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My throat thickened, and I knew it was time for me to push into the subject of why I’d brought her out here. “I’m really glad to hear you had a good time with Ms. Dakota and Ms. Pat.”
“It was a really good time, but I missed you and my Ms. Dae the most.”
I eased forward, choosing my words carefully. “We missed you a lot, too, and I thought about you the entire time while we were at the hospital.”
“So Ms. Dae would get all better?”
“That’s right. Because she went through something really scary and bad, but now she’s going to get better. It’s something you went through, too, Evelyn.”
I could almost see the way her little spirit flailed in the memories.
Palpable.
Battering against me and making me want to wrap her in my arms. She quieted her voice. “I didn’t get hurt even a little bit, so it’s okay.”
I came to kneel in front of her, turning her to face me. “But I bet you were scared.”
Hesitation filled her before she gave me a timid nod. “I was really very scared, but you came on a horse even when you don’t even like to ride on them, and you took me and Ms. Dae away from the bad man.”
She said it like I was their hero.
But I was no knight.
I was just a bad man who’d learned what was good.
I brushed a lock of brown hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, keeping my voice soft. “And now he’s gone forever, and he can’t hurt you anymore, but sometimes just thinking about it—remembering it—can make us scared again. But I want you to remember that I’m always right here, watching over you. And if you’re feeling scared, you can come to me, okay? You’re never alone.”
“I like that.”
“I like it, too.” I tipped up her chin. “I like it because I love you, Evelyn. I love you so much, and I need you to know that you and Ms. Dae are the two most important things to me in this world.”
And that feeling that I’d fought for all these months swelled, breaking free of its confines.
Flooding.
Washing.
Infiltrating every crack.
Her smile was shy, and her shoulders went up to her ears. “Because we’re your favorite day?”
“Yeah, you’re my favorite day.”
“Good because I already love you to the moon and back again.”
Emotion crested. So fucking thick I could hardly speak. “And I know I can never replace your mother, Evelyn, and I know you miss her, but I want you to know you’re my family now, and I will always stand for you and fight for you and support you, and I’d like to be your dad if that’s alright with you.”
“Well, I already got enough uncles, and I never had a dad, so I think that would be a really good idea.”
A choked laugh scraped free, and I pulled her into my chest and hugged her tight.
She wrapped her little arms around my neck.
Devotion thrummed. A thunder of this love that I’d refused.
And I’d thought in one moment my heart had gone dead.
A moment in time marked with my end.
I was wrong.
I’d just needed a reason for it to beat again.
EPILOGUES
Paisley
I cut through the big red ribbon on the barn door. A barn that had been built about an acre up from the main one. A barn with stables inside and new pens out back. A barn built on the land that had stolen my breath when I’d come over the hill to find the beauty waiting below.
But it was the people I hadn’t known were waiting for me that had changed everything.
A round of cheers went up as the ribbon fell to the ground, and Evelyn jumped at my side, clapping her hands like crazy as she shouted, “You did it, Ms. Dae. You did it!”
My spirit kicked, and I swept my hand down the back of her head as she beamed up at me. “We did it. I couldn’t have done it without my favorite business partner, now could I?”
“We’re a really good team, right?”
“That’s right, we are.”
Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, and Caleb leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek, his voice a low scrape that never failed to make my belly flip. “I’m so proud of you, Paisley.”
Everything hummed. “Thank you for helping me reclaim this dream.”
I looked up at the sign over the doors.
Our Favorite Day Equestrian Care Center.
“It’s all you. I’m just glad to get to be here to witness it.”
Dakota stepped into our line of sight, grinning that smirk she liked to wear. “Well, I think congratulations are in order. Good job, Paisley-Cakes. I knew you’d find exactly what you were looking for.”
My heart expanded, and I glanced at the two people at my side who had filled every recess of my heart, made me realize what I wanted in my life and who I wanted to live it for. Then I looked at my grandfather who was looking at me with that soft belief and pride he’d always watched me with, and my heart expanded that I got to have it all. Be with Caleb and Evelyn, plus my grandfather now lived with us, taking one of the rooms on the bottom floor of the house. I couldn’t describe the joy it brought me that I could still fully be there for him, too.
