Page 71 of Nanny for the Single Dad Cowboy
“Listen to me, Tess.” His voice drops lower, steadier. “I know this is hell for you. I know you hate feeling powerless. But I need you to trust me. Trust that I know how to end this. Once and for all.”
My hands find his shirt, gripping it like it’s the only thing keeping me upright. “What if something happens and your injuries get worse?” I whisper, eyeing his wheelchair that’s discarded on the other side of the room.
Now that I know what happened to him, I don’t want to imagine it happening again, and this time it will be all my fault.
“I will not let that happen. I have the best team with me,” he assures.
“Heck yeah, he does,” Beck bellows.
My chest tightens, breath catching between a sob and a laugh. “I love you, you stubborn, impossible man.”
His thumb brushes my lip, the corner of his mouth lifting in the faintest smile. “I know. And I love you too, hacker girl. More than I ever thought I could.”
It feels like goodbye, even though neither of us says it.
He leans in, and the kiss is desperate—all salt and tears and unspoken fear. The kind of kiss that brands, begs, and clings. I pour everything into it—every what-if, every please come back, every I love you, I’ll never stop saying.
When we finally break apart, his forehead rests against mine. “Stay alive for me, okay?” I whisper.
He gives a small nod, then steps back, the space between us widening like a wound. “You have my word.”
Ava appears at the doorway, her face pale but composed, heading directly for her husband. Behind her, Quinn hovers, her hand in Beck’s, whispering something soft I can’t hear.
The room feels like a battlefield before the first shot—everyone holding their breath, waiting for the inevitable. Hank wanted to go with them, but the boys said no, so he’s down in thebasement, monitoring the situation remotely. Ella is upstairs with Daisy, keeping her away from all this. It’s not something a seven-year-old should have to witness, her father going out to war with the possibility he might not come back.
Beck gives me a reassuring nod. “We’ll bring him in, Tess. Don’t worry.”
Zane squeezes my shoulder as he passes. “We’ve got him.”
And then Jace is the last one standing in front of me, that look in his eyes—fierce, certain, and heartbreakingly calm.
“I’ll be back before sunrise,” he says, voice low.
“You’d better be.”
He smiles, faint but real. “That’s an order?”
“Damn right it is.”
He bends down, presses one last kiss to my forehead, and then he’s gone, walking out into the night with his brothers, shoulders squared, purpose in every step.
The screen door creaks open, and the cool night air rushes in. I follow them to the porch, barefoot, my arms wrapped around myself as if that could stop the trembling.
The truck sits parked under the moonlight, engine rumbling, headlights cutting through the mist that’s rolled in from thefields. The whole world feels suspended, caught between motion and silence.
Zane climbs into the passenger seat, Ava standing by his door. She touches his face one last time, her voice a soft murmur carried away by the wind. Beck is behind the wheel, Quinn lingering at his window, her lips pressed to his hand, her other hand on her round belly.
Jace stands to the side, talking to Ryder on the phone, his voice steady, his posture unyielding. The porch light throws half his face into shadow, and for a moment, he looks like a ghost from another life. The soldier, not the man.
When he hangs up, he looks up at me. Just a glance. But it’s enough to stop my breath.
I want to run to him. To beg him not to go, to stay, to let someone else handle it. But I don’t move. I know that if I do, I’ll fall apart completely, and he’ll see it. And Jace Morgan doesn’t need any more reasons to carry guilt—he already bears too much of.
So I stand there, gripping the railing, nails biting into the wood, as he crosses the yard toward me.
He stops at the bottom of the porch steps, gazing up at me lovingly. “I’ll see you soon,” he says quietly.
“Promise?”
