Keep Her (Texas Hearts Series Book 3)

by Flora Burgos

  This made him catch his breath in surprise, and they were both caught off guard with his answer. “I’ll do it when you take my last name.”

  Tears filled her eyes, she was so overcome with emotion, and she asked on a croak, “Your last name?”

  “Yeah, baby. This is it. We do this together. We love each other, and I want to build a life with you, not just share a bed with you at my sister’s house for the next twenty years. It’s time, don’t you think?”

  “T-time?”

  “Yeah, honey, it’s time. We’ve been headed to this point ever since the first moment I laid eyes on you. I want you next to me every night, and I want to watch your belly swell with our child in you and eventually grow old next to me. One day, the ranch will go to our kids, and we can live

  out our golden years on a beach somewhere or something.”

  The one thing that stuck out in Claire’s inebriated mind was that he was taking sex off the table until they were married—and he hadn’t even asked her yet.

  “So, when are you going to ask me, so we can head on down to the JP and get this done?”

  That surprised a chuff out of him and he asked, “The Justice of the Peace? You don’t want a big church wedding?”

  “Dev, sweetheart, who would walk me down the aisle? Who would give me away? Why would we spend money on a big soiree and not on our future instead?”

  His only response before he changed the subject was a thoughtful hum. Before long, Claire’s eyelids started to droop, and she let him go, knowing he would be back in bed with her the next night.

  Chapter Fourteen:

  The following Wednesday, Courtney called a family meeting and informed them all that they would be accompanying her and Cole on Saturday to look at a venue for their upcoming wedding. Then she turned to Claire and said, “And I have the perfect outfit for you, so we’re going to get all gussied up and then make the boys take us out for dinner after. No arguments!”

  Bemused, Claire agreed and missed the look passing between Devon and his sister.

  Then Devon took over the conversation, saying to Clint, “Brother, I need Claire tomorrow morning. Do you think you will be alright for one morning, working on PT by yourself?”

  Clint grinned at him and said, “Well, it won’t be the same doing it without her encouragement and smiles, but if you promise to give her back, I’ll make an exception.”

  Still, she didn’t sense anything odd.

  He was reclining into their pillows with Claire in his arms, Devon asked, “So, you haven’t said anything about our talk while I was away. Do you remember it?”

  She rubbed her nose into his chest, saying, “Of course I do.”

  “So, you’re still on board, then? Marriage, kids, ranching, and growing old together?”

  “Sure am. I’ve never been in love with someone before, and I don’t want to ever lose this feeling. I want to

  do whatever it takes to keep you with me until I take my last breath.”

  “Good deal, baby, because that’s what I want as well.”

  Claire snuggled into his chest and slowly drifted off to sleep without so much as a thought to his random questions.

  ***

  She was bemused when Dev woke her up the next morning and told her to get dressed so they could run into town and that after, he had something he wanted to show her.

  When they pulled into the courthouse parking lot, Claire looked to Devon with lifted brows. “Somebody in jail, Dev?”

  He grinned a flash of pearly whites at her, saying, “No, baby, we’re here to get a marriage license. I know the process takes a while, and we are going to be prepared, so when I put a ring on your finger, I can make you mine all the quicker.”

  Claire’s heart bumped in her throat, and she froze. “Wait, for real?”

  Already in motion to open the driver’s side door to step out of the truck, Dev pulled himself back into the cab and said, “Well, yeah. We’re doing this, right? Are you second-guessing it?”

  She pulled in a breath and said, “Of course not, but I didn’t realize you were talking this soon. But you’re right.

  I would marry you right this second, so it’s not like this isn’t what we’re going to be doing sooner or later anyway. It just took me by surprise.” Then she smiled brightly at him and opened her own door to step out.

  Dev’s shoulders slumped with relief. This had been a risky play on his part, and he’d been hoping this would be her reaction would be something like this.

  After the process of filing for their marriage certificate, he took her back to the ranch, but instead of hopping on a horse or an ATV, he drove the truck down a dirt road and showed her a place where the ground had been broken and what looked like the skeleton of a building was going up.

  “Surprise,” he said sheepishly and grinned at her. “I, uh, got a contractor and a floor plan for our house, but the inside is all yours to do with as you please. It’s an early wedding gift, so that we will have our own place to live soon.”

  Claire was overwhelmed with happiness and threw herself into his arms. “How have you had time to plan all of this? It’s amazing! And insane!”

  He pulled her close and questioned, “So, you’re happy? It isn’t weird that I did all of this without you knowing?”

  “This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me in my whole life. When did you even start this? You have to be weeks into the project already. How did I never even notice?”

  It wasn’t until that moment that Devon was finally able to truly relax. Now he knew that the rest of his

  surprises would be well received and she was going to be his in every way she could be in a very short time.

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Bright and early Saturday morning, true to her word, Courtney woke her up at the crack of dawn and proceeded to pluck and primp Claire to within an inch of her life.

  As she put on high heels that left her feeling concerned that she was going to break her neck trying to walk across the room, Courtney informed her that Katy and Sean would be there any moment to go with them to tour the venue. It seemed the whole family was coming. It sounded like overkill to Claire, but Courtney could be a bit of a diva sometimes, so Claire was willing to let her get away with it, just this once.

  Once Courtney and Devon’s parents arrived, also dressed to the nines, and Katy and Sean got there, they dutifully marched to the three separate vehicles they would be taking.

  One for Katy and Sean, in case she went into labor on the way, one of the ranch trucks for the elder Kincaids, and an SUV for the rest of them to pile into.

  She could tell that the employees at the swanky venue were a little taken aback at the size and dressiness of the entourage attending the tour, but they shrugged it off. The hostess in charge of their tour pasted a huge welcoming grin to her face as she led the way and

  explained what all was included to make their wedding the best day they could for the prospective bride and groom.

  When they got to the chapel, Claire was awed at its beauty. Immediately, she fell in love with it, and she was so wrapped up in her awe that she failed to notice when Courtney pulled the hostess to the side and asked if they could have a moment to chat about the venue in privacy. As they had reached the end of the tour and there was no one else due for the next half hour, the hostess had no objections and instead waved them on and declared that should they have any more questions, to give the office a call. Then she left them to discuss. After she walked out of the door to the chapel and it closed behind her, Courtney waited a moment and then peeked out through the crack in the door to make sure the other woman was gone. Then she shut the door and nodded to Devon.

  Watching this, Claire furrowed her brow in confusion. Something was going on here, as everyone in the room was moving about and circling her, but she had no idea what it was. Then Devon cleared his throat, and she turned her attention to him and was taken aback when he took her hand and got down on one knee.

/>   “Baby, we’ve talked about this several times already, but I still gotta ask, you wanna do life with me? Make an honest man of me and give me a family?”

  Her smile was brilliant when she whispered back to him, “Yes.”

  He slipped the ring onto her finger, and Clint cut in saying, “We planned this all out, so we could make it a special day for you. I know you told Dev that you didn’t

  want the hoopla of a full wedding, but we aren’t willing to let you go to the JP without us, so we got together and came up with a plan. Court, you wanna give them to her?”

  Claire turned to the woman who would be her sister-in-law and watched as she pulled a beautiful, small bouquet out of her huge purse and handed it to her. “I covered the something new with this pretty little thing, and Katy has borrowed and blue.” She pointed to Claire’s cousin, and Katy handed her a pretty, blue garter and bent to pull up the leg of the stylish pearl-colored pantsuit that Courtney had dressed her in that morning.

  Devon stopped her before she could complete the task and said, “Kate, why don’t you let me do that? If you get all the way down there, you may not be getting back up.”

  Playfully, Katy smacked his arm when she regained her feet and handed him the garter to place on Claire’s thigh himself. Then Clint cleared his throat and spoke again. “A while ago, I was ordained to perform weddings because I always said that when Court and my knucklehead of a brother got their shit straight, I was going to be the one to marry them. So, if you’d let me have the honor, I would love to be the one to marry the two of you right here, right now.”

  She looked to Dev and asked, “Is all of this for real?”

  He pulled her close and whispered against her lips, “It’s as real as you and me, baby. It’s as real as spending the rest of our lives together and everyone who is

  important to us is already here and waiting on you to say yes.”

  She looked at Clint and nodded. “Let’s do this!” She broke off in laughter and couldn’t stop the happy glow speading through her, spreading to everyone in the chapel gathered there to show their love and support for them.

  Before Clint started, Devon told her solemnly, “The girls took care of three of the requirements, but there is one more that still needs to be covered.” He looked up to his mom and asked, “Mama, will you give it to me now?”

  And walking up to them, her future mother-in-law gave her a happy smile and said, “Of course. I want you to have this as your something old. This was my mother-in-law’s original wedding band. She gave it to me on my wedding day, so I am doing the same. Welcome to our family, Claire. We are so happy to have you.”

  Then she kissed Claire’s cheek and handed the band to her son, to put onto his bride’s finger after their vows.

  After they made short work of hurriedly repeating their vows and kissing—not so hurriedly—Devon bent and took the garter from her leg and shot it at Clint, saying, “You’re up next, fucker.”

  Courtney and Katy descended on Claire and were hugging her and talking over each other before she had a moment of clarity and thought to ask, “Were you really considering getting married here, or did I just get an uber fancy wedding for free?”

  Courtney replied, “A little of both!” with a laugh.

  Suddenly, Katy gasped and reached a hand down to her stomach as she groaned, and it looked like she was peeing on herself as the dampness spread visibly through her clothes. Everyone stared at her for a moment before Claire realized what was going on and jumped into action.

  She grabbed Devon and shouted in excitement, “Go get the car and get it back here now! We’re having a baby!”

  Then she tasked Sean with calling Katy’s godparents and Courtney with gathering up their belongings while she held on to Katy for dear life. Once they were seated in the SUV and following Katy and Sean and Dev’s dad, who was driving the couple, Courtney spoke up from the backseat and said, “Well, I don’t think they will be letting us get married there, after all! Should have known a child of Ev’s would have to make a spectacular entrance.” Then she started laughing so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks. “Did you see the look on Ev’s face when her water broke? I think he actually thought she was having an accident or something!”

  Everyone in the car roared with laughter, and Claire found that peace wasn’t so hard to get hold of. She had the best support system a girl could ask for. In one day, two miracles were occurring. She was now a married woman, and her niece (or nephew) would be making their appearance in a short matter of time.

  It had been the best day she could remember ever having in her life. And that was saying a lot because every day with this group was an amazing one.

  Epilogue:

  When Clarise Thelma Everett made her way into the world, the people who loved her fought for a turn to hold her. She was the apple of her daddy’s eye, and there was a new side to him. He postured himself around her protectively constantly, and every one of them knew that if he thought it was necessary, he would jump between her and any danger that presented itself.

  Seeing Claire holding her baby cousin set Dev on a path of determination that soon she would be holding his baby in her arms.

  When the new parents went home a couple of days later, Devon told Claire that the rest of her surprise was ready for her. When she got back to the La Barron home, she found that Courtney had packed her bags for her because the next surprise was a two-week honeymoon.

  For two weeks, the newlyweds traveled the country and never watched the sun set in the same place twice. They spent a night in Big Bend staring at the stars in the middle of an open sky, a morning watching the activity on Venice Boardwalk, a rainy day sightseeing in Seattle, a drive through the Black Hills, and caught a ballgame at Wrigley Field, and so many other places along the way. They enjoyed the time away and especially the freedom of being married and no longer having to abide Dev’s dumb rule about no sex before marriage.

  It was oddly fitting when eight months later, at Courtney and Cole’s wedding, a wedding that Clint had

  brought a date to- a date that none of them had ever met and yet seemed to know the man extremely well- and then walked down the aisle ahead of the couple to officiate, Claire, standing as Courtney’s maid of honor, started to feel the twinges of labor and silently counted down the contractions.

  She made it through the first dance, but when the pain became too much and the contractions way too close together, she gave her husband a subtle but pointed look, and as he held her in his arms, she whispered up to him, “Sweetheart, the baby is coming.”

  Devon threw back his head and laughed and then gave his mom a high sign to let her know it was time.

  Courtney made her way around the dance floor and stopped in front of her sister-in-law to ask, “Are you in labor right now?”

  Claire nodded in affirmative, and then Courtney shouted, “Woo! Alright, gang, y’all can stay and enjoy the party, but we gotta go. My nephew is ready to greet the world. I love you all! Thanks for coming!”

  Pausing at the door, Courtney linked her arm with Clint’s and said, “Guess that leaves us, big guy! Give me a heads up for when you finally get married, so that Cole and I can orchestrate you getting your own niece or nephew mid-ceremony!”

  About the Author:

  Flora Burgos is a romance author from the great state of Texas. She found reading at a very tender age, devouring the bodice rippers of yore, long before she ever even had her first kiss. After an unconventional childhood and tons of travel, she is now a 30-something that steps to her own beat, just that little bit past normal. She's a modern-day hippie, with the heart of a gypsy and the soul of a dreamer and a love for animals and words that mere words do not do justice to. She has an eclectic playlist containing everything from film scores to hip hop and country to hair bands with any and everything in between. She curses like a sailor, is addicted to coffee and diet coke, loves her pit bull, hubby, and preteen son more than anything else in the world and spends her
limited free time, when not reading or writing, in the kitchen with her guys where they enjoy cooking as a family.

  Acknowledgements:

  Y’all, I have so many people to acknowledge for helping me make this dream come true.

  My cover designer, Tracie, who fell in love with the cover even though she was making it for me, and then she didn’t kill me when I proceeded to sit on that cover for several months. I’m sorry! I love you!

  My editor, Julia, who makes every word I write mean more than it already did. I learned that it is very important to find an editor you trust, and I have a Rockstar in my corner.

  My kiddo and friends for loving me, even though I am constantly on a deadline—self-imposed, but still. These are the people who keep me going.

  Shout out to Haley and Kristy because they made “Girls Trip 2018” a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life. These three Texas girls showed Alabama how to have a good time. Here’s to 2019 babyyyyyyyy!

  Any acknowledgement is never complete unless I shout out to my muse. My hubby is one of my greatest blessings. In 2018, we celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary, and I want to share with you all a part of what I posted to social media in honor of our marriage because it reflects my writing as well, and honestly, it’s the best way to give you a little insight into myself:

  Fourteen years ago, I was lost. I was resigned to the fact that my life was what it was and it would never get better. I was trying. I was busting it. But I was mostly going through the motions.