Grace shook her head. "You are breaking my heart, Trent. I trusted you.”
Trent wanted to scream. He wanted her to listen to what he was saying and not dwell in her hurt feelings. He knew that would be asking a lot, but if she could just hear the truth in his words.
He loved her.
Before he could protest further, the announcer began the countdown to the start of the race. He was already down to five when Trent abruptly offered, "Say the word and we'll ditch this thing. I will get off this horse right now and throw the whole race just so I can talk to you.”
"No,” she said stubbornly, pulling down her goggles. “We're doing this.”
Before he could say anything else, the gun fired into the air, and the horses went wild, running down the track.
True to their plan, Trent and Grace cut left through the ranch. It was a risky move that would potentially take more time away from their race if they did it wrong, but it would also prevent them from going through a shallow river like the rest of the riders. This was especially pertinent since Trent’s horse, Surefire, hated the water. He didn’t even like to go riding when it was raining out.
Grace made it clear to him that she didn’t want to talk while they rode. She said she didn’t need the distraction.
Maybe it was for the best, Trent thought. Unlike when they were practicing, they were going full speed now, and it didn’t make conversation easy.
They took several breaks along the way, allowing the horses to rest. They never ran into any of the other racers, which either meant that their ‘shortcut’ had been a complete bust or that they were in the first place.
Every beat longer they stayed to rest with the horses made Trent nervous. He was scared that they were staying too long, scared that the horses were being pushed too hard, and terrified that after this race, Grace would never speak to him again.
“Grace,” he said when they took a water break, but she put a hand up and her chin began to tremble.
“Please,” she said, talking through her tears. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“To hear what?” he asked.
“That you don’t love me anymore.”
Trent frowned, then his features softened, and he walked up to Grace, pulling her into his arms.
“Is that what you think?” he said softly, and Grace began to cry harder.
“I know you’re saying that you do,” she said. “But I know that you have an obligation to your family, and I can’t be the one to stop you from having the family you’ve been dreaming of for years. I know you want that. I know it.”
Trent shook his head and held his hand against the back of her head.
"I'm so sorry, Grace,” he said. “I promised you I would be honest with you, and I broke that promise. I know you say you can’t be with someone you don’t trust, but please, please, please trust me when I say that being a family with Lily isn’t what I want.”
She swallowed hard. “It isn’t?”
Trent could hear other riders nearby and felt a rush in the soles of his feet.
Either he stayed here and had it out with the love of his life, or they kept going and won this race.
The answer was beyond clear to him.
"I thought it was what I wanted,” he admitted. “Until I met you.”
“Really?”
“Grace,” he smiled as he tilted her chin up to look at him. “You have been more of a mother to Bex than Lily ever has. He loves you, and so do I. I already told Lily I didn't want to be together. I told her I was crazy about you.”
"How can I believe that?” she asked sadly. “What if you’re just saying that because I found out?”
Trent shook his head. “You know me better than that, Grace. Besides…”
He pulled away from her and reached into his vest, pulling the silver box out from his pocket. He smiled and got down on his knee, slowly opening the box in front of her.
Grace threw her hands over her mouth in surprise, and she practically jumped back.
"You can believe it because I've had this ring in my pocket for weeks, and I knew that when this race was over, I wanted to ask you to marry me. You can believe it because you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with; you're the one I want to be the mother of my child and my future children, and you are my best friend. And if you'll still have me, I would love to be your husband, Grace.”
The dark-haired beauty blinked in surprise and couldn’t help the smile that crept into the corners of her lips. "Really?”
Trent nodded. "Really.”
“But the race isn’t over…” she said, staring down at the ring in shock.
“I don’t care about that anymore,” he smiled. “All I care about is you.”
Grace went to give him her hand, to receive the ring—to say yes. But she hesitated.
“What is it?” he asked, his heart flipping with anticipation.
“I can’t,” she said. “Yet.”
He swallowed. “When can you?”
Grace smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She nodded towards their horses and said, “Not until we finish the race.”
Trent laughed. “Then let’s hurry,” he said, “because I can’t wait another minute to make you my wife.”
Epilogue
In an amazing achievement of speed and having studied the trail meticulously, Trent and Grace were the first pair of riders to cross the finish line. As the streamers fell and the announcer sounded off their victorious run, Trent once again got down on his knee and proposed to Grace.
She said yes.
When Lily found out about the engagement, she left town without a word. Just as Trent feared, her intentions with Bex weren't entirely honorable.
But he didn't have to worry about whether Bex had a motherly figure in his life anymore, because now he had Grace, and she loved him like he was her own.
The ranch continued to succeed under Grace and Trent's management, and the two were never out of ideas on how to make it bigger and better.
The best part of running the ranch together was watching it grow, just as they would watch their family grow. One year after Trent proposed, he and Grace got married in front of all of their friends and family at the big barn on the ranch property. Six months later, Grace found out she was pregnant.
“Any preferences for the gender?” Grace asked in the car as she and Trent drove to her twenty-week ultrasound.
Somehow, she was already halfway through her pregnancy. It was flying by and made all the more amazing by having Trent by her side.
For all the dreams Grace had about how her life would turn out, she had never imagined she would end up with someone so amazing. Being the mother to Bex had been a joy enough. Her heart was filled and satisfied.
And Trent was an amazing husband who had continued to show her the love, fun, and excitement of a marriage. He was everything she had ever wanted out of family life and then some.
But to find out they would be having a baby? That there would be more love in their family? That Bex was going to be a big brother?
Grace was over the moon. Her heart was full of love and motherly worry, making this particular appointment an emotional one for her. She was so afraid of having a repeat of what happened before. She was afraid that she would lose the baby or that it would be unhealthy.