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Her brown eyes were soft as she said, “You told me you would never stand in the way of following my dreams. You’re my dream, Wes. You, and Waylon and Loretta and Baby Blue.” My breath caught in my throat. “I reached out to the Poppy Mallow Inn. I’m going to renovate a few of their rooms. I followed my dreams, and they led me back to you.”

I kissed her then. It was frantic and full of disbelief. She was staying.

For good.

Ada wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her body into mine. Our kisses turned from frantic to needy as she started to unbutton my shirt. I slipped my hands under her tight black T-shirt and rubbed them up and down her back, reveling in what it was like to touch her again.

Fucking heaven.

I slid my tongue into her mouth and she moaned. God, I missed her sounds. I loved them. I loved everything about her—her body, her mind. She brought her hands to my belt. “Ada,” I warned.

“I need you,” she breathed. “I love you, Wes.” I wasn’t ashamed to admit that my dick got hard every time she said my name, and I hoped it would be that way forever. I kissed my way down her neck and bit the base of her throat.

The wild horses in my chest broke into a lope as I laid her back on the bench seat. I lifted her T-shirt so I could see her perfect tits heave as I slid into her. I watched her eyes roll back and her mouth fall open.

“Fuck, Ada,” I groaned. “I dream about you all the time. About the way you feel when we’re together.” Her breaths were fast and strangled. “My dreams don’t even come close to the real thing.”

She pulled me down to kiss her, and I went to take my hat off, but she stopped me with a hand on my chest. “Leave the cowboy hat on,” she said with a wicked smile that made my hips roll.

I kept the hat on.

—

It was almost two hours later when we rolled into Rebel Blue. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and I felt like I was on top of the world.

“I hope we didn’t miss anything,” Ada said worriedly. “I will feel terrible if we missed their entrance.”

“If we did,” I said with a grin, “it’s your fault.” Even though I knew we hadn’t missed anything. We wouldn’t have time to go and drop Ada’s stuff at our house like I’d planned, but Brooks and Emmy wouldn’t be here for another fifteen minutes.

I pulled the truck to a stop in front of the Big House. It looked like Teddy, Gus, and Dusty were already here. When we got out of the truck, I laced my fingers through Ada’s.

Inside, some soft old country was playing. I could hearvoices over the music and I could smell all of Brooks and Emmy’s favorite foods: smothered chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh bread, honeyed carrots.

All the good stuff.

When Ada and I walked into the kitchen, we were met by my dad, Hank, Gus, Riley, Teddy, and Dusty. There were smiles and hugs and “Welcome homes” for Ada. I watched her hug everyone. Her smile was genuine—I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen the tight professional smile she met us all with at first.

Ada belonged here, and everyone knew it.

“Cutting it kind of close, aren’t you?” Gus said.

“What were you two crazy kids up to?” Teddy asked with a wink. Before either of us could answer, the front door opened again and all of us went still, waiting for Brooks and Emmy to appear in the kitchen.

When they did, both of them were glossy-eyed and looked happier than a horse in an open field. Their smiles were so big that their cheeks probably hurt, and they just got bigger as they looked at all of us. Seeing Emmy and Brooks this happy made my heart soar.

“So?” Teddy asked, and Emmy giggled as she unlaced her left hand from Brooks’s and held it up for all of us to see.

My mom’s ring, a simple gold band inlaid with small diamonds, now graced her ring finger.

I’d known that Brooks had that ring in his possession since about a week after Emmy’s last race of her barrel racing career.

Cheers erupted and there were more hugs and tears. Mydad kept scrunching his nose—his telltale sign that he was an emotional mess.

Emmy was glowing and Brooks was basking in her glow. I was so fucking happy for them. There were more hugs, more tears, and more laughter. Gus gave Brooks a clap on the back, and Teddy hugged Emmy close and kissed the side of her head.

When things had settled a bit and we sat down to dinner, Ada leaned in and whispered, “I think I’d like to do that someday. With you.” I looked at her questioningly. What did she mean? She must’ve seen it on my face, because my entire world stopped for a minute when she said, “Get married, I mean.”

I kissed her temple and said, “Yes, ma’am.”