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)
“What if she doesn’t want that?” I ask. ”What if she’s unwilling to risk it all for this life we’re offering?”
“Then that’s her choice. But we don’t make it for her by deciding ahead of time that one of us has to disappear.”
I drag a hand over my jaw.
For a second, I see us as boys, long before we understood what family could cost. Mason had scraped knuckles and a busted lip because someone at school said I was too quiet. I sat beside him on the porch afterward, cleaning the blood off his face while he pretended it didn’t hurt.
He has always fought hard. Always sacrificed.
I look toward the house. The kitchen windows are lit. I can already smell coffee and the sweetness of baking.
Janey is up.
She’s in our kitchen, already moving around our house like it’s home. We don’t have long to prove that what we’re offering is worth risking everything for. But we’ll try.
Mason follows my gaze.
“She fits,” he says quietly.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“And you’re already trying to make yourself fit less.”
I close my eyes for half a second. “Maybe.”
“Well, stop.”
Despite everything, a low chuckle slips out of me. “That's your whole argument?”
“Pretty much.”
Mason picks up the pitchfork again, but his gaze stays on me. “We offer her everything. She decides what she wants. That’s the deal.”
I nod slowly. “That’s the deal.”
“And no more martyr bullshit before breakfast.”
This time, I do laugh. “Fine.”
“I mean it.”
“I said fine.”
He studies me for another second, then seems to accept it, though I know Mason well enough to know he’ll remember this. He’ll keep one eye on me now.
We finish the last of the early chores and head back toward the house. The morning sun has lifted over the pasture, turning the dew bright on the grass. Buck barks from inside, one hoarse warning that probably means he has heard us coming and wants credit for guarding the place.
The smell of coffee grows stronger as we step onto the porch.
Under it is cinnamon.
I pause with my hand on the doorframe.
Mason looks back. “You coming?”
“Yeah,” I say.
For one more second, I stand there and listen.
Mason’s boots cross the porch. Janey moves around in the kitchen. The old dog barks like he's still young enough to protect everyone in this house.
This is what I'm afraid of losing.
The messy, impossible, already-loved thing that’s taking shape under our roof.
I push the conversation down deep where it can’t touch the day yet, but it stays there, as I follow Mason inside.
No matter how much I want this, all of us together, I can’t shake the fear that Janey might be better off with one of us.
And God help me, I don’t know whether I’m more afraid she’d choose Mason, or that she’d choose me.
Chapter 15
Janey
The afternoon sun is warm on my shoulders as I sit on the front porch with a glass of lemon soda, watching Buck attempt to chase a butterfly across the grass. It has been a surprisingly peaceful day. I helped with a few light chores this morning, took a nap after lunch, and now I'm pretending to do anything other than overthink every single thing in my life.
The sound of tires on the gravel drive pulls me from my thoughts. A familiar truck comes into view, Wade and Caleb’s, and my heart lifts the moment I see Joelle waving from the passenger seat.
I stand as they park. Mason and Brookes step out from the barn, wiping their hands on their jeans, big grins already spreading across their faces.
“Look who decided to visit,” Mason calls out.
Joelle climbs down carefully, walks straight to me, and pulls me into a tight hug.
“Hey, you,” she whispers against my hair. “How are you holding up?”
Before I can answer, little Caleb, freed from his car seat by big Caleb, toddles over and wraps his chubby arms around my leg. “Janey!”
I laugh and scoop him up, pressing a kiss to his curly head. “Hi, sweet boy.”
Wade and Caleb greet Mason and Brookes with backslaps and easy conversation. The four men fall into ranch talk almost immediately, covering fences, cattle prices, and the new bull they're thinking about buying, as if the whole world can be covered in detail before they’ve even gone inside.
Joelle leans close to me. “Can we talk for a minute? Just us?”
I nod, already nervous, and hand little Caleb back to Wade before leading her through the house and out onto the back porch, where the pasture stretches wide and quiet beyond the rail.
We settle into the rocking chairs. Joelle looks out over the land for a moment, her hand drifting lightly over her middle, then she turns to me with soft eyes.
“I wanted to tell you in person that I’m pregnant.” A bright, nervous smile breaks out across her face.
For a second, pure joy rushes through me. “Joelle. Oh my God.” I reach over and squeeze her hands. “That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”