Page 61 of Want You Back

I want you to stay.I’d waited so long to hear those words my knees nearly buckled.

“Does it help if I tell you I’m scared too? Or does that make it worse?” Forcing my rubbery legs forward, I climbed the steps to the kitchen door, turning at the top of the porch. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I only know I have to try. It’s the right thing for all of us—Hannah, all the ranch hands, Grayson, Willow, you and me included.”

“And you?” Colt tilted his head, considering.

“Funny thing.” I ushered us into the house. “When I told you the other day that I was staying, I thought I was finally being selfless for once in my life, putting everyone else’s needs first, my own be damned.”

“What’s that you told me?” Leaning against the counter, Colt gave me a pointed look. “Your needs matter.”

“They do.” I nodded. I considered sitting on one of the stools, but I was so tired I might fall asleep right at the island. “And I need to stay. For my own reasons. I don’t want the story of the Lovelorns to be bad luck and disappointment, ending with a whimper of a land sale.” I took a deep breath.

I’d thought long and hard about luck while sitting in the hospital waiting room. The kind we make for ourselves, the kind the universe hands out, and the intersection of the two. I wanted to believe we were more than our bad luck and bad choices as a family.

“Makes some sense.” Colt nodded for me to go on.

“You and Grayson kept saying that this place was more than my father, and I didn’t see it until two a.m. or so when I started wanting to be home in the worst way.” My back tensed at the wordhomeand all the power therein. Sitting in the waiting room, I’d been bone tired, but my craving had been for something more than a bed. “The ranch is home. My home. And it can be so much more than it has been.”

“I saw what you did to the house.” Colt gestured over at the family room, where I’d added more splashes of color. “Pretty remarkable.”

“I want to fill the place with joy. Fresh starts. Good energy.” My voice rose as I warmed to my topic. “I want to do it for Hannah, but also forme. I want to show that the ranch and I are both more than our pasts.” I’d made my share of mistakes, and here, making over the ranch, I’d finally found a path to forgiving myself and moving beyond missteps. “We’re the present and the future too. And I’m on a mission to prove it doesn’t have to be bleak.”

“Good.” Colt smiled, eyes staying solemn. “I believe in you.”

“That easy?” Shaking my head, I met his gaze.

“That easy.” He shrugged before pulling me to him, holding me close. “Believing in you is the easy part. Trusting the future to work out in my favor, that’s the hard part.”

“Believe in us.” I pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “None of us know what the future will bring. I saw that really clearly last night. I’m optimistic, but I’m not unrealistic. We’ll have hard times. Good years. Bad years. Low cattle prices. Ruined crops. Kid drama. Sheriff stress for you. But I want to have all the times together.”

“I want that too.” Colt’s eyes were needy. He returned my kiss with a barely restrained hunger that stole my breath, but he released me before it could turn into something sexier. “We always did make a good team.”

“We’re a great team.” I went hunting for another kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Hands on my shoulders, Colt spun me away from him with a gentle pressure. “And because I love you, I’m ordering you to go sleep. We can talk more after you crash.”

“You’ll be here when I wake up?”

“I’ll do my best.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my neck. I liked that he wasn’t making an absolute promise. Doing our best was all either of us could promise right now, and that was more than okay.

Chapter35

Colt

“Areyou sure there’s no news?” Hannah asked like she hadn’t just watched me check my phone and Maverick’s before starting dinner. I’d insisted on babysitting Maverick’s phone while he napped, but it had been an easy assignment, unlike my own stack of messages.

“I’m sure.” I stirred the ground beef I was browning in a large skillet. “Do you think you and Willow could make garlic bread while I work on the spaghetti here?”

I was working with what I’d found in the freezer and pantry here at the ranch—ground beef, tomato sauce, pasta, and frozen bread, which I’d earmarked for turning into garlic bread.

“Okay.” Hannah retrieved butter and parmesan cheese from the fridge, but she didn’t look particularly enthusiastic about the task. “I’m not sure I’m hungry.”

“You need to eat.” I sounded like my mother or Aunt Georgia, but it was true. “We’re all going to need a lot of strength for the days ahead. Helping your mom get better is like running a long race, not a quick sprint.”

“Yeah.” Hannah slapped the stick of butter on the counter. “I hate this.” She immediately winced, picking the butter back up, cheeks going bright pink. “Sorry?—”

“Don’t be sorry.” I kept to my gentlest voice. “It absolutely does suck, and for you most of all.”

“It’s okay to be mad.” Willow wandered over from the TV. “That’s what Dad tells me. You don’t have to pretend everything is okay when it’s not.”

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