Page 119 of Bailey

Georgia: <3 <3 <3

Otis: I hear nothing but good things about your clinic, Bay. Congrats on applying for the grant.

Bailey read through the many messages as they continued to come in, all of them proclaiming their love for her or acknowledging that they’d pray for her. As she watched, she realized that this love and this support had existed for much longer than she even knew.

From the moment she’d told Bryce about their baby, in fact. She hadn’t felt it then, and she hadn’t known it existed, and yet…it had. She knew now. She’d felt it before, and it flowed freely through her again.

Tears formed in her eyes and tracked down toward her ears. She wiped them quickly—and dang near fell out of the hammock when Reeves said, “Good, you’re still in the hammock.”

She dropped her phone to her stomach and lifted her head to find her handsome cowboy toeing off his cowboy boots. He grinned at her as shock kept her mute, and then he crowded right into the hammock with her.

He took her phone and tucked it into his back pocket as he eased her into his embrace. “You applied for the grant?”

“Yes,” she managed to say right before he touched his mouth to hers. He kissed her as passionately as ever, albeit in a slow, almost carefree way too.

When he pulled back, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to lay in the hammock with you.”

She smiled up at him. “So you came back?”

“No.” He leaned closer, his lips catching on hers as he said, “I came home.”

CHAPTER

FORTY-FOUR

Reeves loved holding Bailey in his arms, the slow afternoon seemingly coming to a stop. He’d been a touch uneasy about leaving to go camping this weekend as it was, as he’d only seen Bailey once since their discussion on Monday night.

He wanted to honor her request for time, and they had been texting, with a phone call here and there. She’d cooked on Wednesday night, and they’d eaten dinner with Stockton and Ronnie.

Reeves liked them a lot, and Ronnie seemed set to take over his father’s role in the massive energy company here in town. Stockton had started seeing someone new, after the woman he’d been dating for most of last year had ended things with him. Bailey could get a lot of information out of them without being pushy, and Reeves only added that ability to her long list of admirable traits.

He’d sat with the things she’d said too, and her concerns about his fame had followed him around the farm and into his office. He normally did his camping trips in the middle of the week, as the campgrounds were empty then, but Yellowstone National Park hosted millions of visitors every year, and he’d taken the campsite he could get, when he could get it.

“I should probably call the ranger and let him know I won’t be using the campsite at the lake.” He simply didn’t want a screen in front of his face right now.

“Mm.” Bailey didn’t move, and he really liked the way she’d curled into his chest and wrapped one arm around his waist.

“Bay,” he whispered. “I don’t want to rush you, and I can give you more time.”

She hummed again, and Reeves took that as permission to keep talking. “I came home, because I want to be with you this weekend.” He took a breath, the words he needed to say practically foaming in the back of his throat. “I came home, because I didn’t want to do the video. I just want you to know I would give up the filming, the channel, all of it.”

He gazed up into the brilliant blue sky above, with wisps of clouds floating through it. “I came home, because I’m in love with you, and I wanted you to know. Maybe it would—I don’t know—influence some of what you’re taking time to work through.”

Bailey sat up, pushing her palm against his chest to do so. Her gorgeous eyes searched his, and Reeves simply let her look. He had nothing to hide from her. Not anymore.

“You’re the one I want to see me for who I really am,” he said. “Not some camping guy online.” He reached up and brushed her hair back off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “And I want you to know I see you clearly. I see our life together here, on these two farms that we’ll merge into one, in great detail. I’ve felt it for a while, and every time we’re together, another piece falls into place.”

He smiled at her, enjoying the surprise in her expression a little too much. “You’ve made my life so much brighter than I ever thought it could be. I wasn’t living until I met you, and now it’s like there’s color and life everywhere.”

He swallowed, though everything he’d said so far had come out fairly easily. He just had a few more words to say, and then he prayed Bailey would respond.

“I love you,” he said, feeling the simplicity in the words as they left his throat. He grinned again, the beauty of his feelings filling him over and over again. “Yeah, that’s all I wanted to say.”

Silence rained down on them then, and Reeves knew Bailey well enough to give her time to absorb his words, examine her thoughts, and then react.

“I don’t want you to quit the channel,” she whispered. “I’m fine with you being Reeves-the-Teton-Mountain-Man, as long as I’m the one who gets Reeves-the-Man, and as long as we can figure out a way to keep our personal lives out of the frame.”