from my brother when he laid down his only condition.