He continues stroking my hair and letting me squeeze his hand hard enough to break it. We walk. I bounce on a ball. I sit in a bath. And when I look up at Cade and say, “I’m sorry if the magic is gone after this,” he replies with, “It’s okay, I’ve lived through a lot of calving seasons.”
My hysterical laughter bleeds into a contraction, longer and stronger than any of the others, and when it finally finishes and he’s helping me into bed, I say to him, “I know you didn’t just compare me to a cow.”
“I would never,” he says with a chuckle. And as much as I want to punch him in the face for that joke, I also want to hug him.
This man, who mere months ago seemed so cold and unhappy, has turned my world upside down and made me value my life differently. In a simpler way, a quieter way. A way that fits me rather than everyone else around me.
But more than that, he gave me a sense of satisfaction in myself that I have never experienced. A sense of pride and belonging that I never saw until he opened my eyes and showed me.
Everything about Cade Eaton has been a curve ball from day one. Nothing happened in the “right” order, but that has never been the case for him, or for me.
So maybe this order is just perfect for us.
I lose my consciousness in a sea of soft whispers, hard squeezes, and mind-bending pain. There are several moments where I seriously regret refusing an epidural.
But with Cade here, I’m focused. He grounds me. And when it’s time to push, he whispers in my ear about how much he loves me.
And I don’t just know it, I feel it.
Our little girl, Emma Eaton, comes into the world healthy. Kicking and screaming and surrounded by so much love that tears trail freely down our cheeks. She also comes into the world with a big softy of a dad wrapped around her tiny finger.
So many things I never knew I wanted are right here in this room. The nurses place her tiny body on my chest, and I stare down at her in wonder.
Light eyes. Dark hair. She’s us.
“She’s perfect,” I whisper.
“Both my girls are,” is what Cade says as he crawls onto the bed beside me and holds us both.
We stare at her for I don’t know how long. Entranced. Happy. And when Luke comes in to join us—complete.
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Powerless Sneak Peek
Prologue & Chapter One
Prologue - Sloane
My car door is open before my parents have even put the Bentley in park. My feet hit the gravel driveway before they’ve even gotten out of the car. My arms are wrapped around my cousin Violet before they’ve even had a chance to say hello to my uncle Harvey.
“I missed you!” I squeal as Violet pulls away and grins mischievously at me.
“I missed you too.”
I catch my mom looking at us, happy and sad all at once. I look like my mom, and Violet looks like hers. Except Violet’s mom died, and my mom lost her sister. I always think she likes bringing me out here because she feels close to her sister.
It also makes it more convenient for my parents to travel to their favorite spots in Europe. My dad said something about it being good for me to “see how the other half lives.” I’m not totally sure what that means, but I saw my mom’s lips clamp down on each other when he said it.
Either way, I never complain because a full month at Wishing Well Ranch with the Eaton family means I get to hang out and have fun with my cousins. The rules are lax. The curfews don’t exist. And I get to run wild for four full weeks every summer.
“Robert, Cordelia.” Uncle Harvey reaches forward to shake my dad’s hand before giving my mom a tight squeeze. One that leaves her blinking a little too quickly as she looks out over the flat farm fields and jagged mountains behind them. “Nice to see you both.”
They start talking about boring adult stuff, but I don’t hear them, because my other cousins walk out of the big ranch house. Cade, Beau, and Rhett jog down the front stairs, joking and shoving and roaming like a pack.