I look at the plate. At the steak cooked exactly how I'd cook it. At the care in every detail. She walked into a kitchen she's only cooked in a handful of times, and made this from memory. Because she knows me. Because food is how you tell someone you love them when words aren't big enough.
So I eat. And then I tell her about Paulie.
The bloody nose at twelve. The four-hour drive to the rodeo. The way he ate lunch on the east fence every single day. The way he cleaned his scope. The way he called every horse "darlin'" regardless of gender and never once explained why.
She listens to every word, laughs at the parts that are funny, and goes quiet at the parts that aren't. Her hand rests on my chest the whole time, right over my heart, feeling it beat, reminding us both that it's still going.
When I'm done, she leans up and presses her lips to my jaw.
"He sounds like he was the best kind of man," she says.
"He was."
"Then we honor that. Whatever comes next, however we handle this, we do it in a way that makes him proud."
I turn my head and look at her.
"I love you, Harper."
"I love you, Ace. I never stopped and never will."
She takes my hand and threads her fingers through mine. She squeezes once.
I squeeze back.
And for the first time all day, the house doesn't feel quiet anymore. It feels full. It feels the way it's supposed to.
I'm choosing her. Every single day. For as long as I've got.
Whatever comes next, we face it together.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Harper
The last few days have been a whirlwind of grief and chaos. I've never seen the Sterling brothers so angry. All of them. I know it's bad because Hunter has agreed to meet with Gianna.
She's got eyes on Carson and is sending her team to extract him today. She still doesn't know the Sterlings have her brother's killer, and I'm not saying a word. The deal is simple: if she can provide proof she has Carson, Hunter will allow her onto Sterling land with him and sit and talk to her. One hour. He'll hear her case and decide.
But today is Ace's rodeo. The one that matters. The one that could give him back the world title or put him right in line for it. He and Jett headed out early, it’s about an hour's drive. So I've come to my parents' house to pack up the last of the stuff I left here when I moved to LA. The final pieces of a life I'm closing the door on.
My parents are happy I'm back with Ace. I had no doubt about that. They've always loved him. My dad shook his hand on the porch yesterday and said, "Welcome back, son," like the last few years were a pause, not a break. And Ace looked at my dadwith something in his eyes that almost made me cry right there on the steps.
My phone pings on the bed. I grab it and see the notification that Ace has posted. I open it and bite my lip.
My man looks incredible. Even fully dressed. T-shirt on, hat low, standing by the chutes with that expression that melts my panties. The caption just says"Title day."No thirst trap. No shirtless shot. Just him, doing what he was born to do.
Me: My man is looking like a world champion right there. Love you, see you soon.
His reply comes almost instantly.
Acey: I need my good luck charm here. Love you always.
I'm still grinning at my phone like a teenage girl when my mom opens the bedroom door. I look up from the mess on the floor I'm sitting in.
"Hi, Mom."
She closes the door. There's something in her hands, held between her fingers.
