Chapter 81
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
LOLA
Song- Beautiful Things, Benson Boone
Home.
The place my heart guided me to. Hundreds of miles away from New York. In the middle of a ranch. Surrounded by people who love me.
Not for what I post online. Or how I look in a swimsuit.
People who love me for who I am beneath all of that.
A man who will pick my bloodied body off the floor and beg me to wake up.
A best friend who never leaves my side. Who feels my pain as I do hers.
And a little boy who stole my heart the second he smiled at me.
Who carved his way into my soul. He might not be my son by blood, but he is where it counts.
I’ve even got siblings I never thought I’d have. Brothers. Ace and Colten proved they accept me with Hunter. That I am one of them.
My soul has never been more at peace.
And now I stand on the porch of our house, with a cherry-red welcome home banner across the wood. One hand in Hunter’s, the other in Wyatt’s.
“How does it feel?” Hunter asks.
“Perfect,” I whisper, fighting my emotions and failing.
The door swings open, and Violet races towards me and carefully wraps her arms around me. “I was going to apologize for bringing you to New Falls, Lola. I really started to regret it. After everything. But actually, I think you’re right where you belong.”
I choke on a sob.
“Never apologize. Bringing me here with you was the best thing you could have ever done.”
Despite the concussion, and thinking I was dying. Even then, I still wouldn’t have traded my time here. The love I found on this ranch.
Violet squeals and pulls back, and I burst into laughter as Gary headbutts her leg. “What the hell!”
Wyatt ushers his goat away, and Hunter watches him.
“I’m glad the goat had a go at someone else and not just me this time,” Hunter mutters.
I nudge his side. “He loves you really.”
He scoffs. “No. He really doesn’t, Lola.”
I laugh, listening to Wyatt chasing after his favorite goat. The rest of the crowd flows through the door. Ace and Colten, and then my parents.
I look up at Hunter, who has the face of a guilty man. “I told them they could stay on the ranch,” he says, leaning in and wrapping his arm around my waist.
“Not in our house, right? Like somewhere else?”
He chuckles. “Yes. One of the guesthouses on the land.”
Phew.
We might be building bridges, but that is a step too far.
I turn to Hunter, running my hands up his chest. “How long are they staying for?”
He chews on his lip. “Just a couple of days. And then they will be back for our wedding.”
I gasp as Hunter drops down onto one knee, opening up the black box with his mother's engagement ring in it and a brand new diamond wedding band.
“Lola. My firefly. I know I said the first time, I’m not a man who’s going to get down on his knee to ask you to marry him.
I take that back. Because this is right where I want to be.
Down here on the dirt, asking you if you’ll have me as your husband for the rest of our lives.
Because I love you. I love you so much I can’t even think about a future where you aren’t beside me.
I want to do this right and give you everything you deserve, and more.
So Lola… will you do me the honor of marrying me again? ”
I nod before the words come out. Glancing over, Wyatt is behind Hunter with Gary at his side, giving me the cheekiest grin and nodding his head.
“Yes. Yes. Cowboy. I’ll marry you as many times as you want.”
He stands and lifts me into his arms, and then his lips brush over mine. “Forever, firefly. I want to love you with every breath I take.”
“I love you more, husband,” I breathe out.
This is where I want to spend the rest of my life.
Ride or die.
“Now, let me get you in there so I can be your nurse,” Hunter whispers against my lips.
“My nurse, hmm? Are you a naughty nurse, Mr. Sterling?”
He tilts his head, biting back a grin. “Extremely. You just gotta be a good girl and listen, and you’ll get all the rewards,” he murmurs against my mouth.
My whole body ignites. “Looks like you'd best take me to my bed,” I tell him.
He shakes his head. “Family lunch first. They’ve spent all morning putting this together for you.”
I smile as he pulls back and slides both rings back onto my finger, where they belong. “I should have never taken those off,” I whisper, looking down at the ground, the guilt pressing against my chest.
He wraps his arm around me, pulling me against his side and pressing a kiss to my temple. “I forgot it ever happened, firefly. They’re back where they should be now, that’s all that matters.”
I look down at Hunter’s hand, and his ring is there; he never took it off.
“I promise, they will stay there now forever.”
He smiles. “I promise you that too.”
Wyatt launches himself at us and Hunter picks him up, and the three of us cuddle.
“So Lola stays forever, right?” Wyatt asks.
Another wave of tears rushes out of me. “I promised you I’d never leave you, Wyatt. I meant it. You’ve got me always.” I tell him.
He rests his head against my cheek. “Can I call you mommy? Please. Like all the time?”
I look over his head at Hunter. I don’t want to overstep, but it feels right.
It feels like I was meant to be that person to him.
But I wasn’t sure if it was just the stress of what happened to us and of me being that motherly figure to him.
I want Wyatt to figure it out in his own time. He can call me whatever he wants.
“You can call me whatever you like, Wyatt. But, I’d love that,” I say.
“I always wanted a mommy and daddy who loved me.”
Hunter closes his eyes. I can feel his pain. But I know he did everything he could to give this boy double the love over the years.
He gave everything to make sure Wyatt was happy. But he doesn’t have to do it alone. He has me by his side. And we get to give this little boy the life he deserves.
One full of laughter and mischief.
And so much love.
A childhood I missed out on, I get to provide for this little boy.
“We do love you, lots and lots, Wyatt, no matter what you call me,” I tell him.
Hunter kisses my temple, and then his sons. “You two are the world to me.”
No matter what, I am bound to Hunter Sterling and this little boy. I believe he was part of my destiny. I never felt at peace in New York because that isn’t where I was meant to be.
Sterling Ranch is where I found myself.
Where I found love. Where I found a family.
And I know that through anything, I’ve got a man who will burn the world down for me.