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He faced her and exhaled, his powerful shoulders going down. “I will try over and over for you. I want to make every day better—for you. I want to be a better version of myself every single day—for you.”
Maddy started to smile, and it grew with everything Kyle said. He drew a breath and said, “I want you in my life too. I’m sorry I let something as stupid as a record contract come between us. Ifyou’llforgiveme, I can promise you—Ipromise you—I won’t ever put anything above you again.”
Her tears did fall then, because Maddy felt like she’d been waiting three decades for someone to put her above everything else. Thirty years to be standing here, with the most handsome cowboy in the state of Texas only a few paces from her, telling her he loved her.
Wait, he hadn’t actually said that yet.
“Why are you standing all the way over there?” she asked.
“Do you forgive me?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you want to hear about the record label?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Do you have something to tell me about the record label?”
“I turned down the contract.”
Maddy froze, her eyes searching Kyle’s face. “You already signed it.”
“Well, I unsigned it.”
“Kyle, you don’t just ‘unsign’ a multi-million-dollar country music contract.”
“I did,” he said. “Because I don’t like the person I am when I’m trying to be a country music star.” He took a couple of steps toward her. “Like you said out there, I love this ranch. I love my family. I love working with the bands and people that come here, but I don’t want to be one of them, traveling all the time, stressed about what’s going on where I’m not, worried that you’re constantly disappointed in me.”
He reached her and took her into his arms. “I can’t stand disappointing you. I love you.”
Maddy sobbed, her breath catching in her throat. “So we’re trying again, right?”
“That’s a hundred-percent right.” He lowered his head toward hers, and Maddy lifted up onto her toes and met his mouth halfway, claiming her cowboy kiss.
ChapterThirty
Kyle pulled up to Maddy’s cabin and parked his truck. He got out and went to the back door to collect the huge vase of red roses from the floor behind his seat. He carried them up to her door, knowing she’d be home by now. Her art class had ended an hour ago, and she didn’t have anything else on the schedule for today.
He knew today would be hard for her, and he wanted to surprise her and make her life easier if only for a few hours.
After he knocked on the door, he turned the knob and called, “Mads? It’s just me.”
“Coming!” she called from somewhere inside the house. She and Hadley had cleaned it thoroughly and then helped do the same for the guest cabins and the lodge. The wildfire had been out for a month now, and the Texas Longhorn Ranch was back to full operation.
School had started today, though. Maddy wasn’t there to greet her kindergarteners for the first time in eight years, and Kyle moved over to the island counter and set down the vase. He turned as Maddy’s footsteps approached.
“Kyle,” she said.
“Surprise.” He grinned at her and indicated the roses. “I know today was hard for you, so maybe these will help.”
She skipped over to the blooms and leaned in to inhale the scent of them. She grinned at him with full wattage as she faced him. Her golden-brown eyes shone rainbows and light at him, and when she said, “You help, Kyle,” he fell a little more in love with her.
She kissed him, and every time she did, Kyle felt like she took another piece of him. He gladly gave each of them to her, hoping the two of them could continue to grow and come together for the rest of their lives.
Kyle cradled her face and kissed her back, so glad she seemed okay on this first day of school where she wasn’t in the classroom. She pulled away gently, and they breathed in together. “I brought dinner too,” he murmured.
“Of course you did.” She smiled, her eyes still closed.
“Mads.” He waited until she looked up at him. He offered her a smile, which she returned. “You’ll dance with me after the concert tonight, right?”
