She growled low in her throat. “I need cake.”
He hoped it was for eating and not squashing in his face.
The catering staff had outdone themselves. The last of the leftovers were being packed away and the kitchen looked spotless. Erin headed toward a woman wearing a white apron. A smile of understanding crossed the waitresses face. She handed Erin a paper napkin full of cake.
He could only imagine the sights these staff must have witnessed. A ravenous bridesmaid on the prowl for food was probably the least of their worries.
“So, Erin. Why did we make a hasty retreat?” He bit into the slice of wedding cake she passed to him. It tasted pretty good for illegal contraband.
“Not why. Who. I have an awful suspicion that Nicky rigged the garter ceremony, too. Sam would have pinged you with it if I hadn’t whisked you away.”
With a steady gaze, he looked at her. “So?”
She waved the bouquet in the air. “So? Don’t you get it? With me holding the flowers and you the garter, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a priest lined up in the corridor to officiate at another wedding ceremony tonight.”
Licking the last piece of icing off his fingers, he casually asked, “And what would be wrong with that?”
Erin frowned, her green eyes flashing fire in the fluorescent lights. She knocked the side of her head with the bouquet. “I must be hallucinating.” She opened her mouth to say something, waited a few seconds, then closed it.
He leaned his hip against a stainless steel counter as she continued to scowl at him.
“Am I hearing this correctly?” she asked. “Jake Reynolds, confirmed bachelor, is admitting that marriage wouldn’t be such a bad idea?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Could be.”
She sniffed the air. “What did they put in the cake? Moonshine? It would have to be pretty noxious to muddle your brain this quickly.”
He looked around at the few remaining catering staff. They were staring with avid interest at the nutty bridesmaid and her partner in crime scoffing wedding cake in the kitchen.
He waved the last slice of cake in the air. “It’s good.” With a wink to their audience, he poked the cake into Erin’s open mouth, pulling her through the back door and around to the front of the building.
He smiled as she spluttered over chocolate cake and vanilla frosting. Stopping under a coach light in the tree lined driveway, he wondered if he was as crazy as the moths beating themselves against the glass above them. Their desperate attempt to get to the light might be almost as hopeless his plans for the rest of the night. The rest of his life.
Erin rubbed her hands along her arms. “What are we doing out here?”
Draping his jacket over her shoulders, he started pacing backward and forward. A sane man might run a mile about now, but there was nothing sane about his pounding heart or the sweat running between his shoulder blades.
“You’re making me nervous, Jake. If this is going to be another anti-commitment speech I might as well throw the wedding bouquet at you now.”
He stood still and cleared his throat. “It’s not an anti-commitment speech.”
She breathed a sigh that sounded remarkably like relief.
He didn’t think he’d been that bad at showing her how he felt. If she didn’t have a clue why he’d dragged her out here, he could be in trouble. “I wanted to thank you for giving me another chance at friendship. I’m sorry for acting like a fool back at camp. I’ve come to the conclusion I’ve been acting like a complete idiot for most of my life.”
He looked quickly down at her. She’d put her arms inside the sleeves of his jacket, clutching the wedding bouquet in one hand. He almost hoped she’d disagree with him, tell him he’d acted like a reasonable adult. But dreams were free. She didn’t look as though she’d be letting him off the hook that easily.
“I resented Scott because it meant having to share mom and dad’s love with someone who needed extra care. I walked out on them when they needed me the most. And I used my guilt as an excuse for not committing to any permanent relationship.”
Rubbing his hands down the side of his pants, he stood in front of her, gently holding one of her cold hands in his.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “I never wanted to have a wife and family, because I didn’t think I’d be able to last the distance. I didn’t have the best of intentions when I brought up the baby contract idea. I thought if you were prepared to give me a year of your life, I could persuade you that we didn’t need children to be happy. But if that didn’t work, I was determined to follow through on my promise to you.”
Erin stood silently in the cold night air as he struggled to give voice to the emotion building inside of him. Her eyes misted over. Jake could see the pulse at the base of her throat, beating hard and fast. His gaze locked with hers and a fine tremor passed between their hands.
“When you wanted to end the contract, I thought you wanted to end us. That’s when I knew you meant a lot more to me than what I’d been telling myself. You’ve helped me believe that two people can have a relationship that’s strong enough to last through all the rough patches, and generous enough to share all the good times.”
He let go of Erin’s hand and reached for the edge of his jacket. She frowned, watching him unzip an inside pocket. “This isn’t quite the way I imagined it, but what the heck. You’ve got to cut me some slack. I’ve never done this before, and God help me, I never intend to again.”
Her eyes opened wide as he pulled a little white box out in front of her. He smiled at the shocked expression on her face. “You’re turning blue, Erin. Breathe.”
***
Erin took a deep breath as Jake got down on one knee. She took another one as her knees wobbled, dangerously close to collapsing. His blue gaze pierced her soul. The goofing around had disappeared, along with the smiles and the quick wit. Jake was one hundred per cent intense male, ready to make the biggest proposal of his life.
The bouquet of roses fell to the ground. Jake held her hands, clasping the little box between them. This was the moment she’d been waiting for her entire life. Her past, present, and future were so entwined with the look in Jake’s eyes that she couldn’t think beyond the need to be close to him, to be a part of his life.
“Erin Reynolds. I think I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.” The beginning of a smile touched his face. “I loved you for putting up with my insecurities about marriage and babies. But most of all, I love you. For you. I love everything about you and I want to spend the rest of my life discovering more. You were willing to give up your dreams to make me happy and I know how difficult that decision was for you. I love you even more because of it.”
He took a deep breath, flexing his hands around hers. “I want to have children with you. We’ll make great parents.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, blurring her vision. Jake looked solemnly up at her. “Erin Reynolds, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Of sharing all the ups and downs that come our way and being the mother of our children?”
With shaking hands, he opened the white box. Nestled on a bed of silk sat a beautiful emerald and diamond engagement ring, twinkling in the overhead light.
Erin couldn’t speak. She looked at the man kneeling at her feet. She loved him more than she thought it was possible to love another human being. She’d loved him even when she knew he didn’t want children. When he refused to believe two people could grow old together and love each other for their entire lives. “Oh, Jake. Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you so much.”
He swept her up in a big hug, crushing her body to his chest.
A huge cheer rang out from above them. They both peered into the darkness. One by one, the upstairs balcony lights came on to reveal a large group of wedding guests standing outside, watching Jake’s marriage proposal.
Erin laughed at their audience. Reaching down, she picked the bouquet of white rosebuds off the ground. She ran her hand over t
he soft petals, smiling at the absurdity of fate.
With one last look at the flowers, she threw the bouquet onto the balcony, turning in Jake’s arms to give him the biggest kiss of his life.
As more whistles and cheers rang through the night air, the bouquet spun upward in a perfect arc…landing with a quiet thud in the hands of a grinning five-foot-three redhead.
THE END
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Forever Cowboy
BOOK FIVE IN THE MONTANA BRIDES SERIES
“Drop everything. I’ve found the perfect building.”
Emily looked up from her work table at her stepsister, her scissors hovering in mid air. “That’s what you said about the last one.”
“It had potential.” The gleam in Nicky’s eyes brought a smile to Emily’s face. “If you discounted the noisy neighbors.”
“Hard to ignore them when they taught kids how to play the drums and the electric guitar.” Emily went back to cutting the fabric in front of her, allowing a little extra grow room for the pregnant body that would wear the dress. “So tell me why this building is any different to the last ones we’ve seen?”
“The owners of the building aren’t looking for tenants, so you won’t have to worry about an over-inflated lease. They want to sell it. It’s two stores down from Angel Wings Café. Now grab your coat.”
Emily stopped cutting. Since Tess had opened the cafe, it had become one of the busiest eateries in downtown Bozeman. The food was so good that it had come second two years in a row in Montana’s Supreme Café Award.
The location of the building was great. The foot traffic would be huge. But what Emily liked most was that it was in the historic district. The area had character, a place in the founding stories of Bozeman. All of the things she wanted her fashion boutique to be part of.
She’d walked past the businesses either side of the café each week, admiring the craft store on one side and the florist on the other. She tried to remember what businesses were beside them. “It can’t be the craft store. I was in there last week and Kelly didn’t say anything about selling. Tell me it’s not the old library?”
“I’m not telling you anything until you see it for yourself.”
“You can’t be serious?” Emily stared at her sister. She’d officially gone nuts. The old library was a disaster. From the photos that had made the front page of the Bozeman Chronicle, there wasn’t much left inside that wasn’t burned to a crisp. “I thought the insurance company was still investigating the fire?”
“All finished. As of this morning, it’s officially for sale.”
And probably in need of a major overhaul. Even though her step-family owned one of the largest construction companies in Montana, Emily wasn’t about to pull strings and get the building remodeled by someone else. She couldn’t afford to.
“How much do they want for it?” That was the crunch question that had kept her working from her two bedroom home for the last year.
“Ask me again after you’ve seen it.”
Emily started getting a little worried. Nicky was a hot-shot business consultant. She always had the facts and figures of each property engraved on her brain before they went to look at them. “I’m not going if it’s too expensive.”
“Where’s the creative designer gone? I thought you’d be in your truck and across town before I got the chance to take another breath.”
“She disappeared after we’d seen our fourteenth property.” Emily sighed. “I can’t stay here, but I can’t afford to go anywhere else. And before you mention it again, I’m not coming out to your ranch, or mom and dad’s either.”
“You won’t need to, not after you see this building. It’s got potential with a capital P. Now put those scissors down and come with me.”
Emily looked around her spare bedroom. Rolls of fabric lined one wall, and the shelves she’d made were full of everything she needed to create the clothes her clients loved. Space was so tight that she usually set her cutting table up in the kitchen. Except the kitchen was full of boxes ready to mail to her online customers.
She thought about what Tess had done with Angel Wings Café, how Kelly had transformed the craft store. They’d turned the musty old buildings into successful businesses. Maybe with some careful planning she could do the same. As long as the careful planning came with an equally careful budget.
Nicky took a bright blue coat out of the closet and held it toward Emily. “If you don’t come and take a look you’re going to regret it.” When she didn’t answer, Nicky added, “I’ll have you back here in under an hour.”
Emily left the scissors on her table. “Okay, I’ll come with you. Just give me a couple of minutes to tidy up.”
“You’ve got three minutes.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re bossy?”
“All the time.” Nicky grinned. “It runs in the family.”
***
Alex buttoned his shirt, frowning at Doc Johnson’s back. “You can’t be serious?”
The gray-haired doctor turned around. The scowl on his face didn’t look promising. “I’ve never been more serious. I’m not giving you a medical clearance so that you can get pummeled by another bull.”
“It’s been four months. The doctor in Vegas said I should be good to go in a few months’ time.”
“He’s not here now and I’ve just seen your latest specialist’s report. If you don’t stay off the circuit for a few more months, you’re going to end up with a permanent injury.”
“I’ve already registered for the Livingston Roundup in July,” he said stubbornly.
“Well, I suggest you unregister yourself,” Doc Johnson said in an equally stubborn tone. “If you go anywhere near that rodeo without my clearance you’ll be banned for half the season.”
“It’s three months away.”
“Makes no difference. You’re not ready now and you won’t be ready then.”
Alex worked his way off the bed and swallowed the pain that shot through his leg. “I’m a bull rider. It’s what I do. I need to get back on the circuit.”
Doc Johnson’s face softened. “I know it’s been hard, but you’ve got to give your body time to heal.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper. “I want to see you in four weeks’ time.”
Alex jammed the paper in his pocket without looking at it. When he got home, he’d throw it in the same drawer with the other prescriptions he hadn’t filled.
“And this time make sure you take the drugs.”
Alex thought he was too old to blush, but a rush of heat hit his face. “How did you know?”
“I’ve been looking after you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I can tell when you’re in pain. There’s still too much inflammation in your leg to be anything but uncomfortable.”
That had to be the understatement of the year. Some days the pain was so bad, Alex felt as though his leg was on fire. And it didn’t seem to be getting any better.
“Tell your mom I’m looking forward to sampling her sweet cherry pie at the Wildflower Festival.”
For a man in his early seventies, Doc Johnson seemed to have an ear to every conversation and event in town. “I’ll tell her. She’s got some stiff competition this year. Doris Stanley’s entering her lemon meringue pie and both of them want to go home with the blue ribbon.”
“Between you and me, my money’s on your mom.”
Alex glanced at Doc Johnson before picking up the metal crutch leaning against the bed. He hoped Doc was right. Otherwise, they’d be eating cherry pie for months while his mom perfected he
r recipe.
He gripped the crutch and took a tentative step toward the door. The metal rod felt flimsy in his hands. As if it would snap if he leaned too heavily against the armband. He hated using it, but after spending more than an hour riding this morning, his leg wasn’t up to holding any more of his weight than it had to. “I’ll make an appointment with the receptionist.”
“You do that,” Doc Johnson said. “And remember what I told you. No bull riding. If I hear any stories about you parading around an arena, I’ll get in my truck and find you.”
Alex left the hospital feeling like a hangman had just tightened the noose around his neck. For the last five years, he’d ridden as a professional bull rider, notching up more prize money than his father or grandfather combined. Being relegated to sideshow status wasn’t easy, but then standing up for more than a couple of hours didn’t go down too well either.
He limped across to the red truck parked under the shade of a tree. Gracie, his happily married half sister, had a book propped open between the steering wheel and her pregnant body.
For the first time that afternoon he smiled. “What are you reading?”
Gracie jumped. “You’re going to send me into labor if you sneak up on me like that.” She took a deep breath and closed the book. “Mom used to read me this story when I was little. It’s called, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. How did your appointment go?”
“Not good.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
She stared at him long and hard. “You’re going to get ulcers if you keep everything bottled up inside that head of yours.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He threw his crutch on the backseat and walked around to the passenger side of the truck.
Gracie frowned at the grin he sent her. “You’re limping worse than when I dropped you off.” When he didn’t answer, she pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. “Okay. I get the message. But next time I’m going to keep pestering you until you tell me what’s going on.”
Forever Wishes (Montana Brides, Book 4) Page 20
