One kiss, nothing more. One kiss, nothing more. The giant widow said. But when she pulled it down, the lonely rancher froze and couldn’t stop at one. The giant widow said, “One kiss, nothing more.” But the lonely rancher saw the lie in her eyes before the words even left her lips. Dorothia Blackwood didn’t want one kiss.

She wanted salvation. She wanted someone to tell her she wasn’t the monster the town had made her believe she was. At 6’4 in tall with shoulders like a blacksmith and hands that could snap a fence post in half, Thea had buried her husband 18 months ago and hadn’t felt human since. Now she stood in EMTT Cordell’s barn wearing a cream colored dress that used to make her feel beautiful back when she still remembered how to feel anything at all.

The lonely rancher threw his hands up in shock, palms out, eyes wide, mouth open, because proper widows didn’t propose marriage to bachelor neighbors. And they certainly didn’t offer to seal the deal with a kiss first. The bank’s taking my ranch in 30 days, Thea said, her voice steady despite the way her fingers twisted together at her waist.

I need a husband on paper. You need land and water rights. It’s business. But her eyes told a different story. They said, “Please see me. Please don’t flinch. Please be different from every other man who’s looked at me like I’m a mistake God made on a bad day.” “Business,” Emmett repeated.

And something in his voice made Thea’s breath catch. Because he didn’t sound convinced, he sounded hungry. The lonely rancher had spent 43 years being overlooked, too short at 5’7, too poor to matter, too ordinary to remember. Women’s eyes slid right past him at church socials. Girls had giggled behind their hands when he’d worked up the courage to ask them to dance.

He’d made peace with loneliness, the way a man makes peace with a limp. It was just part of who he was. until the giant widow stepped closer. Until she said one kiss to see if we can bear it. Until she reached for him with those powerful hands. And EMTT saw them trembling. Trembling like she was the one who was afraid.

Like she was the one who expected rejection. Mrs. Blackwood, he started, but she shook her head. If you’re going to kiss me, call me Thea, she whispered, and her voice broke on her own name. When she touched his face, when the giant widow’s calloused palm cupped the lonely rancher’s cheek with a tenderness that made his knees weak.

When she pulled it down, that last defense. That final wall between her broken heart and his. EMTT Cordell froze. His hands stayed suspended in the air, caught between surrender and self-preservation, because he knew with absolute certainty that one kiss would change everything. One kiss would make him need her.

One kiss would prove that he’d been waiting his whole invisible life for a woman who was impossible to miss. “I can’t promise to stop at one,” he said. And Thea’s eyes went wide with something that looked like hope, but tasted like fear. Because what if the lonely rancher was just like her dead husband? What if his gentleness was a lie? What if one kiss led to a marriage that became a prison? But what if, God help her, what if one kiss led to being wanted for the first time in her entire life? Her thumb brushed across his cheekbone, and EMTT’s

breath stopped. The barn smelled like hay and leather, and the lavender water she’d put on before walking three miles to ask a stranger to save her. Sunset poured through the gaps in the wood, painting everything gold and amber. And in that light, Thea’s face looked softer, younger, like the girl she’d been before.

The world taught her to be ashamed of her own body. My husband used to close his eyes, she whispered, and the words came out so quiet. EMTT almost didn’t hear them. When he kissed me, every time he’d close his eyes, and I knew. I knew he was pretending I was someone else, someone smaller, someone normal. EMTT’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt.

His hands were still up, still frozen, but his whole body was shaking now with rage for what had been done to her. and grief for all the years she’d lived believing she wasn’t worth looking at. Thea,” he said, and her name on his lips made her eyes fill with tears. She refused to let fall. “I’m going to kiss you now, and I’m going to keep my eyes open the whole time, because if I close them, I’ll miss seeing you, and I’ve already wasted three years not telling you that you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” The giant widow made a

sound, half sobb, half gasp, and her hand slipped from his cheek to his jaw, holding him, anchoring herself to this moment because she was afraid it wasn’t real. Afraid she’d wake up alone in her empty house with the bank notice on her table, and this would all be a dream. But then Emmett’s hands finally moved.

They dropped to her waist, fingers spreading across the curve of her hips. And he pulled her closer, pulled her down, met her halfway like he couldn’t wait another second. Their lips touched, and the whole world stopped, soft, warm, real. Thea tasted like honey tea and heartbreak, and EMTT kissed her like a man drinking water after 40 years in the desert. His eyes stayed open.

She saw him seeing her, saw the wonder in his gaze, saw the way his pupils went wide and dark with want, with need, with something she’d never seen directed at her before. One kiss, she’d said, nothing more. But when she tried to pull back, when she tried to remember this was business and survival and not supposed to mean anything, EMTT’s hands tightened on her waist and he made a sound low in his throat that sounded like please and stay and mine all at once.

So she kissed him again and again and again. Her hands slid into his hair, knocking his hat to the dusty barn floor. His fingers found the small of her back. Pulling her so close she had to bend almost double. Had to wrap her arms around his shoulders. Had to let him hold her weight because her legs were shaking too hard to hold her up. They kissed like they were starving, like they were drowning.

Like they’d been alone in the dark for so long they’d forgotten what light felt like until this exact moment. Thea EMTT breathed against her mouth and then he was kissing her jaw, her throat, the sensitive spot just below her ear that made her gasp and clutch at his shoulders. Thea, we should stop. We should God, you taste like I can’t. But he didn’t stop.

Neither of them stopped because one kiss had already become 10, and 10 had become a confession. And the confession had become a promise. Neither of them knew how to take back. When they finally broke apart, both gasping for air, Thea’s legs gave out completely and she sank down onto a hay bale, pulling EMTT with her so suddenly, he landed half in her lap with a startled oof.

For one terrible second, she froze because this was it. This was the moment he’d realized how awkward she was, how ungainainely, how impossible it was to be with a woman who took up too much space. But EMTT just laughed. actually laughed. A real genuine sound of joy and shifted so he was sitting properly beside her.

His hand still tangled in hers like he was afraid she’d disappear if he let go. “I’m sorry,” Thea whispered, trying to pull her hand away, trying to make herself smaller, even though she knew it was impossible. “I didn’t mean to.” “Don’t.” Emmett’s voice came out fierce, and he caught her face with both hands, forcing her to look at him.

“Don’t you dare apologize for existing, Dorothia Blackwood. Don’t you dare.” Her breath hitched. No one had said her full name like that before, like it was something precious, something worth savoring. Her dead husband had called her Doy, making her name small and childish because he couldn’t handle the reality of who she was.

The town called her that Blackwood woman, or sometimes just the widow, like her identity began and ended with her husband’s death. But EMTT said Doraththa like it was a prayer. the bank, she said, because she needed to remember why she’d come here. Needed to anchor herself in practicality before she started believing in impossible things, like a man actually wanting her.

The foreclosure, that’s why I’m here. We need to I know why you came,” Emmett interrupted. And something in his expression made her stomach flip. “You came to ask me to marry you so you could save your ranch. You came offering a business arrangement. One kiss to seal the deal, nothing more. He paused, his thumb brushing across her lower lip, and Thea’s whole body trembled.

“But that’s not what this is anymore, is it?” “It has to be,” she whispered, even as her heart screamed, “Liar. “I can’t, Emmett. I can’t afford to want more. I can’t afford to hope for something that’ll just break me when it ends. My husband was a fool,” Emmett said flatly. a blind, cruel fool who didn’t deserve you.

Thea’s eyes filled with tears, and this time she couldn’t stop them from falling. They spilled down her cheeks hot and fast, and she hated herself for crying. Hated that she was proving what everyone always said, that she was too emotional, too sensitive, that her feelings were as big and unwieldy as her body. But EMTT just gathered her close, pulling her head down to his shoulder and held her while she cried.

His hands rubbed circles on her back. His voice murmured soft, soothing sounds she couldn’t quite make out, but felt all the way to her bones. And for the first time since her husband had died, maybe for the first time in her entire life, Thea felt safe. Tell me, Emmett said after a while when her tears had slowed to hiccups and shuddering breaths.

Tell me what he did to you. Tell me why you think one kiss should be enough. Thea pulled back just far enough to see his face. The sunset was fading now, purple twilight seeping into the barn, but she could still see his eyes, warm brown and steady and patient. “He never wanted me,” she said. and the words came out broken.

From the very first night, he’d answered my mail order bride advertisement because he needed help on his mind claim. Needed someone strong enough to work beside him. He never said. I thought maybe he saw something in my letters, something beyond just my size. But on our wedding night, he looked at me and I saw it. Disgust, fear.

He did his duty because the preacher had married us, but he kept his eyes closed and he her voice cracked. He cried after cried like I’d done something terrible to him just by existing. EMTT made a sound like he’d been punched. His arms tightened around her. And when he spoke, his voice shook with barely controlled rage.

Where is he buried? Because I have a few things I’d like to say to his grave. Despite everything, Thea felt a laugh bubble up in her chest. It came out watery and broken, but it was real. He’s in the cemetery on the hill next to his mother, who hated me even more than he did. She told me at the funeral that I’d killed him with my freakish size, that his heart had given out from the stress of being married to someone like me.

His heart gave out because he was working a minehaft in summer heat and wouldn’t drink enough water. EMTT said, “I heard about it. Everyone heard about it. It had nothing to do with you, Thea. Nothing.” She wanted to believe him. God, she wanted to believe him so badly. It hurt the town. The town is full of small-minded people who feel better about themselves by making others feel worse. EMTT said, “I should know.

I’ve been on the receiving end of their pity and their jokes my whole life. Too short, too poor, too forgettable. But you know what I learned? He cupped her face again, making her meet his eyes. Their opinions don’t get to define us. Only we get to decide who we are. And I decided a long time ago that I’d rather be alone than pretend to be something I’m not just to win their approval. Thea’s breath caught.

You’ve been alone for 43 years. I have, Emtt agreed. And I was fine with it until about 20 minutes ago when you walked into my barn and reminded me what it feels like to want something. To want someone. His voice dropped lower, rougher. I want you, Thea. Not your land, not your water rights, not some business arrangement where we share a name and nothing else.

I want you in my house, in my bed, in my life. I want to wake up next to you and go to sleep holding you and spend every day in between, finding new ways to make you understand that you are not too much. You are exactly enough.” The giant widow stared at the lonely rancher, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel the weight of his words settling into all the broken places inside her.

“You don’t know me,” she whispered. We’ve barely spoken in 3 years. Then let’s change that, Emmett said simply. Marry me, not because you need to save your ranch, though we’ll do that, too. Marry me because you want to see where this goes. Marry me because when I kissed you just now, something inside me that’s been dead for 43 years came back to life.

He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him. And even though she towered over him, even though she was so much bigger and stronger, Thea felt delicate in his hands, felt cherished, felt wanted. “One condition,” Emmett said, and his voice went serious. “No separate beds, no separate rooms, no pretending this is just business.

If we do this, we do it real. We do it right, and we do it together.” Thea’s heart hammered so hard she thought it might break right out of her chest. This was too fast, too much, too risky. But when she opened her mouth to say no, to protect herself, to run back to her lonely house and her empty bed and her safe small life, what came out instead was, “Yes.

” The word hung in the air between them. “Yes.” And Emtt’s face transformed. He smiled so wide Thea could see the chip in his front tooth from a horse kick 20 years ago. Could see the lines around his eyes that came from squinting into the sun. Could see everything that made him real and human and hers. “Yes,” he repeated like he needed to hear it again to believe it.

“Yes,” Thea said, stronger this time. And then she was laughing and crying at the same time because this was insane. This was the craziest thing she’d ever done, but it felt right in a way nothing had felt right in years. EMTT whooped, actually whooped like a boy instead of a middle-aged rancher and grabbed her around the waist, trying to spin her.

He managed about half a rotation before physics reminded him that she outweighed him by a solid 70 lb. and they both stumbled, laughing until Thea caught them with one hand braced against a support beam. “We’re going to have to work on your technique,” she said, and the teasing in her own voice surprised her.

“When had she last teased someone?” “When had she last felt light enough for humor?” “I’ve got the rest of my life to practice,” Emmett shot back. And then his expression shifted, went serious again. Thea, I need you to understand something. I’m not him. I’m not going to close my eyes. I’m not going to wish you were different.

I’m not going to make you feel like you’re too much or not enough or anything except exactly what I want. His hands came up to frame her face. And even though he had to reach up to do it, even though the position should have been awkward, it felt perfect. But I also need you to tell me if I’m moving too fast. If you need time, if you need space, this doesn’t have to happen on any timeline except yours.

” The giant widow looked down at the lonely rancher, and something shifted in her chest. Something that felt like ice breaking after a long winter. “I don’t want space,” she whispered. “I’ve had 18 months of space. 18 months of sleeping alone in a bed that’s too big, eating meals by myself, talking to my horses because there’s no one else who will listen. I don’t want time, EMTT.

I want She stopped, swallowed hard. I want to feel like I matter to someone, like I’m not just taking up space in the world, like my life means something beyond how much weight I can lift or how many chores I can finish before dark. You matter, Emmett said fiercely. You matter to me.

You’ve mattered to me since the day I watched you gentle that black stallion everyone said was unbreakable. You sang to him. Did you know I could hear you from my property? You sang some old hymn and that devil horse just melted under your hands like butter in summer’s sun. And I thought I thought anyone who could do that, anyone who could turn violence into trust with nothing but patience and a soft voice was the most remarkable person I’d ever seen. Thea’s breath caught.

She remembered that day. Remembered the stallion, wildeyed and terrified, lashing out at anything that moved. Her husband had wanted to shoot it. Said it was dangerous and worthless. But she’d seen something in its eyes. Some echo of her own trapped panic. And she’d spent three weeks sitting in its pen, just sitting and singing until it finally let her touch it.

“She’d never known anyone had witnessed it. Never known anyone had cared. “You watched me,” she asked. “Every chance I got,” Emmett admitted. And there was no shame in his voice, just honest truth. I watched you work your land, watched you fix your fences and repair your barn roof and do the work of three men without ever complaining.

Watched you ride into town with your head high, even though I knew. I could see how the other women turned away from you. How the men made jokes they thought you couldn’t hear. And I was a coward, Thea. I was too afraid of my own feelings. Too convinced you’d never look at a man like me to do anything about it. He laughed bitterly. “And now you’ve walked into my barn and offered me everything I wanted, but was too scared to ask for.

And I’m terrified I’m going to wake up and find out this was a dream.” “It’s not a dream,” Thea said, and she took his hand, pressed it against her chest where her heart was racing. “Feel that. I’m real. This is real. We’re real.” Emmett’s palm flattened against her sternum, feeling the steady thump, thump thump of her pulse, and his eyes darkened with something that made heat pool low in Thea’s belly.

When? He asked, his voice rough. When do you want to do this? I can ride to the preacher’s house tonight, have him come at dawn, or we can wait. Do it proper. Let you have a real wedding dress and flowers. And tomorrow, Thea interrupted. tomorrow morning. I don’t need a fancy dress, EMTT. I just need you to mean it when you say I do.

I’ll mean it, he promised. I’ll mean it more than I’ve meant anything in my entire life. They stood there in the darkening barn, holding each other, and for a moment, everything was perfect. But then Thea’s practical side reasserted itself. the part of her that had learned to survive by planning, by preparing, by never letting herself be caught off guard.

“What about the sleeping arrangements?” she asked. “Tonight, I mean, should I go back to my house or?” “Stay,” Emmett said immediately. “Stay here. Not not in my bed. Not if you’re not ready. But stay. I have a guest room. It’s small and the mattress is probably lumpy, but it’s yours if you want it. I just He looked almost embarrassed.

I just don’t want to let you out of my sight yet. I’m afraid if I do, you’ll realize this was a mistake and I’ll lose you before I ever really had you. Thea’s throat tightened. She understood that fear. Understood it bone deep. I’ll stay, she said. But EMTT, I don’t want the guest room. His eyes went wide.

Thea, I don’t mean She felt heat creep up her neck into her cheeks. I don’t mean we have to. I just mean I don’t want to sleep alone tonight. I want to fall asleep knowing you’re there, knowing this is real. Is that Is that too much to ask? For a moment, EMTT just stared at her. Then he smiled. Soft and sweet and full of so much tenderness it made Thea’s eyes sting with fresh tears.

“It’s not too much,” he said. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.” He took her hand, lacing their fingers together, and led her out of the barn toward his small ranch house. The moon was rising now, fat and silver, painting everything in shades of blue and shadow. Thea could see the outline of her own ranch in the distance.

The dark shape of her barn. The fence line she’d repaired a hundred times. The house where she’d lived in loneliness for so long. Tomorrow it would still be there. Tomorrow she’d still have to face the bank. Still have to fight to keep what was hers. But tonight, tonight she was walking hand in hand with a man who’d looked at her and seen something worth wanting. Tonight, she wasn’t alone.

Emmett’s house was small and tidy, exactly what she’d expected from a man who’d spent 43 years living by himself. There were dishes drying by the sink, a coat hung neatly on a peg by the door, books stacked on a table by the fireplace. It smelled like coffee and wood smoke, and something else, something uniquely EMTT that made her feel safe. “It’s not much,” he said.

suddenly self-conscious. “Nothing like your place. Your house is bigger, nicer. Your house feels like a home.” Thea interrupted. “Mine feels like a museum. Like I’ve been preserving it exactly the way it was when when he was alive. Like I’ve been too afraid to change anything because that would mean admitting I’m glad he’s gone.

” The words came out before she could stop them, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified. “I shouldn’t have said that. That’s terrible. I shouldn’t. It’s not terrible,” Emmett said gently. He pulled her hand away from her mouth, held it. “It’s honest.” “And Thea, you’re allowed to be glad. You’re allowed to be relieved.

You’re allowed to want a different life than the one you had with him. That doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you human. The giant widow looked at the lonely rancher and something inside her that had been locked tight for 18 months. Finally, finally cracked open. I was so lonely, she whispered. Even when he was alive, I was lonely.

Is that awful to be married and still feel like you’re completely alone in the world? No. EMTT said it’s just sad. Sad for you. Sad for the time you lost. Sad for everything you deserved but didn’t get. But Thea, he stepped closer. Close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body.

Could smell the scent of hay and leather that clung to his clothes. You’re not alone anymore. Not ever again. I promise you that. They climbed into EMTT’s bed together as the moon rose higher, painting silver stripes across the quilts. Thea had never felt so nervous in her life. Not on her wedding night with her first husband, not the day she’d arrived in Montana alone and terrified.

But this was different. This mattered. EMTT helped her with the buttons on her dress, his fingers gentle and patient, never rushing, never demanding. When she stood in just her shmese, feeling exposed and vulnerable, he looked at her like she was a sunset or a miracle, something beautiful that took his breath away. “You’re staring,” she whispered.

“I am,” he agreed. “And I’m going to keep staring for the rest of my life if you’ll let me.” They lay down together, and Thea’s body curved around EMTT’s smaller frame naturally, protectively. her arm draped over his waist. Her chin rested on top of his head. She’d expected to feel awkward, to feel too big, but instead she felt like a missing piece had finally clicked into place.

“EMT,” she said into the darkness. “Yeah, thank you for seeing me. Really seeing me.” His hand found hers under the blankets and squeezed. “Thank you for finally letting me.” They fell asleep like that, the giant widow and the lonely rancher who weren’t lonely anymore, holding each other through the night.

And when dawn came and the preacher married them on EMTT’s porch with the mountains as witnesses, when EMTT said, “I do,” with his eyes wide open and pulled her down for a kiss that was nothing like their first, but everything like their future. Thea finally understood what it meant to be home. One kiss had led to forever, and neither of them wanted to stop.

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