He’d just told Owen that a man being able to get past the pain of an affair and love again was something uncommonly beautiful. Mr. Harmon had loved his wife again, and while Hank’s heart wasn’t ever going to return to Vickie, he had stumbled into loving again...
Avery wanted a husband, and there was no one he wanted to spend his life with more than that red-haired beauty. He’d be the man she needed, the man she wanted, and if she’d have him, he’d be hers till death parted them.
He had to talk to her. He stepped on the gas and his truck sailed on past the speed limit as he headed toward the ranch. He skidded to a stop in front of the canteen and threw himself out of the truck. It was empty, though, and when he poked his head through the swinging kitchen door, it was empty, too—the only sound that of a dripping tap. His heart sank, but it was possible she was in her room. He went back outside and jogged over to the bunkhouse.
The men were on their shifts with the cattle, and he headed down the hall to her room and knocked on the door.
Nothing.
He knocked again. “Avery?”
Still nothing. He tried the door, and it opened. Inside, the room was tidy, the bed made, her bags gone. In the center of the bed were two folded pieces of paper. He felt like the breath had been kicked out of him as he crossed the room and picked up the first. It was for Mr. Harmon and he set it aside. The second was for him.
Dear Hank...
He read it through, then shoved it into his pocket and headed back out to his truck. There was still the slightest chance that he could catch up with her, and he’d take those odds.
Chapter Fourteen
Avery was just approaching the town of Hope on the highway. She was driving in silence, unwilling to trust herself to listen to the radio in her current emotional state. She didn’t need country music to remind her of what she didn’t have. She didn’t need heartbreaking melodies to crash through the thin veneer she was keeping up. Music was the answer when she could cry into her pillow, and not a minute before. The speed limit sign reminded her to check her speed, and she realized she’d been driving well under the speed limit already.
She had to pull herself together. At the very least she should to be able to drive the speed limit! She pulled a hand through her hair, waiting for that optimistic feeling of heading home to descend onto her. It always did when she was on her way back.
Except for this time. She blinked back a mist of tears.
“No,” she said aloud. Crying while driving was a bad idea. She reached over and fiddled with her bracelet.
Home is where the heart is...
She was driving home... It was supposed to feel better than this. She was supposed to be leaving all of this behind her. She had Winona’s Wilderness waiting. She had her apartment. Her friends. The customers who’d be so happy to have the store open once more.
Home had always been in Kansas, and she was reminded of Louis’s lame joke about not being in Kansas anymore. But even Dorothy Gale had wanted to go back to Kansas after her adventure in Oz. There’s no place like home. And she’d clicked her heels together three times to have her wish come true...
Except for some reason, Avery wasn’t longing for Kansas. Her heart was still back on that ranch with a cowboy she had no business loving. Home had always been where her heart was—with her mom in that shop. But her mom was gone now, and while she’d thought that home would stay the same no matter what because of the memories there, was it possible that she was wrong?
A thump jarred her out of her reverie, and with every revolution of the tire, she heard a loud hiss.
A flat. Just her luck. She wasn’t even in town yet where she could get to a mechanic. She sighed and pulled her car to the side of the road. Another truck sped on past, and Avery leaned her forehead against the steering wheel.
Her heart was now in Montana, and that wasn’t a good thing. The man she loved didn’t want what she did, even though he loved her. Life could be oh, so complicated...
She pulled out her cell phone. She’d have to call roadside assistance and have a tow truck sent her way. What was this highway called again? She looked out the windows but didn’t see a road sign. Was this east of Hope, or west? Wait...north? She punched the GPS on her phone. There was no point calling anyone until she could tell them where she was.
An engine rumbled to a stop behind her, and she glanced in her rearview mirror but could only see grille. The truck’s door opened, then banged shut, and she looked into her side mirror to see a familiar, lanky form jogging toward her car. Tears welled up in her eyes in spite of herself, and she undid her window.
“Hank,” she breathed as he arrived at her door and leaned down. This wasn’t going to make leaving any easier, but she was so glad to see him that she didn’t care.
“Need a hand?” he asked, his voice low and warm.
“I have a flat tire.” She pushed open the door and got out. She stood there looking at him in the morning light as vehicles whipped past them. Tears welled in her eyes, and he opened his arms.
“Come here,” he said.
“I’m supposed to be leaving town,” she said, swallowing a lump in her throat.
“Not going anywhere with a flat.”
She stepped into his strong embrace and leaned her face against his chest. He smelled musky and safe, and she wished she could freeze time there on the cusp between going and staying, and never have to actually take the leap.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked, pulling back and looking up into his face.
“I was trying to catch up with you,” he said. “I got this.” He pulled her note to him out of his pocket, shook it open and began to read. “You said, ‘My heart hurts writing this. I don’t want to say goodbye, but I know it’s for the best. I won’t forget you—ever. Please don’t forget me... If there is some small part of your heart that could hold onto me—’” His voice broke and he stopped, swallowed. “Avery, I’ve been doing some thinking.”
He tucked the note back into his pocket and smoothed his hand over the side of her face. “Mr. Harmon did the impossible. He got over an affair and loved again—loved harder, loved stronger, loved deeper... Hard work seemed to work for them.” He sucked in a breath. “I didn’t think I could do that. I didn’t think I could let myself go again. I thought I’d be able to protect myself if I didn’t let myself fall in love, but then you came along...”
“I knew from the start that you didn’t want that,” she began. “And Louis will fire you—”
“No...” He shook his head. “I didn’t want it. I was scared. But I fell in love with you anyway, and holding myself back isn’t going to protect my heart at all. It’s too late for that. As for getting fired...” He shrugged. “That’s going to happen, anyway.”
“So you missed me?” She smiled ever so slightly.
“You could say that...” He bent down and kissed her lips. “When I thought you’d gone and I’d never see you again, it hurt worse than I imagined possible. I love you, Avery. We might not have planned this, but it’s a done deal. At least for me.”
“What do you mean?”
Another car zoomed past, but his eyes didn’t waver from hers. “I’m not going to just stop loving you. I’m not going to get bored of you. I’m not going to change my mind. I want to marry you, I want to have kids with you, I want grow old with you...if you’ll have me.”
Avery stared at him in shock. “You’re asking me to marry you?”
“If you need to think about it, that’s okay.” He nodded quickly. “I kind of just dumped this on you. I get that. Why don’t you come back with me. Stay a few days longer. Give me a chance to convince you.”
Back to the ranch, to the family she’d wounded. She winced. “Louis isn’t going to want to see me...” Louis might not want to see Hank again, either, for all she knew.
&
nbsp; “You don’t know him very well, then,” he replied. “He’s got a big heart, and things are patched up with the kids now. It’ll be okay. If he still needs to let me go, I’ll find something else. I’ll tell you what—come back with me and give it a try, and if you don’t feel like Montana can be home, then I’ll go with you to Kansas.”
“You’d do that for me?” Avery licked her lips, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
“I’d jump the moon for you, Avery.” He looked down into her face, his eyes filled with pleading. “What do you say?”
“Yes.” She nodded, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood up onto the tips of her toes to kiss him. He pulled her close and kissed her back quite thoroughly, and when he stopped, he gave her a peculiar look.
“Yes to which part?” he asked. “I kind of need to know...”
Avery’s heart filled with love for this cowboy who’d somehow become her safe place. How had it happened, exactly, that this man had become Home?
“To all of it,” she said. “I’ll marry you, Hank, and I’ll go back to the ranch with you, and if I hate it, I’ll drag you back to Kansas with me.”
“That’s a deal,” he said, and he lowered his lips over hers once more. He held her close to him, and she could feel the beat of his heart against her body. She wouldn’t have been able to move if she tried, but she didn’t want to move. She wanted to stay here in his arms for the rest of her life.
Her heart had finally come home.
Epilogue
In the little country church just outside of Hope, Montana, Avery stood in the foyer, fiddling with the edge of her veil. Up at the front of the church, Hank was standing there waiting for her, and the solemnity of the moment was just now settling onto her shoulders.
She was about to become Mrs. Avery Granger.
Pastor Mayfield was on vacation and another pastor from town was doing their ceremony. It was better that way. She still didn’t know if Chris Mayfield was her father, but right now she didn’t care. She’d found a family in the unlikeliest of places...the Harmon ranch.
Louis Harmon had just as big a heart as Hank had claimed, and he’d relented on his firing of Hank. He said that if they were getting married, who was he to rain on their parade? But more than that, Louis told her that he was honored to step in for her in an unofficial sort of way.
“Like an honorary dad,” he’d said. “I think Winona would approve of that.”
She had a feeling her mother would have approved of it, too. Winona had always wanted her daughter to have something better than she’d grown up with, and she’d managed that in every way possible. Even though the bracelet wasn’t exactly wedding chic, she’d chosen to wear it on her special day as a way to keep her mother close.
Owen and Olivia had been glad to welcome her into the family. She was marrying Hank, and they liked her. Everyone liked her even more when Louis hired a real cook, and her services were no longer required. She went from cook to fiancée—and she’d been happy to set up the home she’d share with Hank. That place was so sterile, it was starved for a woman’s touch.
Hank hadn’t minded in the least as she added her own accents around the place. He said he was tired of sleeping spread eagle in the middle of a bed, and he couldn’t wait to share it with her.
She still owned her mother’s shop, but she’d hired a manager to run it for her, a single mother with a little girl. Avery would go back and check up on things every few weeks, but she was satisfied with how things were running so far. Winona’s Wilderness would go on, and she hoped that the flower shop could be the saving grace of another mom and daughter.
And now she stood in this little church about to take the biggest step of her life, and her heart pattered in her chest. The organ music swelled—it was time. Louis patted her hand affectionately.
“Ready?” he asked with a smile.
“Ready.”
And she was. She was readier for this than she’d been for anything in her life. Marrying Hank was the homecoming she’d never known she’d needed.
The doors opened, and together they stepped into the aisle, her hand tucked into the crook of the arm of her stand-in dad. She looked up at Louis and he shot her a reassuring grin. Hank’s eyes misted when he saw her, and her heart filled with love for the lanky cowboy who waited for her at the front of the church.
As she reached the front pew, Hank came down to meet her.
“Who gives this woman to be joined with this man in marriage?”
Avery’s heart skipped a beat—the minister wasn’t supposed to ask that question. He’d been told to leave that part out. It was awkward...difficult. Louis was standing in as father of the bride, but that question should be reserved for his daughter Olivia’s wedding one day. Heat flooded Avery’s cheeks, and her gaze whipped up to Louis, who didn’t look the least bit fazed.
Louis smiled down at her proudly and his words reverberated through the church. “Her mother and I do.”
Avery blinked back fresh tears as she felt a wave of relief mingled with gratitude.
“You take good care of her, now,” Louis murmured to Hank as he handed her over.
“It’s a promise,” Hank replied quietly, tucking Avery’s hand into the crook of his own arm. He smiled down into her eyes, then they turned toward the minister.
They didn’t have any history with this pastor, and he didn’t know them very well, but it didn’t matter. Their vows were for each other, and today, as they promised to love and support each other no matter what life threw in their direction, Avery didn’t feel nervous in the least.
These vows were more than formality. They were the beginning of a home that would be the bedrock for their own children and grandchildren. Years later, her daughters would have her words echoing through their minds as they grew up and started their own families:
You come from a line of strong women. There were the Southerlys, and we stood strong no matter what. And you are a Granger, and we have character. Reputations can be tarnished, but reputations are only what other people think. I’m not concerned with other people’s opinions. Your character—that’s who you are at heart. You’re a Granger, dearest, and we Grangers are nothing if not honest. We’re tough, and we do the right thing. So you never forget who you are and where you came from.
* * * * *
Don’t miss the next book in Patricia Johns’s HOPE, MONTANA miniseries, coming in December 2017 from Harlequin Western Romance.
And check out previous books in the miniseries:
HER STUBBORN COWBOY
THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE
THE COWBOY’S VALENTINE BRIDE
THE TRIPLETS’ COWBOY DADDY
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE RANCHER’S MIRACLE BABY by April Arrington.
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The Rancher’s Miracle Baby
by April Arrington
Chapter One
Tammy Jenkins had managed to outrun a lot of things in life. But this had her beat.
“If you’re on the road, we urge you to take shelter immediately.” The truck’s radio crackled, and static scrambled the urgent male voice coming through the speakers. “...summer outbreak...multiple tornadoes spotted. We’ve received reports of funnel clouds touching down in Leary County, Georgia. The most recent...forming...Deer Creek community.”
Deer Creek. Tammy gripped the steering wheel tighter, recalling the crooked green sign she’d passed a few miles back. The bent edges and bullet hole through the center had obscured some of the letters, but the words were legible enough.
A high-pitched neigh and sharp clang split her ears. She glanced in the side-view mirror and cringed as the trailer attached to the truck rocked to one side, squeaking and groaning.
“It’s okay, girl,” Tammy called out. “I’ll find somewhere to stop soon.”
Razz, her barrel-racing horse, had experienced her fair share of close calls. And just like when they were about to take a tumble in the arena, the mare sensed danger approaching.
Tammy looked past the trailer and studied the darkening horizon behind them. The wall of black clouds gathered momentum, increasing in size and staining the sky. It swallowed up the dying light of the late-afternoon sun, and a green hue bled through the inky darkness. Thick grass lining both sides of the isolated road rippled with each powerful surge of wind.
Sour acid crept up the back of Tammy’s throat, parching her mouth. She jerked her eyes forward, refocused on the road and slammed her foot harder onto the accelerator. The engine rumbled, and the broken yellow line splitting the paved highway streamed by in a blur.
Her Cowboy Boss Page 17
