Page 41 of Unyielding (Poplar Springs #3)

FORTY-ONE

SHANNON

J osh walked into the kitchen wearing a triumphant expression.

“Just spoke with John Pembroke and he’s in. Said he had no clue that things went south with Declan and Ruth, and he’d be happy to stand up for him at the next Cattlemen’s Association meeting.”

“That’s fantastic. He was a sticky one,” I said, grinning at Josh. “Thanks!”

“Yay,” Zoe cheered. “I’ll check him off the spreadsheet.”

Between Josh and I, we’d already reached out to a dozen ranchers and farmers in the area ready to vouch for Declan in a big way—the kind of way that would get the undecideds off the fence.

I felt like I was working a political campaign, plotting out the best ways to approach each person and brainstorming with the rest of the group anything that might go wrong during a call.

It didn’t matter that Declan and I were through, the least I could do was hold up my end of the agreement and try to salvage his future in Poplar Springs.

Fiona and Eli came into the kitchen with his son, Patrick, trailing behind them.

“We’re back. We just talked to Owen at the supply store. And we ran into Dave Mullins while we were there, and they’re both on board,” Fiona said.

“And I put the call out to a bunch of foremen in the area, and they’re willing to speak up for Declan too,” Eli said.

I looked around the room and felt a swell of love for my family.

The minute I’d asked them to help, they’d stepped up and gotten to work.

Zoe didn’t have ranch connections, but she kept the spreadsheet with everyone’s names updated as we made our calls.

With a little Cafferty can-do, we were slowly turning the tide in favor of Declan taking over the practice.

Patrick climbed up on the bench next to the table and grabbed an apple, then took off for the sitting room.

“How many more do we have to call?” I asked Zoe.

She leaned closer to the screen and said, “We still have about twenty to go. The next one on your list is Don Potts.”

I nodded and started dialing again.

“Daddy,” Patrick yelled from the other room. “Somebody’s here.”

Everyone in the kitchen stopped and looked around.

“You expecting someone?” Josh asked, glancing at Fiona and me.

We shook our heads in unison, and I walked to the window.

“Is that…?” I trailed off as Fiona joined me at the window.

“You know it is!” Fiona answered, clapping her hands. “Yes! Get out there!”

She shoved me toward the door as I tried to straighten my rumpled shirt and smooth my hair.

The truck came to a stop right in front of the porch stairs. I wasn’t sure what to make of the unfamiliar horse trailer, but I didn’t have a chance to think about it as Declan unfolded himself from the driver’s seat.

“Hi,” he said. “Sorry to drop by unannounced. Again.”

It took everything in my power to keep from running down the steps and straight into his arms. It felt like I hadn’t seen him in weeks, and now here he was, standing in front of me all five o’clock shadow-y and handsome, looking like he had a secret.

“No problem at all,” I replied, remaining formal until I could figure out what was going on. “Were your ears ringing? Because we’ve been calling?—”

“Yeah, I heard. Thank you,” he said, his smile finally breaking through. “John Pembroke called me on the way over. Said Josh talked to him.”

“Wow, the Poplar Springs gossip train runs even faster than I realized.”

“I really appreciate that you guys are pulling for me.” He crossed his arms and leaned against his truck.

I finally walked down the steps to stand in front of him. “I screwed up, Declan. You lost the practice because of my feud with Becca, so I wanted to do whatever I could to try to fix it. I figured reaching out to everyone individually would be a good place to start.”

“It’s an amazing start.”

“I hope it’ll be enough to get Ruth to rethink you buying her practice.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary,” he replied. “You guys can stop calling everyone.”

I felt my stomach dip. It was too late. Declan must have found a new practice somewhere else. He was leaving and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Oh? Okay, um, I guess I should run inside and tell them?” I pointed over my shoulder, trying to focus on anything but the sadness welling up inside of me.

“Well, I guess it won’t hurt to keep going a little while longer. Seeing as I’m going to be practicing here, every little vote of confidence helps.”

“Wait…” I wasn’t sure what I’d just heard. “What?”

“Ruth changed her mind. She’s selling me the practice after all.”

I remained frozen for a half second to process the news before throwing myself into his arms.

“Declan, congrats!” I said, the words muffled against him as I tried not to greedily inhale his scent. He’d gotten what he wanted, but I still wasn’t sure what he thought about us .

I backed away, even though it felt like Declan was reluctant to let go of me.

“What changed?” I asked, trying to slow my racing heartbeat.

Declan laughed. “Ruth. Her exact quote was ‘Fuck em,’ they ain’t got a choice. They’ll figure out how good you are soon enough.’”

I could picture Ruth’s defiant expression as she spoke her mind.

“Wow, I can’t believe you’re really staying,” I said.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Because I’m ready to fight for what I love.”

“Well, you’re such a great fit at the practice. I’m glad you fought for it,” I started, but Declan closed the distance between us before I could finish.

“Shannon.” He reached out to gently grasp my arms, sending a shiver cascading through me. “ You are what I’m fighting for. I’m fighting for us.”

Something in my chest constricted, making it hard to breathe.

“You mean…”

“Yes. I’m in love with you, Shannon Cafferty.”

Declan stared into my eyes, then leaned down and pressed his lips to mine before I could say another word.

It was all the confirmation I needed.

The kiss seemed to last forever until an annoyed whinny and kick from inside the trailer interrupted us.

“Who’s in there anyway?”

The mischievous smile returned to his face. “Oh, just a sweet horse named Sunshine. She’s looking for a new home.”

My mouth dropped open, and I backed away from Declan in shock.

“ No .”

He nodded. “Oh yes, she’s yours.”

“But how did you…”

“I pulled some strings, called in a few favors and convinced Becca that she needed to trade up to a different mare better suited to breeding racehorses instead of ranch horses. But according to Ruth, you’re the one who made out in the deal.”

I ran to the trailer to peek in the window, then back to Declan with my mouth still hanging open.

“No one’s going to mess with Lost Valley Ranch again, you have my word,” he said, holding my gaze.

I walked over to him and nestled against his chest, squeezing my eyes shut and finally allowing myself to breathe him in. “I don’t need your word as long as I have you.”

I leaned back and looked up at him as tears filled my eyes.

“Done,” Declan answered. “I’m yours.”

“You’re not going anywhere?”

“Why would I? I’m home.”

He dropped his mouth to mine and as we kissed, I realized that home was always going to be in his arms.