“Fuck, Reed, I’m so sorry.”
“For what, sweetheart?” His brow cinched in confusion.
“For wasting time. I wasted so much of our time.”
“Oh, baby, no. You didn’t.”
“Yes, and I almost lost you—both of you.”
“Lina.” He pulled me against him, and I buried my face into his shoulder, letting my tears fall.
“It was my heart, Reed.” I cried, tipping my face up to look at him. “My heart has been yours since the very first moment I saw you. You’ve been mine all this time, and I wasted that time being hurt and angry, instead of just letting you love me.”
“Oh, Lina.”
Tears were now escaping the corners of his eyes. He cupped my cheek. I leaned into it, wanting to feel the roughness and strength of him. To live a life never to feel those hands again … I didn’t even want to imagine it.
“I’ve never felt love like you’ve shown me,” he confided, “wild and free, formidable and powerful. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were it for me, sweetheart.”
I choked a sob. “Reed.I don’t know how you were able to wait so patiently for me. You knew, didn’t you?”
“That you were mine?”
I nodded into his palm, barely trusting my voice to ask, “When? When did you know?”
“When you walked in with those Daisy Dukes in the Saddle Room. It was like my whole world went still. And then I knew.” The fire flickered in his midnight eyes, and I felt as though I was getting lost in them all over again, just like I had all those months ago. “I didn’t know how broken I was until you stood in front of me, offering yourself to me. I didn’t know love could hurt and heal all at the same time.”
“Reed.” I cried. “I know. I was so hurt because I was in love with you from the very start.” Penn nuzzled against my neck, a little yawn escaping her mouth. “I fell in love with youboth. I love you so much, Reed. Even if it meant I had to fall and break all over again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“I’m not perfect.”
“Neither am I.”
“I’m going to mess up sometimes.”
“And you know I’ll call you on it.”
He huffed a laugh that turned into a hacking cough. “I’ve never had someone believe in me so much. Someone willing to stick by my side and love me, even when it hurts.”
I wiped a tear from his eye, smearing the soot. “Loving you is worth it to me. All the hurts and pains.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d decided it was too much.”
I sucked in a breath. It felt like a dozen tiny splinters in my throat. “You and Penn are worth it to me. A love likethisis worth it.”
I pushed up on my tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his mouth.
“I love you, Lina Larsen,” he whispered against my lips.
“I love you, cowboy.”
I laid my head on his shoulder, staring up at him and Penn. They filled my vision, glowing in the firelight. I reached up to her, brushing the soot away from her eyes. “My cowboy and my princess.”
Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer. Lights flickered against the orange smoke.
“Look, Daddy and Lina! Fire trucks!” Penn perked up, pointing at the fire engines that were pulling up.
Dad and Jude came leading the trucks up the drive on horseback. They both looked windswept and exhausted, their eyes full of terror.
