𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬.

Chapter twenty six.

Tessa

I panicked the moment Chloe asked if Hardin was going to ask me to marry him. It took me a few seconds to find my breath. She'd asked me to pretend I was her mommy during the mother daughter spa retreat we went to that morning, and my heart broke when I had to explain to her that would be lying.

Hardin was talking to Chloe in that oh-so-sweet voice he used with her. My mind swirled as I tried to process what he said and the sad look on her face.

When he admitted that he'd hurt me, I had to reach out and hold onto the fence. He was so honest with her and with me. I knew it had been hard for him to take it slow. The kissing led to touching, which led to him waiting for me to give him permission to take things further. For some reason, I was hesitant. Oh, believe me I wanted to have Hardin do all the dirty things he had been whispering in my ear over the last few weeks, but a part of me was still scared. If I opened that part of our relationship up again, I was opening my heart to the risk of being destroyed.

Hardin's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "I promise you I'll never hurt you or Tessa. Ever."

Chloe leaned in close to her father. "Did you say you were sorry?"

My hand covered my mouth in an attempt not to laugh. I glanced at Ciara. She gazed lovingly at her son and granddaughter. The ache in my chest was hard to ignore. Knowing Hardin had a child from another woman seemed to be my biggest hurdle. I loved Chloe, but I couldn't shake the idea that I wasn't the one to give Hardin his first child. That some monster of a woman had made this precious, sweet, innocent little girl...the spitting image of her father.

Hardin kissed Chloe on the nose, and her next words nearly knocked me off my feet.

"I trust you, Daddy."

Hardin beamed, and I knew those words also affected him deeply. "That means so much to me, pumpkin. I love you."

Her little arms wrapped around his neck where she held on for dear life. He stood, taking her up with him. I watched as they stood there lost in one another. Hardin held onto her until she was the one who was ready to break the contact. Chloe had trusted her father to never break her heart, and I honestly believed he never would. Not purposely. Just like he didn't purposely break mine.

A million things started running through my mind. We had handled everything wrong, yet we had been so young. Weren't we supposed to get stuff wrong? And I knew deep in my heart, just like Chloe did, that Hardin would never hurt either one of us now.

Turning to me, Chloe grinned. "Tessa, do you like pumpkin bread too?"

The question threw me. I'd been so lost in thought that I had to force myself to push it all away and act normal.

"Yes! It's one of my favorites."

Hardin set Chloe back on the ground, and she skipped over to Melanie. "Grammy, let's go make bread!"

With a lighthearted chuckle, Ciara took Chloe's hand, but not before glancing back at us. "You two kids have fun. Don't rush back."

She winked, and I felt my face flush. Carson lost it laughing. "And that's my cue to get the hell out of dodge. I've got to get to the bar. Y'all enjoy your ride."

Hardin made his way over to me, took my hand, and led me to his horse. "Come on. Let's go saddle up a couple horses."

"What's wrong with riding Lady?" I asked.

"She's due for a break. I've been on her damn near all morning with Ace."

I nodded and followed. Peeking over my shoulder, I watched Ciara and Chloe drive off on the mule, headed back up to the house. My chest squeezed as I thought about the amazing morning I'd spent with Chloe. I was falling head over heels in love with her. It wasn't hard. She was precious. Her heart so full of love and a need to be loved right back.

Hardin set off to work, taking Lady's saddle off, brushing her, getting her some fresh water and a small snack of oats. Ace walked into the barn, leading two horses behind him.

"Thought y'all might like to exercise a few of the horses for me. I don't get near enough time to give them all their fair share."

I walked over to the beautiful bay mare who was standing so patiently behind Ace. My hand ran over her gorgeous reddish brown color. Her mane and tail were black and matched the lower half of her legs. She bobbed her head a few times as if to tell me to just get on her already. She was ready to go. I smiled as I pressed my face into her side and breathed in her heavenly scent.

Hardin gave Ace a light tap on the shoulder. "Thanks, Ace! You didn't have to this."

He laughed. "Considering you kicked my ass at roping, I figured I'd do something nice for you."

Hardin did the same thing I'd done with my horse. His hands moved over the Blue Roan. "Fucking hell, she's beautiful," he said.

Ace nodded. "I just bought her not too long ago from a breeder in Mason. His wife trained her, and I've got to say, she did one hell of a good job. I've never had a mare behave like such a lady as this one."

"What's her name?" I asked while still running my hands along my horse.

Ace pointed to my horse first. "This here is Allure."

My brows lifted. "Beautiful. Very fitting name for her."

He laughed. "Yeah, and this one is Marley."

I crinkled my nose. "That's an adorable name for her."

Hardin took the reins from Ace. "Anything you need us to do when we get back?"

"Hose them down, and make sure they have fresh water. They'll get oats tomorrow morning, so a bit of hay cubes is fine if you want to treat them."

"Got it."

Ace started to walk off. "Oh, and just an FYI. They like to run."

I took a glance at Hardin and smirked. "I feel a race coming on."

. . .

Some experience with horses and some searching helped me get ideas to write this chapter but as promised I couldn't get together what I had in my head earlier...I'll try to make it up to you guys in the next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed reading this :D

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