"You love it."
I do. God help me, I do.
He rolls to the side, pulling me with him so I'm tucked against his chest, his arm solid around my waist. My hat finally falls off, tumbling to the floor, and neither of us bothers to retrieve it.
For a while, we just lie there. Breathing. Existing.
His hand traces lazy patterns on my back. My fingers draw circles on his chest.
"You think Renee's going to say yes?" I ask eventually.
"Yeah. I do."
"You sound sure."
"I am. She saw what we're building here. She saw you with that colt. She's smart enough to recognize something good."
I tilt my head to look up at him. "And if she doesn't?"
"Then we find someone else. We keep going." His hand tightens on my waist. "We're not stopping, Hazel. Whatever it takes."
Whatever it takes.
The words settle warm in my chest, and I press my face back into his shoulder, breathing him in.
This. This is what I want.
Not just him, but this. The work. The ranch. The feeling of building something that matters.
I just don't know yet if I'm brave enough to keep it.
Chapter thirty
Hazel
The alarm goes off at three-thirty and I'm already awake.
Eli's arm is heavy across my waist, his chest warm against my back, breath even and slow in the dark. We're in his cabin again. It's become easier to just stay.
I slip out of bed carefully, trying not to wake him, but his hand catches my wrist before I make it two steps.
"Where you going?" His voice is rough with sleep.
"Training. Four a.m., remember?"
"It's three-thirty."
"I need to grab clean clothes from Mae's first."
He tugs gently and I let him pull me back down, sitting on the edge of the bed. His thumb traces circles on the inside of my wrist.
"You could just keep clothes here," he says.
The offer hangs between us. Casual. Not casual at all.
"That would be convenient," I admit.
"Very convenient."
