He began, “The night my car was run off the road, the night I was kidnapped, I was on my way home to pick this up to give to you. I would’ve surprised you that night. But it was not to be. And since that time, I have waited for the right moment to give you this special piece of me.”
With a gentle flip, the box opened to her. Two antique diamond earrings twinkled under candlelight. “They were my mother’s.”
“Oh, Alex, they are stunning.” She could barely wrap her mind around the ordeal that Alex had gone through that fateful night. His thoughts had been in surprising her with such a special gift.
“Yes, just like you.”
Cara fingered the box, her mouth parting and her chest swelling as she took in the delicate drop diamonds.
“It is the only piece of jewelry I requested from my mother’s collection. Now they are yours. It is my wish that you wear them to our wedding.”
It was another gesture from Alex that proved his sincerity. He had always truly loved her. “Yes, yes. I would be honored.” She hugged the box to her chest, her love for Alex filling up every crook in her body. “I will treasure them always.”
Alex smiled and circled her waist with his arms. “I want to marry you right away. I can’t wait for you to be my wife.” He brushed a kiss to her forehead.
“I want that, too.”
Nestled in Alex’s arms, Cara swayed along with him as their beautiful baby rocked and rolled with their smooth movements.
* * *
“Ladies and gentlemen, please let me introduce, to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Alejandro del Toro,” Deacon Hollings announced to the wedding guests sitting in attendance on the grounds of the Cattleman’s Club.
Applause broke into her joyous thoughts as Alex brushed a soft kiss to her lips. Cara could hardly believe it. She was married to Alex. She returned his kiss, her heart swollen with love. “Wife,” he whispered near her ear.
“Husband,” she said right back.
From under an archway of greenery and colorful roses on the very spot where the new children’s playground would be built, Alex took her hand and swiveled to face their friends. Above, a cloudless spring sky brought sunshine and clear air.
Gabriella adjusted the hem of Cara’s ivory gown in a show of her maid-of-honor duties, and Chance, the best man, was the first to shake Alex’s hand. “Congrats, brother-in-law.”
Alex grinned. “Thank you.”
Chance reached out to give Cara a warm hug. He’d been a good friend to her and now they were actually related. “If you’re half as happy with Alex as I am with Gabriella, you’re good to go.”
“Then I’m good to go, because I’m very happy.”
“Glad to hear it.”
* * *
Alex grabbed her hand and led them down the aisle to greet their guests. Zach Lassiter, Alex’s partner and his new fiancée, Sophie, stepped up to congratulate them. “No wonder I haven’t seen you around the office much.” Zach winked at Alex and gave Cara a kiss on the cheek. “You two look very happy.”
“As happy as you and Sophie are, I’d bet,” Cara said. “It’ll be your turn next.”
Zach grabbed Sophie’s hand. They were engaged to be married, and Zach had asked Alex to be best man. Zach had listened to Alex’s explanation and heartfelt apologizes and had been one of the first to forgive him. It was a blessing their partnership and friendship remained intact. “Just waiting on your man to get all his ducks in a row,” Zach said to her.
Alex’s mouth crooked. “Today, all the ducks have lined up. Now I look forward to your wedding.”
A little tug on her gown brought Cara’s gaze down. Little Cade Addison lifted his eyes to her and Cara bent down, exacting a wide berth for her ruffled gown. “Hi, Cade. You were the best ring bearer ever. Thank you so much. Did you have fun?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He fiddled with the lace pillow he’d carried for his short jaunt down the aisle. “Emmie done good, too.”
Emmie, two-year-old daughter to Kiley, the director of the Texas Cattleman’s Club’s new day-care center, made a beautiful flower girl. “Yes, Emmie did a good job, too. Both of you made our day very special.”
He nodded, and Cara gave his head a loving pat before he was scooped into his daddy’s arms. “That was a humdinger of a wedding,” Gil said, mostly to Cade. “I’m proud of you, son.”
Bailey, Gil’s new wife, straightened the boy’s little bow tie, her love for her stepson shining through. “So am I.” Then she turned to Cara and Alex. “It was a beautiful ceremony. I’m happy for both of you.”
Alex put his hand around Cara’s waist. “We appreciate it.”
“So many of you helped to make this day memorable for us,” Cara said.
The wedding was thrown together in less than three weeks, but they couldn’t have done it without the help of so many of their friends and members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club combining forces. Cara had the wedding of her dreams and considered herself blessed in that regard.
As soft music drifted over from the ballroom, the guests began heading there. Cara walked hand in hand with Alex. “I can’t imagine a better day,” Cara said. “Are you sorry your father is not here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. I wish the situation was different for you.”
“But it’s not,” Cara said, keeping her smile in place. Her father hadn’t walked her down the aisle, he wasn’t here to support her and give her his love, but she didn’t dwell on that. “I can’t imagine having my father here. Not after what he’d had done to you. I told myself that today I wouldn’t think of anything but happy thoughts and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“Yes, that’s a good plan, sweetheart. That’s why my father is not here. I didn’t want anything to upset our day. My father will be a small part of our lives. He will know his grandchild. But for now, it is best for us to begin our lives fresh and new. I plan to do that starting right now with my beautiful bride. It is time to celebrate.”
Alex led her into the ballroom, where they joined their guests in the festivities. Toasts were made and dinner was served. Cara had never been happier in her life. When they were called up to the dance floor for their first official dance as husband and wife, Alex brought Cara close. His finger found her earlobe, and he touched the diamond earring gently. “They are perfect on you.”
Cara smiled as she moved with him in time to a sweetly slow ballad. “I feel your mother is here with us today.”
“Yes, I feel it, too.”
“You have given me so much, Alex.”
“No more than you have given me.” His hand slid down to her waist, his palm covering the tiny belly bump that her lacy wedding gown hid quite nicely. Cara rested her head on his chest and swayed along with him until the music changed and others were called up to the dance floor.
Nate Battle tapped Alex on the shoulder and Amanda stood ready by his side. “Would love to take a spin with your pretty new bride,” he said to Alex.
Alex nodded and stepped back, handing Cara over, and Amanda took her place. Cara was whisked away by the sheriff of Royal. Nate was an unusually good dancer, and just when Cara was stepping in perfect time with him, Dave Firestone cut in and swept her away.
By the end of the third song, Cara was winded from dancing with her friends, the men of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Alex thanking Mia, his former housekeeper, for the dance. He’d had a full dance card, too, and when his e
yes finally locked on hers, hot, wild sensations shot down to her toes. He approached her, moving with stealth through the dancers, and Cara couldn’t tear her gaze away.
Her husband was a dashing renegade.
He stole her breath and made her dizzy with love.
“Come with me,” he said. “I need to be alone with my wife.” He took her hand and led her out of the ballroom and down a long empty hallway. Then he stopped as if deciding this was a good-enough place, and gently guided her back against the wall. His hands braced the wall beside her head and he began brushing long, sweet, unbelievable kisses against her lips. “Tell me you are as happy as I am,” he said between kisses.
“Happier.” She giggled, and he stopped kissing her to smile.
“Our new home will be ready in a few months. We will raise our baby there, Cara, and have that fresh start we have always wanted.”
“I’m ready. It will be the best place to raise our son.”
“Our son.” Alex’s eyes gleamed. Only days ago they’d found out they were having a boy. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
From a distance away, coming from the site of the old billiards room, children’s laughter drifted to her ears. It was a beautiful sound. “Listen, Alex. The children are playing in the new day-care center. One day, maybe our boy will play there, too.”
“Yes. I am sure he will.” Alex kissed her again. “Are you ready to go back to our reception, Cara? The guests may be missing us.”
“Yes, Alex. As Mrs. Alejandro del Toro, I am ready for anything.”
Alex grinned, and they strolled into the ballroom of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, ready to begin their new life together.
* * * * *
Texas Cattleman’s Club: The Missing Mogul
Don’t miss a single story!
RUMOR HAS IT by Maureen Child
DEEP IN A TEXAN’S HEART by Sara Orwig
SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOSS... by Yvonne Lindsay
THE LONE STAR CINDERELLA by Maureen Child
TO TAME A COWBOY by Jules Bennett
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT by Kathie DeNosky
BENEATH THE STETSON by Janice Maynard
WHAT A RANCHER WANTS by Sarah M. Anderson
THE TEXAS RENEGADE RETURNS by Charlene Sands
Keep reading for an excerpt from DOUBLE THE TROUBLE by Maureen Child.
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One
Colton King never saw the fist that slammed into his jaw.
He shook his head to clear it, then blocked the next punch before it could land. The furious man who’d stormed into Colt’s office only moments before took a step back and ground out, “You had that coming.”
“What the hell?” Colt dropped his packed duffel bag to the floor. “Had it coming?”
Colt did a fast mental review and came up empty. He didn’t know this man and he couldn’t think of a single other person who wanted to hit him—at the moment. His always-temporary relationships with women invariably ended amicably. Heck, even he and his twin brother, Connor, hadn’t had a good argument in weeks.
Yeah, he’d had angry clients show up at the Laguna Beach, California, offices of King’s Extreme Adventures if they didn’t find the monster waves they’d been promised. Or if the dead man’s run on a mountain was closed due to avalanche.
Colton and Connor arranged adventure vacations for the wealthy adrenaline junkies of the world. So, sure, there had been more than a few times when a customer was mad enough to cause a scene. But not one of them had ever punched him. Before now.
So the question was, “Who the hell are you?”
“I called security!” A woman announced from the doorway.
Colt didn’t even glance at Linda, the admin he and Connor shared. “Thanks. Go get Connor.”
“On it,” she said, then vanished.
“Calling security won’t change anything,” the guy who had just punched him said flatly. “You’ll still be a selfish bastard.”
“Okay,” Colt muttered. Not the first time he’d heard that, either. But a little context would be helpful. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Connor stepped into the room to take a stand beside his twin.
Colt was glad to have him there, though he could have taken the guy who’d gotten in one lucky sucker punch. But probably not good business to have a fistfight here in the office, and having Connor around would help him leash his temper. Besides, fighting wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted. “You took your best shot. Now tell me why.”
“My name is Robert Oaks.”
Oaks. Long-buried memories raced through Colt’s mind in a blinding rush. A ball of ice dropped into the pit of his stomach and his body went utterly still. He studied the stranger glaring at him and in those narrowed green eyes, he saw...familiarity.
Damn it.
The last time he’d looked into eyes like those had been nearly two years ago. At the end of a week in Vegas that should have been ordinary and instead had been...amazing. One specific memory rose up in his mind and Colt wished to hell he could wipe it away, but he’d never been able to pull that off. The morning after he and Penny Oaks had gotten married in a tacky chapel on the strip. The morning when he’d told her they’d be getting a divorce—right before thanking her for a fun week and then leaving her in the hotel room they’d shared.
He didn’t want to think about that day. But hard to avoid that now, with the man who had to be her brother standing in front of him.
Robert Oaks nodded slowly as he saw realization dawn on Colt’s face. “Good. At least you remember.”
“Remember what?” Connor demanded.
“Nothing.” He wasn’t getting into this with Connor. Not right now, anyway.
“Oh, nothing. That’s great.” Oaks shook his head in disgust. “Just what I expected.”
Anger stirred. Whatever was once between him and Penny was just that. Between the two of them. He wasn’t interested in what her brother thought. “Why are you here? What do you want?”
“I want you to do the right thing,” Robert snapped. “But I doubt you will.” His fist bunched. “So I thought punching you would be enough. It wasn’t.”
Impatience stirred and twisted in the anger still balled in Colt’s guts. He had a KingJet waiting to fly him to Sicily. He had places to go. Things to do. And damned if he’d waste one more minute with Robert Oaks.
“Why don’t you quit dancing around and get to it. Why are you here?”
“Because my sister’s in the hospital.”
“Hospital?” Something inside Colt lurched unsteadily. Instantly, memories shifted, his mind filling with images of another hospital, the cold green walls, the grim gray linoleum and the stench of fear and antiseptic flavoring every breath.
For a second or two, he felt as though there was a weight on his chest, dragging him back into a past he never wanted to visit again. Deliberately, he pushed away from the blackness at the edg
es of his mind and fought his way back to the present. Pushing one hand through his hair, Colt focused his gaze on Penny’s brother and waited.
“My sister had an appendectomy yesterday,” Robert told him.
Relief that it wasn’t something more serious was a small, slim thread winding its way through the tangled mass inside him. “Is she okay?”
Robert snorted a derisive laugh. “Yeah, she’s fine. Except, you know, for worrying about how she’s going to pay the hospital bill. And worrying about her twins. Your twins.”
All of the air left the room.
Colt knew that because he couldn’t draw a breath.
“My—” He shook his head while he tried to get a grip on what Penny’s younger brother was telling him. But how the hell did you make sense of something like that coming at you out of the blue? What the hell was he supposed to do? Say? Think?
Colt scrubbed both hands across his face, forced one shaky breath into his lungs and finally managed to say, “Twins? Penny had a baby?”
“Two,” Robert corrected, and looked from Colt to Connor and back again. “Looks like twins run in your family.”
“And she didn’t tell him?” Connor sounded as stunned as Colt felt.
Fury rose up and nearly choked him. She had never said a damn word. She’d been pregnant and hadn’t told him. She’d delivered two children and hadn’t told him.
He had children?
That weight was back on his chest again but this time he ignored it.
“Where are they?” The demand was short and sharp.
Robert looked at him warily and Colt knew that his expression must have mirrored the anger erupting inside.
“My fiancée and I have been taking care of them.”
Them. Colt was the father of twins and he knew nothing about them. How was that even possible? He’d always been careful. But apparently, his mind taunted, not careful enough.
A small voice in the back of his mind whispered that this might all be a lie. That Penny could have told her brother a lie. That the babies weren’t really his. But even as he considered that possibility, he dismissed it. That would have been too easy, and Colt knew better than most that there was nothing easy about any of this.
THE TEXAS RENEGADE REURNS Page 17
