I grinned into her hair. “Deal.”
Outside, the world waited, but for once I didn’t rush to meet it. I stayed where I was, holding her, listening to the slow, steady beat of a home finally at peace.
And for the first time since I could remember, I let myself believe it would stay that way.
Kristin
By the time we stepped outside, the yard was already awake. The sun was climbing pale and thin behind a curtain of clouds, turning the snow into glitter. Kipp’s truck sat by the barn, tailgate down, his twins perched on it, eating muffins, faces sticky with jam. Nora leaned against the fence, coffee inone hand, laughing at something Ryder said. Griff was already elbow-deep in some chore, Fallon handing him tools without him needing to ask. Nash had a calf haltered and was trying to get it to follow him while Ellie shook her head like she had seen this circus too many times to count.
“Morning, lovebirds,” Nora called from the porch where she was rocking a whimpering toddler. “Sleep good?”
Lincoln shot her a look sharp enough to cut steel, but I only laughed. “Better than you, apparently.”
Nora laughed too, unbothered. “You’d be tired too if you’d been up with this little one half the night.”
Phil and Julie emerged from the barn just then, looking more like they owned the whole spread than anyone else. Julie carried a basket of eggs, Phil had a wrench in his hand, and both of them were grinning like they had been in on some secret for years. Which, knowing them, they probably had. Julie’s eyes swept over me once, a spark of knowing lighting behind them, but she didn’t say a word. She never did before she was ready.
The air was so sharp it made my lungs ache in the best way. Snow squeaked under our boots, and smoke curled lazily from the chimney. It hit me all at once, standing there in that light. A year ago, I hadn’t been sure I belonged anywhere. A year ago, I had been running from everything that mattered: Lincoln, this ranch, even myself. And now? Now, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
Lincoln’s hand slid into mine, warm and rough, grounding me. I glanced up at him, and he gave me that look, the one that said he knew every thought tumbling through my head without me needing to speak. He always did. Sometimes it scared me how easily he could see through the walls I used to build so high.
This was not just a ranch. It was not just a family. It was a life we had built, one day, one calf, one storm, one laugh, oneheartbreak at a time. And now, with what grew inside me, we were adding to it.
“Kristin,” Lincoln murmured, low enough that only I could hear.
“Yeah?”
“Are you happy?”
I looked around, at the people, the land, the dogs weaving through boots, the smell of woodsmoke and coffee and hay. I looked at the man whose hand held mine like he would never let go. I smiled so wide my cheeks ached. “More than I ever thought I could be.”
He kissed me, quick and firm, before tugging me toward the porch. “Come on. Let’s get coffee before Kipp eats everything in sight.”
Inside, the long farmhouse table was already filling up. Plates of scrambled eggs, biscuits, bacon, and a mountain of hash browns spread down the center, steam curling into the air. The room hummed with noise and heat. Kids darted between chairs, climbing onto laps that weren’t their parents. Fallon swatted Nash’s hand when he stole bacon off her plate. Griff muttered something dry that made Elle snort coffee out her nose. Linc tossed a napkin at her, grinning like a fool.
The noise, the chaos, the absolute lack of privacy would have once made me want to run. But now it felt like home. Every sound carried a heartbeat I recognized.
Julie slid a plate in front of me and winked. “Eat up. You’ll need it.”
Lincoln stiffened beside me. “Julie…”
She just smiled like a woman who knew more than she would ever admit. “What? We feed everyone around here. That’s our job.”
I reached under the table and squeezed his knee. “Told you,” I whispered.
He shot me a look that was all mock annoyance and full of love underneath. “You might be enjoying this a little too much.”
“I earned it,” I said.
He leaned close, his breath warm at my ear. “You earn everything, sweetheart.”
For a moment, the noise around us blurred, and it was just him and me again, the same way it had been that night in the barn when we first stopped pretending that we could live without each other. Only this time, there was no fear chasing us. Only quiet certainty.
Conversation rose again around us. Kipp was talking about the weather forecast, trying to guess if the next front would hit before the weekend. Griff was telling a story about a stubborn mare who refused to leave the trailer last summer. Ryder was arguing with Fallon over who had broken the gate latch the previous month. Normal talk. Ranch talk. Life continues.
I ate slowly, letting the warmth from the food and the laughter soak into me. The window beside the table showed the yard glowing with snow, sunlight breaking through thin clouds. Somewhere out there, the herd would be moving slowly, tails flicking, breath rising in clouds. The rhythm of it all felt like a song I finally knew the words to.
Julie passed me a fresh mug of coffee and patted my shoulder. “You look good, dear.”
