“I know, Sav.”
Levi answered the phone this time, nearly laughing through the greeting. It wouldn’t be Hayes and Hollis for much longer since Wes and I were getting married in three months. Maybe then we’ll finally change it to Hollis and Tate Law Office.
I still couldn’t believe I was about to be Savannah Tate. After all the time we spent apart, finding our way back to each other had been the greatest thing to happen to me. And now we were getting the future we used to dream of under the stars.
Levi waved the phone at me. “I gotta go. Someone’s on the other line for me.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you, baby. Text me how your teaching lesson goes.”
“Will do.”
Levi
“There are the toes,”the ultrasound tech said, pointing at the screen. I leaned closer over Tess, trying to see, but it just lookedlike a bunch of gray blobs to me. We were having the anatomy scan to make sure everything was normal. And while Tess had been calm and assured, I was a wreck over it. I hardly slept last night.
I grinned when I made out five toes and a foot. “Look at that little foot!” I still couldn’t believe that we were having a baby, and that they were growinginsidemy wife. God, she was incredible. Seeing her belly grow day after day, and how she took each new symptom in stride, only made me love her more.
“Do you want to know the gender?”
Tess and I looked at each other. She bit back her smile. “What do you think?”
“It’s up to you, sweetheart. But I know Luke’s dying to know.” I was, too, but I wanted Tess to decide. She hadn’t had any of these sweet, calm moments when she was pregnant with Luke.
Tess looked at the sonographer, her grip on my hand tightening. “Okay. Tell us.”
She grinned, glancing between both of us. “Congratulations, you’re having a healthy baby girl.”
Tess gasped, her hand going to her mouth. My heart flew to my throat. I lowered my head to our joined hands, fighting back tears. A girl. A mini Tess. The next twenty years flashed before my eyes. Pink and glitter and makeup and princesses. Hormones and bad boyfriends and giving her away at her wedding.
I looked up at Tess and kissed her hand. “A baby girl,” I rasped.
The ultrasound tech printed off pictures after she wiped Tess’s belly off, and my hand shook as I took them. I looked at my daughter’s face, her side profile blurring through my tears.
“I can’t wait to tell Luke,” Tess cried as we walked back to the car.
“Me too.” He was going to lose it.
The family life I used to dream about was finally here—loud, messy, perfect, and built on unconditional love.
Weston
“First rule is never lose focus,”I said. “You can get seriously hurt from not paying attention.” Elliot, my new student, gulped. He was a scrawny kid at only thirteen. A year older than I was when I started learning to ride.
“Okay,” he said.
“But I’m gonna show you hownotto get hurt.”
We went over all the gear and what to do if he fell off. But I assured him he wouldn’t be getting on the back of a real bull for a while. I had been chomping at the bit to get slung around, but Elliot looked like he’d run screaming any second now.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“I do.” He sounded like he was reminding himself more than me. “I really do. And I want to learn from you. I’ve been watching you all my life and have been begging my parents for years to let me.” He glanced over his shoulder at his mom, who was watching from a nearby bench. “Finally got my mom on board this year. It’s just a lot of info. And…being here with you is a lot. You’re like, my hero.”
“Thanks, kid, that means a lot. Trying something new can be intimidating, but we’ll take it as slow as you need. I’m never gonna push you to do something when I don’t think you’re ready. You wanna try out the barrel?”
Elliot nodded. We got all his gear on and went over to the mechanical barrel that mimics a bucking bull.
