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It made me chuckle at the years Gretchen and I thought having two toddlers was bad. Now, I had two middle schoolers all on my own.
“Then I’ll give you different braids,”
Life wasn’t easy. There was running the ranch. There was fatherhood. There was finding time for myself, which usually fell by the wayside.
I tried to be all things for all people. Especially my people. And my daughters were my people.
And then I picked myself up and had to be dad and mom for my girls.
This was my kingdom.
The brim of his cowboy hat still shadowed most of his features, but I could make out a thick beard along his jaw and long hair tied in a knot at the base of his neck.
NOOOOOOO
“I can get my bags,” she insisted. I stepped closer. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should have to.”
means I can get to work without the pleasantries. I don’t need him here to do my job.” Somehow it was one hundred percent true, but also a complete
I reached for my door handle, but he beat me to it.
“Rule number one. You ride in my truck; you let me open the door.”
“One day they’re gonna be old enough to go on dates. That means I have to teach them about acceptable treatment. I don’t know how you were raised, but my parents taught me to open doors for ladies. That’s what my daughters will expect.”
“That’s Carson,” Christian said. “He’s the youngest. He’s the ranch’s cow boss. Oversees the ranch hands.”
Ray, the next youngest of the Griffith boys, had just started out on the rodeo circuit when it happened.
Carson James—the youngest and only one of us who got in trouble enough to be regularly called by his first and middle names—had
My hackles raised at the tone she took with my girl. She could talk to me that way, but not my daughters.
Be your own happily ever after and you don’t need a prince to save you.”
Christian Griffith was not my type. Besides, I was taken.
“Yeah, this isn’t 1812. If you could stop speaking in spooky cowboy proverbs, that would be great.”
“She carries the weight of my name. She’s a Griffith to you.”
“If you so much as look at her wrong and she wants you gone, you’re gone. Have I made myself clear?”
“Posture like a princess, hips like a whore.”
“You strike me as the kind of woman who is full of surprises.”
But with him? I wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the most at peace I had felt in a long time.
Cassandra would do just fine here. She just didn’t know it yet.
“We might have a whole lot of differences, but I see your value here and I appreciate your work. I’m not just putting up with you.”
Of course I’m angry, you serene fucking horse whisperer!”
“I didn’t love him.” Cassandra sniffed back tears, but they just kept streaming down her face, streaking her makeup. “I just wanted to be loved.”
“You’ve got a place here as long as you want.”
“The dust storm.”
“All the shit that gets stirred up and clouds your mind. Eventually it’ll settle. You’ll be able to breathe easier.”
“Doesn’t make it better in the moment. Dust storms happen. It’s okay to close your eyes and stumble through.”
“I want to be the person that people go to when there’s a problem. I want to be the one who gets the calls in the middle of the night to fix something that’s going wrong. I want to be the one that holds everything together. I want to be irreplaceable.”
“Cassandra?” My breath caught at hearing him use my full name. “Yes?” “Get that goddamn ring out of my house.”
For some reason, I liked that he was willing to commit a casual felony for Cassandra. I liked her being seen as one of ours.
“Sweetheart, there’s only one situation where I’ll call you that and, I promise you, this ain’t it.”
stood there, staring at her, like I had found the Holy Grail.
And then my self-control snapped.
my queen
I was a tall woman, topping out at six feet—more when I was in heels. Men were always steering clear of me because they didn’t want to feel insecure. But not Christian.
But Christian made me feel like a window pane with spider web cracks racing through the glass.
His laugh turned into a kiss. “Kings, tyrants, and gods couldn’t resist you, darling. How could I?”
“And today you stood up for them and protected them.” He leaned over the bed and kissed me. “Nothing is more attractive to me than that.”
“It takes a strong cowboy to put up with a bull, and a strong woman to put up with a cowboy.”
She ignored me for two goddamn weeks.
“The world didn’t end.”
“Thank you for being patient with me.” My hair hung around us as I pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you too.”
“The sun is gonna rise tomorrow. My girls love you. And you were meant to be ours.”
