Clint, Sawyer, and I exchange looks as the tension from earlier melts away. We’ve all been waiting for this. Waiting for her to feel it, to know that she’s not just accepted here, but wanted.
I stand up, moving to her side as she does the same.
“Are you sure?” I ask, my hand finding hers, warmth spreading between us.
She nods, her smile blooming brighter than the setting sun outside.
“I’m sure,” she says, the words finally spilling out. “I’m ready to be at High Ridge Ranch. With all of you.”
And then, just like that, the celebration begins. Clint’s grin stretches wider, and he stands, raising his glass.
“To family,” he says. “To home. To us.”
“Cheers,” Sawyer adds, clinking his glass with ours.
Charlie, who’s been waiting impatiently, bounces in his seat. “Are we going to have a party now?”
We all laugh, but the joy in the room feels real. This is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for.
We’re a family. Finally. And nothing’s ever going to change that.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Dakota
Okay,so I officially live on a ranch now.
Never thought I’d say that sentence out loud, but here we are.
The sound of boxes scraping across hardwood floors fills the air, along with a few grunts and at least three “I got it!”. None of which sound particularly convincing.
Clint, Reid, and Sawyer are all doing their best to move my life from one house to another, which means there’s a whole lot of muscle, sweat, and good-natured bickering happening in my living room.
Charlie’s in the middle of it all, spinning in circles with Rover, the dog’s tail wagging like a windmill. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was the one in charge of this operation.
“Where do you want this one?” Reid calls from the doorway, carrying a box labeledKitchen—Maybe Fragile?
I laugh. “The ‘maybe fragile’ one? Yeah, that definitely goes in the kitchen.”
“Copy that,” he says, setting it down and brushing his hands off. “And if it turns out to be broken, I’m blaming Sawyer.”
Sawyer scoffs from behind him, balancing two smaller boxes and a bag of what I think might be pillows. “I’ve already beenblamed for three boxes and a missing screwdriver. I’m starting to think this is a setup.”
Clint walks past them, carrying a box under one arm like it weighs nothing. “If you didn’t talk so much, you’d move twice as fast.”
Sawyer smirks. “If I didn’t talk so much, you’d be twice as bored.”
Reid snorts, Charlie giggles, and Clint gives him that squinty, half-annoyed look that always gives him away. He’s amused, even when he’s pretending not to be.
It’s madness. Pure, perfect insanity.
And I kind of love it.
Suddenly, I hear a loudwoof, followed by the unmistakable sound of Rover’s paws skittering across the floor.
“Uh, Sawyer? I think your dog just ate my sandwich,” Reid says, looking down at his half-eaten lunch, which now includes an alarming lack of sandwich.
“Rover,” Sawyer sighs, half annoyed but with that amused undertone that says this isn’t the first time.
