AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, they do mate for life, according to my mother,” I said, my voice trembling.
“They sure as shit do. Maddox got us out on his plane first thing this morning, and we went straight to your office.”
“Daddy yelled at a man because your name wasn’t on the building,” Gracie said, placing her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.
“I’m guessing Phillip sent you here and told me you were the courier?” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Yeah. We had a bit of a rough start when some ass—I mean, some guy copped an attitude when I asked why your name wasn’t on the building. We had a few words before Phillip came out and broke things up. He said you were working from home today, and you’d explain your name not being on the building because it wasn’t his doing; it was yours.”
I nodded as Gracie’s head settled beneath my chin, and her strawberry shampoo flooded my senses. “There’s only one place that I want my name.”
“Where’s that?”
I ran my finger over his heart. “Right here next to Gracie’s… exactly where it belongs.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t have both.”
“Because I don’twantboth. I want this,” I said, stroking Gracie’s cheek and looking at the man I loved. The man I’d loved my whole adult life.
Before, during, and after the storm.
“I want to wake up and have breakfast with you two, and I want to take Gracie to school. I want to ride horses together and sit out by the water and daydream as a family. I want to paint and go for walks where there aren’t horns honking every second. I want to watch you get frustrated when Mrs. Runither says inappropriate things to you, and I want to help Lola at the spa. I want Gracie to know my parents, and I want to do Sunday dinners with all the Reynolds. I guess… I want a life. A real one. One that matters. And when I’m with you two, I know it’s where I belong.”
“But you love your job. And we came here because we don’t want you to give that up. Gracie and I looked up schools on the flight, and she’s excited to wear a uniform. I can work anywhere. I’ve got plenty of experience, and I can handle city dogs. I won’t be dealing with the madness of a small-town clinic, and I’m good with that. If we’re together, I’m good with all of it.”
“Thank you for being willing,” I said, blinking away the tears as Gracie pulled back to look at me when she heard the shake in my voice.
“Presley, don’t be sad. We want to live here with you. And be a family. And Daddy’s going to stop overthinking.”
I laughed and shook my head. “That’s what I want, too. But I can do that in Cottonwood Cove. I don’t want this life anymore. It doesn’t fill me the way I thought it did.”
“What about your job?” Cage asked, his brows pinched together with concern. “I’m never going to be okay with clipping your wings. You know that.”
“I’d never let you clip my wings,” I said, leaning forward to give him a chaste kiss. “I’m a consultant at the firm now. I can do that remotely. In fact, I’ve already started. I have movers coming tomorrow to take everything home. I guess you two just beat me to the surprise.”
“You’re moving to Cottonwood Cove?” Gracie squealed, then jumped up and danced around the room.
“I am.”
“You’re sure?” Cage asked, his voice still filled with uncertainty.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and being away from you two has been really hard. Harder than I expected.” I nodded and swallowed the big lump in my throat. “But it’s given me time to think. I don’t love what I do. I don’t love the office I work in. I love Phillip, and he’s going to let me choose the clients I want to be involved with. It will be a very part-time position to keep my feet in the water. But I’m going to work at the spa with Lola part time, too, and I figure you two can fill the rest of my time, huh?”
“We can ride every day,” Gracie said. “The barn is done, and we can have horses at our house now.”
“That would make things convenient, as long as you two want a new roommate.” I smiled.
“Gracie.” Cage’s voice was deep and steady as his eyes stayed locked on mine. “Go find the bathroom and wash your hands.”
“My hands aren’t dirty,” she said, staring down at them with confusion.
“In the wise words of Mrs. Clifton,don’t overthink it. Wash your hands, and you can go look around the apartment.”
“Okay.” She kissed my cheek before kissing her father’s cheek and running down the hallway in the direction I pointed her in.
“Hey, I need you to know we’re ready to move here. For you. To support you and to be with you.”
“I love that you’re willing to do that for me. And I’d take you up on it if I had any desire to stay here. But I don’t. We can keep the place or sell it. I don’t want to live here anymore. I want to live in my favorite small town, with my favorite grumpy man and his amazing little girl.”
