Lucinda looked around the ranch before nodding. I took her bag and she followed me into the lodging. “You said you grew up on a cattle ranch?”
“Yes, ma’am. In Montana.”
I stopped on the stairs. “You don’t have to call me ma’am. Unless that makes you more comfortable. But I’m not your superior here. I’d rather you think of me as a friend more than anything else.”
Her eyes widened some. “O-Okay.”
We walked down the hallway of rooms, and I went to the first one on the right. “This will be your room. You have an en-suite bathroom and”—I went over to the window and opened the curtain—“it overlooks the cattle ranch.”
She looked out the window at the pen of cattle, their mooing just loud enough to hear. Her eyes turned glossy. “Wow,” she whispered.
“Thought you’d like a little reminder of home.”
I also showed her the reinforced locks on the door. While I was explaining that she could see the cattle whenever, as long as she gave Beau and me a heads up, she threw her arms around me.
“Thank you so much, Delilah,” she whispered, voice shaking.
I hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”
“You have no idea how much this means to me.” She looked around the room, wiping her tears. “I was so nervous to come here, but I really think I can start to heal here.”
This was my why—why I fought so hard for this and why I entered this field in the first place. It all started with Emmett and my dad, but at the core, I just wanted to help people. Knowing I was making a difference was more rewarding than any external recognition I could receive.
Lucinda and I went back outside. I watched from a distance, leaning against a paddock, while she mingled with a few of the other female patients.
Claire came beside me. “Remind me to never be a bitch and doubt you again,” she said, and handed me a lemonade. “This is amazing.”
I chuckled. “It’s okay, not everyone can be perfect like me.” I smirked into the rim of my drink. She elbowed me in the ribs, laughing.
“Mama and Dad would’ve loved this, Delilah. What you’re doing here is really special.”
My throat tightened. “I hope so.” Charlotte and Ben Hayes might not’ve been my parents by blood, but they certainly felt like it. With my dad dying when I was a baby, and my mom in and out of the picture, the Hayeses were the closest thing I had to parents. I wanted to do right by them just like the rest of their children.
Claire smiled, soft but sure. “They’d be proud of you. I know I am.”
Three months ago, I would’ve second-guessed that. Today, I just believed her. I lay my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, bear. That means a lot.”
A few minutes later, Emmett came back over. He never did leave my side for long. “You leaving me for my sister, sugar?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t leave her unattended,” Claire chuckled. “Heard she has a thing for curly hair.”
I snorted. I definitely did. “Yeah, you can’t leave me to my own devices.”
“Oh, I learned that lesson a long time ago.” He smirked, sliding his hands around my waist. “Lucky for you, you never have to do anything on your own again.”
I slipped my arm around Emmett’s waist, resting my head against his chest as the sun rose higher over Freedom Reins.
“I love you.”
He kissed my temple. “I’m in love with you,” he whispered into my hair.
The sound of laughter drifted from the paddock, and a breeze lifted my hair. I looked around at all of it—the horses, the people, the family we’d built out of chaos—and felt something settle deep inside me.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I was chasing anything. I was right where I was supposed to be.
Epilogue
Six weeks later…
