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“Then ju chow him the truth. Chow him he now a part of jour dream. If he don want to see it, ju come home.”
I run my finger between my braids, along the back of my head just as the front door opens, and Jeannie appears. “Harper? Baby, it is you!” She shuts the front door and wraps her sweater around her to ward off the chill. “Honey, it’s freezing out here, what are you doing standing in the yard?”
“Jeannie, hi, I, uh, well,” I fumble for words as she walks down the few steps toward me.
“Get over here, girl, let me take a look at you.” She pulls me into her arms and hugs me tightly. I hug her right back. Her embrace is warm, comforting.
“How’ve you been?” She pulls back to study me.
“I’ve been good. Really good. How about you?”
“Holding up well. And you look beautiful.”
“Thank you. So do you.”
She glances toward the barn. “Nervous, huh?”
“Yes,” I swallow.
Her son has her hair color, her nose, and lips. She’s beautiful and wise. It’s scary just how easily she reads me. “It’s pretty terrifying deciding on someone, isn’t it?”
If she only knew, but I don’t explain my fears because I’m in the midst of facing them, so I just nod.
She pulls me to her side as she walks toward the barn.
“He’s been waiting on you for some time.” I hear the warning in her voice, along with the plea not to torture her son unnecessarily. She eyes me cautiously as I take a step in the ring. “I’m not here to hurt him.”
“I thought as much. Are you staying?”
“If he’ll have me.”
She lifts a brow. “Not going to lie, he came home a lot harder to get along with.”
Guilt mars me, and she shakes her head. “You’re here now, that’s all that matters. I’m just about to start supper. Why don’t you go say hi?”
“Okay.” I swallow again, hesitation clear in my posture.
“I knew it the first time I saw him look at you. It doesn’t solve everything, but it helps. Go on, go get him, baby.” Jeannie heads toward the house and glances back at me with a comforting smile. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
“Give him hell,” she says just before she closes the door.
Shaking all fear away, I take a deep breath. It’s time to fight, for me, for him, for us, for what we both want.
Mind made up, I make my way toward the barn, guard down, and gloves up.
Lance
“Shit, twelve. You’ve only landed twelve,” Trevor snaps off at the mouth just as Tony lands a right that has me dizzy. I see the pleasure in his eyes when he stuns me. Pissed, I come at him with a right hook that jars him.
“Now it’s a fight,” he mumbles around his mouthpiece, his eyes alight with satisfaction. Channeling the beast, I swing again, and he dodges it far too easily.
“Sixteen landed, thirty seconds left,” Rip shouts from my corner.
Pissed, I do my best to corner Tony and run a combo on him just before time is called.
“Holy shit, you just got schooled,” Trevor says with awe in his voice.
