Suddenly, she looked as apprehensive as he felt. “Okay,” she said softly, setting down her bag and taking a place on the front steps of the ranch house. “I’m listening.”
He settled next to her. “The last few days have given me a lot of time to think.” She turned to him, her gaze intent, giving him courage. “I’ve realized some things about myself.” He forced himself to go on with unflinching honesty. “My flipping ranches was more than just a way to amass the cash I needed to build a cattle-breeding business for myself. It was also a way to continually cut ties and keep from putting down roots. Just the way my mom did when I was growing up.”
It hadn’t brought them happiness, in either case.
Bridgett studied him with keen understanding. “And yet you succumbed to family pressure and came back to Laramie, anyway,” she pointed out softly, covering his hand with her own.
“I wanted to belong here,” he admitted, weaving his fingers through the slender grip of hers. “I just didn’t know how to make things better with my dad and the rest of the family. But you’re right.” He grimaced at the rusty sound of his voice. “Deep down, I hoped buying a ranch and setting up a cow-calf operation here would earn me the approval I craved from Frank and Rachel and the others.”
He exhaled.
“Unfortunately, the Western Cross was no more a real home to me than any of the other places I have lived.” With a rueful grin, he admitted, “Until you and Robby and Riot moved in. Then it became the place I’d always wanted and dreamed of having.” The place where we all belonged.
“I thought it was perfect, too, not just for you, but for all of us,” Bridgett confided softly, meeting his eyes. “At least—” her lower lip took on a disappointed slant “—until you got that big offer to sell out and move to Nebraska.”
“About that.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “I formally turned it down the day we found Marie Griffin. I just didn’t have a chance to tell you. And then, with everything going on...I wasn’t sure it mattered. But it does now,” he told her firmly. “I want to put down roots in Laramie County. I want to be here with you and Robby and Riot.”
She wanted to believe him; he could see that.
“What about your dream of owning as many acres as your dad does?” she asked in a low, quavering voice.
“That can still happen right here in Texas. If I’m patient, and I promise you I will be.”
Her slender shoulders relaxed.
She looked over at him, her cheeks flushing self-consciously. “Now, on to why I wanted to talk to you about next steps.”
He tensed, his heart thudding in his chest. This could be bad or this could be good.
“You aren’t the only one who has done a lot of soul-searching. First, I’ve redefined what home is to me. When I met you, I thought all I needed was to buy that perfect little bungalow I had my eye on.” Still holding his gaze, she bit her lip and plunged on. “But I’ve realized home isn’t comprised of the right-sized walls and a sturdy roof over your head. Or even the much valued fenced-in back yard with playset that I was convinced I would need to please DCFS. It’s a place where you feel safe and warm and loved. And that,” she said, her voice breaking slightly, “can be anywhere we hang our hats.”
We...
Did she mean all four of them?
Or was she speaking metaphorically?
Her expression was so serious and intent, he had no clue.
She took another deep breath. Plunged on. “Second, I think the real reason I’ve been so hung up on destiny all this time is because I haven’t wanted to be responsible for my own happiness.” She shook her head in heartfelt regret. “I wanted bliss to magically fall into my lap, like a twist of fate, and until it did—” she took another shuddering breath “—I had made up my mind not to pursue anything but safe bets.”
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I didn’t want to be involved with anything that had even the tiniest potential to hurt me. It’s why I felt I couldn’t foster a child unless it was available to adopt.”
He could understand that, now that he had faced the possibility of loving a family he considered his only to lose them.
Her hand tightened on his. “I knew chances were slim to none of that happening, given the long waiting lists and the fact I was single and had no experience fostering, but I thought if I waited long enough, that would magically happen, anyway.”
He tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “Except for one thing, Bridgett. You did find Robby and Riot. And the note left with them led you to me.” And all of that to us.
“That was definitely a life-changing miracle.”
He nodded in agreement.
Her soul laid bare, she continued confiding. “But again, I didn’t know as much about myself as I thought I did. Because the experience with Marie taught me I could be more selfless than I ever imagined.” For a silent moment she searched his eyes. “It helped me realize that love comes in all sorts of ways. You just have to be open to it. And that’s what I want, Cullen.”
She stood, drawing him to his feet, too, and splayed her arms across his chest. “I want this ranch that has come to make us all feel so safe and loved and cared for, be home to all of us.” Her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes. “I want love—with you. Family love. Passionate love. The love that comes between two friends. And two parents. And two people.” Her voice quavered with all the affection he had ever wanted to receive. “Two people who one day just might not be able to live without each other.”
The tentative, hopeful note in her voice filled him with joy unlike anything he had ever felt. “I think we’ve already reached that point,” he admitted gruffly, pulling her all the way into his arms and holding her close. “That’s what I was waiting here to tell you. I finally know where I belong and with whom.” No longer afraid, he took the final leap and laid bare his heart and soul, too. “I love you, Bridgett, with every fiber of my being. And I’m never, ever going to stop.”
She flung her arms about his neck. Tears glittered on her eyelashes and spilled down her face. “Oh, Cullen, I love you, too. So much.”
Her heartfelt confession filled him with warmth and tenderness. He paused to kiss her, again and again, her face cupped in his hands. As long as they were spilling all, he had to be completely honest with her. “I know you said you didn’t want to get married.” At least, not right now.
She silenced him with an index finger against his lips. “I fibbed. I do. Very much.”
“I do, too.” The peace he’d wanted stealing through his heart, he warned, “But I want to do it when we both agree we are ready and the time is right.”
She grinned. “Right back at you, cowboy.”
Their most important next step tentatively agreed upon, they kissed. Tenderly at first, then with more and more passion. Until there was no longer any denying not just their physical need, but this life they were building together.
Blindly, they found their way inside the ranch house. Still kissing, traversed the stairs, and made love in the cozy comfort of his bed. Afterward, they clung together, savoring the closeness, yet knowing another very important decision had to be made.
“Cullen?” Bridgett prompted softly.
“Hmm?” Knowing he had never been happier, he buried his face in her hair, drinking in her unique fragrance.
“About Robby and Riot.”
He drew back, heart pounding.
“I’ve changed my mind about that. I want us to foster-adopt them together so we can continue to be the real family we were meant to be, right from the start. With absolutely no interruption.”
Another dream come true. Soberly he told her, “I want that, too.”
She hugged him fiercely, the joy flowing between them, tangible. “Then it looks like we will be calling DCFS first thing tomorrow and amending that adoption petition, a
fter all.”
Epilogue
April 1, one year later
Cullen watched as Bridgett paused at the edge of the bandstand that had been set up on the Western Cross ranch lawn. Gorgeous as could be in a red party dress and heels, their baby on her hip, their dog at his side, she turned to Cullen and murmured, “Hard to imagine so much could have happened in so little time, isn’t it?”
And yet it had.
Savoring the happiness infusing every corner of his life, he grinned back at her. Winked. “Well, hang on, darlin’, because the best is yet to come.”
Her eyes lit up in the way he loved. “Promise?”
He nodded solemnly. “I do.”
They locked gazes as readily as they had already locked hearts. Knowing it was either proceed with the festivities or sweep her off to make love with her then and there, Cullen reined in his desire and caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “So, what do you say, Mrs. McCabe? Ready to get this party started?”
She slipped her hand into his. “Let’s do it, cowboy!” Together, they moved to the microphone at center stage and gazed at the circle of family and friends gathered in front of them.
As previously agreed, he talked first while caterers passed out glasses of champagne. “Bridgett and I want to thank you all for coming to help us celebrate the first anniversary of the miracle discovery that brought Bridgett and I and Robby and Riot all together.” And opened up our lives, and our hearts...
Beside him, Bridgett wordlessly offered her support.
Ready to finally say all the things that needed to be said, he located the beaming matriarch and patriarch in this branch of the McCabe clan. “And first, in this very long list of people to whom we owe so much, I want to thank Mom and Dad. And, yes, I call Rachel and Frank that now, because they are both my parents and I love them both very much.”
A ripple of appreciation went through the crowd. “To my brothers and sister, Dan, Jack, Matt, Lulu and Chase, for hanging in there and being my sibs even when I wasn’t sure I needed any younger brothers, never mind a baby sister, in my life!”
Soft, knowing laughter followed.
When the hilarity died down, Cullen said, in all sincerity, “A special thanks to the entire Monroe clan, as well—” he paused to name them all in turn “—for welcoming me into their lives.”
Emotional hoots followed.
Cullen looked over at the cowboys seated at the gingham-draped dinner tables. They were part of the Western Cross family, too. “I’d also like to thank everyone who helps me out on the ranch.” He paused to list them.
“And Riot, the handsome mutt that accompanies me everywhere...and as all our wranglers can readily insist, has turned into one of the best darn cattle dogs who ever lived.”
Hearing his name, Riot perked up and thumped his tail.
Cullen wrapped his free arm around Bridgett and brought her and their baby in close to his side. His voice turning as tender as his feelings, he continued his increasingly emotional toast. “I’d also like to thank Robby, who teaches me every day what it is to be a dad,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “And how spectacular it is to have a son.”
He leaned over to buss the top of their little one’s head. The one-year-old chortled happily and, a ham at heart, blew first Cullen and then his mommy affectionate, noisy kisses back, making everyone laugh.
Eyes misting, Cullen turned and looked deep into Bridgett’s beautiful eyes. Knowing he could never say it often enough or well enough to convey all he felt, all he had discovered, he continued from the deepest recesses of his heart.
“And last, and most importantly of all, to my wife, Bridgett.” He gazed lovingly down at her. “The woman who upended my life and stole my heart and showed me how to love with every fiber of my being,” he managed, before his voice caught.
Taking a deep breath, he plunged on, reminiscing fondly, “All, mind you, while sharing with me the best three month courtship and nine months of marriage a couple could ever dream of having.”
Tenderly, he lifted her face to his, and blotted the tears of happiness streaming down her face with the pad of his thumb.
Once again, they were completely in synch. “I adore you, sweetheart,” he said gently.
Bridgett went up on tiptoe and kissed him. “Oh, Cullen, I adore you, too!”
Love flowed between them, fiercer than ever.
He bent his head and kissed her again while the baby let out a whoop of delight and Riot gave a jubilant woof. The family and friends gathered round laughed, cheered and clapped. But all Cullen could focus on was how right everything finally felt. How...there was no other word for it...destined.
Eventually he drew back, knowing deep in his soul that their lives were now the way they were always meant to be. Bridgett felt it, too, he could see it in the way she looked at him every hour of every day.
“And now—as we all get ready to lift our glasses—Bridgett has a few words of her own to say.”
Her cheeks taking on a rosy maternal glow, Bridgett handed off Robby to him and stepped up to the microphone. Looking more angelic than ever, she declared, “Multiple births don’t just run in the McCabe clan. Twins run in the Monroe family, too. And now,” she declared joyously, to one and all, “Cullen and I are going to have a pair of babies simultaneously, too!”
Elated, Frank stood. So did Rachel. The McCabes and Monroes and their spouses all followed. Soon everyone was on their feet, cheering wildly, raising their glasses.
“To our family, which is getting bigger and happier and more fulfilling every day,” Bridgett toasted.
“Amen to that!” someone shouted. Glasses clinked. People sipped.
“You’ve made all my dreams come true,” Cullen said, cuddling their son and drawing her close once again.
Bridgett looked up at him adoringly. And kissed him one more time. “Mine, too, cowboy,” she whispered back, snuggling close. “Mine, too...”
* * * * *
Watch for the next story in Cathy Gillen Thacker’s new miniseries,
TEXAS LEGENDS: THE McCABES—THE TEXAS COWBOY’S TRIPLETS,
coming June 2018, only from Harlequin Western Romance!
Keep reading for an excerpt from COWBOY SEAL DADDY by Laura Marie Altom.
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/> Cowboy SEAL Daddy
by Laura Marie Altom
Chapter One
“This team sucks! You look more like rubber ducks than SEALs. If it was up to me, I’d strip your Tridents and replace them with flight attendant wings!”
Navy SEAL Wayne Brustanovitch sat alongside the rest of his twelve-man team on the Mark V Special Operations Craft jetting past the Coronado coast at forty-five knots while their pissed-off CO handed them their asses on a platter. It was 0300, and they’d been running beach landing drills for the past eight hours.
It was late March. Cold, wet, tired and hungry, Wayne needed a beer, burger and bed. Hell—at this point, he wasn’t even choosy about the order.
Twelve hours later, they’d finally achieved an insertion time their CO deemed acceptable—at least good enough to earn a meal and hot shower.
“How’s your dad doing?” Logan Crenshaw served as the closest thing Wayne had to a brother. While they dressed before heading for the chow hall, Wayne welcomed the chance to run a predicament by his roommate and friend.
“Bad. Our last call, he said the doctor had basically given him a death sentence.”
“Damn...” Logan whistled. “That’s rough. Sorry, man.”
“Thanks. But that’s not the half of it.” He pulled on boxers, then gray sweats. “He told me that it’s his dying wish to see me married and to hold his grandchild in his arms.”
“Ouch. Way to pour on the parental guilt.”
“No kidding, right?” Wayne added deodorant, then a white T-shirt with Navy written on the front.
“Too bad you can’t rent a wife and kid, huh?”
“I wish. That’s the only way I’d take vows again.”
“Got nothing but love for you, brother. That sorry SOB can rot in hell.”
A fist bump relayed Wayne’s similar sentiment.
But the SEAL brother who’d broken ranks to cheat with Wayne’s ex wasn’t solely to blame. Like the old saying goes, “It takes two to tango,” and Chelsea had lied and schemed right up to their marriage’s official end.
The Texas Cowboy's Baby Rescue Page 19
