Page 40 of Branded By the Cowboy

She opens her eyes, looking at me. “But Henry… he doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t walk out when it gets hard. He stays. Even when he’s grumpy about it.” A smile curves her lips. “Especially then.” There’s grit behind her smile. Strength forged from surviving things she never should’ve had to.

Something twists in my chest. Sharp and soft all at once.

I pull in a breath. Hold it. Then let the words tumble out before I can second-guess them. “Angus has been… distant. We haven’t”—I wave vaguely—“been close. Not like that. Not since our wedding night.”

Shay doesn’t react with surprise. She listens, her green eyes understanding and steady.

“He’s kind,” I continue twisting my wedding band around my finger. “He makes coffee and stacks wood and feeds the barn cats like he’s afraid they’ll think less of him if he forgets. He looks at me like—like I matter.But then he just... disappears.He doesn’t touch me. He barely looks at me some days. And I keep telling myself it’s not me. That he’s tired. Or distracted. Or?—”

“Hurting,” Shay says quietly, her hand covering mine.

I look up. “Hurting?”

She nods, her expression softening.

“It’s not my story to tell —I wasn't here then—but Angus nearly died in Kandahar. Something happened out there that changed him. Henry says when Angus came back, he was different. Quieter. Like he was carrying the weight of ghosts only he could see.”

“He mentioned being injured,” I say, remembering that day in the stables when he let his guard down for a moment. “And I’ve seen the scars.” My throat tightens as I force myself to ask the question burning inside me. “Do you think he regrets marrying me?”

Shay's expression hardens like I've just insulted her prizewinning apple pie. “Absolutely not.”

I shake my head. “But he won’t talk to me. Won’t let me in. And I’ve been through enough homes and halfway houses to know what it means when people pull away.”

Her voice sharpens—not cruel, but fierce. “You’re not in foster care anymore, Luna. You’re not a visitor in someone else’s life. You’re part of this family now. And if you want Angus, if you care about him, don’t let him crawl into that cave and shut you out. You go in after him.”

I blink, stunned by the sudden rush of emotion tightening my throat.

Shay squeezes my hand again. “You don’t have to save him. Just show up. Be there. That man’s spent a long time believing he’s not allowed to need anybody. Show him he’s wrong.”

I pull the blanket tighter around Shay, but my eyes drift to the door.

I’ve spent my whole life waiting to be chosen.

But this time, I’m not waiting. I’m choosing him. I’m choosingus.

Chapter11

Luna

The storm gets worse after dark. The wind shrieks and the rain blows sideways, making the whole house shudder.

The power flickers once, then goes out for good.

I’m halfway to the fuse box with a flashlight when I realize it’s not the breaker.

We’re out.

I light the rest of the candles and get the kettle onto the woodstove to make a hot drink.

Sitting by the front window in the living room with my mug of hot chocolate, I watch the dark, stormy night. The walls creak, and the wind sighs under the eaves. It’s the kind of night that makes you feel like the house isn’t a shelter so much as a brave little ship in a deep, black sea.

Then I see them.

Headlights.

Far off, right at the edge of the tree line. Just… sitting there. Not moving.

A trickle of cold fear slides down my spine.

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