Page 132 of Heart & Hope

Bingo.

With a little research and a new focus, I can start working on big family parties, reunions, and maybe even weddings?

A party planner who’s like part of the family.

God save me, that’s corny. And exactly what I’m going to do.

I tap away, pulling up inspiration from Pinterest, making mock run sheets and checklists for all three of my new ideas. And when I begin the business plan, my fingers still over the laptop as the screen shows the most recent tab. R & R Ranch, holiday ranch business plan.

I smile at the screen like it’s an old friend as the memories of working through the proposal with Reed scroll through my mind. And that unfamiliar feeling of something I know down to my bones I need but have never been able to grasp...

Warmth swells as I fly through the times I shared with Reed’s family at home at Rosewood Ranch. Belonging blooms in my core, steady and bright. And when it steals my breath, I slam the MacBook shut.

Good Lord, how could I have been so daft?

Chapter 33

REED

Ma keeps calling my phone. I let it ring out, and then I let it go flat. I’m in no mood for chit chat and even less in the mood for her suggestions. Especially since each one of them ends with me in New York.

Ruby wants space.

She asked for it, straight up. And I am goin’ to give her as much as she needs. Even if it means she never comes home to R & R Ranch. It’s the one thing—scratch that, the only thing I have left to give her. Huddo’s truck rolls into the driveway. And he parks by Harry’s Chevy, which is still my loaner for the next few months while I sort out the insurance garbage. Fucking red tape paperwork shit. Who would have thought that because I wasn’t drivin’ it could make so much of a difference in claimant matters?

When Addy jumps out of the driver’s seat, I lean the rake against the doorframe of the stables.

“Hey, Reed.” She waves as she walks over to the stables. Charlie flies out of the truck and winds through her legs, sniffing the ground. Those two have been inseparable since Addy started her lessons with Huddo.Good for you, devil boy.Her brown eyes find mine, and I freeze. I know they’re not Ruby’s, but sinceevery single damn thing insists on reminding me of the woman I’ve lost, it hits hard.

“Hi Adds, you needin’ something?”

She stops short of where I stand, and Charlie stalks into the stables, nose to the ground.

Her hands land on my shoulders as a grin blooms over her face. “Yup,” she says, tilting her face, “you.”

“I’m tied up here. Can’t Huddo or Harry help?”

She huffs a laugh and shakes her head. “No, Reed, they can’t.”

I sigh and lift the Yankees cap from my head and run a hand through my hair. “What can I do for you, then?”

Her eyes narrow. “You forget what day it is?”

“Friday?”

“Yeah, no. It’s Sunday. Your ma has been trying to call you for hours.”

And the sun is high in the sky, so I’m late as well as moody. “Fuck. Shit, sorry. I’m not really in a Sunday lunch mood, Adds.”

“That isexactlywhy you should be surrounded by people who love you, Reed.”

She grabs my hand and drags me toward the truck. Charlie flies out past us, giving me the stink eye, no doubt for being in close proximity to his favorite human. I toss a narrowed look back at him, every bit as ridiculous and petty as I feel right now. I slow against Addy’s grip, and she turns back. “Adds, I have guests, I can’t up and leave.”

“They’re grown men and women. You can let them be for an hour or two. Besides, your ma wants to see you.”

I’ve never been able to say no to Ma. Even as a little kid, she could always pry the truth outta me, make me feel better with one hug. Louisa Rawlins has always been my kryptonite. That was, until Ruby Robbins showed up. Or maybe I have two types of kryptonite now?

Urgh.

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