Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“He so wouldn’t have tried that for me,” Stef grumbled.
“It’s because you’re the dad and I’m the cool uncle,” I apprised him, taking the bottle of ibuprofen that had been prescribed for me. At the hospital, when they’d asked what I wanted for the pain, I was surprised that oxycodone was one of the choices. I had opted for the medicine that would allow me to work, since staying home for a prolonged amount of time was not an option. Plus, I wanted to be clearheaded when I saw Mac.
We all heard the front-door screen open, and in response, Bella gave a trumpeting bark, leaving her place next to Wyatt’s chair—where he continually passed her apples and goldfish. Two for him, one for her, and so on.
I wasn’t expecting Rand to ignore his dog, his child, the love of his life, and instead stride over to me and give me a hug. And he was gentle, his hand cradling the back of my head.
“Is this us?” I teased, seeing Stef lean over and give Wyatt a kiss on the top of his head.
“You saved my family,” Rand answered gruffly, and I could hear the shudder in his tone. “This is us from now on.”
I chuckled into his shoulder as he clutched me tighter for a moment and then let me go, straightening to look at my face.
“Pet the dog, Rand,” I teased him, and he petted Bella before she expired from all the whimpering and whining and dancing she was doing. He then went to his son, bent and kissed him. Wyatt putting his little hand on Rand’s face was possibly the sweetest thing I ever saw. It affected Stef the same, as evidenced by how quickly his eyes filled.
Rand turned to Stef then and grabbed him, and Stef melted into his arms. It was nice to see all that love on display, the outpouring that was Rand clutching him tight, and Stef with his arms coiled around Rand’s neck. They stayed that way for a long moment, and when Rand let go, he was shaking a bit and Stef was wiping away tears.
“I love you,” Rand told him gruffly.
“Yes, I know,” Stef said, sounding stuffed up. “And I love you back.”
Rand nodded and then took the goldfish Wyatt offered him.
I was going to ask where Mac was, when Stef slipped around Wyatt’s high chair to take me in his arms. He wasn’t as gentle as Rand, which was a surprise. It didn’t matter. Stef was the guy who might have given me my happily-ever-after because he made me start—though I didn’t even finish—a cattle drive.
“It’s okay,” I told Stef, patting his back and holding him tight.
“I was so scared,” he confessed in a whisper.
“I know.”
“But if Wyatt hadn’t been there…”
“I know that too,” I assured him because people didn’t know, but Stef was a brawler. He looked all sweet and pretty, but he knew how to defend himself. Just because he was small in comparison to Rand didn’t mean Stef didn’t know how to throw a punch that could put someone on the ground. But Wyatt had been in his arms, dependent on Stef for his life, for his safety, to keep a cool head, and that had not allowed Stef the freedom of either fight or flight.
“If not for you… I don’t even want to think what could have happened.”
“Or what’s going to happen here on the Red,” I goaded him because I could.
He tugged free and would have smacked me, but Rand saw him winding up and warned him off.
Stef turned to him. “Just please don’t go overboard. Keep in mind that it was an isolated incident.”
“People can tell you’re a rich man,” Zach, whom I hadn’t heard enter the room, pointed out as he slipped around Stef so he too could hug me.
“I’m fine,” I told my brother. “I swear.”
“I don’t want us to fight no more about nothin’.”
“C’mon,” I said, drawing out the word, laughing softly into his shoulder. “Us? Never fight? Are you kidding?”
He hugged me tighter. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I sighed, happy with the new place we were in, a place that could be better than anything we’d had before. We’d been raised together by Rayland Holloway, and because of that, because it had always been us against our father, having to bond together, especially after our mother died, we’d been close at one time. I wanted that back, and now, finally, we had a chance for a do-over, and it seemed we were both ready to try. I, for one, was eager to have my family back, starting with Zach.
“And I don’t wanna be a dick to you,” Zach added. “I just want it to be like it was before I left home because I thought I needed to have a ranch just like Dad.”