Page 4 of Promised Cowboy
That was my first instinct when I hit the county line earlier this evening. But after four days on the road, I needed a hot shower and a few minutes to clear my head before seeing her. This isn’t the kind of thing you walk into covered in road dust and smelling like diesel.
Besides, she’s staying at Wyatt’s place. There’s plenty of time.
I grab my duffel from the passenger seat and head toward the house. The porch light’s already on, moths flitting around the bulb, and the comforting creak of the screen door welcomes me like always.
I’m halfway through the door when I hear it.
Her voice.
Light. Familiar. Musical.
It stops me cold.
“…no, Mr. Walker, really. I’m happy to help wherever I can. Wyatt’s been running on fumes, and Rachel’s still adjusting to the new schedule. Besides, it feels good to be back out here.”
My heart kicks hard against my ribs.
She’s here.
Now.
Inside my house.
Before I can fully gather myself, my father’s voice follows. “Well, you know you’re always welcome here, Lacey. You’re like family to us. Lord knows you’ve spent enough time at Silver Creek over the years, running wild with this one.”
I hear the grin in his voice.
My throat goes dry. The knot I thought I had worked out over four hours of driving cinches tight again.
I step into the kitchen doorway, and there she is.
Lacey Monroe.
Sitting at my father’s kitchen table like she’s never been gone.
She’s wearing one of those soft flannel shirts she always loved, sleeves rolled to her elbows, hair pulled back in a loose braid that drapes over her shoulder. Her face lights with laughter at something Dad says, and for half a second, I’m eighteen again, sitting on the tailgate of my truck while she laughed at some stupid joke under the stars.
But this isn’t eighteen-year-old Lacey.
She’s a woman now.
More beautiful than I remembered—which shouldn’t be possible. Softer somehow, but stronger too. The hard edges from city life haven’t taken away the glow that always lived inside her. If anything, being back here sharpens it.
As if she feels me before she sees me, her head turns. Her eyes land on mine.
For one beat, neither of us speaks.
And just like that, every mile I’ve driven, every year we’ve spent apart, collapses into this one moment.
“Colton,” she says softly.
My name on her lips shouldn’t carry this much weight, but it does.
I clear my throat, suddenly hyperaware of the heat creeping up the back of my neck. “Hey, darlin’. Didn’t expect to find you here tonight.”
Dad chuckles, oblivious to the thousand unspoken things hanging in the air between us. “Caught her trying to help Mason out this afternoon while I was finishing up paperwork. Told her she might as well stay for supper since you were due back any minute.”
Lacey smiles, a little shy now, as if realizing the surprise of her being here might’ve thrown me. “I hope you don’t mind. Your dad insisted.”