I sang “Happy Birthday” to our daughter while my husband celebrated another woman’s son.
Joel promised he’d be home before the guests arrived.
By the time I lit Lucy’s first birthday candle, I had run out of excuses for him. He was giving pony rides at Sabrina Keene’s son’s party, staying for the presents while our little girl grew too tired to wait.
When he finally came home, the guests were gone.
That night, he admitted the rest.
I loved the cowboy I married. For eight years, he was the man who made me laugh, the man I wanted beside me, the man who wanted our baby as much as I did.
He was also sleeping with another woman.
Now I have a daughter to raise, work I want back, and a new front door he needs an invitation to walk through.
Joel ends the affair. He wants our marriage, and he says he’ll do whatever it takes to earn another chance. But we have years of shared history, a child who loves him, and a thousand ordinary moments where trusting him used to come easily.
I watch him start showing up. I let myself laugh with him again. Sometimes, I even forget to be careful.
What frightens me most is how much I still want him.
He can never give us back her first birthday. If he wants our future, he’ll have to earn a place in it.
An angsty standalone cowboy romance featuring marital betrayal, other woman drama, grovel, returning desire, and a hard-earned second chance—with a complete happily ever after.
