40. Lottie

"Hunter!" I called, sticking my head out of my office door and looking down the hallway. My overalls hung loose on my body, covered in little specks of mud and grass, and I made a concerted effort not to smear that on my door frame.

Within a few seconds, he appeared around the corner at the end of the hall, his plain white shirt and jeans dirty and stained. He grinned at me as he walked toward my office. "All done?"

"Think so," I said, lifting up onto my tiptoes in my boots and pressing my lips briefly to his. "You about ready to go?"

"Yep, just locked up Sadie."

"How's she doing?" I gathered up my phone, my water, and my coffee cup, stuffing them into my bag. "Training going well?"

"Honestly, she's a dream. You were absolutely right with the crossbreed." He leaned forward onto the chair on the other side of my desk, his fingers digging into the leather.

"I know I was," I said with a wink. "If only you'd listened to me from the get-go."

His eyes rolled playfully as I came around the side of my desk. "Maybe if you weren't so demanding I would have."

I jabbed my elbow into his side, sending him into a fit of laughter as I led him from the room. With everyone already gone for the evening, I didn't mind his hand on my waist or the display of affection as he pulled me toward him and kissed the side of my head while we walked down the hallway. Usually the stares and whispered judgments from the workers would get on my nerves enough to shut it down.

"Long day for you today," Hunter said casually as he opened the front door for me. The warm, flowery spring air whipped around us, the sun hanging low in the sky. Wouldn't be too long before it set.

I shrugged. "I don't mind. We've set up at least twelve buyers for the new crossbreed."

"Should we celebrate?"

I shook my head as I reached for the passenger side door handle. "No. Let's go home."

————

Pulling up to the freshly painted house had been a little shocking at first, but in the weeks since the exterior had been finished and the front porch steps repaired, it felt more and more like home, like it used to. Working on the interior was next.

Hunter hadn't batted an eye when I told him I was sure I wanted to stay in the house. I didn't want to give up my parent"s home, my childhood home, and I wasn't ready to leave all the memories I had there yet. If we eventually had children of our own, I'd want them to grow up in a place like this instead of a pristine, modern house. Plus, we'd had a couple of horses moved into the fixed-up barn out back—the same ones we'd rode together months ago.

With his house on the market and mine being renovated, it had been a stressful few months, but we managed to find the time we needed to calm down and connect with each other. Trying, as it turned out, didn't feel much like trying at all. It had felt like natural living.

"I should check the horses," I said, setting my bag down on the recliner that Dad always sat in.

"I'll start dinner, then."

"Oh. I wanted to cook."

"You wanted to cook?" Hunter asked, one brow raising. He knew exactly where this was going, we'd done this dance so many times now.

"Race me," I grinned, taking his hand in mine and pulling him toward the back door. "Winner gets to cook dinner."

He rolled his eyes and laughed, following me despite his likely aching legs and exhausted body from a day of training. We trudged through the yard, the grass almost up to my shins from the regrowth since winter. We both knew how this would play out.

He would win. He would cook dinner. And we'd enjoy every fucking step of the race, even if I was a bit of a sore loser.

Darcy and Elizabeth were more than happy to get out into the field. The end goal was always the same, we'd head to my spot in the woods, the clearing with the meadow and the logs and the burnt-out fire pit. Hunter had made it his mission to eventually make it a proper setup out there, but with winter only just ending, he hadn't had the chance yet.

Hoisting myself up onto Elizabeth's back was easier than it had been the first time she'd let me ride her. We were friends, now, and although Dana had been sad to let the two of them go, I think they accepted me fairly well as their new caregiver. Darcy, on the other hand, was fickle with Hunter, despite responding perfectly when being ridden.

Darcy's little huff as Hunter climbed up on him was enough to tell me he was annoyed but fine with the situation.

"Go on," Hunter called. "I'll even give you a head start today."

"Seriously?"

He smirked. "You want to make dinner so badly? Win the race, sweetheart."

Ass.

I squeezed my thighs against Elizabeth's ribs, a silent command to go. She kicked off within a second, knowing exactly what we were doing, and happy for the sprint and exercise. She was fast, too fast almost, as her hooves slammed into the grass, trampling it down. I could hear Darcy somewhere behind me, the chaos of his run so easy to place. Darcy was faster in the long run.

We careened through the field, my body flush with Elizabeth's to cut down on the wind resistance. Above me, the sun slowly began to set behind the Rocky Mountains, only a sliver left as it made its descent. Before long, the moon would rise and another day would be over, another day where we were happy and I had everything I wanted and needed.

As we sped past the house I glanced at Dad's grave, and the inscription I'd added to include Mom. I'd made the right choice, burying them together. I didn't need a physical urn to have her with me—they could be together and I could still talk to them whenever I needed to. I knew they were always close, always with me, out there somewhere, tied together in their immortal form.

"Better pick up your speed!" Hunter shouted. He and Darcy ripped past Elizabeth and me as we crossed the threshold into the forest, twigs snapping under their hooves.

I shot a glare at Hunter's back and pressed in again on Elizabeth's frame, but she was more than happy to stay behind her friend. So much for a racehorse.

Hunter passed into the clearing before me, his cocky grin thrown over his shoulder as he watched me and Elizabeth saunter into the space. I lowered myself from her back, wiping my sweaty hands on my overalls, and stuck my tongue out at Elizabeth. "For once, can you just not let him win?" I grumbled.

Hunter wrapped his arms around me from behind, laughing and smug from his victory. "I don't know why you insist on this," he chuckled, spinning me to face him. "I was going to make dinner anyway."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you've earned it."

He pressed his lips to mine and the irritation of my expected loss fell to the wayside. Here, in the little clearing at the base of the mountains, our horses beside us and the sun setting, nothing else mattered. This was what I had wanted when I'd laid in my bed, numb and broken and grieving, wishing for things to get better. This was life after loss, life after finding yourself, the life you wanted and never knew you needed.

"I was thinking," he whispered, his breath hot against my lips. "Maybe we should do a vow renewal. Have a real wedding, one we actually want."

A real wedding. One where we didn't hate each other.

I could get on board with that.

"Is this your way of proposing to me?" I laughed.

"This is me thinking about our future." His hands cupped my face, deep green eyes flicking between mine. "I want a life with you. One that didn't start on a sour note."

"A life with me, huh?" I smirked. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him close so he couldn't escape. "Kids and all?"

His lips twitched up on the sides. "Kids and all."

"I want, like, six."

He snorted, the little laugh turning into a full-bellied one, echoing around us in the treetops as the birds sang their last songs of the evening. "If you think you can handle that, then sure. We can start trying now."

My eyes went wide as I leaned back. He couldn't seriously be okay with six kids. "Are you sure?"

"Fuck yes, I'm sure," he chuckled. He kissed me again, urgent and loving, stirring something in my chest. I would never get over that, the way he made me feel when we were together. I'd take a lifetime of it. I'd take as many kids as he wanted. I'd take anything, everything, for the rest of my days to keep him by my side.

"Anything you want, Lottie. Forever."

THE END