Page 84 of In Full Bloom

“What awful truth are you going to tell me?” She’s trying to be teasing, but I can see the fear in her eyes, feel it in the way her body is lined with tension, hear it in the slight wobble of her voice.

I lift my hands and rest them on her hips. “I think we … should stay here.”

She flinches, then her mouth slowly curves into a smart-ass smirk. “We could stay out here all night, cowboy.” She gives her hips a quick twist and I catch my breath as heat shoots down my spine.

I suppress my instinctive groan and despite really, really wanting to let her run the show, I shove the feelings away and refocus on my point. “I’m serious, Katie.” I hold up a hand to forestall her objections. “Please, just hear me out.” After a long moment she nods and I gently cup her cheek, brushing my thumb over her lips. “You love this place. You’ve told me over and over. The only issue here are the Sheridan’s and they’re just going to have to get over it. Your family is here, Katie, and while Sadie and I will follow you anywhere, the rest of your family can’t. This is their home, like it should be yours.”

Katie keeps opening her mouth to interrupt me, but never actually goes through with it. I take it as a good sign so I continue.

“You told me once that you wanted a place you could putdown roots and grow. This is that place, surrounded by people who love you. You can live here, at Wildflower Ridge, in full bloom.”

36

KATIE

Dallas’s wordshit me and I take a moment just to absorb them.

It’s more than I ever wanted, which was to be settled somewhere—to have a home. A place to call my own. That’s all I wanted, the basics. A family didn’t really come into it, especially not after Toby, but a place to settle, that was the dream.

But to live in full bloom … that’s something else entirely.

I imagine what my life could be like, living here with Olivia and Flynn and Violet, working on the farm, or maybe …maybe finding something else to do with my life if I wanted too.

I imagine a future with Dallas and Sadie, one that already feels certain, wherever we are, because I know Dallas means what he said. He’ll move with me, even if he doesn’t really want to. He’ll do that for me.

But I imagine waking up each day in the farm cottage, Dallas at my side.

I think about teaching Sadie to barrel race on Scout, andspending evenings riding out on the farm with my family; Dallas and Sadie, but also Olivia, Violet and Flynn.

They’re all here, and while Dallas will go wherever I go, he’s happy here. So is Sadie and I know they’ve needed as much security and stability as I’ve always longed for. Can I uproot them from the place they call home?

But then, I think of Max and how every time I see him it’s like that final day with Toby, when I finally realised the truth and the devastation hits me all over again.

I think of Tilly and the horrified expression on her face as I destroyed the memories she had of her brother. More than anything, that’s what I regret the most. I never wanted the Sheridan’s to find out what Toby did, especially not sweet Tilly and most definitely not like that.

I close my eyes and try to push that memory away.

“Katie,” Dallas whispers, his hands still caressing my face with the most gentle care. “You can’t let what happened with the Sheridan’s ruin your life. It wasn’t your fault what Toby did to you. It’s not your fault that Tilly found out the way she did. Whatever problems Max has, that’s up to Max to deal with. Don’t let them take away the life you deserve, the life you’ve always deserved.”

I sigh and lean into Dallas, inhaling his scent and feeling his arms come around me. This is home. Right here, in his arms. None of the rest of it matters.

“You don’t have to decide right away, and if you choose to go, please give us a chance to make plans with you. Don’t just run from us.”

I sit back and study his face. His expression is careful andthe story he told me about his ex comes crashing back into my mind. He’s been abandoned before.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to just take off on you. I thought you weren’t coming.” I take a deep breath. “I wanted to stay, before we saw Max today, I decided I was going to stay, but all of that,” I wave my hand in the air, encompassing the confrontation, the realities of my relationship with Toby and everything else that happened, “it shook me. I thought you were right behind me … but you weren’t.”

“Yeah,” he shifts my weight in his lap slightly, then tips his head back to rest it against the rock wall. “I mentioned there was a complication.”

“A complication?”

“Did you see a woman as you left the store?”

“She was kind of hard to miss. She’s gorgeous.”

“That’s Abigail … Sadie’s mum.”

I choke on my breath. “Holy shit.” I want to scramble off his lap. I don’t know why but the urge to run again hits me like a truck. Maybe Dallas doesn’t even want me in his lap anymore. He must sense my panic because he reaches out and tugs on my shoulders, pulling me into him and wrapping his arms around me. His fingers begin to work their way through my hair, untangling the snarls in it.

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