Had any man ever stood up for her like that? She had foughther own battles and those of everyone around her since she was a child. He made her feel special and valued. He made her feel loved. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Kip had kept herself in check as long as she could. Halfway to the truck, she exploded. “Daddy, you can’t just decide we’re getting married without me! I think we should at least talk about it.”
Trace opened her door, expression flat. “Let’s get you in the truck. We’ll talk on the way home.”
“I’m not some stray you have to sacrifice yourself to protect,” she said.
“Careful, Foxy. I can still bust your tail for putting yourself down. And I never said you were some stray.”
“Marrying me won’t even fix things. Do you actually think a piece of paper will stop Rios from coming after me? You think you know who they are, but you don’t. Not really. You think your family’s influence in Wilder is huge, and it is. I love your family almost as much as I love you. But the Rios family has sway over the entire state of Wyoming.”
“Do you want me to tell you what I think, Foxy? I think if something happens to me tomorrow, I want you to know you’ll be taken care of. I think I want the sheriff to have a legal reason to care if somebody drags you off. I think I want the doctors and hospital to have a legal reason to talk to me if you’re hurt. I think I want to sleep knowing nobody can take you away without committing a half-dozen felonies and penetrating the best security money can buy. I want you safe, little fox. And I want you to be with me for the rest of our lives.”
What was she supposed to say t that? It was everything she wanted and more. Could it really be that simple? Wasn’t she supposed to have a choice? But she did have a choice. If she told him she didn’t want to go through with this, he would call it off. She knew it to the bottom of her soul.
She gazed out the window at the vast white horizon. “Daddy, is there a difference between love and insurance?”
He was quiet so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. When he did, his voice was low. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter.”
She wanted to scream that, of course it mattered. Instead, she asked, “Why?”
The look in his eyes took her breath away. It was tender and warm, yet it terrified her.
“Come here, Foxy.” When he held out his arms to her, she moved without hesitation. She needed to touch him. To be touched by him. “The reason the difference between love and insurance doesn’t matter is because I’m giving you both.”
She had no doubt he thought that he believed every word he said. But she had lived on the flip side of that coin. She married someone she loved. But then everything changed, and after running for six years, she eventually regretted the commitment she had made. It probably made her a horrible person, but it was honest. And she would never want her Daddy to be in that position because of her.
They drove through the Wild River gate in silence and rolled down the long gravel drive. The ranch house sat solid against the snowcapped mountains, smoke curling from three chimneys, lights shimmering from every eave, and each window glowing.
Trace killed the engine. “I’m telling the family. We can talk about it inside where it’s warm.” He was out of his door before she could answer, opening her door and carrying her inside.
Inside the living room, the Christmas tree reached clear to the rafters, loaded with ornaments the Daniels family had collected over four generations. Everyone was there—Chance and Joy at the kitchen pass-through, Boone leaning against the mantel with Tildi, Tanner pretending to read a cattle magazine, and Kenzie pacing the floor.
Before they entered the room, Trace pulled her aside. “I wantyou to trust me, little fox. This is one of those times I need you to believe. If you can’t believe in us yet, believe in me. When all this is over, if you want to go your own way, I’ll let you go. It will kill me, but I’ll do it. For now, I know this is what we need to do.”
She believed in him with all her heart. She trusted him. What he didn’t realize was that he shouldn’t trust her. Because when all this was over, she would never have the strength to leave. She’d love him even more tomorrow than she did today. Even though it broke her heart, if she was ever going to run now was the time.
Blinking to hold back what she prayed he thought were happy tears, she nodded. “All right, Daddy. I love you.”
His smile almost sent her to her knees. “I love you, too, Foxy,” he said, and guided her into the living room. Trace didn’t bother with a preamble. “Kip and I are getting married at four o’clock. Judge Langford’s coming out to do it.”
A beat of silence, then the room detonated.
Tanner let out a whoop that rattled the windows. Kenzie squealed and tackled Kip in a hug. Joy and Tilde started talking over each other about dresses and flowers. Ruby, quiet Ruby, just smiled as if she’d known all along.
Kip tried one last protest. “It’s not—we’re only doing this because?—”
“Because he loves you and you’re too stubborn to see it,” Kenzie finished.
“That’s not?—”
“Hush,” Tilde said, patting Kip’s cheek. “You’re getting married. We’re excited. Let us have this.”
Kip looked around at all of them. All the faces she’d come to love in the short, terrifying months since she’d stumbled into Wilder, running from things she still couldn’t name out loud. The fight leaked out of her like air from a punctured tire.
Trace cleared his throat. “One more thing. Until further notice, no Little is to leave the ranch without clearing it with their Daddyfirst. Kenzie, you can ask any of your brothers. No exceptions. Ruby, obviously, you don’t have to ask, but we’d all appreciate it if you’d tell somebody whenever you need to leave.”
That was it. That quiet, matter-of-fact announcement from Trace, and something inside her shattered completely. She was the problem. Again. Always the blizzard rolling in to ruin everyone’s sunshine.
