Chapter Thirty-One
I wake up in Bryce’s arms. He’s curled in behind me, and I feel his morning erection resting against my backside.
“What time is it?” I ask as I blink the sleep from my eyes.
“Early,” he says as he slides his hand around to caress my breast. “I need to get up and help Cabe.”
“Oh,” I say as I arch into his touch.
His hand travels down between my legs. “Always wet for me,” he growls.
I bring one leg back and hook it over his hip. Opening myself to him.
He slides into me gently from behind as his hand lazily circles my clit.
“I like having you in my bed in the morning,” he says as he buries his face in my neck.
“Me too,” I gasp as he slowly pumps in and out of me.
Today’s a big day.
Bryce’s attorney is flying in from Fort Worth, and he, Daddy, Bryce, and Matty are going to sit down with our attorney and hammer out the business plan for the soon-to-be Raintree-Storm Rodeo Academy.
When they sat me and Shelby down to get our input, I thought Shelby was gonna combust.
She deserves this. She sacrificed a lot to come home and help when we needed her.
This opportunity will not only allow her to build her reputation as a trainer, but with the proposed fall and spring sessions Bryce wants the school to operate under—avoiding the summer’s peak heat and giving students time to prepare for the main rodeo season—it will also give her the chance to compete again if she chooses to.
After the meeting with the attorneys, Bryce is headed to Texas to meet with Shawn and the rest of his team with the business plan in hand, breaking the news that their grand scheme didn’t pan out and he’ll be rejoining the Pbr circuit at the end of August and that he plans to retire after fulfilling all his current contracts.
He’s hoping they will be on board, but he’s prepared to part ways if they aren’t.
Somewhere along the way, he forgot that he’s the boss and they all work for him.
My cowboy’s ready to take the reins of his life back.
They’d be stupid if they gave up on him now.
Bull Rope Whiskey has been flying off shelves worldwide.
That partnership alone is going to be bringing in millions of dollars for years to come.
And when the announcement of the new rodeo school breaks?
Cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country are going to be fighting for the chance to be trained by one of their heroes—the legend.
Not that I’m going to be calling him that anytime soon. His ego is still as tall as the Teton mountains, and a girl’s gotta keep her man in check.
Something thuds against the window by the bed, and then Cabe’s voice, loud and amused, calls out, “Hurry up, superstar. You’re burning daylight.”
“Fuck off,” Bryce shouts back as he continues to slide in and out of me, making us both late for our morning chores.
I find Grandma and Grandpa in the garden, standing among the tomato vines.
The sun’s just starting to dip low. Grandpa’s standing behind Grandma with his arms around her waist, her head leaned back against his chest as they watch the horizon.
It’s one of those sights that makes you stop for a second.
Quiet, simple, but full of something so deep that you can feel it in your bones.
“Hey,” I call out, stepping off the porch with my glass of sweet tea. “What’s got you two acting all lovey-dovey this evening?”
Grandma turns her head, her silver hair catching the last of the sunlight. “Oh, hush,” she says with a smile that softens every line on her face. “Can’t a woman enjoy her husband without her granddaughter teasing her about it?”
Grandpa chuckles. “Oh, Charli girl, you’ll understand one day,” he muses.
“I just finished my last session with Pearl,” I say as I settle into one of the rockers near the porch rail. “She conquered her horse-riding mountain, so now she’s moving on to less dangerous hobbies.”
Grandma’s brows lift. “Good for her. You should be proud of that, sweetheart.”
Pearl’s success means the end of another project. Another goodbye.
“Yeah,” I murmur. “She was a lot of fun. I hope I’m that spry when I get to be her age.”
Grandpa glances back toward the fields, the breeze tugging at his hat brim. “You did right by her,” he says. “That’s what matters. You gave her the confidence to tackle a fear. Not a lot of folks can say that about people they train.”
I glance out at the sprawling pastures beyond the fence. The grass waves gently, dotted with horses grazing lazily in the fading light.
“This place sure is beautiful,” I say. “It’s crazy to think about all the changes that are coming.”
Grandma’s smile deepens. “Yes. we’re just standing here, enjoying the fruits of our labor,” she says, turning back toward the view.
I raise a brow. “Fruits of your labor, huh?”
She chuckles softly, resting her hands over Grandpa’s.
“This ranch was nothing but a house, a barn, and a prayer when we took it over from your great-grandparents. I was just a teenager, and Earl here had just come home from the war. We didn’t have much—just a couple of horses and a whole lot of determination. ”
Grandpa laughs quietly. “We were too young and too proud to know what we were getting into. But we had dreams, didn’t we, sweetheart?”
She nods, eyes shining. “We sure did.”
I look between them, feeling that tug in my chest again. “Well, you guys did good.”
Grandpa gives a low hum of agreement. “We did our part. Then your parents came along and did theirs.”
Grandma’s gaze softens as she looks at me. “And now it’s you girls. Taking it and leaving your own mark on it. The dream keeps changing, keeps growing. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Her words make my throat tighten. “You make it sound easy.”
She shakes her head gently. “It wasn’t. Lord knows it wasn’t.”
Grandpa pulls her closer, his chin resting on the top of her head. “But we didn’t give up. That’s the thing about this ranch. It’s built on folks who refuse to give up.”
I stare at the horizon, where the fields blur into the dark line of the Tetons.
“Wildhaven Storm Ranch,” I murmur. “An eleven-thousand-acre legacy.”
Grandma’s eyes lift to mine, full of something fierce and proud. “It’s not just the land. It’s the people. This place has always been held together by grit and grace. By family who believed, even when everything else told them not to.”
Grandpa nods. “You can lose a lot of things in life, but if you hold on to faith and each other, you’ll always find a way.”
His voice cracks just slightly, and I know he’s thinking of Mom.
For a moment, none of us says anything. The evening settles heavy and sweet around us.
Then Grandma continues, “This ranch has seen it all—droughts, floods, rival ranches trying to buy us out, even horse thieves. We’ve lost lots—horses, people we loved.
” She pauses, eyes glistening. “But we never lost hope. Because it’s not the good times that shape you.
It’s the hard ones. That’s where character is forged. Right there in the fire.”
I look down to where their hands are joined, at the veins that map across them like tiny rivers. “Sometimes, I wish the fire would just … cool down for a while,” I whisper.
She smiles. “You and me both, sweetheart.”
It hits me then—what she’s really saying. This ranch isn’t just fences and barns and horses. It’s the blood, sweat, and tears of every person who came before us. It’s our story, written in dirt.
I glance at them again—Grandpa still holding Grandma, both of them looking out like they can already see the next generation running across these fields.
For a long moment, I don’t say anything. I just let myself watch them—two people who built a beautiful life together. The way Grandpa still traces slow circles over her hands. The way she leans back against him like that’s exactly where she’s meant to be.
I want that. I want to build a life with my cowboy. One that we can be proud to hand down to the next generation.
The crunch of gravel coming down the road draws our attention, and a thrill shoots through me. “They’re back,” I squeal.
Grandma’s face lights up, and she shifts from dreamy nostalgia to all business in an instant. “Well, now, come on, Earl. Help me set the table for supper so they can tell us all about it.”