The Heart of a Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  She dragged her gaze away from the ring and looked him straight in the eye.

  “Will you marry me, Natalie?”

  Her heart beat even faster. “Are you sure?”

  “Never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  “Then, yes, I will marry you.”

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her as if to make sure she didn’t change her mind.

  When they finally ended the kiss, she watched with her heart beating like crazy as Garrett washed the frosting off the ring then slid it onto her finger. She placed her palm against the side of his face, finding it hard to believe she’d captured the heart of this cowboy. If he loved her even half as much as she loved him, then she was the luckiest woman alive.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Garrett couldn’t stop fidgeting. He couldn’t remember ever having so much nervous energy flowing through his veins.

  “Would you be still before you make me poke a hole in my finger?” Owen said from where he was trying to pin a boutonniere to Garrett’s lapel.

  “Sorry.”

  “Dude, I know how you’re feeling, like you want to jump out of your skin. You just want to get all the pomp over with, but you go through it because it’s important to women. They want this beautiful memory.”

  “I know. And Natalie deserves it.”

  “Yes, she does.” Owen finished pinning and placed his hands atop his big brother’s shoulders. “And so do you. I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  A gentle knock on the door revealed itself to be that of Mrs. Todd. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “I’ll wait for you outside,” Owen said and left Garrett alone with the woman who would be his mother-in-law in a few minutes.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, fine. Natalie looks beautiful, though a little nervous.”

  “I know the feeling.”

  Mrs. Todd took a few more steps into his bedroom. “I just wanted to thank you for making Natalie so happy. She had to take on responsibility too young, and I’ve always felt guilty for that. Even though she wasn’t a sad person and took everything in stride, I never realized how happy she could be until I saw her with you. And considering what brought you together, I count that as nothing less than a miracle.”

  Garrett crossed to her and took her hands in his. “You raised a wonderful daughter. If I bring her happiness, I’m glad. Because she couldn’t make me any happier.”

  Though he knew he’d never forget the truth of what had happened to his mother, his decision to let the anger reside firmly in the past had freed him from a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying. And he had no doubt that his mom was looking down on him and smiling at his decision to move beyond her loss.

  Because she looked as if she needed it, he pulled Natalie’s mom into his arms and kissed her on top of her head. When she hugged him back, he imagined that his mom was there, as well. He closed his eyes and smiled.

  I love you, Mom.

  When Mrs. Todd stepped out of his embrace, she squeezed his hands. “I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I feel as if I’m gaining a son I never had.”

  He squeezed her hands back. “I don’t mind at all.”

  She gave a quick nod. “Well, I think the two of you have waited long enough, don’t you?”

  Yes, he did.

  * * *

  “IT’S SHOWTIME,” CHLOE SAID.

  Natalie’s stomach rumbled in response.

  “Someone is hungry,” Renee said with a smile.

  “If she’s like I was when I got married,” Allison said, “then she hasn’t eaten a thing all day.”

  “Good thing there’s quite the spread waiting for us,” Chloe said. “I think Keri and Linnea have outdone themselves again.”

  “Watch out after the I-dos,” Renee said. “She’s likely to mow us all down to get to the buffet.”

  “Hello, right here,” Natalie said.

  They all laughed, which helped alleviate some of the tension knotted in Natalie’s stomach like a ball of rubber bands.

  Outside, music began to play at the same moment her mom returned from wherever she’d gone. Time to go get married to the love of her life.

  Her friend and sisters led the way out the back to the white-cloth runner that wound around the side of the house toward the front steps, where Garrett had first swept her off her feet. The fresh spring air wafted through her veil, and she thought she couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for her wedding.

  “You ready?” her mom asked.

  She was thankful for her mom at her side, giving her support. “Yeah.”

  Her heart thumped wildly as she rounded the corner and saw Garrett dressed in a dark suit with the bright orange rose pinned to his lapel.

  But what filled her heart even more was how his face transformed when he saw her. There was no doubt that he loved her, and that made her love him even more.

  Chloe, Allison and Renee took their spots at the side of the steps opposite Owen, Wyatt and Simon Teague. Natalie glanced toward Wayne and was rewarded with a huge smile. When she and her mom reached the bottom of the steps, her mom kissed her cheek before handing her off to Garrett.

  He took her hand. “Need me to carry you up the steps again?” he asked with a smile.

  She smiled back. “Maybe later.”

  With two good, cast-free legs, she climbed the steps to stand beside the man who would soon be her husband. Even as the minister began the ceremony, she couldn’t look away from Garrett. And he seemed to feel the same way.

  She barely heard a word but somehow managed to respond at the appropriate points. But her hearing came back in time for her to hear, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Garrett did just that, and it wasn’t a chaste peck on the lips. Taking a page out of his brother’s and brother-in-law’s books of mischief, he dipped her back across his arms and kissed her as if he’d been saving up for that kiss his entire life.

  And maybe he had.

  * * *

  AS THE LAST of the wedding guests drove away from the ranch, Natalie looked out across the expanse of moonlit land. All those acres in the distance had such a rich family history, and she was a part of that history now. A part of the Brody family, of a community that had welcomed her with open arms—and a lot of business at the vet clinic.

  “See any shooting stars?” Garrett asked as he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “No, but I don’t need to.” She turned to face him. “That day you proposed to me, I didn’t think I could be any happier. I was wrong. I’m so happy right now that I feel as if I can’t contain it all.”

  He leaned close. “Then maybe you should share some of it.” When he waggled his eyebrows, she laughed.

  “Are you volunteering?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  And then he scooped her up in his arms and headed toward the house, which had been vacated for their wedding night.

  “I can walk now, you know.”

  “Yeah, but I kind of like sweeping you off your feet.”

  She smiled as love filled every part of her. “I like it, too.”

  So she let him carry her toward the rest of their lives.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to look for more BLUE FALLS, TEXAS, stories from Trish Milburn in 2016!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A RANCHER OF HER OWN by Barbara White Daille

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  A Rancher of Her Own

  by Barbara White Daille

  Prologue

  “About time we had a wedding around here, Paz.” Jedediah Garland, proprietor of the Hitching Post Hotel on Garland Ranch, sat back in his chair in the establishment’s large kitchen and smiled.

  The hotel cook and Jed’s longtime friend stood beside a counter with a slew of baking utensils spread out in front of her. “Do you think the banquet hall will be ready in time?”

  “If the bride has her say about it, it will.” That bride was the granddaughter he and Paz had in common, who was set to get married in the hall before the month ended. She was also in charge of the renovations going on all around the hotel.

  He sipped from his coffee mug and thumbed through a selection of before-and-during photos of the reception hall. His wife had always been in charge of the weddings held at the Hitching Post, a part of the business he’d let slide for far too long. “My Mary must be looking down and smiling at us all.”

  Paz turned from her work to smile at him, too. “I’m sure she is. It will be nice to have a big wedding to prepare for again. We have you to thank for that, Jed.”

  “Well...” He shrugged, but there was no point in being modest around Paz. She had known what he’d done, every step of the way, to get their granddaughter and the cowboy she loved together. “I did have a hand in things, didn’t I? And it wasn’t easy. But you know, when the big day comes, I doubt we’ll be needing a shotgun to get them down the aisle.”

  She laughed. “I would say you’re right about that.”

  He reached for his coffee mug again.

  At seventy-something and still going strong, he had a lot of living ahead of him and some dreams yet to be fulfilled. Seeing his business built up again was only one of those dreams. The other, he’d shared with no one but Paz.

  He wanted family around him, which meant he intended to see all three of his granddaughters married and giving him additional great-grandkids as soon as possible.

  Thankfully, he’d had smarts and luck enough to get the first bride-and groom-to-be to come to their senses. Eventually.

  For the next couple, he would need to bring out the big guns.

  Chapter One

  Two weeks later

  Some days started off right, then took a wrong turn. The minute Pete Brannigan walked into his ranch-house kitchen, he discovered this would be one of those days.

  “Daddy!” his five-year-old daughter, Rachel, exclaimed. “Can Mama come to my graduation?”

  His nanny and housekeeper, Sharon D’Angelo, turned from inspecting the contents of the refrigerator. The brief glance he exchanged with her held an entire conversation. They both knew the question wasn’t could his ex-wife fly home for this milestone in her daughter’s life, but would she?

  “Good morning to you, sweetheart.” He ruffled Rachel’s wavy blond hair—so like her mama’s—and reached over to the high chair to chuck his two-year-old son, Eric, under the chin. “And you, too, little man.”

  Eric gurgled something and handed him a soggy piece of cereal.

  “Do you think Mama will come to see my graduation, Daddy?” Rachel asked.

  He took his seat at the kitchen table beside her and said carefully, “I’m sure if she’s not working the day you graduate, she’ll be here.” Not an outright fib. He would never lie to his kids or to anyone. Anyway, who knew what his ex-wife would do. Marina might take time from her jet-setting, fashion-model career to think of the kids she’d left behind. Although, as history had already shown, it didn’t seem likely.

  “Miss Loring said we get our invitations today. I’m inviting you and Mama and Eric and Sharon.” She counted off on her fingers. “And Tina and Robbie and Paz.” Tina was one of his boss’s granddaughters. Robbie and Paz were Tina’s son and grandmother. “And Bingo, too.”

  Smiling, he shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll let ponies into the school auditorium.”

  “Why?”

  “They won’t fit in the chairs.”

  “Oh. Well, I’ll show Bingo the pictures later.”

  When Sharon held up the coffeepot, he nodded his thanks. He had long ago had a solitary breakfast here in the kitchen while she and his children still slept. As manager of Garland Ranch, he started work at an early hour, but as often as he could, he made it his business to get back to the house to see his daughter before she left for school.

  “What about Grandpa Jed?” he asked Rachel.

  “Of course Grandpa Jed,” she said, rolling her eyes as if Jed Garland’s presence at her graduation was a given. And it would be. “He wants to come, too, right?”

  “Sweetheart, he wouldn’t miss it.”

  Jed had always treated Rachel and Eric as if they were his own grandkids. Heck, from the time Pete had come to work as a wrangler here on the ranch, fresh out of high school, the old man had treated him like one of the family.

  A couple of years ago, when Marina had taken off to seek fame and fortune, she’d left him to raise a three-year-old and a newborn alone. Jed had promptly promoted him into the vacant ranch manager’s position, which included the manager’s quarters, and increased his salary enough that he could comfortably pay for a live-in nanny to help take care of his kids.

  “I have to save one for Grandpa Mark, too,” she said.

  Jed had always treated him better than his own father ever had. Now, though the man remembered the kids at birthdays and Christmas, his busy schedule kept him from visiting frequently. Rachel was aware of this, which was probably why she had given Jed top billing.

  “And can I invite Jane and Andi to come, too?” A couple more of Jed’s granddaughters. “And Missy and Trey?” Andi’s two kids.

  “I think they might all have gone home by the day of your graduation,” he said.

  She gasped. “They’re coming for the wedding, right?”

  “Definitely.”

  Jed’s youngest granddaughter, Tina, was getting married later in the month. As flower girl, Rachel was even more wrapped up in the wedding than she was in her own special event. Along with her new fascination with floor-length dresses and three-tiered cakes, it looked as though she’d embraced the idea of extensive guest lists.

  “Well,” she said, “then they have to come to my graduation, too.”

  Better to try to let her down easy, something he’d had plenty of practice doing, thanks to Marina. “There are other kids in your class, you know, and they have friends and family to invite. I’m not sure your teacher plans to give you that many invitations.”

  “I’ll tell Miss Loring she has to. I can’t leave anybody out. Like Tina and the wedding.”

  “Well, we’ll see.” Personally, he’d just as soon have Tina and her fiancé, Cole, one of his wranglers, leave his name off their list. Pointless to hope for that, though, when they had already roped him into becoming a member of the wedding party.

  After a look at the kitchen clock, he leaned over to kiss Rachel’s forehead. “I’ll see you after school. It’s time for you to go and brush your teeth.”

  “And get my backpack. To bring all my invitations home.” She slid from her seat.

  As she left the room, he and his housekeeper exchanged another glance. “The bossiness hasn’t let up any, has it?” he asked.

&nbs
p; The older woman smiled, adding a few more wrinkles to her lined face. “As I keep saying, she’ll outgrow it.”

  “Yeah? Before or after one of the bigger kids at school thumps her on the nose for pushing him around?”

  “She could probably talk herself out of a fight with anybody in that kindergarten class.”

  “It’s the middle-schoolers I’m worried about.”

  Sharon laughed. “She’d handle them, too.” She hesitated. “I’m not condoning her bossiness, Pete. I’ve tried talking with the child, and she can almost talk rings around me. It’s given me a whole new crop of gray hair.”

  He didn’t know what he’d do without Sharon, a widow who had become his nanny and housekeeper shortly after he and the kids had moved into the house. She had given up her small apartment in Cowboy Creek and relocated to the ranch full-time. She was a grandmother herself, with several grandkids of her own, and her experience had saved him many times over the past couple of years. Now she sounded worried, as if her job depended on teaching his daughter social skills.

  “Hey, that’s not what I hired you for. And trust me, I’ve tried to talk with her, too. To get her to see she’ll win more friends with honey than harassment. But you’re right—she’ll outgrow it. Sooner than later, I hope.”

  It was his turn to hesitate. Before too long, he needed to have another discussion with Rachel, and it would have to cover more than her social skills. He kept his gaze on Eric, who sat playing with the dry cereal on his high-chair tray. “I can’t do anything about Jed’s family staying around for the graduation.”

  “You can’t do anything about Marina, either,” Sharon said softly.

  He sighed. “I know. But dammit, Sharon, she’s disappointed the kids too many times already.” And each time, he’d felt like punching something—not the best example to set for his talks with Rachel about her conduct. With every one of Marina’s cancellations, he was forced to break the news to his daughter, and he couldn’t deal with seeing her turn so quiet, so withdrawn, for days afterward.