Page 80 of Branded

“Four and a half days,” he finally says.

“Agreed.”

We stand here wrapped in one another’s arms, two people who’ve spent too long with the Grand Canyon between us. But right now, we’ve each taken a step across a bridge we’re building board by board. It feels fragile, uncertain, like one wrong word could shatter it.

I swallow. We haven’t been intimate since our argument, and I miss his touch so much. I sometimes wake up with his arm draped over me, holding me possessively to him. But then he’ll wake up and draw away, like he’s afraid he’s crossed a line. I glance up at his face and catch him looking at me with an intensity I can’t read.

For just a moment while I stand in his arms, I let myself pretend this is normal. That we’re a normal couple saying goodbye for a few days. Just two people who care about each other, figuring out how to be together.

We hold each other for a long time before reality crashes back in and I pull away. “I should pack.”

“Yeah.” But he doesn’t look happy about it. “I’ll handle the flight arrangements. And Lennox? Be careful in Montana.”

“I’ll be careful.”

27

LENNOX

Morning comes too quickly. I pack light, just what I need for a few days, while Sebastian makes arrangements.

Eleanor appears at breakfast, somehow knowing exactly when to show up. “Montana?” she asks, pouring herself coffee like she lives here. “Good. You need perspective. Time away from the intensity of this place.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or at least makes stubborn men realize what they’re losing.” She frowns as she looks at her son.

“Mom,” Sebastian starts.

“Don’t ‘Mom’ me.” She turns to me. “I hope you don’t need six months, I expect my son is a faster learner than his father.”

“I’m right here,” Sebastian mutters and shakes his head.

“I know. That’s why I’m saying it.” Eleanor smiles sweetly. “Have you seen the twins this morning? They heard you were leaving and are devastated.”

“I saw them yesterday afternoon. I promised I’d bring them something back.”

“Rocks,” Eleanor says immediately. “Harper collects rocks. The weirder the better. And Hadley wants a snow globe if you can find one. She’s obsessed with snow since she’s never actually seen it.”

I make mental notes. “Rocks and a snow globe. Got it.”

By seven thirty, my bag is waiting by the door. Sebastian has been on the phone for the last hour, talking to Nathaniel about security rotations, to Caroline about legal strategy, to James about coordinating with local law enforcement. Running an empire while his wife prepares to leave.

At seven forty-five, Pete pulls up in one of the ranch trucks.

“Ready?” Sebastian asks, picking up my bag.

“As I’ll ever be.”

The drive to the airstrip is quiet. Sebastian sits beside me in the back, his hand finding mine on the seat between us while Pete drives.

“Text me when you land,” he says as we pull up to where the jet is waiting.

“I will.”

“And check in tonight. Even if it’s just to say you’re alive.”

“Sebastian, it’s just Montana, and I’ll be with my family. Quite possibly the only people who are more concerned about me than you are.”