Page 16 of May's Bad Boy: Kody

"There's something you need to see," I say, voice low, desperate not to wake Sadie just yet. I push the envelope across the table toward her.

She opens it, and I watch the color drain from her face with every page she reads. Her fingers tremble, and when she finally looks up at me, her expression is a mess of shame and fear.

"They're not wrong," she says quietly. "I don't have a job, I'm diabetic, and I lived in a shelter. On paper, I look exactly like what they're saying."

"No," I say, stepping forward. "On paper, they can write whatever they want. But I know the truth. You're kind, brilliant, and strong as hell. You're the woman who held my daughter when she had a nightmare and made her feel safe. You're the one who's fighting for Miss Ada like it's your own house on the line. And you're my wife."

She flinches at that, like she wasn't expecting to hear it. Maybe I wasn't expecting to say it.

But I mean it.

"They want a fight?" I continue. "They've got one."

She doesn't say anything for a long time. Just folds the documents back into the envelope and sets it aside with shaking hands. Her eyes are glossy, but she doesn't cry.

Instead, she whispers, "Okay. Then let's fight."

That's when we hear Sadie start to get up. We hide the papers and put on a smile for breakfast.

By midday, we're at Shane's ranch office with him while Caitlin watches Sadie at the main house. Also, Ruby is there, along with a lawyer she called in from Whitefish. He's sharp, calm, and already furious on our behalf. As soon as he flips through the motion, he grimaces.

"This lawyer representing them?" he says, tapping the letterhead. "He's connected to Densmore Holdings."

"That's the same people making deals with the elderly in town trying to take their houses from them. It’s the one Paige's been digging into," I say, and the realization lands like a punch to the ribs.

"What do you mean?” Ruby asks

We explain Paige’s conversation with Miss Ada and everything she’s uncovered with the digging she has been doing.

"It seems your research tipped them off. Guys like them have people watching who look into them. This isn't a custody hearing," Ruby says, her voice hard. "It's a hit job."

"They're trying to discredit her to undermine the land investigation," I add, my anger boiling. "And they're using Sadie to do it. Her grandparents would have jumped at the chance if these guys approached them."

Ruby wastes no time. "We'll get character statements. Orville, Courtney, every damn person in this town who knows what kind of mother Paige is to Sadie. Even if she doesn't have the official title."

"They want to make this about what's on paper?" Ruby adds, eyes flashing. "Let's remind them who really knows these people."

There's something powerful in the way the room moves—how quickly everyone falls into step. I've never been part of something like that before. Not really. Not until this town. Not until her.

By the time we get home, the sun's starting to dip behind the hills. The shadows stretch long across the grass, and the golden light turns everything soft and quiet. But there's a tension in the air, like a storm waiting just past the horizon.

After tucking Sadie into bed for the night, I find Paige sitting on the front porch, knees pulled up to her chest, eyes lost somewhere in the trees. I sit beside her without a word.

She speaks first, her voice barely above a whisper. "If you want to pull out of this... marriage thing... I'll understand. You could tell the court it was just paperwork. No harm, no foul."

I turn toward her, voice firm. "I don't want out."

She blinks, surprised. "You don't?"

I shake my head slowly. "I don't want to lose Sadie. And I don't want to lose you, either."

She stares at me like she's trying to make sense of what I just said. Like it doesn't compute.

And then, softly, "Why?"

I don't have a grand answer. Just the truth.

"Because somewhere along the way, this stopped feeling like a deal. And started feeling like a life I don't want to give up."

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