She smiled, a small private thing meant just for him. “Best decision I ever made.”
They fell silent, looking out at the ranch together. The guest cabins where Maggie was settling in for the night. The bunkhouse where River, Jonah, and Bear would be sprawledin front of the television. Anson’s cabin near the forge, light still burning as he likely worked on some project. Boone’s place, where he was probably sitting with that frame, lost in memories of Bishop. And beyond that, Jax and Nessie’s home, where a newly engaged family would be tucking their son into bed.
Walker felt his throat tighten. “Ten years,” he said. “Ten Christmases.”
Johanna turned in his arms to face him fully, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Look what you built.”
“What we built,” he corrected. “All of us.”
She looked back out the window, watching the snow swirl in the glow of the porch light. A tear slipped down her cheek, catching the firelight from the room behind them.
“All those broken men,” she whispered. “All those second chances.”
Walker nodded, unable to speak past the knot in his throat. He thought about River, who’d come to them angry and self-destructive, now making metal sculptures that took people’s breath away. Jonah, whose quiet competence kept the ranch running. Boone, his first, the foundation on which everything else was built. Jax, who’d arrived believing he was beyond redemption and was now building a family. All the others who’d come through their doors, carrying guilt and shame and anger, and had found something worth living for.
He thought about the women who’d followed, bringing their own strength and wounds. Nessie with her bakery and her fierce protection of Oliver. Lila with her gentle way with animals. Maggie seeking refuge from a stalker who’d upended her life. Each finding community and purpose here.
He thought about the children growing up safe and loved. Oliver with his dinosaur facts and boundless energy. Tate with his quiet intelligence and loyalty.
And the animals. The horses who carried them across theland. The dogs who healed their people as much as the people healed them.
All of it built over ten years of Christmas mornings and hard days and small victories. Lives reconstructed piece by careful piece, day by day, choice by choice.
“We built this,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, barely holding together.
Johanna reached up and touched his face with both hands, tears flowing freely now. She looked up at him with everything they’d been to each other shining in her eyes. “Yeah. We did.”
Silence stretched between them, comfortable and full. Cowboy shifted by the dying fire, letting out a contented sigh in his sleep. Outside, the snow kept falling, erasing the day’s footprints, preparing a clean slate for tomorrow.
Walker’s heart thundered in his ears. He’d faced down angry ex-cons, navigated government bureaucracy, rebuilt this entire ranch from nothing. But asking this question terrified him more than any of it.
“Jo.” She looked up at him, patient. Waiting. “What Jax did tonight. Proposing to Nessie.” He stopped, had to clear his throat. “Got me thinking.”
Her expression didn’t change but something sharpened in her eyes. Awareness. “About?”
“About us. About what we are.” He was fumbling this, could feel it slipping away from him. “We never really talked about it. About whether you’d want... I mean, if marriage is something...” He trailed off, watching her face.
She was crying now, tears sliding down her cheeks, but she was smiling too. “Walker Nash, are you asking me if I’d marry you?”
“I’m asking if that’s something you’d even want. With me. We’ve never discussed it and I don’t want to assume?—”
She kissed him, cutting off his rambling.When she pulled back, her hands were still framing his face. “Yes. God, yes. I’d want that. I’ve wanted that.”
The relief that flooded through him nearly buckled his knees. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She was laughing now, crying and laughing at the same time. “You really didn’t know?”
“We never talked about it.”
“Walker, I’ve been living here for eight years. I run therapy sessions for your residents. I helped you raise these boys. What did you think we were doing?”
“Building Valor Ridge.”
“We were building a life.” She shook her head, still smiling. “Together. A life together.”
He pulled her closer, his forehead resting against hers. “So that’s a yes?”
“That’s a yes.”
