Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“She isn’t alone anymore,” I say. “And Janey doesn’t have to face anything alone. Not when she has two cowboys more than ready to step up to be whatever she needs.”
Mason nods. “Whatever she needs.”
Wade looks between us. “Then that’s what she hears first. Forget plans. Forget decisions. Forget what you think should happen or what you want to happen.”
Mason’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t argue.
I step away from the post and walk a few steps down the porch, needing to move and clear my head.
The house sits open behind us, quiet and familiar, full of rooms we’ve never had much use for. I’ve never thought much about that space before. Now I can’t stop picturing her in it. Her boots by the door. Her voice breaking the quiet. Her mix of softness and strength. Her humor and her courage.
“We should ask her to come here,” Mason says.
I turn back. He’s looking at the house like he sees it too. “Not because we want to take over her life,” he adds. “She shouldn’t be by herself if she doesn’t want to be.”
I nod once. “She has a place here.”
“She can say no,” Wade says.
Mason answers immediately. “She can.”
“If she does?”
I meet Wade’s eyes. “Then we make sure she knows how to reach us. We give her space.”
That seems to satisfy him, or close enough.
I look around. It all looks the same, but everything feels changed. Somewhere out there, a beautiful woman is carrying a Fletcher child. A baby that’s part of us. An heir to this rough place we call home.
“Is she home?” Mason asks.
“As far as I know.”
Mason reaches for his hat. “Then we should go.”
“Not yet,” Wade says.
Mason stills. “What now?”
Wade steps closer. “You walk in there wrong, and you’ll make this harder for her.”
Mason exhales, tension riding high in his shoulders.
“I’ll tell her we know,” I say. “I’ll tell her I’m sorry she didn’t get to tell us herself. I’ll tell her we’re here for her.”
Wade waits.
“We’ll tell her she has options,” Mason continues. “That we’ll support whatever she decides.”
“And?”
Mason’s voice drops. “She doesn’t have to decide right away.”
Wade nods, then looks at me.
I hold his gaze. “I’ll tell her she can come here. Whenever. No pressure.”
“And?”
“We’re not asking for answers,” I say. “Not yet.”
Wade watches me a second longer. “And?”
I take a breath. “That she’s safe with us.”
Mason looks down.
Wade’s expression eases slightly. “Then make sure she is.”
We’ve gone over it twice now. We’re schooled on how to handle it, even though every instinct in me wants to grab her and drag her back here. Fill her over and over. Breed her even though she’s already filled with our child. Make a life with her and a home for our kid. Demand she take her place as our woman and damn the consequences.
“Have you been in touch with her since you…” Wade trails off.
“Since we deflowered her in your barn,” Mason grins.
“Not the time,” I bark, but Wade’s shaking his head, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“That barn's seen a whole lot of action before you.”
I shake my head. “We’ve messaged,” I say. “She’s replied, but…”
“She’s been wary,” Mason says. “If she wanted to date us, we would have seen her again. Taken her out and showed her a good time. We would have made it more.”
“It isn’t too late to try,” Wade says. “You’ve gotta handle it right. The baby’s a factor now, and she’s always going to wonder if you’d have chosen her if the baby didn’t exist.”
“She has to know we would have… that night…” I stop myself from saying more. Wade doesn’t need to know how right it felt when we were all together. He has his own complicated relationship. He’s aware of how intense it can be.
Wade nods, understanding my point, and heads back to his truck, pausing with one hand on the door. “Don’t make me regret coming out here.”
Mason shakes his head. “We won’t, Wade. And thanks. I hope there’s no fallout from you breaking Joelle’s confidence.”
“She’ll understand,” he says. “So long as you don’t make a mess of everything. So long as you do right by her best friend.” Wade looks at me anyway, like he’s checking, and I hold his gaze. “She’s a good woman. She stood by Joelle when she had no one. Put a roof over her head. Supported her through her pregnancy and all the newborn stress. She deserves the same kind of support and security.” He nods once, then climbs in and drives off, dust rising behind him as he disappears down the road.
Mason and I stay where we are, the house quiet at our backs, and our land stretching to the horizon.
This place has always felt like the center of my world, but now a piece is missing.
Janey is waiting, carrying a child who could change our lives for the better, and rather than being scared at the thought, a bubble of excitement rises in my chest.