Page 74 of Curveball

I swallowed, throat tightening. “I feel good in here,” I whispered.

He reached down for my hand and pulled me gently out of the chair. “Breakfast is almost ready, but… come with me. I want to show you something.” He led me down the hall to another closed door. When he pushed it open, I blinked.

An empty room.

I glanced up at him in confusion.

“I thought this could be Hadley’s room,” he said quietly.

He guided me toward a second door inside the room and opened it. “It has a small, attached bathroom. A bathtub. It’s perfect for her.”

After last night, I didn’t think my heart could feel any fuller.

But it did.

It swelled until it hurt.

I looked up at him, tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “Really?” My voice cracked. “She would love that.”

Walker nodded, his expression steady—like he’d already decided this, like it wasn’t a question in his mind.

“Farrah,” he said. My name on his lips made my whole body soften. “I want you both with me when I’m home. And I want to know you’re here—safe—in this house when I’m gone. I want Hadley to be able to walk right outside that door and be with the horses she loves. Every day. I want you to move in with me. This house was always meant to be yours too.”

My tears spilled, silent and unstoppable, as I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my forehead to his chest.

How did I get so lucky to have him again?

His voice rumbled above me. “So… uh. Is that a yes?”

A laugh broke out of me, half-sob, half-relief as I nodded hard.

“Yes,” I breathed. “Of course.”

Walker tipped my chin up and kissed me—soft, sure, like he was sealing something we’d both been afraid to say out loud for years.

“Good,” he murmured against my lips. “Because you’d better get to designing, Wildflower. You’ve got your work cut out for you with all these empty rooms.”

I wiped my cheeks, smiling through the tears. “I have so many ideas!”

He slapped my ass as he walked out of the room—Hadley’s room—like everything about this was already normal to him.

Like we belonged here.

Then, without turning back, he tossed one last sentence over his shoulder.

“Oh, and I told Scott I’m coming back next year.” He paused. “But it’s my last season."

I spun, eyes wide. “Walker—”

My chest tightened, the weight of what he’d just said settling in.

But he was already disappearing down the hallway… leaving his words behind like a match struck in dry grass.

I talked to Jake about moving in with Walker, and surprisingly, he was okay with it. He actually said it might be good for Hadley to have two homes with solid relationships. To have that stability and consistency. It was what we both always wanted for her.

When I told Hadley, she sprinted to her room and started packing every single stuffed animal she owned into a suitcase, as if we were leaving for Disney in ten minutes.

Walker and I decided we’d get her room finished before we officially moved in. Hadley loved helping—picking paint swatches, arguing passionately for which bedding was “the softest,” and insisting the room needed a “sparkle lamp.” I figured if she felt like it was hers, sleeping in a new house and in a new room might not feel so scary.