by B. J Daniels
He smiled as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. “I love you so much.”
* * *
THE ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT hit the papers the day before Christmas. Flint was so happy that he wanted everyone to know—maybe especially Celeste. He’d already heard that she was out of jail. So he wasn’t that surprised to find her waiting outside the flower shop as he limped out. His leg was better, but he still had to wear the walking cast.
One look at Celeste, and he could tell that she’d heard about his engagement to Maggie. She looked at the bouquet of daisies and tiny white roses, Maggie’s favorites, and then at him with resignation.
It was the first time he’d seen her since that incident at the sheriff’s office where he’d tried to choke the truth out of her.
“I’m glad you found Maggie,” she said quickly, as if sensing he was in no mood to talk to her. He noticed right away that she wasn’t dressed up like she usually was. But even her idea of dressing down was expensive jeans, a sweater and calf-high leather boots.
“No thanks to you,” he said. “You got out of jail.”
“I got community service.”
No surprise there. Money and a good lawyer usurped the law every time.
“I don’t expect you to believe this, but I’m happy for you.”
“I’d like to believe it, but under the circumstances...” He started to step away, but she grabbed his arm. He looked down at her hand and she quickly removed it. He couldn’t help the anger he still felt toward her. A lot of that anger, admittedly, was at himself for letting her come between him and Maggie.
“I’m sorry.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I won’t be bothering you or Maggie anymore. I’m leaving town. The judge was kind enough to let me do my community service elsewhere.”
“Another spa?”
“No.” She smiled at his sarcasm. “Wayne and I are divorcing. I’m going to California. I have a friend down there. She’s been trying to get me to move for some time now. I need a new start, as well. I won’t be back.”
He hoped everything she was saying was the truth, but he’d learned a long time ago not to believe this woman. For so long she’d been the monster he had to fear. Looking at her now, he saw that she didn’t look scary at all. In fact, she looked a lot like the woman he’d fallen in love with.
For so many years, he’d blamed Celeste for everything. But now he could admit that he’d started to pull away from her in the marriage and that had only made her try to hang on harder. He hadn’t realized how needy she was back then. Wayne had filled that need. For a while.
His next words surprised even him. “I’m sorry about you losing your baby.”
Her eyes widened for a moment. She nodded and dipped her head as if to deny the sharp pain. One tear broke loose. She quickly brushed it away.
“Good luck, Celeste. I hope you find, if not happiness, at least peace.” With that, he walked away and knew he would never look back.
* * *
LILLIE SPLAYED HER hand over her swollen belly and smiled as she felt a kick. Across the room she saw her sister-in-law Mariah doing the same thing. They caught each other’s eye and smiled as Christmas music played.
Darby had insisted on having Christmas as a family at the saloon. “I think everyone will be comfortable there.” Everyone had pitched in to decorate, including Maggie and her mother, Jenna.
Lillie now looked around the beautifully decorated saloon and couldn’t help but smile. They’d done an amazing job—without much of Lillie’s or Mariah’s help with the decorations that required a ladder.
It had driven her crazy, watching from the sidelines. Her brother was right. She couldn’t stand not being in control. But Trask kept telling her that once the baby was born, she would have no control over her life, so she’d better get used to it.
She smiled as her baby gave her a swift kick as if he agreed with Trask.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Mariah asked as she joined her.
Lillie didn’t know if she meant all the gifts under the beautiful tree, that they were both pregnant and happy, or that they were as close as sisters. “Amazing.”
“Maggie and Flint,” Mariah said as if to clarify. “They look so happy together. I’m glad we’re all together for Christmas.”
“You saw her, Maggie, when she was missing, didn’t you?” Lillie asked.
“I suppose I did.” Mariah looked embarrassed. “I don’t want to have...the gift. But if I helped Flint find Maggie...”
Lillie hugged her. “You did.” Past Mariah, she watched Flint nuzzle Maggie’s neck, making her laugh. “I never thought I’d see the day. It’s like a Christmas miracle. Now, for Hawk and Cyrus to find love.”
“What about your other brother?” Mariah asked.
“Tucker?” Lillie shook her head. “We haven’t seen or heard from him since he left right after high school. We don’t even know if he is still alive.”
“That’s awful. Why would he leave like that?”
“We have no idea.”
“Maybe he’ll come back someday.”
“Maybe,” Lillie said, thinking of the oldest of them and how handsome he was. “Maybe.”
“Time to start opening all these presents!” Ely announced from near the Christmas tree.
Lillie felt tears flood her eyes. She loved her family. They were often annoying. Look how often she and Flint had been at odds, especially over their father. But she couldn’t have loved him more than she did at this moment. Flint in love was a beautiful thing to see, she thought as she and Mariah headed for the tree to the sound of Christmas music and the sweet fall scent of hot apple cider.
* * *
FLINT HAD HIS arm around Maggie as they watched Ely open one of the last presents. Lillie and Mariah were busy picking up all the used wrapping paper and throwing it into the stone fireplace.
“How was your Christmas?” her fiancé whispered next to her ear.
She smiled, so full of love and joy that she never wanted the holidays to end. Her mother had joined them and was now visiting with Darby. Flint had loved his first-edition book and she’d loved the rocker he’d given her for their home—and hopefully soon for the nursery.
Maggie looked up to see Anvil Holloway standing just inside the door from the saloon kitchen. He held his hat in his hand and looked embarrassed to be intruding. She quickly stepped to her mother and motioned to the doorway.
Jenna seemed to hesitate, but then got up and walked toward him. Maggie couldn’t help but notice that Anvil was wearing a clean pressed shirt and a pair of new jeans. He looked shy, his face flushed.
Maggie watched the two of them, feeling her heart near bursting. She knew Jenna felt guilty about the way she’d treated her husband. They spoke for a few moments, and then Anvil touched her arm and her mother stood on tiptoe to kiss the man on the cheek. Anvil smiled, even more flushed, put his hat back on his head and seemed to apologize for interrupting the party before he left the way he’d come in.
“Is everything all right?” Maggie asked her as she stepped to her mother.
Jenna nodded, tears in her eyes as she smiled. “He brought me a Christmas present.” Her voice broke. “Forgiveness. He’d like me to come home.”
“Will you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see.”
Maggie hugged her mother, seeing how pleased she was with Anvil’s gift.
* * *
IT WAS COLD and snowy the day Flint took Maggie up the mountain to the site where their home would be built. After looking for a house for months, they’d finally decided they would have to build to get what they wanted.
Flint walked her out to the edge of a rise. Below them, the town of Gilt Edge gleamed. Past it, the mountains rose to surround them.
“Th
ere’s something I want you to see,” he said and reached for her hand.
There’d been a time not all that long ago that she hadn’t really believed it could happen. A time even before she’d been abducted by Clark Terwilliger. She still couldn’t think of him as her father. Back then, she’d believed it was true that she wasn’t good enough for Flint.
His love had changed that.
“Check out that view,” he said, pulling her close. She could hear the pride in his voice. He was as excited about their home as she was. “We could put a bay window right here.”
“It’s breathtaking,” she said, her words coming out on frosty white puffs.
“You’re breathtaking.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “Come on—one more thing I want you to see.” He took her hand and led her around the mountainside. “This is your backyard.”
The land ran to the pines and the creek. Closer was a large old cottonwood with a tire swing hanging from one of its lower limbs. “Oh, Flint, it’s perfect.”
“The crew will start construction in the spring, as soon as the ground is thawed enough to start digging. But in the meantime, there’s something we need to do first.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I NOW PRONOUNCE you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Flint met Maggie’s gaze and felt himself smiling like a fool. He couldn’t remember a day when he’d felt more alive or more deliriously happy.
She smiled back at him and he remembered how that smile had made him fall in love with her even before he’d ever met her.
But now that he knew her, he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her. Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Over the pounding of his heart, he could hear his family and friends cheering.
The pastor introduced them as husband and wife, and they began the walk down the long aisle decorated with daisies and tiny white roses. He caught a whiff of the roses and knew he would never smell them again without thinking of this moment.
He tightened his hold on Maggie’s hand as he looked over at her and saw that she was smiling at him, her brown eyes shining bright. They had a secret that was all their own. Not that they would be able to keep it from his sister. Lillie was already asking how soon they planned to have children.
As they burst outside into the warm spring sunshine, they were surrounded by well-wishers. It felt as if the whole town had turned out.
Across the street, he saw Harp leaning against his patrol SUV. The deputy gave him a thumbs-up. It had been Harp’s idea to stand guard over the wedding so nothing went wrong.
“I’ll make sure no one interrupts your day,” Harp had said.
“Celeste is gone.”
The deputy had nodded. “Just the same. It’s my day off, but I’d be honored to see that your wedding day is perfect.”
Flint had been touched. Maybe it wasn’t too late for some people to change. “Thank you, Harp.”
In a shower of birdseed, he and Maggie ran toward the waiting SUV and jumped in the back. Harp climbed behind the wheel and turned on the sirens as they roared away from the church.
In the back seat, Flint could only shake his head. Harp had changed but he still had trouble with regulations. But the sheriff was willing to let it go this time, he thought as he looked over at his wife. His wife.
He drew Maggie to him and kissed her as they sped away. Their lives were just beginning. Flint couldn’t wait.
* * * * *
SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Can this Cahill’s return put to rest the secrets that have haunted his heart for the past nineteen years?
Read on for a sneak preview of
HERO’S RETURN,
the latest CAHILL RANCH NOVEL
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B.J. Daniels!
Hero’s Return
by B.J. Daniels
CHAPTER ONE
THE OLD FOOTBRIDGE creaked and groaned under her weight as she made her way in the darkness to the center where the water would be the deepest. She could hear the roar of the creek rushing beneath her, but she tried not to think about what she was about to do.
The Montana spring air had a sharp bite to it tonight. She shivered but kept walking, the bundle in her arms cradled protectively against her chest. The creek was much higher than the last time she’d been here and running much faster. She felt another shiver, this one from fear.
She’d forgotten the distance from the bridge to the creek’s surface. The water would be icy cold, stealing her breath away, as if that was the worst of her problems. For a moment, she looked downstream. All she could see was darkness. Large old cottonwood limbs leaned out over the stream, casting even blacker shadows over the inky water.
Tucker Cahill was late. Maybe he wasn’t coming. She wished he wouldn’t, but she knew this cowboy. He’d come. They always did.
Reaching the middle of the bridge, she stopped to wait. The wind was strong here. It swept her long blonde hair into her eyes, but she didn’t dare let go of the bundle in her arms to brush it aside.
Instead, she stood, buffeted by the tempest of her emotions more than the rising gale. She knew that if she wasn’t careful she could lose her balance and be pitched into the water below before it was time. There was no railing on the footbridge. One misstep and she would be over the side, falling for what would seem like forever before she struck the powerful current and was swept away.
She glanced toward the opposite end of the bridge. What if he’d changed his mind about meeting her tonight? He was already suspicious. One clear thought surfaced as she waited. She didn’t want to do this anymore. Couldn’t. It had to stop—and it would tonight.
Sensing Tucker, she glanced toward the shoreline and saw movement. She watched as seventeen-year-old Tucker Cahill made his way along the creek bank. The big handsome cowboy moved in long, determined strides. Of course, he’d come because he didn’t want to let her down. He was already that kind of man. She felt a mixture of shame, anger and disgust. He knew what kind of woman he was meeting tonight. Why had he let it go this far?
A part of her wanted to warn him off, to send him back, to let this one go. But there would be consequences downstream if she did. No, she had to finish this.
When he spotted her in the dim starlight, she saw that he was immediately alarmed to see her teetering so close to the edge of the bridge. He called to her, telling her not to move, as he strode, long-legged along the creek bank and then up onto the footbridge.
“Don’t come any closer,” she warned him as she hugged the bundle closer, and told him how he had ruined her life.
The emotion in her voice made him hesitate, but only for a moment. The bridge swayed as he took a few tentative steps toward her onto the footbridge, his boots echoing on the worn wood.
She balanced on the razor’s edge of the bridge before calling out another warning, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. He thought he could save her from more than the strong current beneath her. He wasn’t the first man to think that.
The wind pushed at her back. The bridge swayed. And yet, she didn’t jump. For a moment, she thought she couldn’t go through with it. She looked down at the bundle in her arms. The tiny nose and mouth, the brown of the eyes shiny in the starlight. But ultimately, she knew she had no choice. There was no turning back now. She was in too deep, they all were.
“Please, don’t move!” the cowboy pleaded and quickened his step as he kept coming.
The footbridge swayed crazily under her feet. Tears stung her eyes as she looked down at the water. She was so tired. She just wanted this over. No matter the cost, it would end tonight.
Tucker was gaining on her fast. If she didn’t move...
She wavered for a moment on t
he precipice until he was almost to her before she jumped. As her head went under in the freezing cold water, only then did she let go of the bundle in her arms and was quickly swept away.
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Copyright © 2017 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781488020063
Cowboy’s Legacy
Copyright © 2017 by Barbara Heinlein
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