He settled into the tub opposite me, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze, not completely. Situating myself onto my knees, I leanedforward and tilted his chin up. “Thank you,” I murmured, pressing a whisper-soft kiss to his lips.
His hands came up to rest against my cheeks, the familiarness doing something to my body, my very soul. “You ain’t mad?” There was so much worry and fear in his words, in his frown and the furrow of his dark brows.
I offered him a warm smile, situating myself in his lap more comfortably as I held his bright jade gaze. “How could I ever be at you for that?”
“I didn’t ask first. Was what I did okay?”
I shook my head, a disbelieving chuckle escaping me. “You somehow managed to bake an entire cake without me noticin’, and the reveal couldn’t be more intimate and perfect and exactly what I wanted. I don’t care if other people find out, but I wanted this moment to be special for you and I.” I glanced at the pink cake for only a moment before rising from the tub.
“What’re you—” But his words trailed off as I grabbed the plate and climbed back into the tub. Straddling him once more, I cut off a piece of cake and held it out to him.
“You’re gonna be a girl dad,” I said, smiling.
I swear, tears welled in his eyes, a small, disbelieving smile curving his lips. He opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again. A soft smile of my own tugged on my mouth at seeing him so at a loss for words. “I love you, Maverick Holstrom, and I sure as hell don’t deserve you. But I’m glad me and this little girl have you.”
Some emotion I couldn’t quite place rippled across his face—elation, fear, awe, unworthiness…they bled so seamlessly together, I wasn’t really sure. It’s almost like he didn’t believe this could possibly be happening to him. So, the moment he took the bite I offered him and met my stare was like a moment of acceptance that caused a shift in me.
My life would be forever changed. Not just because I was pregnant. Not just because I was choosing to have this baby with him. I had never known what anyone meant when they said things like “home is where the heart is”, but I was starting to now.
It was with him.
It should have terrified me. Made me run for the hills. I think with any other man it would have. But with him… For the first time, the thought of settling down, of spending the rest of my life with one person didn’t make that part of my soul that longed to be free grow wary. In this moment, none of the fears or worries or frustrations of life could bring me down.
I rode the high of happiness as we fed each other cake, as we fucked in the tub to my favorite country songs, as he pulled me into his arms once we’d gotten in bed and he ran his fingers through my hair until we’d fallen asleep. And the whole time I couldn’t help but thinking that this just might be my own personal heaven.
Chapter forty
Break My Bones
Maverick
Aunt Violet came aroundquicker than even I’d expected.
Not even two days passed before she was blowing up my phone with baby names and ideas for a shower. Almost a week later and I was convinced Cheyenne would go crazy from all the attention.
“God, your aunt’s relentless,” Cheyenne said, walking into the barn while sliding her phone into the side of her bra. Her spurs clinked against the dirt as she grabbed a halter and headed for the little red filly’s stall.
“What happened?” I asked.
Cheyenne tossed her hands up in the air in frustration, blowing out a loud breath. The filly snorted, pacing at the back of her stall. I eyed her for a long moment. Hopefully she calmed down. The thought of Cheyenne working the baby still was admirable, but unnecessary, and it made me uneasy. So much could happen, none of it good.
Cheyenne didn’t have anything to prove. She didn’t need the money; I was more than capable of providing for allthree of us. But she was set on doing this still, and some battles just weren’t worth fighting with her, I’d quickly come to realize.
“She really, really, really likes the name Hyacinth or however the fuck you say it, and no matter how many times I try to explain that I am absolutely not naming my child that, she just doesn’t get it.”
I grimaced as I brushed down my project colt, Blue Zeus. “That is a god-awful name.”
“Right?” Cheyenne pulled the latch on the stall door and slipped inside before closing it behind her. “And it’s not like she has horrible taste because there’s nothing wrong with Cash’s name. And what’s his brother’s name again?”
“True,” I replied, my hand stilling on Zeus’s back as I watched the filly pace some more.
“True. An interesting, unique name…not Hyacinth. And what’s worse?” She glanced at me. “She wants to call her Cinthy for short.”
Cheyenne made her way to the stall, struggling for only a moment to catch the nameless filly. And while the horse didn’t spook or rear or do anything wild and crazy, I didn’t like the tension in her muscles, the position of her ears.
If Cheyenne noticed the filly’s uneasiness, she didn’t let on. Which worried me. She had a way with animals, she really did. She was smart and intuitive and she and the horse seemed to do really well together. But something didn’t feel right.
“She seems a little flighty today. You sure you wanna work her?” I asked.
