Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 159420 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 531(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159420 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 531(@300wpm)
But not before he took me out on a date, like I’d asked him to, and proposed to me in front of the whole wide world. He also married me in front of the whole wide world, or rather in front of his family and my brother.
And then we came here. The first order of business was to get this place furnished while Radisson worked on getting the ranch up and going. While I selected furniture, he hired a couple of ranch hands. He bought equipment for the farm, got the stable updated to add more horses in addition to Tulip. It took us a few months to get this place going, but it was well worth it and I loved every single second of it. Turns out, my love for the land is ever-growing and now I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Since Rawhide is a few hours’ drive away, we do go back from time to time. Me, to see my brother and Mom. And Radisson, to see Lynnie and to take care of occasional business at Rawhide. Not to mention, to handle stuff for the Rawhide Redemption since he wasn’t only the foreman of Rawhide, he was also the enforcer of their illegal prison program. These days, Mars handles it all by himself—with some help from Axton; although I’m not very clear about that part because certain things happened with Ax that no one, especially Mars, was happy about. But anyway, Radisson helps out from time to time. Mostly as a favor to Mars but also because beating up criminals and forcing them to repent is an integral part of him. Violence still runs in my husband’s veins, but it’s not driven by anger anymore. It’s simply something that lives side by side with his dreams and hopes. And somehow, I love him even more for that. For having such a strong sense of justice and morality, however twisted it may seem to the world. To me, it makes him a savior.
The green-eyed and masked savior who came to my rescue all those months ago.
We also visit Arsen and Reverie at their ranch since they don’t live at Rawhide anymore either. It’s only a few hours away, too, and I’m glad because it turns out Reverie isn’t just my best friend; she also happens to be my half sister. Unbeknown to all, my father had an affair with her mother a long time ago and the result was Reverie.
As for the past, we’re slowly leaving it behind and letting it rest. It started with him finally killing my father. After weeks of keeping him in his cabin. Anderson too. I don’t know what all he did to them; he never told me and I never asked. But from what I can assume, it wasn’t pretty, and when it was over—as in, when he’d finally killed them—he didn’t have to tell me. I could read it on his face, in his body, when he came back to the old barn one night and held me to him all night long. He didn’t sleep and neither did I. We simply lay there as he held me in his arms and kept kissing me on the forehead. When the morning came, I asked, “Is it over?”
And he nodded. “Yeah.”
And I knew. Since then, no one has asked about my father—we told everyone it was a stroke that took him—and no one came for Anderson either. So I’m guessing whatever Radisson did, the Graysons and my brother helped cover it up. Good. Since then there are still times when his demeanor does get dark; his nightmares don’t let him sleep; his headaches bother him. But he’s able to bounce back from them. He’s able to talk about them, about his past as well as the future. Talk about our life together. So no, it’s not easy, but it’s ours. Our life, our story, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
“Radisson?” I call out when he doesn’t answer. “Are you sleeping?”
“Yeah.”
I poke his ribs. “No, you’re not.”
“Only ’cause you won’t stop gabbin’.”
“You could gab with me.”
“No need, remember? You do all the talkin’ yourself.”
I poke him in the ribs again. “You’re mean.”
I both hear and feel his smile. Then, his hand moving over my belly, “Poppy if it’s a girl and West if it’s a boy.”
I go still. “What?”
“Names.”
No, I got that. It’s because we don’t know what we’re having because I want to keep it a surprise. Radisson thinks it’s nuts, but he’s going along with it because he wants me happy. In any case, we haven’t talked about names yet because I didn’t know how to bring it up. Not because he’d be upset or anything but because of the particular names I’d picked out for our baby.
“I thought,” I begin, looking back at him, “we’d name the baby Willa or Clive. After your parents.”