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“You can’t. Think of Evangeline. The distillery. They need you.” I glare at him, even when all I want to do is fall apart. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Darlin’, when it comes to you, I don’t have one goddamn ounce of common sense in my body.” He slides his hands up my cheek, cradling my face. “Understand me now, I go where you go.”
“Stop,” I say, feeling broken inside.
“No one’s leaving.” Warren stands at the table, finality in his tone. “We all saw what’s on the USB. Cole stopped your abduction. Whether you leave or not, trouble still lands here.” He dips his head, gaze locking on Cole as an unspoken understanding passes between the brothers. “So you stay.”
“Stay before our brother has a goddamn heart attack.” River leans low on the counter, running a hand over his grin.
“I’m sorry.” My lower lip trembles as I look around the kitchen.
“Let us talk,” Cole orders. Chairs scoot back, glasses clink, and within ten seconds, the house is empty.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” Tears of misery slip down my cheeks, over Cole’s scarred knuckles as he holds my face in his big hands. I reach up and grip his wrists, wanting to simultaneously shove him away and pull him into me. “Let me go, cowboy.”
“Stop this madness.” His jaw tightens, a dark slash of pain. “I won’t let you walk away, and I will never let you go.”
“You have to,” I whisper, as his fingers weave through my hair, as he presses closer.
“Darlin’, truth is, I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you, Delilah.” His voice shakes. “Because I’ve been a goner for you ever since the day I found you in that damn Creek House.”
I freeze, my heart bottoming out.
Love. Cole Weston loves me.
His words, his voice, are so certain, so fierce, they make me tremble. They scare me breathless. They land like a warm burst of sunshine inside my heart.
“You do?” I whisper, still so stunned I can barely get it out.
“I do.” A muted growl rumbles from his chest. “Fuck, this wasn’t the way I wanted to say it, but…it’s out. You have my heart. You have all of me if you want it.”
Cole’s head dips, those deep blue eyes desperately searching my face for something to cling to.
My lungs lose air, and I let out a broken sob. “I want you.” I grab his shirt, holding tight to this wild, wonderful man. “I love you too, Cole.”
Cole’s eyes close briefly, relief breaking across his handsome face, then he crushes his lips to mine. The sweet sting of his whiskey kiss has me gasping. Has me jumping into his arms to encircle my legs around his waist.
“Tell me again,” he commands, holding me tightly.
“I love you, cowboy.” I reach toward his rugged jaw, trembling fingers palming his scruff. Tears steam down my cheeks. “You are the best man I have ever known.” I giggle, a bright smile tipping my mouth. “And guess what? Now you’re stuck with me.”
The most beautiful smile crinkles his eyes, lifts his lips. I drink it in. It’s a sight to see.
“My darlin’, my girl, my Delilah,” he breathes against my skin, over the pulse points of my throat, and I feel the hard bob of his Adam’s apple as he fights back emotion. “Can’t live without you. Won’t.”
My eyes shutter, and I whimper, clinging even tighter to this cowboy of mine.
Inside my heart, I can hear Lucy Lou screaming her joy.
And despite the darkness of today, this moment feels like anything but that. It feels like a rebellion. It feels like hope and home and sanctuary. It feels like I won everything, because no man in the world will ever love me like him.
41 Cole
Sky-piercing mountains rise up as I walk across the pasture to the small grove of ponderosa pine rustling in the breeze. Magpies and meadowlarks dart and dip among the burial site of our family, including my parents. But I don’t stop. I continue until I reach a simple flat headstone in the earth. With my boot, I clear away the long grass, then settle down onto the ground.
