All Chapters of Her Second Chance Mate: Chapter 81 - Chapter 83

I didn’t go to the living room when we got home. I didn’t need to. Tristan had already taken over that space with his pacing, and I could hear it before I even made it halfway down the hall, footsteps back and forth, uneven, faster than usual. He was trying to think his way through something, and it wasn’t working. I kept walking. My room still didn’t feel like mine in the same way Treetop cottage had. That place had been quiet in a different way, softer. Just me and Mom, the lake just beyond the trees, everything slower, simpler. Here, Boland Farm had its own kind of quiet, bigger, more open, like it held more than just the two of us. It wasn’t bad. Just… different. I shut my door most of the way behind me and set my bag on the desk, already reaching for the small box I’d tucked in the back corner earlier that week. I’d gotten everything ready ahead of time. I always did. Mother’s Day wasn’t something I had to think about. It just… was. I pulled out the strip of leather first,

I woke slowly, already aware I’d slept longer than I usually did. Not because I hadn’t heard the morning start, I had. The barn doors, the soft shift of movement across the property, the familiar rhythm of chores getting done before the sun fully came up. The mate bond made sure of that. It had hummed quietly at the edge of my awareness, letting me know Alex was out there, moving from task to task like he always did. And for once… I let it. I’d handled the evening before. The animals were settled, the farm was quiet, and today was Mother’s Day. If there was ever a morning to not drag myself out of bed before dawn, this was it. So I stayed where I was, tucked beneath the covers, letting the quiet linger a little longer than usual. I didn’t expect anything. Not really. Maybe something small from Samuel. A card, something he’d made. That was how it always went. Simple. Meaningful. Enough. The sound of footsteps in the hallway pulled me from that thought, steady and careful, fo