Page 128 of Never Left You

He pinched his brow. “Falling in love?”

“That’s what you focused on?” I set my now-empty coffee mug on the counter with a thud.

Rhett chuckled. “Okay, let’s circle back to that. What’s your proposal?”

“You take forty. I’ll take five, and Wyatt can have his five.”

“Forty? You think Dad will give me forty percent?”

I nodded. “All I want is the stables.” I stood up straighter, confidence flowing through me. “I want to take care of the horses. I want to handle the indoor arena and the rental of that. I want to muck the stalls, and I want to spend the majority of my time there. Rhett,” I breathed, finally pulling in all the air, “this ranch means more to you than anything. Your list of priorities goes: Kyla, baby, ranch, tie down. In that order.” I clap my hands together with each thing on his list, Rhett’s eyes growing wider with each one.

His jaw closed, and he gave me a simple nod. “True.”

“You deserve to own the majority of the ranch. Not me. Your heart is in it, mine never really was.”

“The stables?” He raised a single brow.

I nodded. “All I want is the stables.”

“And this…falling in love?”

“I love Cash.” I smiled, the mere memory of him sending a blush to my cheeks. “He’s going to sell his place in Montana, but…he’ll be back. Sooner rather than later, I hope. Stetson freaked out when I told him he couldn’t go with him.”

Rhett’s lips tipped up in a smile as he nodded, taking his hat from his head and placing it up on the counter. “You know the whole weekend, all that kid talked about was Cash.”

I blushed, pure joy flowing through me as a small smile formed on my lips. “Have you seen those two together?”

“Not often enough, but if Cash is coming back…I’m assuming you two are going to hunker down in the main house?”

“If Mom and Dad say we can. If not, we can always buy a place in town, and then I’ll come take care of the horses every day.”

“Bull shit. You know you’re not moving out of that house.” He laughed, standing up from the island. I watched him walk around the counter to me. “I’m pretty sure if he doesn’t move in, they will wonder what happened this weekend, and Stet has already been going around telling everyone he’s your boyfriend.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a hug.

“Stet?” I smiled. “Everyone’s calling him Stet now?”

“He told us he liked it when Cash called him Stet, and asked to be called Stet.”

“That’s what…” I whispered softly. I had just gotten used to the idea of me calling him Stet. I loved that he loved to be called that, all thanks to Cash again.

“Sylas used to call him; we know. And we know you haven’t been calling him that for years. We’ve all called him Stetson to keep you smiling.” He pulled me closer, offering up more comfort.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, giving him a tight hug before letting him go and taking a step away. “I demand everyone call him Stet now.”

“You got it boss.” Rhett saluted.

“Nope.” I pointed at him. “Not the boss. You are. Call Lachlan…let’s go talk to Dad.”

Rhett grabbed his hat and began to follow me.

“Are you not going to say goodbye to Kyla?” I asked him, reaching for the door handle.

“Oh shit...yeah. Wait for me?” Rhett let me go and then bounded into his bedroom, basically running into Kyla once he opened the door. “Ha, you snoop.” He scooped her in his arms and gave her a kiss, Kyla humming against him.

“Come on Rhett!” I shouted. “We’ve got a deed to sign.”

“Fifty.” My dad handed the pen to Lachlan. “Forty.” He looked at Rhett, who nodded. “And five and five. You sure about this, Abi?” My dad asked, looking from me to Wyatt, and then back to me.

After talking to my dad, he had his lawyers draw up another deed, giving Rhett the majority of the land, and me the two hundred and fifty acres surrounding the stables. Wyatt had the same acreage I did—but he was just there to sign his name. To him, it didn’t matter. We all were getting exactly what we wanted, including Rhett taking some time next year to compete in rodeos. According to him, he wasn’t trying for the NFR; he just wanted to keep doing what he loved for the fun of it. Kyla was on board with his decision, excited that she would get to travel with him and their baby and spend time at home on the ranch. The best of both worlds. Everything was how it should be, and Dad was asking me if I was sure.

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