“Thank you for inviting me,” I said.

“Do you feel like you still have no family but your horses?” he asked.

My mind raced with his question. I looked into the eyes of the man I’d come to love, and all the while I thought about Tiffany and Michael. I thought about how they’d all embraced me and protected me. How Tiffany had volunteered her services at my sanctuary and how Michael had used his other vocational skills and contacts to help nail Bill to the wall. I thought about how Colt had opened his home to me, and even how he took in my horses like his own when Rick had burned down the barn.

I had even made a few friends at the silent auction. There was Bobby Due, who owned the diner on the other side of town. There was Randy, who owned the only other bar in the area.. There was even Patty, who was the secretary at the only church the town had to offer. They had all embraced me that night, and made my problems their problems; made my hopes and dreams their hopes and dreams.

And I knew my answer the moment tears rose to my eyes.

“Not at all,” I said lightly. “I finally feel like I fit in somewhere.”

A smile crept across Colt’s face. He grabbed his fork and tapped lightly on his glass, and for a split second, I thought he’d gone crazy. There was no one else in this restaurant but us, and I wasn’t sure whose attention he was trying to get.

But after he was done tapping on his glass, Tiffany, Michael, Jacob, and everyone else poured from the orifices of the restaurant and stood around us.

“What the heck?”

“You are loved, Cheyenne. So much, and by so many. Everyone in this town adores you for who you are, respects you for what you do, and supports you in any and every decision you decide to make.”

Tears streamed down my face as I looked around the room. Their smiling faces were red with happiness and love. Their warmth radiated a depth to t

hem I hadn’t stopped to consider. Michael was holding Tiffany close, and Jacob had his hands behind his back. Several of the other townspeople I’d met at the silent auction had their hands clasped over their mouths, and even more were nodding their heads in agreement.

“Whatever you choose to do—whatever decision you make with the job—we will all support you. You owe this town nothing. Not a cent of what you got. Because what you’ve given this town is something no one can put a price on.”

“Oh, Colt,” I said breathlessly.

“You are safe, and you are loved. And by none other more than me,” he said. “And whatever you choose—and wherever you go—I will always be with you, standing in your corner and rooting you on.”

I knew, in that very moment, I was where I was supposed to be. After fighting with my parents and running from them. After fighting with Dexter and running from him. After fleeing to Green Point and fighting for my place in this town, I had finally found the home I’d longed for my entire life. These people, and their warmth, made me feel complete in a way I’d never felt before. Losing my parents so young left a gaping hole in the pit of my stomach that festered for years, but now?

Now, these beautiful people of Green Point that I’d come to love so deeply and so desperately had packed themselves tightly into that hole. They worked to close it up, to make me feel wanted, safe, and secure.

And the man I loved was right there in front, cheering me on with whatever I decided to do with my life.

I jumped up from the table and wrapped myself around Colt. His eyes were large and searching as I grabbed the collar of his shirt, but when I pulled him to his feet, he knew he had won. He had won my heart, my soul, and my presence, and I knew I would never leave this place.

So long as I lived, I would stay by his side.

I crashed my lips into his, and the entire restaurant erupted into shouts and applause. His arms wrapped around my back and pulled me deeply into his body, and my chest filled to the brim with love for him. Our tongues danced hotly together as plates of food began to clatter on the tables, and as everyone settled in for a Christmas feast fit for our massive, wonderful family, I simply pulled away and stared into his eyes.

“Have I told you how fantastic you look?” he asked.

“It wouldn’t hurt to tell me again,” I said, smirking.

“I think it’s just better if I show you,” he said, and he brought his lips back down onto mine as his hands roamed along my back.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Colt

A massive snowstorm barreled through the county Christmas evening, and it dumped a shocking amount of snow. The barn door had to be shoveled out from under three feet of snow just so we could get in to feed them, and Cheyenne had spent the night. She panicked about not being able to get to her horses, but thank God she had neighbors who were generous enough to go feed them for her. There was no way she was getting home anytime soon, and we were both trapped at my house.

The howling wind that had thrown my truck off the road last night ceased to exist as the entire countryside shone in its dress of white. This area hadn’t seen snow like this in over a decade, and it was only a punctuation to the perfect holiday I had spent with Cheyenne at my side. I couldn’t imagine spending holidays any other way after having her for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that’s when the reality of the situation dawned on my conscious mind.

There was still that job offer, and we hadn’t talked about it last night.

Granted, I didn’t want the date to alter her decision in any way. I didn’t want her to think that I was using the date as a tool to show her what she was leaving. I merely wanted to show her that she wasn’t alone. I wanted to show her that family was more than blood and didn’t always reside under the same roof. I wanted to show her that a community like this was a family because we rallied beside one another when someone needed it the most.

Tags: Claire Adams Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net