Surrender To Sultry

by Macy Beckett

  “Is Noah gonna be your ring bearer?” Darla asked. “Or your best man? ’Cause I think he’d look so handsome standing up there beside you in a little-bitty tux.”

  Colt scratched his forehead and repeated, “Little-bitty tux” while he absently strode down the hall to his office. A sense of urgency warned him to repair the damage now, before it was too late. But what should he say to her? What about their relationship—could they salvage it? Hell, he didn’t know. He needed to shut his office door and think.

  He didn’t expect to see Rachel Landry sitting in his chair with those damn dirty garden clogs kicked up on his desk. God bless, why did women insist on wearing those things? Maybe Rachel used them as man-repellent.

  “How’d you get in here?” he asked. “I know Darla didn’t let you in this time.”

  She shot him the bird, not even bothering to flash her usual sarcastic grin. “I came here to tell you I changed my mind. I do hate your face, Colton Bea.”

  “Good to know things are getting back to normal.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Now I can tell you to take a hike.”

  Her nostrils flared and she started eyeing his letter opener. He didn’t think she’d shank him, but just to be safe, he grabbed it and tossed it onto the filing cabinet.

  Rachel stood from his chair and folded her arms. “Well, you did it. You rode her out of town on a rail. You happy now, asshole? Or you wanna tar and feather her too?”

  Colt’s stomach sank as he processed her psychotic rant. “Leah left already?” But he’d just seen her a couple of hours ago at the Waffle Shack when she’d dropped off Noah.

  “Yep. Gone. She’s probably in Hallover County by now.” She touched her forehead with two fingers in a mock salute. “I just lost my best friend—for the second time—thanks to you. I’d like to kick you in the nuts so hard your granddaddy feels it.”

  A cold sweat broke out across Colt’s brow. Every fiber of uncertainty vanished, leaving behind an ironclad truth that he felt in the pit of his soul: he still wanted Leah. He’d barely survived losing her the first time, and he simply could not lose her again. His first instinct was to hop in his cruiser and speed after her, but that was a bad idea. He had no clue which route she’d taken—if she’d stuck to the highway or ventured down back roads to reach the interstate.

  “Is she driving the Cadillac,” he asked, “or that old purple beater?”

  “The Caddy. Why do you care?”

  “Move.” He nudged Rachel aside and pulled open his top desk drawer. He tore through receipts, messages, and Post-it notes for the slip of paper he’d used to write down Leah’s license plate number when she’d come to town last month. Once he found it, he left Rachel without another word and dashed to the dispatch room.

  He shoved the wad of paper at the deputy manning the dispatch station. “Tell the Hallover boys I need a quick favor.”

  ***

  Leah fiddled with the satellite radio controls until she found a peppy station. She cranked up the volume and sang along to “Shiny Happy People” as loud as she could, but her vocal cords refused to cooperate. She kept choking off at the end of each line, so the shiny happy people were holding “hah” instead of hands. Since there was no use trying to trick herself, she changed strategies and drowned her sorrows in some old George Jones. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” was a more appropriate song anyhow.

  Through a thin veil of tears, she admired the rolling hills and hayfields as they blurred past at sixty miles per hour. Fall had dulled the colors of the typically green landscape, but at least it wasn’t covered in two feet of Minnesota snow. She’d just passed an abandoned barn when red and blue flashing lights caught her eye in the rear-view mirror. A brown sheriff’s cruiser blasted his siren in two short wails, and Leah’s gaze flew to the speedometer. She was going five miles under the speed limit, thank goodness. She took her foot off the gas and looked for a good spot to pull over. Twenty yards ahead, she spotted a gravel path running between two soybean fields, so she turned onto it and came to a stop, then cut the engine.

  She watched the officer pull in behind her and waited to see what he’d do. When he stepped outside and approached her door, she rolled down her window.

  “Afternoon, ma’am.” He touched the brim of his hat in a firm greeting. “You headed out of town?”

  “Yes, sir.” She noticed her reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. With her puffy eyes and reddened nose, he probably thought she’d been drinking. “Is something wrong?”

  He took a moment to study her, his poker face revealing no emotion. “Just stay in the car, please.” Then he walked back to his cruiser and climbed inside.

  That was weird. She wondered what he wanted. Benny knew she was on her way back to Minnesota, so he wouldn’t have reported the Escalade as stolen. She sat patiently, watching him in her rear-view while she waited for him to return.

  Five minutes passed. Then ten. And fifteen. Twenty minutes later, a Sultry County cruiser joined them on the path, kicking up dirt and gravel as he pulled to a stop in front of her. After that, the Hallover deputy backed onto the main road and drove away.

  Leah didn’t like this. She peered out her front windshield to catch a glimpse of the other officer, but the air was too clouded with dust to identify him. She gripped the leather steering wheel while his door swung open, all the while praying to herself, Please don’t be Colt. Please don’t be Colt. Please don’t be Colt.

  One brown Laredo hit the gravel, then the other. A large tawny hand gripped the door frame, and the man hoisted himself to standing. At once, she recognized the loose black hair brushing his broad shoulders. Of course it was Colt. Because she hadn’t suffered enough today.

  He closed his door and ambled toward her, the brim of his Stetson concealing his face in shadows. When he reached her, he knocked twice on the window, and she reluctantly rolled it down.

  “License and registration,” he said, keeping his head tipped down to inspect her tires.

  If she and Colt had parted on friendly terms, she’d assume this was a joke. But there was no humor in his smooth, deep voice. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she didn’t want any part of it. She couldn’t take another one of his cold shots.

  “Leave me be,” she said weakly. “You don’t even have jurisdiction here.”

  He held out his hand, palm up, and repeated, “License and registration.”

  She made a frustrated noise and reached for her purse. “Fine.” Maybe if she gave him what he wanted, he’d go away. She dug Benny’s paper out of the glove box, then thrust it out the window along with her license.

  He took the documents from her and made a show of appraising them, even though he’d seen them before. “Here,” he said, handing back Benny’s registration. “You can have this.” But instead of returning her license, he tucked it in his back pocket.

  She pointed to the vicinity of his backside. “I need that.”

  He ignored her and ordered, “Step out of the car.”

  “Why?” she asked. “There are only so many ways I can say I’m sorry. I tried to—”

  “Because you’re not goin’ anywhere.” He tipped back his hat, revealing sea blue eyes alight with fire. “Not till I have my say.”

  She stayed put, trying to hold herself together while her chin trembled.

  “Damn it, Leah.” Colt pointed to the ground. “Get out here so I can apologize.”

  She slid a glance at him and lowered one brow, figuring he couldn’t mean that. “Is this a trick?”

  He answered by opening her door and offering a hand to help her down. When she unbuckled her seatbelt and swung her legs around, he surprised her by wrapping his palms around her waist and carefully lowering her to the gravel. Once there, he was slow to release her, standing so close she felt the heat rolling off his chest.

 
“It’s not a trick,” he murmured into her hair. “I wanna tell you I’m sorry.” He tipped her chin until their faces met, his gaze full of contrition when he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  She believed him, and yet her feet took a step back in a warning to keep her shields up. She was too raw inside, too vulnerable to risk her heart again if sorry was all he had to say.

  He noted the distance between them but didn’t object. Instead, he shut her car door and respected her space. Humbly, he pulled off his hat and told her, “I’m not trying to excuse the way I behaved, but it was a shock—learning about Noah that way. I was hurt and angry, and I think I wanted you to feel some of that pain.”

  She leaned back against the Escalade and folded her arms protectively.

  “If we’re being honest,” he said, “I’m still hurt. I have a son, but I don’t know his favorite flavor of ice cream or if he still sleeps with a stuffed animal.”

  Unable to hold his gaze, she stared at the ground. “Cotton candy is his favorite, and he sleeps with a little blue bear, but he doesn’t want anyone to know because he’s afraid his friends will make fun of him. I feel awful for shutting you out, Colt. I hope you believe me. If I could go back and do it again, I’d—”

  “I wouldn’t want you to change a thing,” he insisted. She glanced at him in disbelief and found him raking a hand through his hair. “That’s the hard part—that’s the rub. I hate that I missed Noah’s first nine years, but I know I couldn’t have been a decent father to him back then. Hell, I even wonder if I’d make a decent dad now. And if you’d asked me, I never would’ve agreed to give him up. You sacrificed your happiness for our boy, and that’s the truest kind of love.” He shook his head as if he didn’t understand his own words. “You did the right thing, even though it was terrible and wrong. Does that make sense?”

  Leah caught her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. It made perfect sense.

  “Staying mad at you is a lot of work, and I’m tired. I don’t want to let all that bitterness and regret eat me up.” He reached for her hand, a silent message that the next move was hers. “I love you too much for that.”

  Her heart jumped. He still loved her? A cautious smile pressed her lips as she took his hand.

  “I know you’re not perfect—I don’t expect that of you.” He eliminated the space between them and lifted her chin again. “But you’ll always be my angel.”

  The tears she’d suppressed all day leaked down her cheeks. Colt used a thumb to brush them away. He whispered against her lips, “Tell me you still love me.”

  It took a few moments to find her voice, but when she did, she promised, “There’s only you.”

  He dropped a soft kiss on her mouth, just a taste of his sweetness, then lowered to one knee. “I’ve never loved anybody but you, and if you’ll let me, I swear I’ll love you and no one else until I die.”

  He pulled a gold ring from his shirt pocket and studied it for a moment. A faceted burgundy stone glowed warm and shimmered in the light until it resembled a beating heart. “I know it’s not a diamond,” Colt said, “but my grandmamma gave me this before she passed. She used to say garnets symbolize pure sacrifice, and I can’t think of anything more fitting for you to wear on your finger.”

  Leah wanted to tell him it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, but emotion had thickened her throat until she could barely breathe.

  Colt presented the ring to her and squeezed her hand. “I never felt like I deserved you, and today’s no different. But I promise no man will love you harder and no man will give more of himself than I will. I swear I’ll never let you down. Please say you’ll marry me. It hurts too much when we’re not together.”

  Leah pressed her free hand over her mouth to stifle a sob of joy. Colt’s stunning face, so filled with adoration, blurred through her tears, and she blotted her eyes to bring him back into focus. “Yes.” It was more a husky whisper than anything, but she didn’t care. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  With a smile bright enough to shame the sun, he slid the ring on her finger and stood to take her face between his palms. “Thank you,” he said.

  “Oh, no.” She remembered something. “What about Benny’s car? I still have to drive it to Minnesota.”

  “It can wait a few weeks.” He pressed her body against the side of the Escalade. “I just got you back, and we’ve got some catching up to do.” To prove it, he brushed his mouth against hers and ran the tip of his tongue along her bottom lip. The kiss deepened, growing hotter and wetter until she felt him hardening against her belly. He moved his lips to her ear and whispered, “You really wanna take a road trip right now?”

  “No,” she breathed, tipping her head aside to welcome the slide of his mouth on her neck. She wasn’t going anywhere today, except to the moon. “I wouldn’t mind climbing into the back seat, though.”

  “Why, Leah McMahon!” Colt drew back and tried to sound scandalized, but a wicked grin betrayed him. “Are you leading me into temptation?”

  She beamed up at him—her future husband—so exquisite that she wanted to cry again. There was too much happiness inside her. She couldn’t make room for all of it. “You bet I am. And what I have in mind is illegal in some states.”

  He opened the door and tossed his Stetson inside. “In that case, I’m all in, honey. They don’t call me Crazy Colt for nothing.”

  No, they sure didn’t. Colt was the devil in cowboy boots, and Leah was no angel. But together, she knew they’d make their own brand of heaven on earth.

  ***

  After their back-seat adventure, they sped home to Sultry County, where they spent the rest of the afternoon making up for lost time in Colt’s king-sized bed. Even when they weren’t making love, Leah clung to him, locking her arms around his broad neck in a compulsion to get closer, afraid the dream would evaporate like mist if she loosened her embrace. He must have felt the same way, because he left her side only once—to make a phone call to her daddy��before returning to bed and loving her again, stronger than before.

  Finally at suppertime, Colt insisted they venture out to the Main Street Diner, and Leah’s grumbling stomach agreed. But instead of driving toward town, he made a left onto the old country road, continued another mile, and pulled into the church parking lot.

  “Are we turning around?” she asked.

  “Nope,” was all he said as he cut the ignition.

  Leah glanced at the church and the adjoining fellowship hall, both equally dark and showing no signs of life. She remembered his earlier phone call with Daddy and wondered if he’d staged an impromptu wedding. “We can’t get married without a license, you know.”

  “I know.” He stepped out of the cruiser and jogged around the front end to open her door, then extended a hand to help her to standing. “Besides, when I marry you, it won’t be in the dark. I’m gonna throw you the biggest wedding this town’s ever seen.”

  Leah smiled at his enthusiasm, figuring she’d rein in his plans later. She didn’t need a flashy extravaganza—just her family, her friends, and Colt. It was the marriage that mattered, not the wedding.

  “Then what’re we doing here?” she asked him.

  He didn’t answer, only linked their fingers and towed her toward the fellowship hall. When they reached the door, he knocked twice and let himself in, then ushered her into the darkness.

  Leah had just opened her mouth to object when the lights flashed on and a chorus of whoops and hollers broke out, followed closely by thunderous applause.

  She drew back, hand flying over her heart, as half the church congregation stood in front of their folding chairs, clapping wildly for her. At once, her eyes focused on the church’s well-used “Welcome Home” banner that hung from the ceiling—the same one she’d seen at the Lewis homecoming. But below the faded lettering, someone had added the word FOREVER
in bright-red paint. From there, she noticed a few old photos of herself affixed to the walls, and in the center of the room, platters of cold cuts and appetizers were arranged near the punch bowl on a long, cloth-draped table. Through the clamor, someone whistled loudly, and Leah glanced to her right to find Rachel, who bounced on her toes and waved beside Daddy.

  It took a moment for Leah to absorb what was happening. She turned to Colt with an unspoken question in her gaze. Is all this for me?

  “Pru and your daddy put this together,” Colt said. “They couldn’t use all the fancy decorations on such short notice, but I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Mind?” Leah’s vision flooded with tears while she warmed all over with gratitude. This was what she’d wanted since coming back to town—a true welcome. Who cared if a few streamers were missing? “It’s amazing.”

  Everyone she loved was here, even June and Luke, who sat in a quiet corner with their new baby. With a little nudge from Colt, Leah stepped inside and let the congregation embrace her, one set of arms at a time. When she’d finished circulating through the hall, her cheeks ached from smiling but she’d never felt more cherished.

  She was finally home.

  Epilogue

  The call came two years later when Leah was fast asleep, wrapped in Colt’s arms. She awoke with a start and glanced at the bedside alarm clock, instantly worried, because the only news that traveled at three in the morning was the devastating kind. She shot out an arm to answer the phone. But instead of bad news, Leah heard the two most glorious words in the English language.

  “It’s time.”

  A surge of adrenalin shot through her, more energizing than ten pots of coffee. She giggled loudly and shook Colt’s shoulder. “It’s time!”

  He yawned and stretched, blinking at her in confusion until understanding dawned in his eyes. “Time time?” She nodded and he bolted upright in bed with an instant smile, his teeth bright in the darkness.