Colton's Cinderella Bride

by Lisa Childs

  “Pandora’s mother?” His father nodded. “Yes, she’s fine. She and my granddaughter are in the waiting room.”

  “And Sasha?” he asked—knowing that like him, the beagle would probably have taken a bullet for Juliette gladly.

  His father’s brow furrowed. “Sasha? Who’s that? Is Pandora a twin?”

  Blake chuckled. “Sasha is Juliette’s partner. She helped me warn her. She started growling and barking. She saw him before Juliette did.”

  “Sasha’s a dog?”

  Blake nodded. “She’s very protective of Juliette.”

  “Patience didn’t have to go in to work on her, so I assume she’s fine.”

  If the dog had been hurt, Patience would have been taking care of her.

  He sighed. “Good. That’s good...” He focused on his dad again. “Pandora is here?”

  “Yes.” His father smiled. “She’s yours.”

  Blake smiled with pride in his little girl. But he couldn’t resist reminding his father, “I told you I didn’t need a test to prove it.”

  “I didn’t know if you could trust that woman,” Fenwick said.

  Blake hadn’t known, either. But now he’d realized that he could. That night, nearly five years ago, he’d given her every reason to think he wouldn’t want to know he had a child. He’d been so adamant about never being a father or a husband. Now he’d changed his mind about both.

  “I can trust her,” Blake said. “That’s why I’m going to marry her.”

  Fenwick shook his head. “No way! No way in hell will you propose to her!”

  “Damn it, Dad!” Blake yelled as his strength suddenly surged back with his fury. “Don’t you dare say she’s not good enough for a Colton. She’s too good for a Colton. She’s too good for me. After her dad died, she took care of her sick mother. When I met her, she was working two jobs to pay off the medical bills and put herself through school. She’s proud and smart and brave...”

  And incredibly independent. Would he ever convince her to marry him?

  “You fool,” his father said. “I’m not denying any of that. She must be pretty amazing to have raised that child alone like she has and done such a damn good job.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Blake asked. And his head began to pound with confusion. Maybe he’d lost too much blood. While there was an IV pumping something into his arm, he didn’t feel like himself yet. That spate of anger had zapped what little strength he’d rallied.

  “You can’t propose because proposing gets a guy killed in this damn town!” his father exclaimed. “I’ve nearly lost you too many times to let you risk your life again.”

  “He’s right,” Juliette said as she stepped into the room with his father.

  Fenwick smiled with approval at her.

  “You can’t propose to me,” she said.

  But was she saying that because of the Groom Killer or because she didn’t love him?

  Chapter 26

  Fear coursed through Juliette when Blake slumped over and passed out cold. She rushed toward the bed and felt his neck for a pulse. It was there beneath her fingertips—weak but steady. None of the machines attached to him were going off, so his vitals must have been fine. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Is he okay?” Fenwick asked, his voice cracking with his fear.

  She nodded. “I think he just overdid it.”

  “I overdid it,” Fenwick said. “I never know how to talk to him. We always wind up fighting instead.”

  Juliette had thought he was the last person for whom she would have ever felt sorry—until now. She could feel his pain and frustration. She squeezed his arm.

  “You love him,” she said. “That’s all that matters to him.”

  Tears glistened in the older man’s eyes. “I haven’t always shown it, have I?”

  She shook her head.

  “To any of my kids,” Fenwick continued with his self-recrimination.

  “It’s not too late,” Juliette said.

  He stared down at his son lying so still in the hospital bed. “It almost was.”

  “He’s going to be fine,” she assured him. But she was trying to convince herself of that, too. He was so pale.

  “He won’t be if he tries to marry you.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “That’s the only reason I said what I did,” he continued. “He’s right. You’re probably too good for a Colton.”

  She glanced down at Blake again. “Not this Colton...”

  Blake was such a good man. A prince. A hero.

  His lashes fluttered, and his lids began to flicker as if he was trying to open his eyes.

  “I’m going to leave before he wakes up,” Fenwick said. “I don’t want to upset him again.”

  “I’ll go, too,” she said.

  But Fenwick squeezed her shoulder. “Stay. He wants to see you.”

  He wanted to marry her. Had he really said that? Had he said all those wonderful things about her that she’d overheard? Or had her ears been playing tricks on her?

  They were ringing a little yet from all the gunfire. It had echoed inside that empty train car where Sasha had tracked the killer.

  “His sisters should come see him,” Juliette said. When a nurse had told them that he could have two visitors, all of Fenwick’s daughters had urged her to go back to join their father.

  She wasn’t certain if that was because they’d seen how upset she was or because they hadn’t wanted to be in the same room with their father and Blake.

  “His daughter should come visit him,” Fenwick said. “I’ll go get her.” He rushed off as if eager to see the little girl again.

  “He’s going to spoil her,” Blake murmured.

  Juliette turned back to the bed to find that his eyes were open now, and he was staring at her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He sighed. “No...”

  “I’ll get a doctor,” she said, but when she turned to leave, he grabbed her hand. His grasp was surprisingly strong. He was already getting better.

  The tightness that had been in her chest since she’d realized he’d been shot eased somewhat. He was really going to be all right.

  “The only reason I’m not fine is because you turned down my proposal,” he said.

  “I didn’t turn it down,” she said. “I just told you that you couldn’t propose.”

  His green eyes narrowed with irritation. “Same thing...”

  “No,” she corrected him. “And I’m not saying no. I’m saying not yet. Not until the Groom Killer is caught.”

  His eyes brightened, and a smile curved his lips. “So you will marry me?”

  “I love you,” she replied. “I should have told you sooner, but I was trying to protect you.”

  “You got mad at me for trying to protect you,” he reminded her.

  “Are you mad at me?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I was at first—for keeping Pandora a secret. But I couldn’t stay mad.”

  “You should have,” she said. “You should be furious with me over that. I don’t know how you will ever forgive me.” She wasn’t sure that she could ever forgive herself for the years together that she’d stolen from the people she loved the most in the world.

  He reached out with his other hand and slid his fingertips along her jaw. “I gave you every reason to think that I wouldn’t ever want to be a father. So I understand.”

  She released a deep and ragged sigh. She’d worried for so long that he would never forgive her. But he already had.

  “You are amazing,” she murmured. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Told you that you needed me,” he said. But he chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Did you get him?”

  She nodded.

  And his br
eath shuddered out in a ragged sigh of relief. “Thank God. Thank you. You really are a wonderful officer. I won’t ever suggest you leave your job again.”

  She smiled teasingly and asked, “Until I’m in a danger again?”

  His skin paled again as if that thought hadn’t occurred to him. But then he drew in a deep breath and shook his head. “Not even then. I understand how much it means to you.”

  “You mean more,” she told him. “You and Pandora. Now that she’s safe, I could leave Red Ridge...” She would feel bad leaving before the Groom Killer was caught. But Blake was more important than anything but their daughter.

  He shook his head again. “No. Neither of us is leaving. I’m going to move my headquarters to Red Ridge. I’m staying here. I’m staying—” he swallowed as if choking on emotion before continuing “—home.”

  “You didn’t consider it that five years ago,” she reminded him. As well as making love that whole night, they’d talked, too; he’d shared so much of himself with her.

  “It wasn’t then. But when I came back and found you and Pandora...” He swallowed hard again.

  She reached for the cup of ice chips a nurse must have left next to his bed. But when she held out the spoon, he waved it off.

  “You and Pandora made Red Ridge home for me,” he said. “And I do want you to marry me.”

  “Why?” she asked. While she’d professed her love, he’d made no declarations of his own.

  “Because I love you,” he said. “I think I’ve loved you since that night when we conceived Pandora.”

  “That was a magical night,” she agreed. “I felt like Cinderella. And you were my Prince Charming.”

  “Prince Charming gets Cinderella in the end,” he reminded her.

  “This is no fairy tale,” she said. She’d stopped believing in happily-ever-afters long ago—when she’d lost her mom. But then she remembered her saying that everything had happened for a reason.

  That reason wasn’t just Pandora now. Blake was that reason, too.

  “We don’t have to make it official,” he said. “I just need to know that you will marry me. I love you so much...”

  She loved him too much to tell him yes. She loved him too much to risk losing him again.

  * * *

  Blake held his breath, waiting for her answer. She just shook her head. And his heart broke.

  But she looked like hers was breaking, too, as tears filled her eyes. “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t put you in danger ever again.”

  “You can protect me,” he said. “It’s your turn, after all.”

  Her lips curved into a smile. “Really?”

  “I’ve spent the past few weeks protecting you from this park killer guy...” He sighed wearily. “So it’s your turn. You can protect me from this Groom Killer. You’re a damn good cop, Juliette. I trust you to keep me safe.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Yes, you’ll protect me? Or yes, you’ll marry me?” he eagerly asked.

  “Daddy’s gonna marry Mommy!” a high voice exclaimed.

  “Shh...” Grandpa cautioned his granddaughter as he carried the little girl into the room. “We’re going to keep that a secret for a while—just between all of us.”

  Juliette nodded in agreement. “That’s the only way I will say yes, if we keep it a secret.”

  Blake really didn’t want any more secrets between them. But since this was one they were agreeing to keep together, he was fine with it. Hell, he was fine with anything as long as Juliette would agree to marry him.

  “I would get down on one knee,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be sure I could get back up again. So I’m just going to ask you...” He trailed off, waiting for someone to interrupt him.

  But she didn’t stop him this time, and surprisingly enough, neither did his father.

  So he continued, “Juliette Walsh, will you be my Cinderella bride? My wife? My partner? My soul mate?”

  She nodded and nodded and nodded. “Yes, yes, I will.”

  Pandora clapped her hands together in glee. “Yay. Now Daddy needs to give Mommy a ring.” And she jerked the candy ring pop from her finger and held it out to him.

  Blake exchanged a glance with Juliette. “I told you he was going to spoil her.” His father must have been the one who’d bought her the candy. And she must have been the reason that his father had not tried to stop him from proposing—because he didn’t want to disappoint her.

  And if his father could change that much just since meeting his granddaughter, Blake had no concerns about the kind of father he would be. He would do everything within his power to never disappoint her, either.

  He took the ring pop from his daughter’s sticky fingers and held out his other hand for Juliette’s. She placed it in his palm and he slid the plastic ring over her knuckle. The diamond was a half-licked glob of blue candy. But she stared down at it like it was real, her blue eyes welling with tears.

  “Isn’t it pretty, Mommy?” the little girl mused. “It matches your eyes.”

  Blake grinned. That it did...

  As soon as he was out of the hospital, he would get her something better—something that would last forever—just like their love.

  * * *

  Fenwick Colton had never been as determined as he was now to make sure a wedding took place as soon as possible in Red Ridge. And it wasn’t Layla’s wedding that he was anxious to have happen.

  He wanted his son to marry the woman he loved; he wanted to watch that adorable little girl of Blake’s walk down the aisle swinging a basket of flowers. Just the thought of it—of how pretty she would be as flower girl in one of the pretty dresses from Bea’s bridal shop—had him blinking back the tears stinging his eyes and burning in his nose.

  He had never been as damn emotional as he was now—except maybe when he’d lost his first wife. But he’d nearly lost his son. Again. He’d lost him five years ago when Blake had left the country.

  But tonight he’d nearly lost him for good—for dead. And if word got out of Blake’s recent engagement, Fenwick could still lose his son—to that psychotic Groom Killer.

  Police chief Finn Colton couldn’t let that happen.

  “What the hell are you doing to find Demi Colton?” he demanded when he cornered the chief in the waiting room. He wanted that crazy daughter of his trashy cousin’s behind bars with the killer who’d tried to hurt his granddaughter and her mother.

  “Like I told you before, I’m not sure that Demi is actually the killer,” Finn said, and he sounded tired. With the dark circles around his eyes, he looked tired, too.

  The guy needed to get more sleep.

  But Fenwick hadn’t been sleeping himself—not since these killings started and Hamlin Harrington ended his engagement to Layla. Fenwick had been worried about losing his business. But now he knew that was the least of his concerns.

  He was worried about his family, and with Pandora and Juliette, that family had just gotten bigger. So he had more to worry about.

  “You don’t know where she is, so you can’t know that she’s not in Red Ridge. You need to assign some officers the sole responsibility of finding her.”

  Finn grimaced.

  Fenwick knew that he was telling the man how to do his job. But apparently someone had to, or this damn Groom Killer would never get caught. And since he was mayor, Finn pretty much worked for him, anyway.

  “I already assigned two officers to find her,” Finn said begrudgingly.

  “What? Coltons or Gages?” he asked with a derisive snort. He wouldn’t trust either of them to bring her back. The Coltons might let her go and the Gages might make sure she was never found.

  “Michaela Clarke and Liam McTiernan,” Finn replied. “They’re checking all the motels and short-term leasing places across Black Hills County.”

  Fenwick no
dded. “Good. That’s good.”

  They would find her. They had to. Fenwick was pretty sure his son’s wasn’t the only secret engagement in Red Ridge. There were a lot of other couples who wanted to get married.

  After seeing the love between Blake and Juliette, he felt a little uneasy about Layla marrying Hamlin. She obviously didn’t feel about him the way that Blake felt about Juliette. But that was just because she was even more like Fenwick than Blake was. She was all business.

  Blake was a family man now.

  And Fenwick couldn’t be happier or prouder of his son. He just wanted to make sure he stayed alive to marry the woman he loved. But he and Juliette had kept each other alive while one killer was after them and their daughter. He believed they would do it now, as well, because they had too much to live for—they had their family.

  * * * * *

  Look for His Forgotten Colton Fiancée

  by Bonnie Vanak,

  the next installment of the

  Coltons of Red Ridge miniseries!

  And don’t miss the previous

  Coltons of Red Ridge stories,

  all available now from

  Mills & Boon Romantic Suspense!

  The Colton Cowboy by Carla Cassidy

  Colton and the Single Mom by Jane Godman

  Colton K-9 Bodyguard by Lara Lacombe

  Colton’s Deadly Engagement by Addison Fox

  Colton Baby Rescue by Marie Ferrarella

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Cavanaugh’s Secret Delivery by Marie Ferrarella.

  Cavanaugh’s Secret Delivery

  by Marie Ferrarella

  Chapter 1

  Man, he’d really needed this night out, Detective Dugan Cavanaugh thought. He loved his job, no question about it, but after putting in what felt like three weeks straight to get all those slippery little ducks in a row, it really felt good to unwind and blow off some steam tonight, even for a little while.

  However, the problem with blowing off steam was that sometimes time did manage to get away from him. Like tonight. It was ten after midnight.

  He really hadn’t intended to be out this late.

  “And tomorrow is a school day,” he chuckled to himself under his breath. That meant that he couldn’t sleep in—not that he even knew how at this point in his life. “Time to get you home, Detective Cavanaugh, before you suddenly turn into that pumpkin that your mama used to read to you about way back when.”