“I promise.”
And he kissed her, thrilling her from head to toe all over again.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Even though Cheryl hadn’t made any claims to the baby—even during a follow-up meeting after the birth, she kept insisting that she wasn’t going to—Jeremiah and Ally had legally been required to get her permission to take Caroline on a short trip.
That was because the adoption wasn’t official just yet, although it would be within a year. And Jeremiah was counting down every day.
After disembarking at the San Antonio airport from a private jet, courtesy of the Barron Group, the trio rode in a limousine to Florence Ranch on the outskirts of the city, near a little town named Duarte Hill. On the way, Jeremiah kept shaking a baby rattle in front of Caroline as she looked on with wide-eyed wonder from the car seat that faced him.
Next to him, Ally was dressed in a chic, long-sleeved blue dress fit for the cooler weather, plus heels, her light hair falling over her shoulders. Like him, she was tired, but as parents of a newborn, it could’ve been worse.
Caroline was still a little angel. Then again, even if she had been the type to cry all night, Jeremiah would have insisted to anyone that she had wings.
Although she was the apple of “Daddy’s” eye, he and Ally hadn’t officially gotten married yet. But back at her California home, Mrs. McCarter and Jess were carrying out all the details for a wedding, which would take place here on the Barron ranch.
When Caroline sneezed—a darling little explosion—he and Ally shared another laugh. He kissed his fiancée.
“I can’t wait to get you two all to myself again,” he said.
“Me, too, but we’ll just enjoy today for what it is.”
Trying to conjure a smile, he agreed. With Ally, he was going to try out this family thing with the Barrons and see how it went.
Soon enough, they pulled into the road leading up to the ranch and its “big house.”
The Greek Revival mansion reigned at the top of everything: the Texas Hill Country lawns, the pastures and employee cabins farther on down, the swimming hole and meadows that had provided entertainment in Jeremiah’s youth.
When they arrived at the big house, Jeremiah didn’t even wait for their driver to open his door. He did it himself, holding it for Ally, waiting until she undid the baby’s car seat. After she handed it over to him, he looked down at Caroline, who seemed like a little princess with her yellow crocheted hat and pink cheeks.
Then he helped the woman of his dreams out, taking her by the hand, just as spellbound as ever.
He kissed the back of her hand and looked into her eyes, where he saw a love so deep that he was still getting used to the enormity of it.
But he was navigating these new sensations and experiences just as if fate had wanted him to be right here and nowhere else.
When the door to the mansion opened, it yanked Jeremiah out of his reverie with Ally.
Tyler and Zoe were the first outside; they were both dressed in cowpoke gear, a natural fit even though both of them had recently left behind jobs fit for designer suits.
Zoe pulled ahead of Tyler when she saw the baby. As she took the stairs, her stylish, shoulder-length dark brown hair bounced.
“Is this my niece?” she asked, bending right down to fuss over Caroline just as soon as she arrived.
“That’s her, all right,” Jeremiah said, embracing his brother and quickly introducing both him and Zoe to Ally. “And this is the woman I’m going to marry.”
As Tyler and Zoe welcomed her with a warmth that gripped Jeremiah’s chest, he trained his gaze back at the mansion’s door, where another man had just stepped out.
Chet.
Like Tyler, their new brother was also all cowboy, although he could definitely wear a suit with the best of them. But right now, he had his thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his blue jeans, his Western shirt tucked in. He had their father’s stockier build, plus the dark blond hair and blue eyes that Jeremiah had inherited.
For a moment, all of Jeremiah’s past misgivings about Chet threatened to overtake him. His new brother was such a reminder of how their father had neglected Jeremiah and lavished all the favor on this son, without Chet having earned it.
But then Jeremiah glanced at his daughter-to-be in her car seat. Then at Ally, who was giving him that smile that never failed to tell him just what he was worth.
Jeremiah turned back to Chet. “You going to say hi to your future niece and sister-in-law, or what?”
It was as if a block of melting ice had been broken between them, and Chet grinned, coming down the stairs. When he got to Jeremiah, they paused, then hugged. But afterward, as if still getting used to having a brother at all, Chet broke away to meet Ally and Caroline.
Ally just kept smiling at Jeremiah. It’ll come, her gesture seemed to say. Just hang in there.
He smiled back, then said to everyone else, “We’re hoping that you all can be here for the wedding. A guy needs his best men in attendance.”
Tyler slapped him on the back. “You can bank on it.”
Chet seemed flabbergasted to have even been asked. He’d been the same way when Tyler had requested that Chet stand up for him at his recent wedding, as well.
Then he grinned. “I’ll definitely be here, too.”
And that was all Jeremiah could ask, for the time being.
After Zoe had taken Caroline out of the car seat to hold her in her arms, they all made their way into the house. Before they even got inside, though, Chet got a phone call.
When he glanced at the ID screen, his face lit up.
“Hey, Mina,” he said as he answered, lifting his finger to the rest of the group to convey that he would be inside shortly. Then he wandered off, talking to his admin assistant.
As everyone else went inside, Jeremiah watched Chet for a second. It hadn’t escaped his notice in the past, before Jeremiah had started doing business remotely from California rather than at the Texas office, that Chet seemed so much more animated whenever he was around Mina. Even so, once when Jeremiah had jokingly asked what was going on, Chet had thrown up his guard and said there was nothing. Just business.
Whatever the case, Jeremiah went into the foyer, highly doubting Chet had known what he’d been talking about. Didn’t his brother realize that the only time he seemed on an even emotional keel was when he was around Mina?
But Jeremiah’s train of thought came to a screeching halt when the group walked into the study, where his father lingered by the window, as if he’d been watching everyone from this vantage point.
The fringes of his family.
Even more shocking, Jeremiah realized from Eli’s tear-streaked face that his father had been crying.
He’d never seen the hard-ass old man break down like this before, and the sight brought him to a standstill. The same went for Tyler as everyone paused at the threshold of the room.
Nearby, flames cast shadows from the fireplace. Above that, the old portrait of their family stayed motionless as Eli spoke.
“I never expected this from you, Jeremiah,” his father said. “I never…”
He broke off, lowering his head.
What was his dad talking about?
Then Jeremiah got it. His old man might have had some kind of epiphany while watching his middle child—the worthless, lost cause of the bunch who had finally found his way.
Jeremiah felt Ally’s hand on his back, a steadying influence. His everything.
Eli was shaking his head, still looking at the floor. “My first grandchild,” he said, “and I didn’t feel welcome enough to be out there.”
“Dad—” Tyler said.
“No, I need to say this.”
Eli wiped a hand over his face, and Jeremiah could tell that he was in between binges, sober for the first time in Lord knew how long.
“I’m going to change,” he said. “I swear I will—I didn’t have a drop this morning becaus
e I knew the baby was coming.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be looking through windows at the rest of your lives.”
He walked toward his sons and, when he got near enough, grabbed them into a hug. His skin had the sour reminder of alcohol on it, but Jeremiah forgot about that as he returned the embrace, his chest tight.
“I swear,” his dad said, “I’m going to change.”
The words rang in Jeremiah’s ears as they all finally disengaged from each other.
With that said, his father went to Ally, then was introduced to the baby, who was being held by Aunt Zoe.
Jeremiah only watched, not knowing what to make of his father or his promises. Soon, Ally came over to him, leading him away by the arm while still watching Eli as he touched Caroline’s hand in affectionate fascination.
“He’s going to change,” she whispered to Jeremiah. “And you know what inspired that?”
He only nodded. She didn’t have to say that when Eli had witnessed Jeremiah out there with his new family, he might have turned a corner.
It was the first time Jeremiah had mattered to his father, and he hoped it would be enough.
All the same, mattering to Ally and Caroline meant just as much, if not more, and he kissed his wife-to-be, thanking her in that one gesture for being there for him.
She kissed him right back, a heaven-filled future in her touch.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8806-9
TAMING THE TEXAS PLAYBOY
Copyright © 2011 by Chris Marie Green
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*Kane’s Crossing
**Montana Mavericks: The Kingsleys
†The Fortunes of Texas: Reunion
††Most Likely To…
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§The Suds Club
‡The Foleys and the McCords
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Taming the Texas Playboy Page 17
