Daring to Fall

by Shannon Stults

  Logan opened her arms and pulled Cowboy into a bear hug. “Thanks for getting us to the hospital.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Thanks for making my best friend so happy. Being a dad really suits him.”

  She glanced at Cole beside her. “It does, doesn’t it? I bet it’ll look good on you, too…one day.”

  “One day,” Cowboy agreed.

  Cole took the baby’s hand in his and waved it gently in their direction. “Say ‘bye’ to Aunt Harper and Uncle Cowboy,” he whispered.

  “Bye,” they both said as they turned toward the door. Harper followed him to the hallway, taking a second to look back. Logan and Cole were staring down at their little miracle, completely transfixed, Harper and Cowboy already forgotten as their entire world narrowed to the three of them. Their small, perfect little family.

  She and Cowboy were silent as they worked their way through the halls and out to the parking lot. The air was colder than Harper remembered an hour ago, and she instinctively pulled her coat in tighter around her. She led the way to her spot in the parking lot. But the second they reached the Jeep, instead of climbing inside, Cowboy stopped a foot away from the back end of the car.

  “Thanks for the lift,” he said, looking at her.

  “No problem.” She waited for him to move toward the passenger-side door, but he caught her off guard by leaning against the back of her Jeep and staring at the front of the hospital.

  “It’s funny. The last time I was here was the day Wade’s burned down from that grease fire. The day my best friend finally told the woman he loved how he felt. And now, three years later, they’re together and have this tiny family, and I’ve never seen them happier in my life.”

  “They’ve come a long way.”

  His eyes drifted to hers. “They’re not the only ones.”

  Harper took a step closer, her stomach fluttering. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about everything you told me yesterday.”

  He nodded. “Can I just say something real quick before you do?”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “My entire life, I never had a meaningful relationship with a woman, or a relationship at all, really. I didn’t even know what one was supposed to look like. My mom dated guy after guy. My best friend spent his whole life chasing the one girl who never seemed to see him that way. The closest thing to a healthy relationship I’d ever seen was Cole’s parents, and I thought they were the exception.

  “I didn’t know what real love looked like, and yet, when I saw you that day by the road, somehow I recognized something in you. I knew somehow you were special, that you’d be important to me in some way. I had no idea how much, no idea that you would be the first woman I ever loved, who ever truly loved me. But even from that first day, it was like a part of me deep down knew something was different about you, about us. You became my best friend, and then you became so much more.”

  He took a deep breath before letting it out and turned to face her. “That night you told me you loved me, I was unbelievably happy. But it was also the scariest night of my life. I didn’t know what love was, let alone if I deserved that kind of thing from you. I panicked, and I left you, not because I didn’t love you back but because I was starting to realize I did.

  “I’d convinced myself that loving someone meant eventually getting hurt, and I was scared of that possibility. But, for the first time, I was more terrified of being the one to hurt you than the other way around. My mom always swore she loved my dad,” he said, his voice breaking slightly around those last few words, “but, even so, she was still capable of hurting him, betraying him. And I was scared that love wouldn’t be enough. That one day I’d end up doing the same thing to you.”

  Harper stayed silent, and Cowboy reached for her hands. He held them in his own, running his thumbs over her knuckles as he stared down at them. He shook his head.

  “I was a wreck all day after I left you. I tried to distract myself, but all I could think about was whether I could be the guy you deserved. The guy who deserved your love. I should have just come to you and told you everything I was thinking.” He finally looked into her eyes, and the way they opened up to her pulled her in like a tractor beam. “I’ve said it a hundred times, and I’m saying it again. I know I screwed up. I know I hurt you. But I need you to believe that I would never do that to you again.”

  Harper sniffed, blinking away the blurry wetness in her eyes. “How can you know that?”

  “Because even if you don’t believe me, I do love you. I love your smile and your laugh and your voice. I love that you could watch an Elvis movie every day for the rest of your life and never get tired of them. That you’re addicted to sweet tea, even though you’ll probably get diabetes before you turn thirty. I love the way you touch your glasses when you’re nervous and that you only swear when you’re drunk. I love that you were willing to sell your home to make sure Sadie had options after school. I love everything about you.

  “And I love that what we just saw in that hospital room, watching my two best friends take this huge step, leaning on each other and finding their strength in one another, made me realize for the first time that it’s everything I want. Everything I’ve never even let myself consider being worthy of. I want the incredible wife I can’t even imagine not seeing every day. I want the kids who’ll look up to me and trust me to always be there to protect them. And I want that real, all-consuming love that makes every struggle in life worth it, and that I didn’t even know existed until I fell for you.

  “But the only way I get any of that is if it’s you by my side. I want you to be the one there every day, encouraging me to be better.” He sighed. “Maybe this is too much for you to hear right now, but I’ve got to say it. I want all of it, but I don’t want any of it if I can’t have it with you. Because I love you, and there will never be anyone else, Midge. No one will ever come close to you. And if you’d just give me another chance, I can’t say it’ll always be easy, but I promise I’ll make it damn worth it.”

  With careful control, Cowboy pulled his hands away and took a step back, his breaths coming quickly after his declaration. “Okay, now what did you want to say to me?”

  Harper stared at him, her mind blank. Everything she’d planned to say to him flew away the second he’d started talking about love and whether or not he deserved it. By the time he got to the part about a future together with marriage and kids, only one question occupied her thoughts.

  “What if they’re Tech fans?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “These hypothetical kids of ours. What if one of them turns out to be a Georgia Tech fan one day?”

  Cowboy let out a huff of air before he chuckled, and the sound was like the “Hallelujah Chorus” to her ears. “I think I can find a way to live with that.” He took a step closer, his hands finding Harper’s hips.

  “What if it’s an entire house full of Tech fans?” she went on, ignoring the way her heart hammered with the proximity. “Or worse, what if they all decide they want to go to Georgia Tech like I did?”

  He placed his hand on her cheek, running his thumb over it. “Then at least I can take comfort in knowing they got their brains from their mom. And hell, maybe they can get me some cheap tickets to Rivalry Week.”

  “But what if—?” Cowboy lowered his lips to hers. There was a hint of the same passion she’d felt that night after Wade’s but, more than anything, was a sense of contentment. Like they had years and years ahead of them and Cowboy planned on using every second to show her just how much she meant to him.

  Their lips finally parted after several minutes, and Harper felt the chaotic beating of her heart she’d always associated with kissing Cowboy. He set his forehead gently against hers.

  “I love you.”

  Harper ran her fingers through his blond strands poking out beneath his cap at the nape of his neck and around to his stubbled jaw, making him groan.

  “I love you, too.”

  “Y
ou said you and Sadie have a movie night planned?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  He sighed. “That’s too bad. I was really hoping to get you back to my place and start making up for lost time. Three years is a long time to think about all the things I want to do to you.”

  “Well…” Harper pulled back to look Cowboy in the eye as she fixed the glasses that had gone askew during their kiss. “You’re more than welcome to join us. It’s not quite the same as just the two of us all night, but I know Sadie would love to see you. You in?”

  “Depends. You think Sadie’ll make me some of her famous ribs?”

  “That could probably be arranged. And then maybe after she goes to bed you could tell me more about those things you want to do to me.”

  She could see the heat in his eyes her words had caused. They burned with a fire that looked all but ready to consume, but he didn’t give in. “If only there were some way you could convince me.”

  “Three words.” Harper rose on her tiptoes, her soft lips skimming his cheek until they reached his ear. She took a deep breath and whispered, “I dare you.”

  Epilogue

  Two Months Later

  Harper slowly worked her eyes open as consciousness flooded her. Her bedroom was lit by the dim light of an overcast sky trickling through her window. Even with said window closed, she could smell the fresh December air that had seeped through the cracks. She’d been toying with the idea of replacing all the windows in the house and getting them resealed—it would certainly help with the heating bill come January—but that would also mean saying goodbye to the clean, crisp air that greeted her lungs every morning.

  Harper inhaled deeply, taking in as much of it as she could. She snuggled deeper into the covers, looking for her favorite source of heat. But that instant hit of warmth didn’t come, and Harper turned her seeking eyes to the other side of the bed.

  It was empty.

  She sat up and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand. She pulled the covers tightly around her as she searched the bedroom, still coming up short. Next she glanced at the clock by her bed, and her heart sank as she registered the time. She was supposed to go into work hours ago.

  “Cowboy?”

  There was a moment’s silence before heavy feet thudded down the hall. Seconds later, he emerged through the door in plaid pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved T-shirt, carrying a wide tray in his hands. His hair was still wild, sticking up in thick patches here and there the way it always did in the morning. It had become her second favorite part about waking up next to him, the first being the perfect way she seemed to fit in his arms.

  “You’re not supposed to be up yet,” he scolded as he set the tray on the bed in front of Harper. He leaned down, taking her face in his hands and planting a soft, sweet, good morning kiss on her lips. It was brief but still effective at making her heart stutter. Every bit of her wanted to forget about work and pull Cowboy back into bed with her for the next few hours.

  Harper’s cheeks flushed. She pushed away all thoughts of her and Cowboy and hours in bed together and turned her focus to the tray he’d set before her. It was overflowing with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, fruit, and more. So much food it made Harper’s mouth water and stomach ache just looking at it.

  “What’s this?”

  Cowboy settled himself into bed next to her, frowning.

  “If you can’t recognize breakfast in bed, I’m going to start questioning my abilities as both a boyfriend and a cook.”

  Harper eyed the food dubiously. “You made this?”

  “Don’t give me that look,” he said with a quick roll of his eyes. “You should know by now that not all of us are as hopeless in the kitchen as you. Sadie’s been teaching me a few things, and it turns out I am a fantastic student.”

  Harper studied the tray full of breakfast items again. They didn’t look near as bad as her most recent attempts at breakfast, so that seemed to be in his favor. Not to mention it smelled absolutely amazing.

  She shoved up the sleeves of her pink-striped pajama top, grabbed a piece of bacon from the tray, and took a bite. Her stomach leaped with joy.

  “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and took another bite of bacon. “What happened to the alarm I set? I was supposed to be at the B&B early this morning.”

  “Sadie’s there, and she’s got everything under control. You’ve been working so hard the last few weeks, and she told me to make sure you took the morning off and rested. Her gift to you.”

  Harper’s lips curved upward. “She didn’t have to do that.”

  “Trust me, you’ve earned it.” He ran his fingers through her hair, and this time when he pressed his lips to hers, he made sure to drag it out until she was nearly panting. When he finally pulled back, his smile was twice as big. “Speaking of gifts, I’ve got something for you.”

  He jumped off the bed and pulled out the bottom drawer of the oak dresser, the one Harper had cleared out for a few of Cowboy’s clothes. He closed the drawer and came back to his spot on the bed with a small red box wrapped with a white bow in his hand. He held it up for Harper to take.

  “Merry Christmas, Midge.”

  She stared at the box, her mind and heart racing. After several seconds, she took it with shaking hands. She turned it over and over in her fingers.

  “That’s a, uh…that’s a small box.”

  Cowboy chuckled. “Don’t panic, Harper. I’m not popping that question yet.”

  Her chest fluttered haphazardly on that last word, but she forced herself to take a breath. She untied the bow and slowly pried the shiny red lid off.

  Inside, on a tiny bed of white, cottony fluff, sat a long, metal object.

  “It’s a key,” she said, taking it out of the box and examining it closer. Her forehead creased as she looked back at Cowboy. “It’s my key. You’re giving me my own key?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re giving me my own key because…”

  “Well, I could give you my key, but I doubt you and Sadie want to move into my two-bedroom rental—”

  Her hand shot up in the space between them, silencing him. “You’re talking about moving in together?”

  He shrugged casually, but she could see how nervous he was in the way he ran his hand through his hair. “I mean, my lease will be up soon, and I stay here most nights anyway. I’m just saying it’s an option.”

  “You really want to move in here with me and Sadie? You do realize she’s a teenage girl?”

  Cowboy met her gaze, and any attempt at nonchalance vanished. “I love you, Midge. I don’t care where we are. As long as I’m with you.”

  Something purred to life low in her belly, and her body moved instinctively to straddle his pajama-clad lap. His grin turned wicked as he gripped her hips firmly. He leaned in and placed a small kiss on the crook of her neck.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Harper sat back and groaned. She wanted so badly to say yes, but she had to be smart about this. “I need to ask Sadie first. Technically, it’s her house, too.”

  “About that…” Cowboy shifted minutely before placing another box in Harper’s hand. This one was slightly bigger and wrapped in silver paper with red polka dots.

  “Another one?”

  He nodded. “This one’s from Sadie. Open it.”

  Harper tore the decorative paper off and opened the lid. It took her a second to understand what she was seeing, but the moment she did her eyes watered.

  Inside was a miniature white plantation house with high columns, black shutters, and glass, arching French doors in the front. It fit in the palm of her hand, a replica of the bed and breakfast she and Sadie had spent the last several months bringing together. In front of the house stood three little figures all hand in hand. A tall man in a black baseball cap on the left, a girl with long, blond hair on the right. In the middle, holding both their hands, was a shorter woman looking almost exactly like the other, except for a familiar pair of red-rimmed gl
asses.

  Just like the picture of her and Sadie and their parents still displayed on the fireplace mantel, all holding each other as they posed in front of the B&B as one happy family. That’s what these three little figures were, too. In a way, they’d become a family of their own.

  Cowboy gently took the box from her and looped his finger through a thin string attached to the top. When he pulled it out of the box, the little house dangled between them. “It’s an ornament. Just like the ones Grams used to get for you, right?”

  Harper nodded. She recognized the swelling ache in the back of her throat she got anytime she thought of Grams, that need to sob and expel the pain. But instead of crying, she found herself smiling and feeling such an overwhelming gratitude for the family she still had, the family that encompassed more than just the three little people staring back at her. It included people like Byrdie, Logan and Cole, Carly and Darren, Aiden—all the friends who had not only supported her but who’d stepped in and helped in some way to make her dream a reality these last few months.

  Harper had come back into town ready to take care of the last bit of family she had only to watch it more than double in size over just a few months’ time. And from now on this ornament would always remind her of that.

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered.

  Cowboy held the box up to her. “She left a note inside for you, too.”

  Harper reached in, grabbing a thin slip of paper from the bottom of the box. She glanced at Cowboy, preparing herself. But when she looked down at the paper, she saw only two words.

  Say yes!

  Harper laughed, letting the slip of paper fall between them. “I guess this means you already got her approval.”

  “I’m nothing if not thorough.”

  She took the ornament from Cowboy and placed it back in the box before gently setting it on the nightstand. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself higher into his lap. “You realize this means I’m going to have to start putting you to work now. You know, cleaning out the gutters, unclogging the sink, fetching me sweet tea at all hours of the day, that kind of stuff.”