Laughing, I swatted at him and edged back so I could see his smiling face.
One of those smiles that took my breath away and made me weak in the knees.
“Mangled, huh?” I demanded playfully.
He softened, his fingers gliding through my hair. “Yeah, Sweet Thing. So twisted up it no longer knows how to beat without yours.”
My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip.
It was crazy how life could be.
How we could never anticipate the turns it would take.
How we could never predict the sharp curves in our paths or the direction each day might take.
How it only took a few months for our hearts that had been being sculpted for years to be forged into something brand new.
Something beautiful and right.
“I love you, Rhys Manning,” I murmured.
Affection tugged his lips up at the sides. “Luckiest bastard alive.”
I giggled, and he hugged me tight.
We both jerked when the door whipped open and a nurse rushed in. She stumbled a beat when she saw us then sent us a scowl. “There you are. You’re not supposed to be in her bed. You’re supposed to be in yours.”
Rhys adjusted me so I was draped over the top of him, both of us wincing but knowing this kind of connection was worth a little pain. He was looking directly at me when he spoke. “Sorry, ma’am, I mean no disrespect, but no one gets to tell me whether it’s right or wrong if I’m with my Maggie anymore.”
Reaching up to cup my face, he chuckled. Low and rough. “Turns out, I’m good with breakin’ all the rules for you.”
Giddiness leapt.
“Let’s break them together. Forever.”
“Ahh, Goddess Girl, I like the way you think.”
The nurse scowled, then Rhys shot her a smirk, and I was pretty sure she sighed. “Just for a bit. Then you need to get back to your room. You both need your rest.”
She fiddled around us while Rhys held me tight, then she eased back out without saying anything else.
“Such a rebel,” I teased.
“You always said you wanted a cowboy.”
“No, Rhys…I want a stallion.”
Love flashed across his face, and then he was tucking me against the safety of his humming heart again.
“Sing me that beautiful song you’ve been writing,” I murmured.
And that gruff, rough voice billowed into the atmosphere.
Curling me in peace.
In hope.
In this faith.
Didn’t know what was comin’
Didn’t know where I was goin’
Fallin’ faster
Comin’ slower
Lookin’ for a lover
To get lost under covers
In my whispers
In my ear
Wishing on a star
Hoping on a heart
And then you were there
I think I heard you in my sleep
I think I found you in my dreams
I think I felt you in the daylight
Give me one minute, sweetheart
And I’ll ruin everything
Thought I was a stranger
A man without shelter
A wanderer
Until I heard you whisper
And I knew that I was home
I think I heard you in my sleep
I think I found you in my dreams
I think I felt you in the daylight
I’m terrified, sweetheart
That I’m gonna ruin everything
Let’s not pretend we’re make believe
Let’s just accept this destiny
You came and rearranged everything
This heart
This soul
This joy
Everything I’d thought I’d known
This man who’d forgotten to hope
I think you heard me in your sleep
I think you found me in your dreams
I think you felt me in the daylight
Now I’m going to give you everything
Oh, Sweet Thing, I’m gonna give you everything
Epilogues
Maggie
I blazed down the two-lane road in my truck. The windows were rolled down and Sweet Thing blared from the speakers. A half-moon hovered just above the horizon where the mountains met the star-spattered sky, and the cool wind whipped my hair into chaos while my husband’s voice whipped my heart into putty.
As he sang the love song he’d written for me when our lives had been in transition. As our crooked paths had intersected and brought us together.
Right where we belonged.
It was a song that had easily been added to their album that came out last year, although Rhys had put that hashtag to rest, anyway.
The man rewriting his story into what he wanted it to be.
I slowed as I came to the road to our property, turning right and slowly taking the dirt lane to our home where it sat in a valley in Rhys’ hometown.
I was struck with a crest of energy.
My heart forever bottled in beautiful bliss.
It was a rambling old house that would forever need work, and ten horses were in the stables out back.
We were hard at work on the whole five-kid thing.
And when I pulled up to the rounded gravel lot there wasn’t a cowboy in sight.
Just a stallion where he stood on the porch fronted by flowers waiting for me, all bristling, powerful muscle and that smirking smile where he leaned on the railing.
My spirit leapt.
Jumped and danced, and I was tossing open the door, smiling wide as I slid out of the driver’s seat and grabbed my bag as I went.