“That is one hundred percent true,” Rowdy said, sending her a smile. “Sadie has been working hard for a really long time.”
“I only have my GED,” Sadie protested, still not getting it. “And I’d need to get Jaxon into a local school.”
“There’s a bus stop right in front of the ranch, and our schools are some of the highest rated in the state,” Kit said with a smile. “And lots of my employees have GEDs.”
She waved both hands, nervous. “What if I’m no good?”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Then we’ll find what you’re good at and put you to work doing that. It’s a big place with a lot of jobs that need doing.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and stared at Rowdy. “You did this for me?”
“Woody was the one who reached out to Kit.”
“But why? He doesn’t even know me.”
He pulled her in for a hug. “He does know me, and trusted me when I told him that all you needed was a chance,” he whispered into her hair. “I know it sometimes doesn’t feel like you deserve good things, but you do. Accept the help.”
“But—” Her voice broke, and the stress of the day finally led to the tears she’d been holding back, probably for years. “Thank you,” she said through sobs.
After a while, Rowdy patted her back. “Maybe we should get you and Jaxon into your cabin so you can at least get some sleep?”
“Okay.”
Kit nodded and pointed to the cabin closest to the house. “That’s where you’ll be staying. There are two bedrooms and a living room, plus the kitchenette. I can talk to the kitchen and get you set up with some supplies, and you’re always welcome to join us for the meals we have in the dining hall inside,” he said, handing Sadie and Jaxon their own keys.
“I don’t even know how to begin to repay you,” Sadie said.
He gripped her forearm. “We take care of each other. I’m sorry this happened to you, and I’m just glad your son was able to step in and take care of the trash.”
Kit looked between me and Rowdy, and I realized that I had been resting my hand on Rowdy’s waistband. “You two finally figured it out?”
Rowdy grinned, making me smile. “He’s slow, but he got there.”
“Hey!”
Rowdy grinned up at me, and everyone around us laughed. I guess we were pretty obvious.
Not that I minded. Not that I minded at all.
29
ROWDY
After droppingoff Sadie and Jaxon, I sent a text to Woody, thanking him for setting up things with Kit. He brushed off the gratitude and mentioned that he’d also fed and watered the animals for me, which may have made me a bit teary-eyed.
A few minutes later, we pulled into Kess’s garage and got out of the truck.
“You don’t have to stay with me if you need to decompress in your own space, but...”
“I don’t wanna be anywhere else.”
Kess’s smile, so soft and genuine, made my chest go warm. In all of this madness, we’d exchangedI love yous. I was quickly discovering that, while I could listen to him tell me he loved me for years to come, nothing beat the sensation of seeing proof positive that he did, in fact, love me as much as I loved him.
It was tempting to ask for reassurance because it was easy to assume that someone so handsome and wealthy, and with so much of his life together, wouldn’t be interested in someone like me. And yet, even when I reached for that feeling of insecurity, I couldn’t find it. I saw it in what he did for me, the way he took on this thing with Jaxon, calling his friends to help him figure out how to get Jaxon released.
Sure, he did that for Jaxon and Sadie, but he mostly did it for me.
“You look like you’re thinking a lot of thoughts over there,” Kess murmured, putting his arm around me before hitting the button to close the garage door.
