Chapter 27
LENNOX
Morning comes too quickly. I pack light, just what I need for a few days, while Sebastian makes arrangements.
Eleanor appears at breakfast, somehow knowing exactly when to show up. “Montana?” she asks, pouring herself coffee like she lives here. “Good. You need perspective. Time away from the intensity of this place.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or at least makes stubborn men realize what they’re losing.” She frowns as she looks at her son.
“Mom,” Sebastian starts.
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me.” She turns to me. “I hope you don’t need six months, I expect my son is a faster learner than his father.”
“I’m right here,” Sebastian mutters and shakes his head.
“I know. That’s why I’m saying it.” Eleanor smiles sweetly. “Have you seen the twins this morning? They heard you were leaving and are devastated.”
“I saw them yesterday afternoon. I promised I’d bring them something back.”
“Rocks,” Eleanor says immediately. “Harper collects rocks. The weirder the better. And Hadley wants a snow globe if you can find one. She’s obsessed with snow since she’s never actually seen it.”
I make mental notes. “Rocks and a snow globe. Got it.”
By seven thirty, my bag is waiting by the door. Sebastian has been on the phone for the last hour, talking to Nathaniel about security rotations, to Caroline about legal strategy, to James about coordinating with local law enforcement. Running an empire while his wife prepares to leave.
At seven forty-five, Pete pulls up in one of the ranch trucks.
“Ready?” Sebastian asks, picking up my bag.
“As I’ll ever be.”
The drive to the airstrip is quiet. Sebastian sits beside me in the back, his hand finding mine on the seat between us while Pete drives.
“Text me when you land,” he says as we pull up to where the jet is waiting.
“I will.”
“And check in tonight. Even if it’s just to say you’re alive.”
“Sebastian, it’s just Montana, and I’ll be with my family. Quite possibly the only people who are more concerned about me than you are.”
“I know. But with Marshall, and the shit with Dad…” He stops, jaw clenched tight. “Just check in. Please.”
The vulnerability in that “please” catches me off guard.
“I’ll check in. Morning and night, I promise.”
Pete carries my bag to the jet while Sebastian and I stand on the tarmac. The engines are already running, and the pilot is visible through the cockpit window, running preflight checks.
“Four and a half days,” Sebastian says as he reaches out and tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
“Four and a half days,” I confirm.
He pulls me against him, and this time the hug is desperate. Like he’s afraid I won’t come back despite my promises.
“Be safe,” he murmurs into my hair. “Be careful. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know.”
“I will. I promise.”
He pulls back to look at me, his dark eyes searching mine.
“I’m coming back,” I say firmly, answering the question he doesn’t ask. “We made a deal. Then we figure out what this marriage is going to be.”
“I know what we agreed to.” But he doesn’t look convinced. “Fine.” He kisses me then, gentle, careful, nothing demanding. It feels more like a goodbye kiss, and I want to yell, I want to tell him that’s not how he kisses me, but I don’t.
When he lets me go, I climb the stairs onto the jet and take my seat, looking out to see Sebastian watching from below as the door closes between us.
The flight is smooth. Three hours of silence and expensive leather seats and too much time to think about what I am going home to. Questions from my family. Suspicion about my sudden marriage. Having to lie about how Sebastian and I actually met.
Having to pretend this is all normal.
I land at a small regional airport near Sweetwater just before noon Montana time. Through the window, I can see a familiar truck parked near the private aviation terminal. Cage, my oldest brother, is here to pick me up.
I grab my bag and head down the stairs into the cold Montana air, which feels like coming home. Cage stands by the truck, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
“Lenny Lou.” He pulls me into a hug the second I’m close enough. “You look different.”
“Different how?”
“Older. Tired. Like something heavy’s been sitting on you.” He pulls back, studies my face. “What happened in California?”
“It’s complicated.”
“That’s what you said in your text. But you’re here now, so un-complicate it.
” He tosses my bag in the truck bed. “And fair warning, Dad’s pissed.
Like, really pissed. You disappeared for months, sent Janie back with some cryptic message about being fine, and didn’t answer anyone’s calls for over a month. ”
“I know. I’ll explain.”
“You better.” He climbs into the driver’s seat. “Because right now, the only thing keeping him from driving to California and dragging you home is the fact that you’re already here.”
The drive to the ranch is tense. Cage keeps glancing at me as I stare out the window at the familiar landscape, mountains in the distance, rolling hills, and ranches spread across valleys.
Home. But it feels different now. I’ve changed so much in the last weeks that even familiar places seem foreign.
“So,” Cage finally says. “Janie mentioned you met someone. Is that true?”
My left hand is in my lap. The ring, simple, elegant, expensive, catches the light from the window.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I met someone.”
“Someone serious enough that you’re wearing a ring?” He nearly drives off the road. “Len, are you…? Is that a wedding ring?”
“Yes.”
“You got married?” His voice goes up an octave. “When? To who? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“There wasn’t time.”
“Are you pregnant?”
“No, I’m not, that’s not… no. I’d rather not have to go over this a hundred times. Can you wait until we get home?”
“Lennox, if there’s one thing I know about you, it’s you won’t talk until you’re ready. So yeah, it can wait, but only because you’re stubborn.” He grips the wheel and steps on the gas.
I don’t say anything else, just watch the house come into view, surrounded by barns and corrals and the organized chaos of a working ranch.
I’m home, for the next four and a half days, at least.
Then I have to go back to Texas. Back to Sebastian. Back to figuring out how to make our fucked-up marriage work for the next two years.
But right now, I’m home.