A bailiff guides me to the doors and pulls them open, and I step out of the stuffy court, my heart still pounding from the weight of every word I've spoken. Being up there, it’s not how it seems when you watch TV. No part of this is exciting or glamorous. And it wasn't being under oath that made things so intense, rather, what's at stake at the end of this. A wave of relief washes over me as the heavy doors finally click shut behind me.
Finally, it's done.
I laid it all bare. How much I love Sadie, the stability that Landry and I have built together for her, the quiet fears I'd carried about Sadie not loving me, all of it. Tears prick at my eyes, not from sadness, but from the raw release of months of anxiety and protectiveness for both Sadie and Landry. My hands tremble slightly as I exhale a shaky breath, feeling both emotionally drained and strangely lighter, like I'd just fought for my family and won a small but vital victory.
A quiet, hopeful smile touches my lips, and I can't wait to see Landry. To hold him and feel his relief that this part of it is over.
Then the heavy doors click again, and Landry and Miranda are there. "You've been waiting out here for the last half hour?" Miranda asks, and I glance at my watch in a total daze. "I guess. I don't know. I felt like I just came out."
She places a hand on my shoulder. "These things can be rough, but, Quinn, you did great."
She steps aside to answer a call, and I'm met with Landry's strong hands gripping my biceps.
"Are you done?" I ask him, hoping he's free of this all now, too.
He nods, and the tenderness in his eyes opens the floodgates, and I crush my face to his chest, gripping the lapels of his fancy coat, the one he married me in. "I was so scared I'd mess up or say the wrong thing, but I tried so hard to make the judge see how great you are with her, how much she lights me up when we're together, how I look forward to getting her when she gets off the bus after school, how safe life feels when we're together, all of it. I just… I don't want you to lose her, Landry. And I don't want to lose her either."
He strokes long, strong fingers through the back of my hair, feathering soft hushes over me as he walks me to a private area in the back of the hall, next to a granite water fountain and bench. He pulls me down onto his lap and knocks his hat back to make room for a kiss. "You did great. And the judge granted me a temporary stay. That means we’re all good for now, and he’ll follow up after the rodeo to make sure I’m financially stable, but otherwise…” He shakes his head. “Baby, you did good. Everything’s okay. We did it.”
His lips are on mine for a moment, but he takes my face in his hands and kisses my nose, stroking his thumbs along thepath where my tears fall, telling me it’s over. It’s okay. Sadie is safe.
“I was so scared for her,” I admit, my chin wobbly as I fight the urge to completely break down. I bring my hand to my chest. “I’ve been so stressed about this. I’ve been carrying a knot in my chest for two months.” I shake my head. “I can’t even imagine how you feel.”
He tugs me closer, his palm splayed across both of my knees, the other hand guiding my face toward his as he kisses my throat and brings his lips to my ear. “Like celebrating.”
My skin heats. “Is that right?” That’s one of his favorite lines, but it’s one of mine now, too.
He nods, the brim of his hat knocking my hair a bit. I love cowboy hat hair, in all forms. “I’m feeling like being used.”
Mabel and Sadie come around the corner, and we don’t get much time together for the rest of the day. Dr. Vargas hosts a lunch at the diner to celebrate, and the whole town is there. Even Jenna.
Sadie and Petunia eat ice cream floats, I stuff myself on diner fries and root beer, Landry shakes hands with everyone, accepting compliments and praise, and when it’s nearing eight o’clock at night, and Sadie is almost asleep, we know it’s time to go.
The truck ride home is so beautiful, I wish I had my camera with me. Sadie’s knocked out in my lap, and her warmth is making me suddenly emotional. Once we get back to the ranch, Landry carries her inside,and I take my time, going in for batteries for my camera then coming back out for a few more photos.
I make my way up to Landry’s room with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, intense warmth blazing in my chest when I find him on the edge of the bed, hat on his knee, waiting for me.
“We should talk,” he says, and I nod my head, because I know we should. It makes sense. Today was heavy. I put myself on the line for him and Sadie, and we should really talk about what that means.
“You said I could use you tonight,” I remind him, tugging his bolo off and tossing it to the floor with a flick of my wrist. My fingers are quick to undo the buttons at his throat, then down his chest, and another swish and his shirt is gone, hat knocked off his knee, to the floor, too. “So that’s what I’d like to do. Because today I was stressed,” I explain, peeling off my blouse, shucking down my pencil skirt, standing before him in a hot pink matching bra and panty set. He drags a hand over his jaw, which is clean shaven. It makes my heart swoop at the way he shows up for Sadie, even in something as simple as this. “You look so handsome.” I stroke my hand over his jaw, the way he did, and my stomach tightens at the sight of him taking me in. Feels like praise, like a damn compliment.
He reaches for my hip but I step back with a grin. “Ah, ah,” I warn. “I’m usin’ you.”
His smile is slow but makes my body ache with desire. “You finally did it. You talked like a Texan.”
“Does that mean I belong?” I tease, but realize the undertone of my words, and the current sweeping through the space between us. He nods slowly. “You do. You absolutely do.”
I step closer to him again, but my hands go straight for his belt, tossing the buckle off and pulling the belt free. “Stand up and lose the jeans,” I command. Even though the combo of suit jacket, pressed dress shirt, bolo tie with jeans and boots is apparently my Achilles’ heel, I need him naked just as bad.
Landry’s eyes are faithfully locked to me as I move around his room, collecting a condom and towel beforepopping out and down the hall to retrieve a small bottle of lube from my room. “You brought that with you, to Sable Sky?” He eyes the lube and I can’t help but laugh.
Somehow, he’s aware that I’m not letting his hands on me just yet, and keeps them tucked at his lower back as I close in on him and steal a kiss from his lips. I keep my mouth dusting his as I tell him what else I brought. “I needed something to put on my dildo before I fucked myself with it.”
“Quinn,” he growls, grabbing my hip with one hand, my throat with the other. His grip is commanding but soft, strong but safe.
“Ah, ah,” I remind him. “You can have me whichever way you want me, on your own terms,” I tell him, “when the deal is done. But right now, you’re on my terms, remember, cowboy?”
I love that he’s already hard despite the fact I haven’t touched him below the belt just yet. I place the corner of the foil wrapper in his teeth again and tug. Plucking the discard strip from his lips, I pull the condom from the foil and take him into my hand.
