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Colt sighed. “I can’t believe any of this.”

Remi swallowed and sat up straighter. “I imagine it’s been a crazy day.”

“Sorry to dish out that roller coaster of a day in one five-minute burst. It was a little easier for me to get the ups and downs over the course of twelve hours.”

“Probably not.”

“I still have to sell the house. I walked a realtor through it today. They’re sending a photographer and videographer over tomorrow, so I’ve been cleaning for the last few hours.”

The exhaustion in his voice drew her heart to him, begging to latch on and let him siphon out any comfort and joy she had left. She’d give it all to him. He deserved peace. She didn’t.

“You there, princess?”

Remi nodded before remembering he couldn’t see her from the other side of the state. “Yeah. I’m here.”

“This could change things for us.”

“I don’t want it to. I like what we have here.” No, she loved their life. She wouldn’t change a thing about it.

“We could have a bigger place. A little bit of land.”

“We can, if that’s what you want, but I’d rather save as much as we can for the kids. Making a living isn’t getting any easier.”

Colt chuckled. The deep rumble sent a chill down Remi’s back. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

“I don’t want them to miss out on things, but–”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Remi released the hold she had on her shirt. Never in her wildest dreams could she have seen this coming. A husband, two kids, and a new cabin on a dude ranch. It was perfect. She understood the meaning of the word, even if Colt didn’t.

“There is some bad news.”

Remi tried to hold on to the perfect of the last few seconds, but it was already fading, being driven out and conquered by fear. “What kind of bad news?”

“This means Tasha is probably going to come out of the woodwork. She’s a close enough relative that she has to sign a waiver before any funds can be released.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not sure. Camille said it could take a while, but she doesn’t think this will be too big of a barrier. The will is solid, and it completely disinherits her by name.”

“Really? You think Tasha will just sign away the rights to everything?” From what Colt had told Remi about Brittany’s sister, the woman was a walking wrecking ball.

“If we can’t find her after a certain amount of time, the probate judge will probably default. I don’t know how all of this works, but she’ll be notified. She’ll also be able to contest guardianship.”

Remi glanced at the kids’ bedroom door. “She can’t do that.”

“Don’t panic. No judge in their right mind would choose her over us. And she might want the trust, but she’d have to win guardianship and actually raise the kids to get it. That would be too much work for her.”

“Are you sure?”Please be sure. Please be sure.

“I’m pretty sure. Really, don’t worry about it. She’ll never be the better choice for the kids. They have us.”

Remi pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. There was no way on earth Tasha would take the kids away from them. Remi would fight to the death for Ben and Abby, and Colt would be right beside her through it all.

Chapter26

Colt