Chapter 40 Lucinda
Lucinda
The mahogany table stretches endlessly before me, its polished surface reflecting the gray Manhattan sky pressing against floor-to-ceiling windows.
I trace my finger along the cool wood, counting the empty chairs that should be filled with board members in twenty minutes. Twenty-seven seats. Twenty-seven voices that will dissect quarterly reports and profit margins while I sit here feeling like a fraud in a designer suit.
Two months. Two months since I left Briarhaven. Left them. And every day feels like I'm slowly suffocating in silk scarves and shareholder meetings.
The irony isn't lost on me. I spent two years running from a cage, only to build myself a prettier one with corner offices and executive assistants.
Sure, I've hired the best CEO money can buy. Sure, I've assembled a board I actually trust.
But sitting here in this sterile tower, surrounded by the hum of air conditioning and the distant honking of traffic, all I can think about is the sound of wind through Montana pines and the way Gabriel's laugh rumbled like distant thunder.
Stop it, Lucy. I press my palms flat against the table, feeling the cool bite of the surface anchor me to reality. This is your life now.
My phone buzzes with another text from my assistant Diana about catering preferences for today's meeting.
I should care about whether we serve artisanal croissants or imported Danish, but all I can think about is Beau's coffee, strong enough to wake the dead, served in chipped mugs that had seen more life than this entire building.
They tried to reach you, my conscience whispers. You're the one who told Diana to tell them to "politely fuck off" when they called.
Yeah, well. I was drowning in lawyers and legacy and learning how to run an empire I never wanted. I was overwhelmed and terrified and missing them so badly I could barely breathe.
So I did what I always do.
I built walls and pretended I was fine.
Now they've gone radio silent, and I can't blame them. Who wants to chase a woman who keeps running?
The boardroom door opens with a soft whoosh, and I straighten in my chair, expecting Diana with her usual pre-meeting briefings. Instead, she pokes her head in with a grin that looks suspiciously like mischief.
"Miss Kensington? You have some... visitors."
Before I can ask what that cryptic smile means, she's stepping aside, and my heart stops dead in my chest.
Three men fill the doorway like they own it. Three men in worn Wranglers and scuffed boots, cowboy hats in hand, looking so out of place in this glass-and-steel monument to corporate power that they might as well be mythical creatures.
But they're real. They're here. And they're staring at me like I'm the only thing in this room worth looking at.
Beau stands in the center, every inch the commanding presence I remember, his gray eyes finding mine and holding steady.
To his left, Colt shifts his weight, green eyes blazing with that familiar intensity that used to make my knees weak.
And Gabriel, stands like a wall of controlled power, his deep blue gaze drinking me in like he's been starving.
For a moment, nobody speaks. The only sound is my heart hammering against my ribs and the distant buzz of the city forty floors below.
Then Beau steps forward, slow and deliberate, and when he speaks, his voice carries that same quiet authority that used to unravel me completely.
"We're here to answer your question, sunshine."
My throat feels like sandpaper. "What question?"
"The one you asked before you left." Colt's voice is rougher than I remember, edged with something that might be pain or hope or both. "How can we make it right again?"
Behind them, Diana is already moving toward the massive screen that usually displays profit margins and market analyses. Gabriel follows her, pulling a pen from his pocket and handing it to her, and I watch in stunned silence as they set up some kind of presentation.
"What are you—"
"Actions speak louder than words," Colt cuts me off, settling into a chair across from me.
"Since you're a powerful businesswoman now, we figured we'd do this your way."
The screen flickers to life, and suddenly I'm looking at the Blackwell Ranch logo. My chest tightens as Gabriel takes his place beside the screen, every inch the commanding officer even in civilian clothes.
"We understand if you never want to hear from us again," he says, his voice carrying that careful control I know means he's holding back everything he really wants to say. "We got the hint when Diana told us to politely fuck off."
"That wasn't—" I start, but Beau raises a hand, gentle but firm.
"Let us say our piece, darlin'. We've come a long way to get this right."
Darlin'. The endearment hits me like a physical blow, and I have to grip the edge of the table to keep from falling apart right here in front of them.
"You asked us once," Beau continues, his drawl wrapping around each word like honey and whiskey, "whether we loved Lucy or Lucinda. We're here to present our case."
The screen changes, and suddenly I'm looking at a picture of Briarhaven's main street, all wooden storefronts and mountain backdrop, and the homesickness hits me so hard I actually gasp.
"Proposal," Gabriel reads from the screen, his voice steady and professional. "A comprehensive business plan for the acquisition and retention of one Lucinda Kensington-Reid, also known as Lucy Reid, also known as the woman who owns our hearts."
Oh my God. They're actually doing this. They're actually presenting a business case for loving me, and it's ridiculous and perfect and I'm about to cry all over my designer blazer.
The presentation continues, slide after slide of Montana landscapes and memories.
There's the creek where I parked my van that first day. Colt’s veterinary clinic, with Tyson seating proudly at the entrance door.
The sheriff's station where Gabriel looked at me like I was trouble he wanted to handle personally.
Beau's ranch house, windows glowing warm against the twilight.
They take turns speaking, their voices weaving together like a song I'd forgotten I knew.
"Exhibit A," Colt says, pointing to a picture of cattle being herded by Dusty. "Subject has demonstrated exceptional compatibility with Montana wildlife and livestock. Especially stubborn, wounded strays who need someone to believe in them again."
Another image and my throat burns. Darcy. They're showing me Darcy, healthy and whole and playing in a field I recognize as Beau's.
"Exhibit B," Beau's turn now, and the screen shows people.
Doc Harrison, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Cross, Emma, all seating at the diner with laughing faces.
Faces I remember with fondness. "Subject has shown remarkable ability to integrate with the local community despite initial resistance and natural suspicion of authority figures. "
"Hey," I protest weakly, but Gabriel's already moving to the next slide.
"Exhibit C," he says, and this time it's a picture of the three of them together, standing in front of what looks like a construction site. "Applicants have taken significant steps toward long-term sustainability and shared living arrangements."
The next slide makes my heart stop.
It's a house. A beautiful, sprawling ranch home with wraparound porches and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over a familiar creek. The same spot where I parked my van that first day, where I sat by the water and wondered if I'd finally found something worth staying for.
"That's—" I can barely get the words out. "I don't remember a house there."
"That's because we built it," Colt says simply. "In the last two months. While you were gone."
"You built me a house?"
"We built us a house," Beau corrects, his voice soft but firm. "Figure you shouldn't have to choose which place to call home anymore. Because make no mistake, sunshine, we're all gonna build a life together. We decided to build it where it all began."
I'm crying now, actual tears sliding down my cheeks, and I don't even care that I'm probably ruining my makeup.
They built us a house.
In two months. While I was hiding behind lawyers and board meetings and pretending I didn't miss them every single second of every single day.
But I can't just give in that easily. I've spent too long protecting my heart to surrender without one last test.
"What if—" I have to clear my throat, force the words past the emotion clogging my voice. "What if I want to stay in New York?"
The three of them exchange a look, and then Gabriel's moving to the next slide. This one shows a map, with lines connecting Montana to New York.
"Already thought of that," Gabriel says. "Got a friend who runs private security here in the city. Says he can always use someone with my particular skill set."
"Animals are animals," Colt adds with a shrug that doesn't fool me for a second. "City vets, country vets, sick is sick, hurt is hurt. Figure I can help anything with four legs, no matter what zip code it's in."
"Ranch can be managed remotely," Beau finishes, his gray eyes never leaving mine. "Maybe it's time I stopped waking up at the crack ass of dawn anyway."
The emotion hits me like a physical blow. They would do that. They would leave everything, Gabriel's position, Colt's clinic, Beau's legacy ranch, just to be with me.
"You would do that?" I whisper. "You'd give up everything for me?"
"Sunshine," Beau says, his voice rough with emotion, "there ain't nothing we wouldn't do for you. Only thing we want is you. We'll take you any way we can get you."
That's it. That's the moment my careful composure completely shatters.
I'm out of my chair before I even realize I'm moving, crossing the space between us in three quick strides, and then Gabriel's catching me as I launch myself at him.
His arms come around me like they never left, solid and warm and home, and I'm sobbing into his shoulder while Colt and Beau close in around us.
"I'm sorry," I choke out between tears. "I'm so sorry. I was scared and overwhelmed and I missed you so much I could barely breathe, but I thought…I thought maybe you were better off without me and all my baggage and—"
"Hush, trouble," Gabriel murmurs into my hair, his voice thick with emotion. "You're talking nonsense. We are the ones that will be apologizing for the rest of our lives."
"No more running," Colt says fiercely, his hand tangling in my hair. "You hear me, shortie? No more fucking running."
"Never again," Beau promises, his palm warm against my back. "We're not letting you go again, sunshine. Not ever."
I pull back just enough to look at them and see everything I was too scared to believe before.
Love. Pure, uncomplicated, unwavering love. For Lucy and Lucinda and every messy, complicated piece of me in between.
"I love you," I tell them, the words spilling out like a dam breaking. "All of you. I love how Gabriel makes me feel safe enough to be vulnerable. I love how Colt challenges me and sees right through my bullshit. I love how Beau loves quietly but completely, like I'm something precious. I love—"
Colt cuts me off with a kiss that tastes like coming home, rough and desperate and perfect. When he finally lets me breathe, Beau's there, his mouth gentler but no less devastating. And then Gabriel, whose kiss carries promises of protection and forever and everything I thought I'd lost.
When we finally break apart, I'm laughing through my tears, giddy with relief and joy and the overwhelming certainty that this is where I belong.
"So," I say, trying for some semblance of composure and failing miserably. "I guess this means the presentation was successful?"
"Unanimous vote from the board," Gabriel says solemnly, but his eyes are dancing with warmth.
"Motion carried," Beau agrees, pressing a kiss to my temple.
"Meeting adjourned," Colt adds with a grin that's pure trouble.
Diana chooses that moment to poke her head back in, her grin so wide it threatens to split her face. "Should I cancel the actual board meeting, Miss Reid?"
I look around the sterile conference room, then at the three men who just traveled across the country to win me back with a business presentation and a house built on hope.
"Cancel everything, Diana. I'm going home."
"Which home?" she asks, though her tone suggests she already knows the answer.
I look at my cowboys and feel my heart settle into a rhythm it's been missing for two months.
"The one with the wraparound porch and the creek out back. The one where the coffee's strong and the men are stronger and love comes with no apologies."
"Montana it is," Diana says with a laugh. "I'll call the jet."
As the door closes behind her, Colt pulls me back against his chest, his arms caging me in like he's never letting go.
"You sure about this, shortie? No more second thoughts?"
I lean back against him, feeling Gabriel's hand settle on my waist and Beau's fingers trace my cheek, and for the first time in two months, I can breathe again.
"I'm sure. I'm finally, completely sure."
Because this isn't about choosing between Lucy and Lucinda anymore. It's about choosing love over fear, trust over control, home over hiding.
It's about choosing them.
And that's the easiest decision I've ever made.