“I saw it with my own two eyes. Only I wasn’t sure who he was messing around with. Fortunately, my best friend hears everything at the salon, and Baylee filled me in on the scuttlebutt when she drove me home that night.”
My wife is a fucking genius.
I’m gonna build her a bigger chicken coop.
EPILOGUE
PAIGE
DidI say I wanted to have lots of babies? Holy shit, contractions hurt like a bitch. One might be enough. At least we got our driveway regraded, so when Rhett races down the road, my guts don’t fall out.
I shut my eyes and grit my way through another contraction. “How much longer?”
Rhett hums. “Might be a few minutes. Don’t worry. I’ll get you there in time.”
He’s remarkably calm. It’s hard to believe this is the same man who didn’t want more children. In the last few months, he cleared out his father’s office, painted it, set up the crib, and even had his friend Brady paint a field of wildflowers across one wall.
Thanks to that video I took of Harlan, we were able to get the Texas Livestock Commission out again to give our cattle a bill of clean health two weeks after he was arrested. We got them to auction and repaid our loan.
Harlan, his son Jimmy, and Eugene Dods are awaiting trial for conspiring to defraud several ranchers out of their property, which they planned to lease for mining rights.
Apparently, we have a huge high-quality quartz reserve on our ranch, which the Calhouns discovered when they were scouting the Gibson property two years ago. These kinds of gems are in demand for manufacturing semiconductors.
But Harlan definitely played the long game, offering Rhett’s father the second mortgage through an affiliate bank and then making sure the statements went to the nursing home. While we’re not totally sure what Gus did with those funds, we suspect he blew them gambling online.
I try not to dwell on what happened because it still upsets me. The lengths the Calhouns went to acquire our property are jaw-dropping. Jimmy even messed with our trailer last spring so Rhett couldn’t take any animals to auction.
Because Jimmy didn’t want to go down for attempted murder when he chased me, presumably to throw me in a damn trunk, he spilled the beans on all the dastardly things his father was doing. Including why Harlan offered Rhett the bridge loan when he already had the Walkers in so much debt. Harlan thought the second mortgage might be contested since Gus was in a nursing home when he signed off on that paperwork, but getting Rhett wrapped up in financial trouble would close that final loophole.
However, the investigation cleared Prescott of any wrongdoing. As far as I know, Marcus wasn’t involved either.
On a side note, the younger Calhoun brother recently fired Kacey after he received an anonymous tip that his employee was banging his wife Tiffany. Cough, cough.
Once the dust settled from Harlan’s maniacal attempt to steal our ranch, Rhett and I settled into married life. We’ve been doing a better job communicating, especially when we’re stressed or worried. I found a few marriage podcasts that we listen to that have been helpful, and we always make sureto discuss anything that’s been bothering us before bed so it doesn’t fester.
Between coaching at All-Star Cheer and sewing custom outfits for the NFL wives that Abby introduced me to, I’ve been pretty busy. I’ve saved up quite the nest egg from all those custom jobs. I’m so happy to not be that penniless girl I was a year ago. I can buy all the chickens I want.
Or, in this case, sheep.
Rhett agreed investing in sheep is a fantastic way to weather downturns in cattle prices. Since I have the funds, I’m buying the flock. In return, I’m becoming an official co-owner of the Walker Ranch with my husband and his brothers.
We crawl to a standstill, and I growl. We’re stuck in traffic. There’s never traffic in Wild Heart, but there is today. “Don’t tell me today’s the cowboy parade.”
He squeezes my hand. “Okay, I won’t tell you.”
“Rhett.”
My husband chuckles, then lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to my palm. “It’ll be okay. I promise. Do you know how many calves I’ve delivered over the years? It’s gotta be hundreds.”
My expression goes flat. “Am I the cow in this analogy?”
He laughs. “Sweetheart, I would never say such a thing. Swear to God, you’re all baby. Well, and tits. You’ve got really big tits now.”
He makes a face to show me how excited he is about my boobs, and I chuckle. “Don’t make me laugh. My guts feel like they’re going to explode.”
His eyes grow serious. “If I could take that pain away from you, I would do it in a heartbeat. But since I can’t, let’s focus on the moment we meet our daughter. She’ll have your beautiful eyes and cute little nose. All your sweetness and sass. She’ll have her brothers and uncles wrapped around her pinky. I’ll probablyhave to threaten the boys who come sniffing around her with bodily harm if they touch her.”
He’s so sweet. I love my husband. I’m about to tell him that when a contraction tries to split my body in two, and I cry out.
