My mind races. With my parents, it was cut and dry. Yes or no. Stay or leave. There was no middle ground, no option where love was complicated but still worth fighting for.
But Wyatt's offering me something different. A third choice I didn't know existed.
"You could be everything to both of us," Wyatt says quietly as he hangs his hat on a rail. "You could be the person who chooses to love that kid not because you have to, but because you want to. Because you love me."
Something cracks open in my chest.
I think about that baby—innocent, unaware. Deserving of love. What if we could give that child more? What if love could multiply instead of divide?
That baby could have Brittany, yes. But it could also have me. Have Wyatt. Have Oscar and Sarah and Brook and Hank. Have a whole ranch full of people who choose to love it simply because it exists.
More love, not less.
I think about my own childhood—how much I would have given for just one more person who chose me. Who fought for me. Who stayed.
I could be that person for this baby. "Yes." My voice comes out stronger than I expected.
Wyatt's eyes search mine. "You mean that?"
"I mean it." And I do.
His shoulders drop like I've released him from something heavy. Relief floods his face, washing away the tension that had been etched there since he walked in.
"You love me," he says, and it's not a question. The words come out rough-edged and reverent, like a prayer he's afraid to speak too loudly. He steps forward and puts his hands on my hips, his fingers pressing gently as if testing whether I'm real.
The words catch in my throat. I've been so careful not to say them, like keeping them locked inside would somehow protect me if this all falls apart. But looking at him now, I realize that not saying it hasn't protected me at all.
I'm already his.
"I love you." The words come out rough, honest. "I love you so much.”
The kiss starts gentle, almost tentative, like he's afraid I might disappear. But I'm done disappearing. Done running. Done protecting a heart that's already his whether I admit it or not.
I surge up, threading my fingers into his hair, and the kiss turns fierce. His stubble scrapes my skin, his heartbeat thunders against mine, and everything that's been broken between us starts to knit back together.
His hands slide from my hips to my waist, pulling me closer until there's no space left between us. The kiss deepens with promises neither of us knew how to make until now.
When he breaks away to breathe, his lips trail along my jaw, down to that sensitive spot below my ear that makes my knees weak. "Say it again," he murmurs against my skin.
"I love you." The words come easier this time. "I love you, Wyatt Halloway."
He captures my mouth again, and this kiss is slower, sweeter. The callouses on his palms catch slightly on the fabric of my shirt as his thumbs trace small circles against my hipbones, sending shivers racing up my spine. We break apart and he pulls me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me like he's afraid I'll change my mind and bolt. I can hear his heartbeat—steady, strong, real.
I rest my forehead against him and just breathe him in. This is what I've been fighting. This feeling of safety. Standing here in his arms, I want to give him something—hope.
Even if it doesn't work out. Even if the case I'm building falls apart. He should know that someone believes in him enough to fight.
"There's something else," I say against his shirt. "Something you need to know."
He pulls back slightly to look at me.
"Martinez is the one who had your land rezoned. Janet found records—he targeted your family specifically because Brittany wanted you." The words come out in a rush.
Wyatt goes still. "What?"
"He manipulated the fire hazard designation specifically to force your hand." I watch understanding dawn across his face. "I think it was right after she entered to win the blind date with you.”
"That—" he says a name