* * *
Violet should’ve been in her room at the main house planning for her opening statement at the trial tomorrow. Instead, she was at Marcus’s house kissing a very sleepy Jordan good-night. Jack had fallen asleep in the truck on the way home with his half-eaten ice-cream cone in his hand, and Marcus was trying to get his chocolate-stained shirt off without waking him.
When she and Marcus left the room and shut off the hallway light, he asked, “Beer or wine?”
“Definitely wine.”
He went into the kitchen, and she collapsed on the living-room sofa, thinking over everything that had happened that night. When he returned with her glass, she asked, “Why did you let the doctor think that I was Jordan’s mom?”
“Because you were acting like his mom.”
“I wasn’t trying to be,” she insisted, not wanting Marcus to think she was angling to take the place of his children’s mother. She wouldn’t have even known how to fill that role.
“I know. I meant you were doing all the things that parents normally do in those situations. My brain was still on overload from earlier, so I was grateful one of us could properly function. You were great at comforting him and making decisions and advocating for him.”
“Well, he was doing a pretty good job advocating for himself. Man, that boy knows his medical terminology.”
Marcus chuckled, then took a sip of his beer. “He also knows that he can count on you. He could’ve easily told Finn or MJ about his arm, but he waited and told you. Not that he didn’t trust his aunt and uncle to take care of him. But because he knew that you would listen to his concerns and not override him or tell him he was silly for not wanting to call for an ambulance. I told you before that my boys not only adore you, they respect you.”
Violet knew the conversation would have to take place sooner or later. She couldn’t let the twins think that she was going to continue being in their lives if she had even the slightest doubt that things might not work out with their father.
She took a deep breath and faced him. “You told me that one of the reasons you married Brie was because she was so easy to get along with. But Marcus, I’m not her, and I’m never going to be her.”
“Have I ever made you feel as though you needed to be? As though I didn’t want you to be completely yourself?”
“The girl I used to be, or the woman I am now? Because I’ve changed a lot since then.”
“Like you’re more argumentative? Believe me, I’ve noticed.”
“Do you know how I got this way?” she asked.
His mouth lowered into a frown. “Because I hurt you.”
“Yes and no. It’s important that you understand that even if we get back together, even if we try to move past all the hurt we once caused each other,” she paused so that he would know that she, too, was taking some responsibility for their breakup, “there are going to be times when we still won’t agree.”
He lifted his knee onto the cushions to better face her. “Then help me to understand where you’re coming from.”
“We both know that my mother is overbearing and controlling and—” Violet exhaled “—frankly, a lot like your mother. Except you grew up with other siblings, who taught you how to argue, how to fight back. I had the desire, but I didn’t have the training or the courage. Even back then, there was a part of me that knew I shouldn’t have given up so easily. That I should have fought harder for you. Or at least fought harder to confront you. But I was young and hurt, and before I knew it, you were gone. I convinced myself that you might not be worth fighting for, but that I was. In law school, I finally found my voice. I learned how to negotiate, how to persuade and, more importantly, how to argue. And I was good at it. Distinguished law firms recruited me. The district attorney told me I could have my choice of assignments. My mom had arranged for me to clerk with the Supreme Court. You know what I chose, though?”
“To represent the people who you thought needed you most?”
“Well, that was a small part of it. But mostly I became a public defender because those were the hardest cases to win. I needed the challenge. I needed the fight because I had spent too much of my life not fighting for the things I believed in.”
He picked up her hand. “Did you believe in us?”
“Back then?” She only paused to take a breath. “One hundred percent.”
“What about now?” he asked.
“Right now?”
“Yes, Violet Cortez-Hill. Do you believe that we can figure out a way to fight for each other this time?”
“What are you saying, Marcus?” She didn’t want anything to be said in the heat of passion or in jest. They both needed to lay all their cards out and talk about their expectations.
He cupped her cheek in his hand. “At one time in my life, I thought I wanted things to be easy. I don’t regret my marriage to Brie because she gave me what I needed at the time. Truthfully, we gave each other what we needed. Plus, she gave me my children. But now I need something else in my life. I need you, Violet. My boys need you. Hell, my whole family needs you. I know that things won’t be perfect and that we will have our ups and downs. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. You bring out the best in me, and you challenge me to be the kind of man that I want my sons to be. I loved the girl you once were, but I love the woman you’ve become even more.”
Her heart filled with a lightness, and her mind was spinning. Marcus loved her. He wanted her in his life. Normally, she knew all the right things to say. But right now, all she could manage was “I love you, too.”
“Then stay here,” he said, before picking her up and carrying her to his bedroom. She had a feeling he meant stay in Wyoming, not just in his bed. And as he shut the door behind them, she realized there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
Except preparing for trial tomorrow. Ugh. They’d just had an intense, adrenaline-fueled night, topped by an emotionally healing conversation about their future, and Violet was going to have to leave to get ready to oppose Marcus in court in the morning. Well, not Marcus exactly. Just the deputy who worked for him and the county prosecutor.
When Marcus started kissing her, though, Violet decided that she could probably stay one more hour. Maybe two.
* * *
Before dawn the following morning, Marcus was thinking about what he was going to cook Violet for breakfast when a pounding knock came from his front door. If something had happened to Rider in the middle of the night, one of his family members would’ve called.
“I’ll go see who it is,” he told Violet when she stirred in his arms. “But I’m not going to keep it a secret that you’re here.”
Last night, she’d told him she loved him. This morning, the boys would wake up and see she’d spent the night. After the trial ended, everyone would know that they were together, and they could stop all this sneaking around.
Turned out, there was no need to pretend otherwise. When Marcus opened the door, MJ was on the other side and strode inside. “Is Violet awake? I need to talk to her.”
“Is everything okay?” Violet asked, coming down the hall in the sweater she’d been wearing last night—inside out—and a pair of Marcus’s boxer shorts. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, and her face was filled with concern. “Is it Rider?”
“Oh, um, sorry. Rider is good. He was already awake and asking Freckles to sneak some biscuits and gravy into the hospital for him. The surgeon is moving him out of the intensive care unit later this morning. But that’s not why I’m here. I want to plead guilty today.”
“Whoa,” Violet said, not so subtly jerking her chin toward Marcus. “This might be a conversation that needs to take place somewhere else to maintain attorney–client privilege.”
“I can go get some coffee started,” Marcus offered, but MJ cut him off.
“No. I want you to hear this. You were right. I needed to grow up and start t
aking responsibility for my actions. Dad had always steered me in the right direction, and I used to sit back and let him. I know that sounds like a cry for attention, and maybe it was. But the more I acted like I needed guidance, the more Dad gave me. Then, right after my high-school graduation, Dad seemed distracted. You guys were all busy with your own lives when he first got sick, but I knew something was up with his health before then. I put off college last fall because I wanted to stay close to him. I thought that maybe if he thought I needed him badly enough, he’d fight whatever was wrong with him and stick around. When he died, though, I started thinking that maybe I should’ve been the one to fix him, rather than the other way around.”
Sounded like Marcus wasn’t the only one in the family who thought he needed to fix things. But he let MJ continue.
“I was angry and I was emotional and I was stupid. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk after the funeral, and I shouldn’t have punched Deputy Broman. Dad would’ve wanted me to accept the consequences of my actions, and I’m doing him a big disservice and causing everyone else in the family a bunch of grief by drawing out this trial any longer than it needs to be.”
Neither Marcus nor Violet said anything, and MJ released a big breath. “Well, now that I got that off my chest, I think I’ll go get that coffee started. I bet you guys will need it for the rest of this conversation.”
Marcus whispered to Violet, “Shouldn’t you be giving him some sort of lawyerly advice right now?”
Violet whispered back, “I think he could use some brotherly advice more.”
“Right.” Marcus nodded and started toward the kitchen.
Violet caught up to him and grabbed his arm. “Except not so much advice as more of a listening ear. Just listen to his feelings, and let me handle the legal stuff.”
When they arrived in the kitchen, MJ was pulling a box of sugary cereal out of the pantry. “Sweet. Mom never lets me keep Sugar Loops at the main house.”
“So what happened to make you change your mind about pleading guilty?” Marcus asked, then grabbed three bowls out of the cupboard. They might all supposedly be grown-ups now, but nobody said no to Sugar Loops.
“You know when you took that yoga class with me in Arlington?”
“Took the class?” Violet brought the milk container to the table. “Marcus, you said you went there, but you never told me you actually did yoga.”
“You want me to show you my planks?” He flexed his arms.
“Ew, gross.” MJ set the box down so he could plug his ears. “You guys sound like Uncle Rider and Aunt Freckles.”
“No, we don’t!” Marcus shuddered, then shook his head. “Anyway, you started thinking about changing your plea when we were in DC?”
“Yeah. You were asking me about my electives in high school, and I told you about that biomedical science class. You said it sounded pretty interesting. So I started doing a little bit of research, but there’s no way I could go to school for all the years it would take to be a doctor. Then last night when Jordan got hurt, I made him that sling, and it helped. Agent Franks and I made it back to where Rider was just before the medical evac team got there, and I got to ride in the helicopter with them. Man, I watched them save Rider’s life, and I thought, hey, I could do this, too. I stayed up talking to Kendra at the hospital, and she convinced me I should become a medic. One of the guys on the flight last night told me that he was in the Army Reserve and that EMTs can pretty much get any job they want if they have a combat background. I have to figure out if the military will take me with a criminal record, though.”
“Have you met our mother?” Marcus asked. “She has half of the joint chiefs of staff on her speed dial.”
“I want to go about it the right way, though,” MJ said, which made Marcus even more proud. “I don’t want any special favors because I’m a King.”
Violet finally spoke up. “Now this is where I come in with the legal advice.” She explained that misdemeanors could often get expunged from the record after time was served. She thought she could get Reed Nakamoto to agree to twelve months of probation, and if MJ successfully completed that, she could file a motion to expunge. After that, the recruiter’s office would have to decide whether or not they’d be willing to accept MJ, but who were any of them kidding? Sherilee King would make some phone calls whether any of them wanted her to or not.
* * *
By the end of the day, Violet had gotten MJ only six months of probation—with credit for house arrest the past three months he’d been confined to the Twin Kings—she’d picked up the twins from school and she’d stopped by the Pepperoni Stampede to pick up dinner for the four of them.
“Day one and you’re already setting the bar pretty high for this girlfriend gig,” Marcus said when he opened the pizza box. “Wait. Did you get pineapples on purpose?”
“Maybe,” she replied with a sly grin, then yelped when he started chasing her around the kitchen table. “I told you I wasn’t going to make things too easy for you.”
He changed directions at the last minute and caught her in his arms. She was now laughing breathlessly, and the boys started chanting, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”
But she took matters into her own hands and kissed him. The boys cheered, and she whispered, “I love you, Marcus King.”
His heart felt as though it was going to explode. When the boys heard the opening song to their favorite movie, they took the pizza box into the family room, leaving Marcus and Violet in the kitchen.
“Do you love me enough to stay together even when we live so far apart?”
“The main house isn’t all that far,” she replied. “Not even a whole mile.”
“I meant when you go back to Texas,” he said, trying not to hold his breath. “To your career and your life.”
“As long as there’s a courthouse nearby, my career can be anywhere I want it to be, Marcus. And since you and the boys are in Wyoming, then I guess my life will be here, as well.”
“Are you serious?” He grinned, his wildest dreams coming true before his eyes. “You’re staying here at the Twin Kings with us?”
“Yes. But on one condition.”
“Name it,” Marcus said.
“We hire a wedding planner. There’s no way I’m running interference between our mothers when they start trying to get the upper hand on reception venues and invite lists.”
His laughter echoed in the kitchen. “Is that a proposal, Miss Cortez-Hill?” he asked. “Are you asking me to be your husband?”
“No, it’s the preliminary stages of a pending negotiation. We can wait until after the boys go to bed before you deliver your counteroffer.”
“No counteroffer,” he replied. “I accept. I’m not letting you get away ever again.”
Epilogue
“I don’t know why you can’t get married at the First Congregation of Teton Ridge like everyone else in the family,” Sherilee said to Marcus after most of the guests had left. The immediate King family was still sitting around several large tables at Big Millie’s, which had been closed tonight so that Tessa and Grayson could hold their wedding rehearsal dinner there, much to Sherilee’s chagrin. “You could still have your reception in Texas at a later date if it’s so important to Senator Cortez-Hill.”
“I got this,” Violet whispered, then patted Marcus’s knee before turning to his mom. “Mrs. King, my mother is already heartbroken that I’m moving to Wyoming full-time to open my own law practice. The least we can do is compromise by following my family’s tradition and have the ceremony at St. Thomas’s in San Antonio. Look on the bright side, though. Think of how crazy Aunt Freckles is going to drive my mom when it comes to planning the reception dinner.”
Sherilee seemed to mull the idea over. “I might pay to see that. But I’ll talk to our church secretary about their open dates. Just in case.”
Marcus pressed his smiling mout
h against Violet’s forehead. “Good try, counselor. You can’t win every case.”
“I didn’t get married at the First Congregation.” Dahlia raised her hand from behind the bar. She and Connor had enjoyed a very small, outdoor ceremony at his ranch, the Rocking D.
“Not this time, you didn’t,” Finn mumbled from her stool where she was nursing a melting margarita.
“Don’t be jealous that your twin has got you beat two times over when it comes to finding great guys,” Micah said.
“One great guy,” Finn corrected, then turned to Connor who was helping his wife wash glasses behind the bar. “You’re a saint for putting up with Dahlia’s ex-husband, Con.”
“Someday you’ll have your chance to walk down the aisle, too, Finn.” Micah was one of the few people who could really get under the tough cowgirl’s skin. “As soon as you can find someone who wants to put up with your sassy attitude.”
Tessa held up her hands in a time-out sign. “Can we please have at least one night with no major family arguments?”
“Nope.”
“No way.”
“Yeah, right.” A chorus around the bar.
“Keep in mind, Mom,” Marcus said, his voice raised as he slung an arm around his younger brother, “MJ is going to be my best man, and it’ll be easier for him to attend the wedding after he gets out of boot camp if we get married in Texas.”
The heavy oak door opened, and all eyes turned toward the entrance.
“Sorry we’re late,” Duke said as he and Tom shrugged out of their coats. Tom was wearing his dress blues, and Duke was still in his flight suit. But at least they were together.
Amelia, Dahlia’s daughter who often asked more questions than Jack and Jordan combined, yelled across the room, “Hey, Uncle Duke and Uncle Tom. Do you guys have your baby yet?”
There were several gasps as everyone’s heads pivoted from Amelia to Duke to Tom and then back to Amelia again. Finally, Duke smiled and put his arm around his husband.
Not Their First Rodeo Page 20
