Page 65 of Claimed By the Cowboys

I lean forward a little, elbows on my knees, trying to keep my voice open and honest. “I know how this looks. I know it’s not what you expect for her. But we love your daughter. We love how she cares so much and so deeply. We love the way she talks about her kids like they’re the best thing that ever happened to her. We love her smile and her humor, her bravery and her softness.”

Bo picks up where I leave off, quieter but just as firm. “We’re not looking to take her away from her life. We want to be part of it. The kids. You. All of it. We’ve already started making space for them here.”

Loretta’s eyes search the distance. Is she looking for the outbuilding? Has Brandy told her?

“She’s worked hard to keep her reputation clean,” Loretta says. “To raise those children right. To stay on the path. You’re asking her to step off it.”

“We’re asking her to let us walk it with her,” I say. “Even if the path looks a little different… we’re ready to honor her the way she deserves.”

Brandy’s hand finds her mother’s on the chair's arm. She doesn’t speak, but the quiet support in the gesture is clear.

I keep going, because this might be the only real chance we get, and we can’t mess it up.

“We’re not perfect men, ma’am. But we’re hard-working. We don’t run when things get complicated, and we will never make Brandy choose between the people she loves and the life she wants. If she lets us, we’ll spend the rest of our days making sure she’s supported and loved and can be the kind of mother she wants to be for her kids and have the opportunities to shape her life in the way that will make her happiest.”

The porch falls quiet again. A breeze moves across the yard, lifting the edge of Loretta’s sleeve. She looks at Brandy for a long time, then back at us.

“You understand what people will say about her because it’ll be Brandy who’s judged, not you. That’s the way of the world.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bo answers. “And we wish it could be different…”

My stomach tightens. “Mama—”

“I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them being white, Brandy. Don't put words in my mouth.” She smooths her skirt. “I'm saying people notice differences. This town notices everything. Two white men, one Black woman, two children who have already lost enough... and that's before anybody gets to the fact there are two of them.”

Bo doesn't flinch. “Yes, ma'am,” he says. “We know.”

I nod. “And we're not expecting Brandy or those kids to pretend those differences don't exist just to make things easier for us.”

“And you’re prepared for the children? For the long nights and the hard days and the fact that they may not want two men to step into their lives?”

“We’re prepared for all of it,” I say. “We want all of it.”

“We’re prepared to show the world that we’re with Brandy and we’re doing right by her,” Bo adds.

“And when those babies experience something you don't understand?”

Bo answers simply. “Then we listen to Brandy. And we listen to them. And we do what we can to be there.”

Loretta studies us in silence. The skepticism is still there, but I can tell from the way she’s softened that she’s testing our words and finding them more truthful than she expected.

Finally she lets out a slow breath.

“I don’t agree with this,” she says carefully. “I don’t understand it. And I don’t know if I ever will. If Brandy makes this choice, the fallout will be big.”

“And I’m sorry about that Mama, not for myself but for you.”

Loretta’s shoulders brace tighter, her expression mirroring Brandy’s when she’s worried. “I can see that my daughter is serious. And I can see that the two of you aren’t playing games with her.”

“We would never,” I say.

“I just… Brandy, this is serious. If this goes wrong, there will be no coming back from it. No one in Rockwell Ridge will ever see you as anything other than the woman who had a relationship with two men.”

“It’s not going to go wrong,” Bo says firmly.

She looks at Brandy then, softer than before. “You really believe these men will take care of you? And the children?”

Brandy’s voice is quiet but sure. “I do, Mama. With everything I have.”