I tense, jaw clenching. “Yes.”
My aunt sighs on the other end. “And you are certain you want nothing to do with the Abernathy name?”
It should bring me some hesitation, and yet I answer almost immediately. “I’m certain. I’ll buy the cabin from you, or you can take it. It doesn’t matter. What you’ve given me is yours again.”
“What about that lodge of yours? Hm?”
“I have plans for it,” I reply vaguely, looking down at the contract—signed and ready to be faxed through to Tobias once all this is over. “Just leave the Sterlings out of whatever it is you’re planning. You know you won’t get anywhere with them, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her—and them.”
There’s silence on the other end for only a moment before she says, “I’ll have the family lawyer draw up an agreement. You will buy me out of that cabin—I have no use for it. But you are now cut off from your trust. I no longer have a nephew.”
With that, the call ends.
And for the first time in years, I can actually breathe again. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, like a pressure has finally been removed from my chest. I’m no longer Cade Abernathy, heir to one of the largest fortune five hundred companies in America.
I’m Cade, a man who has fallen in love with a girl who sees me as more than just the name, the fortune. As the failure I once thought I was.
It takes me a few moments to send Tobias the signed contract, and then I leave the office to find my girl at the stove, humming a song to herself while she stirs what looks like soup in a saucepan. When I enter, she looks up at me with that same warm smile she always greets me with now.
I can’t help myself; I step in behind her and wrap my arms around her stomach, resting my chin on her shoulder. In her ear, I say, “It’s done. We’re free.”
Lydia releases a shaky breath, then lets out a small laugh. “Really? That’s it? She’s letting you go?”
I kiss the corner of her jaw. “That’s it. I’m not an Abernathy anymore. And she’s going to let me buy her out of the cabin.”
Slumping into my arms, Lydia turns her face to mine. “I love you.”
My throat tightens with emotion. “I love you, too.”
Despite my lie, despite the judgment and anger, she still found a way to crash through my barriers and show me I could have more—be more.
And I won’t waste any time giving her everything she deserves.
EPILOGUE
LYDIA
Isuck in a breath, the icy mountain air filling my lungs. Despite being only twenty minutes from the ranch I grew up on, the air tastes different up here. Like I’m in an entirely different world.
Cade comes up behind me and wraps me in his arms, the warmth of his body enough to force the chill of the air away. “You’ve been out here a while, cowgirl,” he murmurs, chin resting on my shoulder. “You’re not thinking about leaving, are you?”
I choke on a small laugh as I lean into him. “Leave?” I ask, covering his hands with my own. “Now, why would I do that? Someone has to keep you on your toes.”
His lips brush the shell of my ear, making me shiver. “Not to be that needy asshole,” he says quietly, “but I don’t think I’d be able to live without you, Lydia.”
My skin prickles with a shiver I can’t hold back. “You have, though?—”
Before the words can fully leave my lips, Cade pulls away, shocking me as he drops to one knee. When I turn, I catch his eye; he’s looking at me like I’m the literal sun, like his entireworld revolves around me. It’s a look I truly never thought I’d get to experience—except with him.
He’s the only one who has ever looked like I could hang the stars, and every day I stay with him, I feel it more and more.
“Cade…” I whisper, hand going to my mouth. “What?”
The giant mountain man and ex-billionaire swallows hard, opening the ring box he holds. Sitting on a cushion of black velvet is an antique wedding ring. Simple, though knowing him, the diamond is real—and very expensive. It’s not too big that it’ll annoy me, but it’s also a statement.
A claiming.
“I love you,” he says, like it won’t be the last time he declares it. “You brought me out of a darkness I had no idea I was trapped in. You showed me what a new life could mean, and you showed me that I could be worthy of someone as gentle and kind as you. I love you more and more every day, Lydia. I’ve never been sure of anything more.”
