The Colton Bride

by Carla Cassidy

  It was hours later that Cath and Gray finally found themselves alone in her suite. Gray sat on the chaise lounge and pulled Cath into his arms.

  “Maybe Agnes will break after she’s been locked up for a while,” he said.

  “Agnes?” She raised up and looked at him in surprise.

  “Peters took her in to the station. She’s the most logical person to have known about the tunnel’s existence. She was probably the female you saw with the man who abducted you.”

  She frowned and began to shake her head. “No, it wasn’t Agnes down there. The woman was taller, leaner...built more like Darla and Tawny. You need to let Chief Peters know that she wasn’t the person in the tunnel.”

  He pulled her back in his arms. “I’ll let him know in the morning. It won’t hurt Agnes to spend a night as a guest of Peters. Maybe the time behind bars will force her to admit to knowing something. We’ll also let Peters know that the woman was a different shape than Agnes.”

  “First thing in the morning we’ll straighten it out,” she murmured. She leaned her head against his shoulder. For a long time they simply remained in the embrace, not speaking but just existing in the pleasure of each other’s presence.

  “I got hit over the head because I was distracted,” he finally said with a heavy sigh. “I was distracted by wondering if maybe fate had intended us to be together all along. I got lost in thinking that maybe we were supposed to part as young teenagers so we could grow up apart and then come together as two adults ready to love each other again.”

  She raised her head to gaze at him and he continued, his gut suddenly tight as his heart beat a little faster. “You’re right, Cath. I didn’t fight for you years ago. I left here with a heart broken and a bitterness against you I thought would never end. I didn’t believe I was good enough for you. I believed that eventually you’d recognize that fact, too. I was just a ranch hand and you were a Colton. That really hasn’t changed, but the difference between then and now is that I intend to fight for you now.”

  Her eyes flared with an emotion he couldn’t read and he wondered if he was about to bare his soul to a woman who no longer cared. “I love you, Cath. I never stopped loving you and I don’t want this marriage to ever end.” He held his breath as she moved out of his arms to sit up straight.

  Tears misted her eyes and she released a small laugh and swiped them away. “Darned pregnancy hormones seem to have me crying all the time.”

  Gray’s heart sank. “I don’t want to make you cry, Cath. I just want to love you and the bean for the rest of my life.”

  Her eyes shimmered with the indigo-blue color that he knew he’d never forget for the rest of his life. “I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to tell you how much I love you, Gray. I don’t care about the Colton money. I’ve never cared about anything but you. I want you to be my husband forever. I want you to be the father to all my children...all of our children. Gray, I...”

  She got no other words out of her mouth as he pulled her to him and kissed her with all the heart, all the soul he possessed inside.

  The kiss finally ended, and he gazed at her with all the love he had in his heart. “I want to be that man in your life, Cath. I want to be your lover, your friend and the man who is beside you for the rest of your life, but I have a plan for us that I’m not sure you’re going to like.”

  She frowned and once again leaned away from him. “What kind of a plan?”

  Throughout the long evening a plan for their future had been formulating in his head, the only plan he thought made sense under the current circumstances, but he knew it was possible that she would never agree to it.

  He reached out and took her hand in his. Her delicate fingers twined with his and again his love for her nearly overwhelmed him.

  “If today has taught me anything, it’s shown me that no matter how hard I try, no matter what measures we take, I can’t guarantee your safety, at least not here at the ranch.” She started to pull her hand from his, but he held tight and continued. “Cath, we still don’t know who the bad guys are. We still don’t know who has been behind these kidnapping attempts on you. That woman you saw could be Tawny or Darla, or it could have been any one of the female staff members. There is danger here that we can’t avoid.”

  She nodded slowly. “So, what’s your plan?”

  He drew a deep breath, grateful that at least she was willing to listen. “We leave here for a while. We remove you from the danger. I won’t take you far. We’ll get a little apartment in Cheyenne with plenty of security. I’ll go through the police academy and you go through your pregnancy without having to be scared, without having to constantly look over your shoulder.”

  He’d expected her to instantly reject the idea and was surprised when she gazed at him thoughtfully. “Cheyenne isn’t so far away,” she said slowly.

  “I wouldn’t want anyone here to know exactly where we go, but we can get you throwaway phones so that you can stay in touch with your sisters. If there’s a change in your father’s condition, we can be back here within an hour. Wherever we choose to live I’ll invest in the best security system money can buy.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  He looked at her in stunned surprise. “Really?”

  “Really.” She reached out and placed a palm against his cheek, her eyes holding a wealth of emotion. “I realized today that the danger here just didn’t pertain to me, but also my baby and to you. In those long hours of being in that little room and believing you were dead, my heart hurt like I hope it never hurts again. I’ll go to Cheyenne with you, Gray. Eventually, I’d like to come back here and raise my kids here, but I’ll do it your way for as long as we need to.”

  Once again Gray pulled her into his arms. Her agreeing to leave Dead River Ranch with him spoke more of her love for him than any other words she could say, anything else she could do.

  He kissed her deep and long, knowing that this was the right way for them to truly begin their life together as a loving, rightfully married couple.

  When the danger here was gone they’d return and he’d abide by her wishes to raise their children here and hopefully he could get a job as a police officer on the Dead police force.

  Once they pulled apart, she leaned against his chest where she obviously felt as if she belonged. “I just have one final request,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  She raised her head to gaze at him and a wealth of emotions shone from her eyes...love and desire and the faintest hint of humor. “It’s not bean anymore. It’s a baby, and I insist we come up with names so that we stop calling it a bean.”

  Gray laughed and pulled her closer to him. “I think we can manage that.”

  In fact, he was certain they could manage anything together. They would live a temporary future in Cheyenne while he went through the police academy and assured her safety, and then whatever she wanted he would provide.

  There were still deadly secrets here at the ranch, but they were secrets somebody else would have to figure out. Gray was removing himself and the woman and baby he loved from the picture. He just prayed that when all the secrets were uncovered there was somebody still standing here at the ranch.

  Shoving these worrisome thoughts aside, he once again pulled Cath closer, and as he kissed her, his hand caressed the baby he’d claimed as his own.

  His woman.

  His family.

  His happily-ever-after.

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss the next story in

  THE COLTONS OF WYOMING:

  THE COLTON HEIR

  by Colleen Thompson, available November 2013

  from Harlequin Romantic Suspense!

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  Chapter 1

  I wish you were here.

  In her mind Zoe Onella replayed the last words her best friend, Shayna, had said to her before disappearing. Or maybe I could visit there. I really need you right now. The entire cross-country trip from New York to Dallas, Zoe wished she’d have probed or, even better, agreed to let Shayna visit.

  Instead, she’d rushed Shayna off the phone so she could meet a couple of friends for happy hour. And then, two weeks later, the next phone call had been from Shayna’s mother, Mama Bell, worried because she couldn’t locate her daughter. Mama had actually believed Shayna might have been with Zoe.

  With guilt churning inside her, Zoe collected her luggage and stepped outside. The scorching air blasted her like a furnace. Ah, yes. Dallas was still the same as she remembered. Hot and miserable. She slipped on her dark glasses before she looked around for her ride.

  No one on the sidewalk even looked familiar. Which was odd, since Mama Bell had promised to send someone to collect her. Fine. Squaring her shoulders, Zoe hefted her suitcase and began the trek to the cab area, lifting her chin and making her stride confident despite the towering heels she wore. This was her New York persona, one she planned to hang on to while here in Texas, to remind herself of the person she’d become.

  She could handle this. Would handle it, exactly as she’d done a hundred times before at home in the city. So what if the cab fare from DFW to Anniversary would be outrageous?

  “Zoe,” called a voice—deep, masculine and unforgettably familiar. The sound of it reached inside her, echoing old longings. “Over here.”

  She stiffened. Brock McCauley. The one person from her past she didn’t want to see. Not now. Not ever.

  For the space of a heartbeat, she debated pretending not to have heard him and striding down the sidewalk as fast as she could. Away from him. Just like before. Instead, she took a deep breath, pasted her best “I am all business” smile on her face, and turned to face the man she’d practically left at the altar long ago.

  The instant she saw him, all the jangling noise inside of her went still. He looked the same—tall and broad shouldered, blond hair cut in the same sexy-shaggy cut. As his piercing blue eyes met hers, her entire being vibrated. Though her heart hammered out a welcome, she schooled her expression to nothing but pleasant surprise.

  The man she’d once needed with every fiber of her being wasn’t the one she wanted now.

  “Mrs. Bell sent me to pick you up,” he said. His blank expression let her know he took no enjoyment in the task. She nodded, unable to summon up a response. After all, what did one say to a man after you’d broken his heart?

  He led the way to his truck, a new Chevrolet painted shiny red. She flashed back five years to his beat-up old pickup, which had also been red, remembering the way they’d celebrated their love in his front seat.

  As her face warmed in a blush, she climbed up into the cab and turned away, pretending a sudden interest in everything outside her window. Guilt be damned. She had nothing to say to him, nothing at all.

  Everything that had happened between them was in the past. She refused to look back.

  Brock started the truck and they began the long drive from DFW Airport to Anniversary. Keeping his gaze on the road, Brock apparently felt no need to fill the awkward silence with meaningless words. She appreciated that, also unable to give voice to the thoughts taunting her. Might-have-beens that could never be. All they had in common now was Shayna, the only reason Zoe had returned.

  Still, they had to speak eventually, didn’t they? About Shayna. Especially since Zoe’s former fiancé and best friend lived together and planned to marry.

  Life in small-town Anniversary had gone on just fine without Zoe. Her gut reaction after Mrs. Bell’s frantic phone call had been to panic. She’d been standing by the window in her Manhattan apartment, watching the traffic below do its thing, the same as it did every morning. The hustle and bustle of other people starting their day had always fascinated her. The gray sky promised rain, which meant outside would be muggy and a sticky, frizzy hair day. And then the phone call from the woman Zoe considered her mother, saying Shayna had disappeared and asking Zoe if her daughter was with her. Apparently, Shayna had mentioned she was planning a visit.

  When Zoe had told Mama Bell no, her answer had been greeted by silence. She sensed she’d dashed Shayna’s mother’s last hope. And Zoe thought back to the last conversation she’d had with her best friend, wishing she’d paid better attention.

  Though Mama Bell hadn’t come out and asked, Zoe knew she was needed back home. She’d instantly volunteered to fly to Texas and sort things out.

  In all the years since Mrs. Bell had taken Zoe under her wing, raising her with as much love as if blood bound them together, she’d never asked for anything.

  She didn’t have to ask this time.

  Though Zoe hadn’t actually seen Shayna since she’d left, and even though they’d lost that best friend need to talk every day, they’d still spoken occasionally by phone. In her heart of hearts, Zoe knew the connection was as strong and unbroken as if they were actual sisters.

  Even when Brock and Shayna had gotten together and Shayna had tentatively asked Zoe if she minded, Zoe had tried to be happy for the two of them. In the tangled mess her leaving had created, someone should be happy. Truth be told, she’d missed Shayna and actually welcomed a chance to see her again. Brock, however, was another story. Zoe had never gotten over the agony or the guilt of practically leaving him at the altar.

  She’d missed Anniversary, she realized. It would always be home, the place where she’d grown up. If only the town didn’t hold so many dark, bloodstained memories. Here, in a dark alley behind a seedy bar, a younger Zoe had watched her mother die.

  Glancing again at Brock, she wondered how he was dealing with Shayna’s disappearance. After Zoe vanished on him five years ago, this must feel like a twist of the knife. She ached for him, even as she tried not to feel anything at all.

  Did she want to know? Was it relevant to figuring out where Shayna had gone? More uncomfortable than she’d been in ages, Zoe tried to figure out the best way to ask.

  While she considered, after clearing his throat, Brock brought up the subject first, still not making eye contact, instead focusing on his driving.

  “Now that we’re face-to-face again,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me why you left?”

  Dread filled her even though rationally she knew he had a right to know. He deserved an explanation, or at least part of one. Five years had passed, after all. “When my mother was killed in that alley behind her favorite bar, I was there. She’d called me, drunk, and asked me to meet her. When I got to the scene, it turned out her drug dealer was also there, and she owed him money.”

  Though her voice broke, she continued. “She’d told him I’d bring that money. When I didn’t, he slit her throat. Right in front of me.” Remembered horror made her shudder.

  His steady gaze stayed on her, but he made no move to touch her. “I knew about her murder, but not that you were there. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have helped you.”

  “That’s just it. I couldn’t. Not only did he give me twenty-four hours to get the money, he told me if I didn’t, he’d find me and kill everyone I held dear.” She took a deep breath.

  “At first, I ran because I was in fear for my life. Later, I was messed up. Seeing such a thing...I couldn’t handle...”

  “
Me?” he asked, sounding wounded, his grip tight on the steering wheel. “You couldn’t handle me?”

  “We were so young, Brock. And you kept pushing to get married. It was too much. So I stayed in New York.” Even after all this time, her voice shook. There was more, but she wouldn’t tell him the rest of it.

  “So you ran and then kept running, from this town, from your friends and your family, and from me.” No emotion in his voice. No condemnation or sympathy, disbelief or commiseration.

  Oddly enough, this gave her strength. “Yes.”

  Expression like granite, he didn’t respond.

  “Tell me about you and Shayna,” she said, breaking the silence. After Shayna had confessed to Zoe that she’d always had a thing for Brock, Zoe’d spent months trying to adjust to the idea that her best friend had gotten together with her former fiancé.

  “Shayna was moving out,” he said, the bluntness of his words matching his unemotional tone. “These past few months have been...difficult for both of us.”

  Trying to hide her shock, Zoe stiffened. For the past few months, every time she’d talked to Shayna, her friend had been full of cheerful plans about her and Brock’s upcoming wedding. Until the final phone call, when she’d clearly reached out to Zoe for help and Zoe had been too self-absorbed to notice. “Moved out? What happened? I thought you two were getting married?”

  Now he looked at her, not bothering to hide his shock. “Shayna and I never even discussed marriage.”

  Not wanting to betray her friend’s confidence, Zoe simply nodded. Right now, it was more important to find Shayna. After, they could straighten everything else out.

  “When did you last see her?” Zoe asked.

  Brock sighed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove. “It’s been a few days. This past Friday, we discussed her moving out, and I offered to help find her a place to live. She went out that night with her friend Cristine and never came back home.”