Page 47 of Claimed By the Cowboys

“I lost a patient today. He was a good man. I’m just… I needed to feel something good. Needed to belong somewhere.”

Bo’s arm tightens around her waist. “You do, baby. Right here between my brother and me.”

I hold her closer too, my heart aching and full at the same time.

Brandy came to us when she needed reassurance. It’s a good sign.

Whatever she needs—tonight, tomorrow, as long as she’ll let us—we’ll give it to her.

No questions asked.

But maybe, sometime soon, we’ll need to have a serious conversation about the future, because I’m starting to wonder if she’ll ever make the leap from secret fling to committed relationship by herself.

Chapter 24

Brandy

I’m still in my scrubs, bone-tired from a long shift, but Naomi and Elijah are bouncing around the counter like they’ve been mainlining sugar already. The bake sale is tomorrow, and they each need at least a dozen cupcakes. No shortcuts or shop bought. This is a homework exercise as well as a fundraising project. I should have been more organized, but there’s no time in my life to do anything but firefight.

Soft soul music plays from the little speaker on the windowsill. I turn it up a notch and tie an apron around my waist.

“Okay, team,” I say. “Wash your hands. We’re making two batches.”

The kitchen is chaos by the time I get the mixing bowls out.

Elijah makes a puddle on the floor, scrubbing his hands with dramatic soap bubbles, chattering like it’s going out of fashion. “My friend Sebastian is bringing chocolate chip cookies. He said his mom always puts extra chips so they taste better.”

Naomi climbs onto her step stool and spills a puff of flour over the floor. “Sophie from my class is making brownies. She said hers are the gooey kind. I want to try one of those for sure.”

“I’m gonna try everything,” Elijah declares, already dipping a finger into the sugar bowl when he thinks I’m not looking. “Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, maybe even those weird cake pops if someone brings them.”

“Remember the monster cake pops from last year?”

Naomi nods. “That was Clara’s mom. She always makes something monster-themed.”

Elijah gets a streak of batter across his cheek and another on his dinosaur pajamas. Naomi carefully cracks an egg, tongue stuck out in concentration, then somehow manages to tip the whole bag of flour and send a white cloud into the air. We all cough and laugh at the same time while the music keeps playing, the singer crooning about love and second chances.

Without thinking, I reach for the strawberry extract, pouring some into Elijah’s mix. Then, I grate some lemon zest for Naomi.

“What about chocolate?” Elijah asks, peering into the bowl as I start mixing the first batch.

I shake my head, creaming the butter and sugar until it’s pale and fluffy. “Not today, baby. Today we’re going with strawberry and lemon.”

There’s too much batter. I line up extra cupcake liners and end up with a baker’s dozen of each flavor; thirteen neat little mounds rising in the oven with one extra of each.

I know exactly why.

While the cupcakes bake, the kids chatter nonstop.

“Do you think people will buy ours?” Naomi asks, watching the oven light like it’s on the brink of exploding. “I want to sell all twelve so the school can get that new astronaut book.”

“I’m selling mine so we can get more dinosaur books,” Elijah says.

I smile as I pull out the first tray and the warm scent of strawberries fills the kitchen. “I’m sure you’ll both sell every single one. Your friends are going to love them.”

“Only if Elijah decorates them nicely. Remember last year.”

“They were fine last year,” I lie. Elijah had gone crazy with the sprinkles, leaving six drenched and six naked!