Page 140 of Branded Betrayal

Mikey yells orders to the other hands, who run over to help. “Keep the rest of them contained. Don’t let them out.”

Glitter gallops toward the cattle, tearing through sagebrush and low-hanging tree branches. My heart hammers hard. They’re only about a hundred feet from the fence line, kicking up dirt and grass in their wake.

Blaze veers left, pushing Lacey between the cattle and the fence in an attempt to turn them back to the pasture. I ride up, blocking them on the right so they have nowhere else to go. Lacey stops, and the cattle run right into her.

I let out a shuddering breath.

The Abbott cattle low, looking around, confused about what to do and where to go. I jump off Glitter and slowly approach the panicked cattle. Their tails are high, and their ears flicker, but they don’t make a break for it. They just watch me with wary eyes as I slowly inch toward them.

I put my hands out and keep my voice quiet. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”

They sniff my hands cautiously and huff. But they stay put. Thank God.

“Good babies. You’re safe now.” I nuzzle the soft areas under their chins, and their bodies relax.

Blaze walks up next to me, and the females nudge him with their snouts. I can’t help the grin from spreading across my face. Such flirty little girls.

“That was close,” I murmur. “If they’d have hit the fence—”

“But they didn’t,” he says. “We got them.”

I swallow hard, feeling his gaze on me, heating me from the inside out. I look up, my heart swelling.

“We make a good team,” he says, his lips quirking upward.

Something inside of me cracks open at that.

Because we do. And all of the fear and doubts and what-ifs I had about coming back here, about working alongside Blaze, about opening up again . . . they’re gone.

I finally know where I belong. I finally found my home.

It had been here all along. I just needed to find my own way back to it.

I grab him by the shirt and pull him close, my pulse rocketing at his nearness.

A flash of surprise glitters in his whiskey eyes.

I tighten my grip on him. “I love you, Blaze. So much. I-I didn’t know if we’d make it, if I’d be able to trust you again, if we could get past what happened. It scared the hell out of me.”

My voice quivers. “But the past six weeks have been amazing. Working with you, side by side, seeing what we can accomplish together, feeling like part of a team. It’s all I want. A perfect life, with you by my side.”

His gloved hands cup my face. “Savannah . . .” he whispers as he wipes away the tears slipping down my face. He dips his head low, his warm lips enveloping mine in a soul-searing kiss that makes me forget my own name for a few seconds here.

When he pulls away, he’s beaming at me with a thousand watts of happiness that makes everything inside of me tingle.

Then he drops down to one knee on the frozen ground.

I choke on a gasp when he pulls out a small box and flips it open.

“Oh my God.” I breathe, running my hand over the yellow-gold band. A small diamond glitters brightly in the center.

Simple. Perfect. Beautiful.

“I’ve carried this with me every day since you came back here,” he says, his voice thick. “I bought it before I knew if you’d be able to forgive me and move past everything that happened. I just needed to believe there was still a chance for us. I carried it with me with the hope that someday, you’d look at me exactly the way you are right now. The hope that we’d find forever together.”

He clears his throat. “I know I messed up. But you gave me a chance to rebuild your trust, to become the partner you deserve.” His lips tremble as he holds up the ring. “Savvie, will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of my life loving you and making an incredible life with you?”

“Yes,” I say, smiling through my tears as he pulls off my glove and slides the band onto my finger. “Yes!”