by Leslie North
Jonah stared at the words until they doubled, then tripled. When he could look at them no more, his eyes drifted down to the picture. It was made grainy by the quality of the new spring, but he knew the picture anyhow. It was of the two of them at the first wedding they had put on, standing in front of their now highly publicized backdrop with big, stupid grins on their faces. One of his arms was slung companionably around her shoulders while she leaned into him, her hand slipping underneath the edge of his shirt. Their eyes were shining, and it didn't take a genius to see that they were happy. Whatever they were now, they had been happy back then.
"This has got to be old," he said, doing his best to pull himself out of the funk steadily falling over him. The article being old would make sense. If she'd given the interview a month ago, there would be nothing for him to do but call himself a moron for getting his hopes up and go about his day. He was almost afraid to look at the date, afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle the truth either way it went.
“I’ll be damned,” he whispered to himself, almost dropping the beer.
It was today's paper, which meant that she had given the interview after she'd packed her things into her car and left. Come to think of it; he knew the pictures from that wedding hadn't come back until the day before his studs had arrived. There was no way around the truth. She had issued this glowing interview, this glowing appraisal of him, even after he had made it clear that he fully intended to go through with their divorce.
All at once, everything Ian had said about the stupidity of his actions came crashing down on him. Jonah folded the paper carefully, set the beer down, and put his head on his folded arms. Stupid was right. Never in his life had he been such a fool as he’d been while handling his relationship with Virginia. He had been so intent on sticking to his guns about maintaining his solitary existence that he’d never thought for a second that it might not be what he wanted anymore.
Now, he knew for sure. Everything he wanted in his life was right there, right there in Virginia’s words in the paper. In her words was life. Real life, not the half-assed approximation he'd been trying to preserve. It was messy and complicated, full of happiness and shared success. All this time he had been fighting to keep his isolation while he should have been fighting for Virginia, to keep her close. For all he knew, it was too late now. He had done plenty of damage, and it might be too much for him to make up for.
If there was one thing Jonah wasn't, though, it was a quitter, and now that he understood what he truly wanted there was nothing in the world that was going to get in his way.
18
“Okay,” Virginia whispered to herself, “you can do this. You can, and you will.”
She sat in the dark in the front seat of her car, her hands clamped down tightly on the steering wheel revealing that despite the pep talk, she was seriously considering making a break for it at any moment.
Fleeing would have been easier, that much was for sure. Hardening herself enough to not only tell Jonah about her pregnancy but then immediately leave his house had been the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life. Even now, a week later, she shuddered every time she thought about it. She could close her eyes, and without even trying to call his image to her mind, she could see his drawn, worried face as she laid out for him how the future was going to go.
“Enough,” she said to herself, “that’s enough.”
And it was most certainly that. Thinking about how difficult that conversation had been wasn’t going to help her to do whatever she was supposed to do now. Not that she had any clue what that might be. When Jonah had called her, she had almost let it go to voicemail.
Something in her wouldn’t let her do it, though, and she’d picked up at the last possible second, listening silently as Jonah explained what he wanted. For her to come to visit. No more explanation than that, only that he would like her to come to the house.
All kinds of things ran through her mind as she opened and then shut her car door. Each step crunching down on the ground brought forth another idea of what this meeting might be for. The most likely option was that he had seen her interview, although she couldn’t imagine why he would want to talk about that. It wasn’t as if she’d badmouthed him or anything. Quite the opposite.
She had considered it, of course. She thought that almost any woman in a similar situation, assuming that there were other women in her situation, would have been tempted to do the same. Saying nasty things about Jonah would have been a petty, immediate way to get back at him for rejecting her. She knew it wouldn't have made her feel better in any kind of a lasting way, but it would have felt good at the time.
In the end, though, she hadn't been able to do it. After all, it wasn't like Jonah had done anything they hadn't agreed upon at the start. More than that, she had been the author of the whole insane idea, with Jonah just the put-upon, hesitant man dragging his feet all the way to the altar. And anyway, everything she had said about Jonah in her interview had been the truth. Every single word. It had felt good, too, to talk about their relationship, because it had really worked for them both while they still had it. For just a small fraction of time, Virginia had it all. The article in today's paper was verifiable proof of that fact.
Finally arrived at his front door after what seemed like a walk of at least a mile, Virginia paused uncertainly. She had no idea whether she should just open the door or knock. She still had her key, but she didn’t exactly live here anymore. She had no right to walk through his front door unannounced. Not anymore. She sighed, wondering exactly what kind of emotional torture she was about to subject herself to, and knocked on the solid front door.
There was no answer. She knocked again, louder this time, and still, there was nothing. Finally, feeling as tempted to curse as she ever had in her life, she shoved her key into the lock and turned the door handle. If he had called her here only to be away from the house, she was never going to accept another one of his invitations again. Assuming that he ever thought to issue one.
“Jonah? Hey, Jonah, are you here?” she called out in the dimly lit house. It was dark outside, very dark, and she shivered a little at the thought of being out on Jonah’s ranch on her own. She’d been in the house by herself at night before, plenty of times, but always before she had known that Jonah was somewhere close by. Now, she couldn’t be sure of anything.
“Virginia!” he called back, his voice full of a nervous energy she couldn’t quite understand, “Hey, sugar, I’m in the back. Will you come here a minute?”
“Sure,” she answered, trying to ignore the twinge that shot through her heart when he called her sugar. She made her way down the hall slowly, trying to delay the inevitable. She was almost certain that he called her to come and get the few boxes she had left behind. It was the only reason she could think of for him to want her to meet him in the bedroom that had so recently been hers. She had been such a fool. She’d been holding onto hope that maybe she was here for something good, and all this time it had only been for boxes.
Except that when she got upstairs, Jonah wasn’t in the master bedroom. Instead, he was standing in the middle of what had been her office, his hair sticking out in all different directions.
“What?” she said, then stopped to take a deep breath before she could continue, “What is this, Jonah? What’s going on?”
"Do you like it?" he asked anxiously, indicating with one hand the partially finished wall of barn wood he'd put up since she'd been gone. It was undeniably beautiful, precisely the kind of change she would have made had the house been hers, but she still couldn't understand why he wanted to show her.
“I do. It’s lovely. But—”
“I was thinking,” he interrupted her, his voice shaking, “I was thinking it would be good for the baby’s room. It’s from your wedding barn.”
“But why?” she asked, “Why would you still have that?”
“I like to hold into odds and ends from all of my projects. You never know when th
ey’re going to come in handy, right?”
“Right,” she answered absent-mindedly, still staring at the partially hung wood.
“I thought it would be good for the baby’s room to have a wall of the wood that brought her mommy and daddy together.”
“Brought us together?” she choked, her hands going protectively to her belly, “I…I don’t understand.”
“I know, sugar, and I’m so sorry. I understand that I’m probably too late and if you tell me to fuck off, I won’t be surprised. It’s only what I deserve.”
“I don’t say that word,” she said reflexively, aware that it was a stupid thing to say but able to think of nothing else.
“That’s right,” he laughed, “you don’t. You say eff, and it’s one of the things I love about you. Just one of the things, you understand. There must be thousands. I’ve been such a fool, sugar. All this time bent on faking a life. I thought it was something I needed to get through to arrive at the end goal. Turns out, you were the end goal. You’re the only life I want to live. You and the baby. I didn’t even know lives like this existed before I met you. And I want to stop faking it and make a life together.”
All of the hurt, all of the doubt, melted away. As Virginia flew across the room and into his arms, she felt the most extraordinary thing. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was truly home.
Epilogue
“Oh my God, Virginia! It looks amazing! It looks so much better than I ever thought it would. And your baby! Lord, never in my life have I ever seen a baby as cute as this.”
Virginia smiled as Dolores, from the racetrack, bent down to kiss baby Audrey on the top of her head. The woman looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress, and it made it all the sweeter that she was willing to spend some time with the tiny girl on her big day. Jonah had been right about the sex of Ian and Katie’s baby, of course. It was uncanny, the talent he seemed to have for that sort of thing. He was one hundred percent sure that he and Virginia would be having a girl, too. Ian was fond of making jokes at his expense, saying that instead of being a horse whisperer, Jonah had turned out to be a baby whisperer.
"Thank you, sweetie, that's so nice of you to say. She’s my niece, actually. They asked me to watch her, to get some practice in before I have my own little one. Are you sure you don't mind me having her here, though? I'm guessing having your wedding coordinator walking around with a baby strapped to her chest wasn't exactly what you had in mind for your wedding."
"Are you kidding me?" Dolores squealed loud enough to catch Jonah's attention from where he stood by the horses to be used for the bride and groom send-off, "Charlie and me love babies. We want to have one, like, yesterday. If anything, you're just lighting a fire underneath us."
“Well, good,” Virginia smiled, genuinely pleased, “I’m so glad. And how about everything else? Is everything meeting your expectations?”
"Oh, girl, you don't even know!" Dolores said, clapping her hands joyfully, "I'm truly amazed by what the two of you have built here together. We both feel so blessed to have met you. And we're so impressed, too! I have no idea how the two of you work so closely together, day in and day out. I love Charlie more than anything, Lord knows I do, but I'm pretty sure that if we worked together every day, I'd throttle him before even a week went by."
Virginia smiled over the top of Audrey's cooing head and once again found Jonah with her eyes. It was hard to believe that it had already been months since the night when Jonah had asked her to come and see him at the house. It was harder still to believe that she had almost chosen not to come. All the best parts of her life had come to her after that night, the night when she chose to shrug off her caution and take a flying leap into the life Jonah was offering her. A year together since the courthouse wedding and she hadn't looked back, not even once. Now, she had the business she always dreamed of and never imagined she could have. She had baby Audrey, the most surprising, lovely thing she could imagine, and she had Jonah, the true love of her life. She had everything she could ever want, and it only seemed right that she work to make sure she could give it to other people, too.
"Mrs. Grant?" a harried caterer called from across the room, "Mrs. Grant, I hate to interrupt, but we could really use your help here."
“Go on,” Dolores said happily, “don’t you mind me. I’ve got plenty of people to talk to and enough champagne to keep me as happy as a pig in shit for the rest of the day! You go take care of whatever needs caring for. Just remember how happy we are to have found you.”
Dolores left Virginia laughing as Jonah joined Virginia by her side, placing a hand gently on top of the baby’s head. He was going to be the most amazing father. There was no doubt in her mind about that.. He was gentle and endlessly patient with the uncanny ability to keep their daughter amused for hours on end. As the caterer spoke, she slipped her hand quietly into his, relishing the private world they had together, a world that belonged to only them. When the harried employee was finally done speaking, she turned to Jonah, who began unstrapping the baby without having to be told.
"I'm sorry," she said, "do you mind? I'm sure it won't take long, but it will be much easier without her hanging there. She tends to want to grab the food, you know."
“Sorry? About giving me some one on one time with my niece? Sugar, there’s nothing in this world you need to be less sorry about than that. You know how I feel about family.”
“I do,” Virginia nodded, feeling the emotion swelling inside of her, “it’s one of the things I love so much about you.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he answered with a grin, “because I told Nate he could come to dinner tomorrow night.”
Nate was Jonah’s younger brother, the youngest of the Grant males. He was arguably the wildest of the three and had been the one to get out of town as soon as he was able. Virginia hadn’t seen him since they were kids, and although she was nervous about his coming home, she was pleased, too. She had come to love all things Grant family, and she had no doubt that it was a love that would extend to the prodigal brother returned.
Virginia smiled and turned to follow the caterer to whatever crisis currently needed to be averted. Halfway across the room, she turned back and hurried to Jonah’s side again, pressing up against his side.
“What is it, sugar? What’s on your mind? Do you want me to uninvite him? Because I will.”
"Nothing, mister. Nothing at all. And please, don’t do anything so silly. Let’s have them all over to dinner. Katie can help me cook.”
“I’m glad to hear it, but you still need to tell me what that face is about. You’ve got a wistful look in your eyes.”
“I just wanted to tell you I love you, Jonah. I wanted to tell you, and it simply couldn't wait."
End of The Cowboy’s Contract Marriage
Grant Brothers Book Two
Blurb
Nate Grant knows that his eldest brother has the respect, his middle brother has the smarts, and he was left to fight for his own piece of the spotlight. Thus, began his daring, dangerous, and often a little bit crazy foray into the world of rodeo. Now, with his career on the rise, Nate is back in town to do a promotional show at the local Strawberry Festival to land himself a major sponsor. But when he arrives expecting to be welcomed as the hometown hero, he instead finds himself challenged by the only person who could ever make him shake in his boots: Athena Moore.
Athena grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Limited money for rodeo lessons or competitions meant that while she could best the boys, she couldn’t follow them to the big leagues. Watching Nate excel really lit a fire in her britches and after school she began training and teaching young girls rodeo skills. Winning against Nate at the upcoming Strawberry Festival will show the girls (and Athena) that they could do anything boys could—and do it better to boot.
But promoting the event means Nate and Athena are forced to spend time together. Too much time to keep their tumultuous feelings under wraps. Now, there’s a grudgin
g respect to their relationship and a heavy dose of passion too. But as Nate and Athena get closer, their competition becomes public via a reality show. When the lines between promotion and passion are crossed, they’ll be forced to ask themselves what it is they’re fighting for...and what they’ll lose if they win.
1
“Athena! Athena, we’ve got some company!”
Shelly, Athena’s assistant trainer for her group of budding rodeo girls, hissed the words loudly. It was likely meant to be a whisper but what came out was an awful parody of one. Athena stiffened, shutting her eyes briefly and willing herself to be calm. She had known this was coming after all. She had known he was coming. Was she thrilled with Shelly for sounding like they had just been favored with a visit by the pope instead of a rodeo star? No, she most definitely was not. Still, she understood very well that keeping her cool was paramount. There was no way in hell she was going to give Nate Grant the satisfaction of seeing her sweat.
Athena had known for some time now that Nate was returning to their small hometown for the local festival. It was knowledge she couldn’t have avoided, even if she’d wanted to. With Nate being such a big deal, it seemed like the only thing people could talk about, both in the rodeo circle and in the town in general.
For at least a week now, Athena hadn't been able to take a simple trip to the grocery store without hearing the latest gossip on the youngest Grant brother. It seemed that everyone loved the classic prodigal son returned story, and Nate's was no exception. She would be lying if she said she wasn't irked by the reaction, but she was without a doubt in the minority. Even Shelly, typically cool as a cucumber, was practically vibrating with excitement.
