Page 27 of Tough Love

“Reed is a brat. The youngest of the four of us.”

“There are four of you? God forbid.”

He chuckles and runs a hand through that gorgeous hair. His bicep flexes, and I suck in a breath.

“Luckily for you, you only have to tolerate me and Reed. For a little while, at least.”

I drop my focus to the floor. My contract is only six months. Then it’s on to another job, another location. Or back to the city. I have no idea yet. I was focused on getting through the next few months.

“You want to talk about it?” he says, his voice deep and soft. And something inside me warms at the sound.

“Which part? The part where I can’t ride when it used to be my entire life? Or the part where I’m only here for six months?”

His eyes widen, and his lips part. “Whichever one.”

“I—”

He walks to the bed and sits down, patting the spot beside him. I hesitate, but eventually come to sit by him. He hands me another tissue, as if I’m going to need it, and I huff a laugh.

“After the accident, I couldn’t?—”

His blue eyes find mine. He is so still, as if on tenterhooks with every syllable.

I take in a lungful of air and start again. “After the accident, my hips were smashed up bad. It took months to walk again. All the doctors told me I wouldn’t have a career with horses anymore, at least not riding, anyway. So, I kind of shut that part off. That huge, enormous part of me that was my everything... until it wasn’t.”

Tears stream down my cheeks. Hudson shifts on the bed. When I meet his stare, his eyes are lined with silver and his jaw feathers. He swallows like he’s eaten hot coals. “Shit, Addy. I’m so sorry.”

Addy.

He called me Addy. I smile a wobbly smile and choke out a laugh.

“You called me Addy.”

His face crumples slightly, but he doesn’t move.

I have the overwhelming urge to nestle into his chest and let him fold his arms around me. But instead, I scrunch up my nose and dry my face before standing. He sits on the bed as I walk out of the bedroom and head down the hall to find a bathroom.

When I finally come to a half bath, I splash water over my face and pull myself together. As hard as that was to say out loud, I’m glad I told him. I’m glad I’m here, with the chance to get back the part of my life I have desperately wanted but not dared to hope for.

“Come with me, Howard,” Hudson says from the hall.

I dry my face and meet him in the hall. His face is pulled up with a smile and he offers me a hand. “Wanna show you something.”

I place my hand in his. It’s warm and folds around mine so well. “What is it?”

“You’ll see. Come on.”

He drags me through the house, out the white gate, and to his truck. When he opens the passenger door, I glance to the table where the other three Rawlins are still eating. “Um, I don’t want to be rude to your folks.”

“Jesus, Howard, after what Harry just put you through, feel free to ditch lunch. It’s your fucking birthday.”

How did he know? He tousles my hair with one hand, the other guiding me into the truck.

When he starts up the engine, Reed and his mom take pause, watching us. I feel like a naughty kid but resist the urge to slink down in the seat to avoid them, just barely.

We drive toward the horse paddocks. When we reach the gates, Hudson gets them, insisting it’s only fair, since it’s my birthday. I should have brought my phone to check for messages from Mom and Ruby. I could have taken some pictures of this stunning place. After another couple of gates and almost forty minutes of driving, we ascend a large hill. When we crest it, the view takes my breath away.

A vista of lake, mountains, and pine firs lines the span from the foot of the hill to the horizon. It’s like nothing I have seen before. But that is not what steals my breath. Sitting on the rise is a half-built, sprawling, ranch-type timber home. It’s massive. And gorgeous. The enormous window spaces. The multi-gabled roof withfourchimneys.

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