by Ella Cooper
“You were in Barcelona. It’s impossible that you…,”
“It is mine,” Jacob declared before Mandy could finish her theory.
The Hawkins looked at him in shock, they thought that Jacob only covered for Claudia. It is mine. The cowboy was certain about it. Claudia confessed that she never had sex for months before that night in Barcelona. He was the only man she made love with, since the night they first met. Jacob punched the wall in anger.
“I should not have left,” he cried. “Now, I really lost a child.”
Mandy and Bentley looked at each other. They could not understand Jacob’s reaction.
Jacob looked at Bentley and said, “Claudia was the Barcelona girl I told you about.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry, Jacob,” Bentley said quietly. “You better go see her now. She’s with her father.”
Jacob smiled and opened the door to the room. He wanted to run next to Claudia and hold her in his arms forever, but a man sat beside the bed. Claudia looked down quickly when their eyes met, he sensed her fear that he might doubt her. Jacob walked to the man and offered his hand.
“I’m Jacob Stevens. You must be Fred,” Jacob initiated.
Fred nodded. He looked at his daughter and told Jacob, “I believe you two have a lot to talk about.”
Jacob looked at Claudia, she kept her face down. When the door closed, she looked up and cried out, “I did not know, Jacob. I tested a month after that night in Barcelona and it was negative. I repeated it when I was matched with you and it was still negative. I really did not know.”
The doctor explained that Claudia had taken the test too early and that home kits were less accurate. Claudia also suffered from hormonal imbalances, which could have affected the results.
Jacob grabbed Claudia and hugged her tightly, she clung to his neck and cried on his chest.
“The baby was yours. Believe me. It was yours,” Claudia pleaded.
“I know. I believe you,” Jacob replied in tears. He kissed Claudia’s forehead and whispered, “I should never have left.”
Claudia quickly pulled away from him. She shook her head and said, “No, Jacob. It was not your fault. It was an accident. Do not blame yourself again.”
Jacob held Claudia’s hands and planted it with kisses. He looked her straight in the eyes and proposed, “I will have everything right before you get out of here. I’ll keep you safe. Just promise that you’ll still come home to me.”
Claudia looked puzzled by his words, but she nodded as a reply. Jacob mouthed his apology again and kissed her gently on the lips. Do I have to give up something? Jacob asked as he cried the pain of losing his unborn child.
#
Claudia rose from her bed when the doctor came to her room, she was eager for good news as she was ready to go home with Jacob. He never doubted her. They needed each other’s comfort after losing their child. Claudia vowed to stay with Jacob until he finished all his competitions. Though he had not proposed to her yet, but he promised to marry her before the end of summer.
Jacob held Claudia’s hand and asked the doctor, “Can we go home now?”
“Yes. But, I need to update you on Claudia’s condition first,” the doctor replied.
“Condition?” Claudia uttered with fear.
The assisting doctor handed Claudia’s record to her attending doctor. Her Dad, Jacob and herself looked at each other when the doctor showed them a copy of her x-rays.
“You have a herniated disc,” the doctor started.
Claudia’s hands trembled as the doctor explained her condition. He further explained that her condition had been present before she got pregnant. The herniated disc was likely a result of a prior spinal injury that was not treated. Claudia’s years of walking in heels as a model in addition to her weight might have added to the seriousness of the condition.
“How serious is it?” Jacob asked in a shaky voice.
“Let’s say, it’s so serious that you could consider the accident as a blessing,” the doctor claimed. “Claudia could have been in great danger if she went through with the pregnancy.”
“What should we do then? Does she need surgery?” Fred questioned in a panicking tone.
“It does not need surgery yet. Claudia only needs to undergo therapy,” the doctor replied.
“How long?” Jacob and Claudia almost asked in unison.
The doctor shrugged and said, “It could be months or years, it will largely depend on the progress. But, until then, Claudia should not get pregnant or do extreme exercises or activities that could damage her spinal column.”
Claudia let go of Jacob’s hand, she clenched her jaw to fight her tears from springing out.
The doctor understood the young woman’s fear of not being able to bear a child, she assured Claudia that it was still possible. She only needed to wait.
Claudia did not respond to any explanation or comfort given from the people in the room. Worry and fear filled her head. She wondered what was going through Jacob’s head, he had just begun to desire family life. Jacob wanted to have more children and she might not give him any.
“I’ll go home with Dad,” Claudia announced abruptly.
The announcement left Fred and Jacob in silence. Jacob tried to hold Claudia’s hands, but she hid it under the blanket. She looked at him straight in the eyes and repeated her decision.
“We talked about this. You’re coming home with me,” Jacob insisted.
“I wanna go home to Memphis. This place is not for me,” the young woman countered. She kept her face straight and looked at Jacob. “You were right all along, I’m not cut out for this, I can’t be your wife.”
“Claudia, no. I’m not changing my mind because of your condition. I love you. Do you hear me?” Jacob protested.
Tears sprung down Claudia’s cheeks, the sincerity of Jacob’s confession pierced through her soul. She wanted to change her mind, but the same words strengthened her hesitation. How long will the cowboy love her? Soon, he would want another child.
The doctor suggested that she had to be careful with her activities. Jacob was still young and vigorous and he loved it rough and hard. How could she meet up with that? Claudia could stay and become the wife Jacob initially desired. Just someone who would take care of his children and his brother. But, she did not want to be a martyr. She still wanted a husband who will love her forever.
“Let’s stop this now,” Claudia decided. “It had only been four days. The girls could easily forget me. You can forget me.”
“I tried every fucking day after we met in Barcelona,” Jacob admitted with anger. “I couldn’t. Now, I wouldn’t. You will be my wife.”
“I can’t and I won’t!” Claudia exclaimed.
“Jacob, just let her be for now. Let her rest,” Fred suggested.
“But, Fred…”
“She’s angry at the situation. Claudia is still in disbelief,” Fred explained. “You will only stress her. My daughter is a stubborn woman. You can’t change her mind right now.”
“I will have her as my wife, Fred,” Jacob declared. He looked at Claudia, but the young blonde refused to look back at him.
Claudia let go of her tears when Jacob walked out the door. Fred looked at her, his eyes seemed to ask if she was certain with her decision. The young woman cried like a child as her father embraced her. Not everyone can have their happily ever after, she concluded as she wept uncontrollably in her father’s arms.
#
“The girls waited with their father,” Fred told Claudia.
Claudia remained silent and fought her urge to meet the girls. She wondered whether Jacob had explained the accident to them and how they were coping with it. I can’t stay here, Claudia insisted in her mind. The girls were excited to have siblings and she would fail them. I’ll end up failing everyone.
“Your little girls left you this,” the nurse said. She held a bouquet of sunflowers and handmade card.
Claudia took the gifts, but placed it on the side table. Fred dropp
ed the bag he held and picked up the card. He smiled and gave it to Claudia, but she refused to receive it, so he read it. He looked at his daughter and said, “I think you have to read this.”
She stared at the card for a while before taking it, a loud laugh escaped her mouth when she opened it. The girls wrote the letter without any space between the words and her laughter reduced to a soft smile when she read the card.
The girls wrote that their mother would be her unborn baby’s mother in heaven. So, Claudia had to be their mother here on earth. They asked her to come home to them. She could tell that Jacob urged the girls to write the letter to convince her. He had not stopped trying to persuade her to come home with him since her confinement.
“Jacob came here when you were asleep last night, he told me his plan,” Fred confessed.
“I don’t want to hear about it,” Claudia quickly cut in.
“He’s pulling out from the remaining competitions,” Fred still continued.
Claudia’s eyes widened in shock. Pulling out? She shook her head. Jacob loved bull riding, apart from his girls, it was the only thing that gave him genuine happiness. He should not give it up for her.
“He doesn’t have to do it,” she told her father.
Fred shrugged his shoulders and said, “He’s trying to keep you, he even arranged a separate home for Frank…”
“What?” Claudia blurted in shock, her hands trembled in disbelief. Jacob was ruining everything that brought happiness only to keep her. “Dad, you should have stopped him”
“Who am I? I’m not his fiancée’s father, I’m nothing to him,” Fred said with the corner of his lips forming into a small smile. “That boy was lost before you found him. Now, he’s lost again.”
Claudia looked at her father. Fred was trying to convince her to stay with Jacob, but she refused to give in. She flashed a soft smile and uttered, “He’ll find another woman, a better one.”
Fred agreed with a nod, he tried to take the card from Claudia, but she refused to let go. The old man snorted and murmured, “Whatever my daughter wants, my daughter gets.”
Claudia took the sunflowers and carried them with her as she left the room. Jacob and the girls went home after she refused to see them. Fred arranged everything for their return to Memphis, he claimed to have a short business meeting in Cheyenne. They would have to fly home from there.
“It will be a long ride back to Cheyenne, you better sleep in the car,” Fred suggested.
#
Claudia opened her eyes slowly when she heard some soft buzzing. Her eyes widened when her best friends, Ara and Loren, sat next to her. Mandy Hawkins stood at the other corner with Olivia Dylan! Claudia looked around in confusion, she turned pale when she realized that she was in Jacob’s room.
“We haven’t met yet. I’m Olivia. Jacob said you would be reminded of something once you saw me,” Olivia greeted with a charming smile.
Claudia remained speechless. Her own romance with a cowboy, she remembered. Jacob still remembered her story. It was the only conversation they had in Barcelona.
The actress giggled when Claudia failed to respond. “You don’t have to treat me differently. I’m Jacob’s friend. That makes us friends, too,” Olivia said with a sweet smile.
“What are you all doing here?” Claudia asked still looking confused.
I was in Dad’s car, Claudia thought as she tried to remember. Dad!
“That handsome guy from Barcelona flew us here,” Loren said.
“And, we brought you a gown as requested,” Ara added.
Claudia’s mouth dropped open when she saw the wedding gown she once wore in Barcelona. She had wanted to wear it to her wedding someday, but it was expensive. Ara admitted that Jacob paid for everything. She looked at all the women in the room. They all wore beautiful clothes fit for a wedding.
“Excuse me, girls, I have to talk to my daughter,” Fred said as he walked into the room.
Claudia became more puzzled when she saw her dad dressed in a tuxedo.
“What’s the meaning of this, Dad? Why are you…?”
Fred held Claudia’s hand and kissed it. Claudia calmed and remained still as her father sat next to her. Fred confessed that he tricked her into going to Cheyenne. Claudia was still sleepy from the pain reliever she took at the hospital, hence, she easily fell into a deep sleep after driving around Greybull. That was when he brought her back to Jacob’s ranch.
“I hate to give my only daughter away,” Fred confessed. His eyes turned misty when he added, “But, when she is running away from someone who can love her more than I ever could, it’s a different story.”
“Dad,” Claudia said with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. She quickly shook her head and walked away from Fred and said, “I can’t marry him this way, Dad. I can’t have him sacrificing his love for bull riding and Frank to have me.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey. I already stopped him. Just a little change of plan,” Fred explained. “He’s marrying you before he finishes all his competition and I only added the Frank story to convince you more. He was not giving up Frank.”
Claudia was stunned by her father’s mischief. She wanted to reprimand him, but he suddenly demanded, “Marry the boy, Claudia or I’ll drag you in that garden myself.”
Claudia burst into a happy laughter and hugged her father. Fred had always given her the best and she was confident that her father knew what was best for her. Her lips curved to a beautiful smile as her doubts and reservations about Jacob’s love disappeared.
#
Austin squeezed Jacob’s shoulder to encourage him. It had been an hour already, but Claudia and Fred had not come out from the house. The sun was about to set and Jacob hoped to marry Claudia before the day was over. He wanted Claudia to see the garden wedding they had planned with Fred. The cowboy wanted to see her walk down the flowery aisle behind her daughters.
“She’ll come. Don’t worry,” Bentley whispered from behind.
She should, Jacob prayed. Fred guaranteed that he could convince his daughter, but there was still no sign of them yet. Did Fred change his mind?
Jacob exhaled heavily when Fred appeared outside the house. Claudia stepped out in a beautiful sequined and lace gown. Her blonde hair was tucked into a lightly messy French twist, which emphasized her beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks. His heart stopped when Claudia locked eyes with him, but did not take any steps towards the altar.
A sigh of happiness left his mouth when she walked towards the garden. Jacob tried to hold back his tears as Claudia walked closer to him. A wide smile appeared across his face when his bride smiled at his daughters. Their eyes twinkled with joy of finally being together and becoming a family.
Claudia looked at him again, tears fell down her cheeks and she smiled happily at him.
“Thank you, Fred,” Jacob whispered as the old man handed over his daughter to him.
The minister opened the Bible and got ready to start the ceremony. Claudia raised her hands to stop him. Jacob panicked. His tanned face turned pale.
“I have nothing to offer you now,” Claudia told her groom.
Jacob cupped her face and replied, “Impossible. You are my everything.”
Claudia’s lips twitched and trembled as she tried to hold back her tears. Jacob laughed softly and pulled her face closer to him. They looked straight into each other’s eyes before exchanging passionate kisses in front of their guests.
“That’s for the end of the ceremony,” the minister reminded them with a chuckle. The crowd laughed at the comment.
“Let them be,” Fred objected. “They love doing things backwards.”
Laughter filled the garden again. The couple kissed once more before they finally let the minister do his job.
Jacob and Claudia held hands as the minister continued with the ceremony. His bride was beautiful. He remembered the night he first saw her. She walked into the bar with a beauty beyond his imagination and the confidence that aroused his de
sire. It was not lust at first sight, which usually happened to him. It was not love at first sight either. It was a confirmation that he had found the woman for him.
Claudia became his everything, from that night in Barcelona and till forever. He vowed to keep it that way.
-End-
Thank you for buying and reading this book, it means the world to me.
If you have enjoyed this final book in the ‘Fated to Cowboy’ series, I’d like to ask you for a small favor. Would you be so kind to please leave your review on Amazon. Your feedback is much appreciated and needed to help me grow and improve.
If you loved this book, you should also read the other equally steamy and fiery romance books in this series Cowboy’s Haven and Cowboy’s Refuge.
