by B. J Daniels
Her gaze shot to his ring finger. There was a white band of skin, the wedding ring he’d kept on all these years now put away along with his memories of his first wife. He saw her eyes widen as she looked up at him again. Her mouth opened, but she didn’t speak. An anomaly in itself.
Shock widened her eyes further as he dropped to one knee. Those beautiful blue eyes overflowed with tears as he reached into his pocket and brought out the black velvet box.
“I love you, Bessie Walker. I’ve loved you for years. I should have told you how much you mean to me a long time ago. I hope you’ll forgive me and marry this old fool.” He wondered if she still wanted to move to Arizona. He had no desire to winter there—let alone live there—but he knew if she had her mind set on it, he’d go. He’d go anywhere she wanted.
“If you still want to go to Arizona, then that’s what we’ll do.” His voice broke, and he felt his own eyes mist. He’d come so close to losing her. He wasn’t going to waste another minute. “Please say you’ll marry me and make me the happiest man in Montana.”
She laughed softly. “We’ve never even been on a date, Earl Ray Caulfield.”
He chuckled. “Bessie, we’ve been dating for years over blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls and apricot fried pies. You going to play hard to get, or are you going to say yes?”
She wiped at her tears. “Yes, you old fool. Yes.”
Earl Ray slipped the ring on her finger, then rose and kissed her, sealing the deal. “I don’t want to go to Arizona,” she said when the kiss ended. She looked down at the ring on her finger, then up at him. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more than spending the winter curled up with you in Buckhorn.”
“That’s the woman I love,” he said, smiling down at her.
“Now, can we get out of this hospital?” she said. “I want to go home.”
“Yes, home,” he said as he began to push her to the exit. “I’m thinking we’ll sell both of our houses and start fresh,” he said. “It will have to be a house with a big kitchen.”
She laughed and reached back to cover his hand with her own. “Wherever we end up will be just fine. We’ll be together.”
“You realize it will have to be a big wedding,” Earl Ray said, thinking out loud.
“You’re right,” she said as the doors opened onto a beautiful day. “Everyone in the county has been waiting years for this. We can’t cheat them out of a happy ending.”
He laughed and looked up into Montana’s big blue sky overhead. This time there was no doubt. He felt as if Tory was giving them her blessing. “Thank you,” he whispered and stepped into this new life, feeling younger than he had in a very long time.
* * *
CULHANE WALKED OUTSIDE a free man and took a breath of the cold mountain air. He’d been cleared of all charges. The investigation of former sheriff Willy Garwood, however, was continuing.
If it went to trial, Culhane might be called in to testify. But with Dick Furu’s testimony, the prosecutor didn’t really need too much more. The former sheriff would be going to prison. For how long would depend on whether or not Garwood’s rich and powerful friends helped him out.
Right now, all he could think about was going to Alexis. Thanks to Earl Ray, he’d been kept up to date on her condition. She was being released today. The ex-military man had pulled some strings and gotten him and Alexis out of a legal mess much sooner than he’d thought possible. Even better, Earl Ray had kept him informed of Alexis’s medical status. He’d been relieved to hear that the bullet had only grazed her skull, leaving what Earl Ray said would be a cute scar but that she and baby were doing fine.
But as he neared the curb, he saw Earl Ray standing beside his pickup waiting for him.
“What’s this?” Culhane asked, suddenly worried that maybe things weren’t as good as he’d told him.
“Hop in and I’ll tell you,” Earl Ray said smiling.
Culhane balked. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Alexis. I owe you a debt of gratitude, but I need to see her. I need to know that she really is all right.”
“I understand, but take my word for it, she’s fine. Your lawyer and I agree that this other matter needs to be settled first. Indulge me just for a little while. Alexis is being picked up by her parents from the hospital as we speak. She’s going to their house for a while.”
That set off alarm bells. Admittedly after everything they’d been through, he could understand that she might be having second thoughts about a lot of things—him especially. But what about the baby? Earl Ray had assured him that the baby was fine. Still, he needed to get to her to see for himself that she and the baby were really doing well.
“If she is all right, why is she going to—”
“They just want to spoil her for a little while. She’s fine, I promise.”
“And the baby?” he’d asked, heart in his throat.
“The baby is fine, too.”
Culhane finally let himself breathe. Still he couldn’t wait to see her, put his arms around her and hold her. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you,” Culhane said.
“I just did what I could.” Apparently the man could do a lot. “I promise I won’t take much of your time. Consider it a favor. It’s something I promised to show you.”
“You promised who?” Culhane asked suspiciously as he and Earl Ray climbed into the truck.
“I’m sure you’re aware that your father’s lawyer has been trying to reach you for some time,” the older man said as he started the engine.
Culhane groaned under his breath. “I don’t care about the money.”
“So I’ve heard. Anyway, when I told him I was planning to see you today, he gave me something that I promised to pass on.”
* * *
AS THEY DROVE out of town, Culhane saw Christmas lights and decorations adorning houses and businesses everywhere he looked. He’d almost forgotten about the holiday—something he purposely had done since he was twelve. Until this year. It would be his first with Alexis as a couple.
He wanted to start a new tradition with her—after years of believing he could never enjoy it because of the painful memories of his mother.
He’d been trying to come up with something special for Alexis for Christmas—something other than the engagement ring he’d been carrying around. Asking her to marry him was only part of it. He wanted to give her something that would make her brown eyes turn that warm honey color he so loved.
Culhane felt as if he’d wasted so much time digging his heels in about getting serious. The moment he’d met her, he’d felt that special something, and yet he’d held off even asking her out. He’d been afraid that she’d disappoint him. Or worse, that he’d disappoint her.
Alexis had turned out to be like no woman he’d ever met. With Alexis, what you saw was what you got. She was the most honest person he knew. So why had she kept the pregnancy from him?
Because, you fool, you’d said you wanted no part of marriage and babies.
That’s because he had wanted to be honest with her. At that time, it was true. But that was before he’d gotten to really know her. All he’d been thinking about this past year was spending the rest of his life with her, making a home, making a family.
But you haven’t told her that.
“How do I convince Alexis to marry me without her thinking it’s just about the baby?” he asked Earl Ray as the two of them drove out of town twenty minutes later.
The older man laughed. “I’ve been such a fool myself, I’m probably the wrong person to be giving you advice. But I will, anyway, because I can see that you both love each other. Am I wrong?” Culhane shook his head. “A simple proposal won’t do it. She needs to know what you have planned for your future together now that there are going to be three of you. I understand you aren’t interested in going ba
ck to your job as deputy.”
“No.”
Earl Ray nodded. “Your father’s lawyer and I had a nice visit. He thinks you’ve been avoiding him.”
“I have.”
“He said he’s known you since you were a boy and that the happiest time of your life was living on the ranch before your mother died. He said you were a natural with the horses.”
Culhane was surprised that the lawyer knew that.
“Now that you have your inheritance...” Earl Ray slowed the pickup.
Ahead Culhane saw a sign that arched over the entrance into what was called The Crooked Tree.
Earl Ray drove under the sign and down a narrow paved road in the direction of the mountains. A large red barn stood on the horizon near what appeared to be a stable. He caught his breath as the main house came into view.
“What is this place?”
“A horse ranch that has just come on the market. Apparently in your father’s will, he’d asked his lawyer to find something extraordinary for you. Are you aware that your father has been involved in your life from the sidelines? He instructed his lawyer to find you a new home. Your father apparently in his later years regretted selling the ranch where you grew up. He regretted a lot of things before he died, I’m told, but like a lot of us, he hadn’t known how to articulate those regrets to the one he loved.” Culhane started to argue the point, but Earl Ray stopped him. “Before you see the property, I was told to give you this.”
The man reached into his pocket and brought out a business envelope. “I’ll take a walk and let you read it. Find me if you want to when you’re done.” With that he stepped out of the vehicle, leaving Culhane holding an envelope with his name written in his father’s neat, no-nonsense script.
* * *
ALEXIS PLACED A hand over her stomach. It felt strange being here in her parents’ home. So much had changed in such a short time. Maybe it was almost dying. Or maybe it was simply being pregnant.
“I don’t understand your attitude,” Imogene said as she placed the tea set on the coffee table between them. Her parents had brought her to her childhood home, insisting she needed their loving care.
They’d taken the news about the baby better than she’d expected. They’d been delighted. They’d just assumed, though, that there would be a wedding.
“Of course Culhane wants to marry you,” her mother said. “He loves you.”
Alexis shook her head as she accepted a cup of tea. “This is not the way I want things.”
Her mother raised a brow. “Well, it appears this is the way things are. Are you telling me he doesn’t want to marry you?”
“I haven’t told him about the baby.” Before her mother could ask why not, she continued. “Because that’s the problem. Culhane will do the right thing. He proved that with his first wife. I don’t want history repeating itself. I want him to want to marry me just for me.”
Imogene rubbed her temples. “How can he, when there is no longer just you? Alexis, he deserves to know. You can’t keep something like this from him.”
“That’s just it. Once I tell him, how will I ever know his true feelings?” She didn’t tell her mother that she suspected Culhane already knew she was pregnant. Or at least had his suspicions. He knew her body too well.
“Well, you won’t know unless you give him a chance to show you,” her father said as he walked into the room. “He deserves that.”
Alexis ached to see Culhane. There was so much unsaid between them. They’d both risked their lives for each other. Did she really doubt his love? “I know he loves me, and I love him. But sometimes love isn’t enough.”
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up. “I highly disagree. Look at your father and me.”
Alexis waved that away. “The two of you were made for each other.”
“Not hardly,” Imogene said with a laugh.
Her father came over and put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Your mother wanted nothing to do with me when we met. I asked her to marry me three times before she said yes, and even then I could tell she had her doubts.”
Her mother laughed again, nodding at the truth. “I still do,” she said jokingly.
“So Culhane’s gun-shy,” her father said as he took a seat on the couch beside her. “I like him, and I’m a great judge of character.” He chuckled. “Sweetheart, I think you can trust this man. But you have to give him a chance. He deserves that, and so do you and your baby.”
“In this case, your father is right,” her mother said and smiled at her husband. “It happens so seldom, him being right. But I agree with him.”
* * *
CULHANE STARED AT the envelope feeling as if he’d been ambushed and resenting it. He hadn’t wanted to deal with any of this, even though he’d known he couldn’t keep avoiding it.
For a moment, he wanted to shred the envelope and whatever was inside. There was nothing his father could say. No excuse the man could make. No man should ever treat his son the way his father had him.
He fisted his hand for a moment, the letter crinkling in his palm as he fought his anger, his sense of betrayal, his hurt. Wasn’t it bad enough to lose his mother? Why take away his home and the ranch that he loved before taking away his father as well?
Opening his fist, he looked down at the crumpled envelope and slowly tore it open and pulled out the single sheet of paper. He was expecting a typewritten letter like the few he’d received at boarding school. Short and businesslike, with his father’s signature at the end.
What he hadn’t expected was to see that this one was in his father’s handwriting and appeared painstakingly done. Something about that clutched at his chest, making it hard to breathe.
Son, I’m so sorry.
The words blurred for a moment.
I should have talked to you, tried to explain the pain I was going through. When we lost your mother, I lost myself. I abandoned you, feeling I had nothing to give and you were better off without my bitterness and despair. I know you’ve never forgiven me for selling the ranch, but son, I couldn’t bear living there. Everywhere I looked I saw her, I smelled her scent, I heard her voice. I don’t expect you to understand.
The words blurred again, and he found himself choking on strangling emotions, because Culhane did understand. He wouldn’t have before he met Alexis. He’d never known the kind of love that fills your soul, that makes you want to move mountains, that makes you want to run for fear you will lose it and die of it.
He wanted to quit reading but forced himself to continue.
I should have talked to you, but you were so young. It broke my heart to send you away. I love you, son. I always have. But I knew I couldn’t be the father you deserved. All I could do was work hard and make sure you would be cared for when I was gone. I wanted to go with her. I would have, if not for my love for you. That’s why I’ve worked so hard. It’s all that has kept me alive. I knew I couldn’t be the father you needed.
He stopped reading and took a few deep breaths, feeling his father’s pain and his own.
By the time you were older and I had learned to survive without your mother, you were no longer interested in me. I don’t blame you. I hope someday you can forgive me. I know that all the money in the world won’t make up for what you lost. What we both lost. But it’s all I had to give.
Just like buying another ranch won’t fill that hole left in your life, and I’m sorry. But it’s the best I can do. I hope you have that special someone to share it with and will make your own wonderful memories. I’m told that you might have found that person in Alexis Brand. That’s why I’ve asked my lawyer to find something special for the two of you that you both might like as my gift to you—and my way of saying I hope you find the happiness you deserve. Your father.
Culhane clutched the letter in his hand for a long moment, tears burning his eyes, before he careful
ly folded it as he grieved the tragic loss of both of his parents. His father was right. The ranch where he’d grown up wouldn’t have been the same without his mother. They both would have suffered because she was the one who’d made it so special. When she’d died, she’d taken the magic with her.
Folding the envelope, he put it in his pocket, opened his door and went to find Earl Ray. “Let’s see this ranch,” he said when he found him, and Earl Ray smiled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CULHANE HAD NEVER been more nervous in his life. He stood at the front door of Alexis’s parents’ home afraid to knock. There was so much he wanted to say, but he feared that he either might not get the chance—or he would say the wrong thing.
“Just tell her what’s in your heart,” Earl Ray had suggested when he’d dropped him off at his pickup. “The words hardly matter. She’ll see the love in your eyes.”
Culhane hoped he was right. His lucky Stetson in hand, he took a breath and knocked. When Alexis answered the door, she’d looked surprised and uneasy. He told himself he should have called, but he’d wanted to surprise her. Also, he’d been afraid she wouldn’t want to see him.
Now she had to at least tell him to get lost.
He smiled at just the sight of her, his heart aflutter in his chest. She was more beautiful than even in his memory. Earl Ray was right. She would have a small scar at her hairline. He wanted desperately to kiss it, to kiss her.
“I thought we could talk on the drive,” he said.
She frowned, surprised no doubt that those were his first words after all this time apart. “On the drive?”
“There’s something I need to show you.” He hadn’t wanted to like the Crooked Tree ranch. He hadn’t wanted his father to be right about anything. But what struck him after seeing the ranch was how much his father had known him. Culhane had loved the place, and even more surprising, it was exactly the kind of place he thought Alexis would love as well.
