Page 69 of Cowboy

“Mating?” she teases, giving me a goofy grin. “Ow-ow-owul.”

“Scarlett.” I laugh. “You’re crazy.”

“For you,” she says, and I smile to match hers before leaning forward to kiss her, long and deep. She makes me want to howl at the moon, beat my chest, and scream to the heavens: let her love me.

As I pull away from her, she steps out of my embrace and lays the blanket on the grass. “Let’s sit, and you can tell me more about the moon.” Her smile reads mischievous, but I follow her down as we lay on our backs. Scarlett shifts to her side a little, taking the pressure off her spine, and places my hand over her belly. Sprout rolls around inside her.

“Hope he’s not getting any ideas to come early.”

My head turns, catching her eyes. “You’re still feeling okay, right?” I don’t want anything to happen to the baby, but I also don’t want anything to happen to her. I hate to feel as if I’m prioritizing, but if she lost the baby now, I’d give her another one. We’d try again. I won’t quit on her like I felt I quit on Jen. We’d just start over.

A sense of losing Scarlett when we were miles apart while she was suffering near Burlington and I was on my way to her really put things in perspective for me. I will do nothing that might risk losing her. I will not jinx what we have by proposing or asking for more. I don’t want us to lose where we’re at or where we’re going. I will keep my emotions in check in order to keep her by my side.

“So tell me more, moon-master,” she teases, interrupting my thoughts.

“Well, the word month comes from the term moon because of its phases lasting almost thirty days. Each month has a specific full moon name, did you know that?”

“I didn’t,” she admits, turning her head from mine to gaze up at the sky again. “So what moon is this one?”

“It’s late July, so this is the Buck Moon. It was termed by Native Americans for male deer who begin to regrow their antlers at this time. Sometimes, it’s also called the Hay Moon because it occurs around hay harvesting or a Thunder Moon because of all the thunderstorms that can occur in the summer heat.”

“That’s so interesting,” she says, still staring up at the sky as it turns darker as a backdrop to the yellow circle.

“There’s also a Strawberry Moon. It was back in June to celebrate strawberry season. Some cultures call it the Rose Moon, though, while others call it a Hot Moon because it marks the beginning of summer.”

Still watching the sky, Scarlett speaks. “My father called me Strawberry when I was little.” Her tone softens around the memory.

“Have you spoken to them?”

She squints at the sky. “I haven’t. And I don’t expect to, but I’m okay with it.” Her head rolls to face me again. “As long as I have your family, Bull, that’s all I’ll need. Your brothers are like the siblings I never had, and your father has been kinder to me in a matter of days than my parents have in my entire life.”

“They aren’t saints,” I remind her but smiling at her comfort with my kin.

“No, but they’re real. They’re not putting on a façade like my parents. Not asking me to play a charade.”

I nod to agree and decide I don’t want to discuss her parents. “Speaking of wolves, February was the Wolf Moon month.”

“Really? What moon was in March?”

“A Worm Moon.”

“Worms?”

I chuckle. “We prefer Sap Moon in these parts as it’s the time to tap trees for sap.”

“I think it should be renamed sperm moon.” She giggles at herself.

“Why?” I laugh.

“Because that’s when you got me pregnant.”

I laugh harder. She’s really on a roll tonight. “Well, the Egg Moon is actually in April, but that month is also called the Pink Moon for wildflowers or sprouting grass.”

“Sprout has a moon.” Scarlett smiles. “I like that as that’s my birth month, though.” Guilt hits me that the month of April I hadn’t known Scarlett was still in Vermont, and I missed her birthday.

“As an October baby, my moon is the Hunter Moon. It’s the preferred month for hunting. It’s a particularly bright moon that month.”

Scarlett still watches me as I describe these moon names, absorbing all I tell her. “So, you’re a hunter?”