I drop my head onto the back of my chair, laughing. “Only Romeo would involve livestock in a proposal.”
Paige takes a slow breath. “She came home early.”
We’re still smiling, breathless from laughing.
“With her new husband,” Paige finishes, and everything goes still.
Lena straightens in her chair. “Excuse me?”
I blink hard. “Did I hear you correctly?”
“You heard me,” Paige says. “She came home with a whole government-issued husband.”
The silence isn’t confused, it’s stunned.
“She told Romeo she still loved him,” Paige continues, “but in a different way now. And that she wanted him to stay… as long as he understood his role.”
My stomach drops. “What role?” I grit out through my clenched teeth, getting more and more pissed off by the second.
Paige looks between us. “To cook for them, clean the house, do their laundry, and rub both their feet every night. He has to wear her panties so he could ‘finally live in his truth.’ And sleep in a dog bed on the floor by their bed.”
Lena’s voice comes out low, shaking with fury. “She tried to make him into a servant.”
Paige nods once. “He did not yell, he did not argue, he just picked up the ring box and all twelve ducks and walked out of the house.”
I feel something hot coil in my chest. I am beyond enraged; I can’t even think straight.
“He walked until his phone was almost dead,” Paige says. “Then he called Cash. Cash found him sitting behind the gas station with twelve ducklings asleep in his lap.”
Paige softens her voice. “He is embarrassed, hurt, and back in the bunkhouse. Cash already gave him his job back, he didn’t even pretend he wouldn’t.”
Lena stares at the table, jaw tense. “If I ever see that woman, someone will have to pull me off her.”
My voice comes out steady but sharp. “She’s banned from this ranch. She steps foot on this land, and we will put her off of it in the most disrespectful manner possible.”
Paige nods. “That is exactly what Cash said.”
Romeo might be dramatic. He might be messy. He might make the worst decisions a grown man can make, but he is ours, and nobody humiliates one of ours and walks away clean.
I shake my head. “This is more tea than I was prepared for today,” I say under my breath, rubbing my temple. “I’m exhausted.”
A knock hits the open doorway causing all of us to look up. Trace stands there, hat in his hand, expression neutral but polite.
“Evening,” he says.
“Evening,” I answer.
“You offered earlier for me to name the foal since I helped deliver him.” His eyes meet mine. “I think I’ve got one.”
I nod once. “Let’s hear it.”
“CR Redemption,” he says. “Barn name Remi.”
Lena smiles immediately. “That’s a good name.”
Paige nods. “Fits him.”
I feel myself smile too. “I like it. A lot.”
