by Jillian Neal
Chuckling, he eased her wild mane of hair behind her back and reveled in the pool of warm contentment they were cuddling in. “I’d heard something about that,” he teased.
She sat up and rubbed her hands over her face. She was wearing nothing but a thin pair of panties and a sated expression. Jack swore he somehow managed to find something new to love about her each and every day.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“About today? Yes. About tomorrow? Definitely not.” He forced himself to sit up as well. The coffee maker was all the way in the kitchen and that was going to be necessary for their day. Getting up was inevitable as much as he’d love to spend the day in bed with her.
Meridian gave him a sympathetic expression. “I can only imagine what Beverly Denton will have to say about Holder Ranch. It’s going to be like that old show Green Acres only a million times worse.”
“I wish I didn’t regret inviting them,” Jack admitted for the first time.
“No—” Meridian shook her head”—don’t regret it. I know the relationship is rocky at best, but we want all of the Bastards to come. It’s going to be fine. I promise.”
* * *
Despite her reassurances, three hours later, Jack paced nervously back and forth near the elevator at the airport as they awaited the Bastards arrival. His parents were coming on the private jet a little later that afternoon.
When he’d left Kentucky to set out for a new life in Oklahoma, he’d been certain that the two entirely different worlds that he’d lived in, his past and his present, could never meet. That they couldn’t exist together. He’d been wrong, and it was all because of the gorgeous redhead standing on her tiptoes trying to see up the elevator so she could welcome his past to their present.
Jack stopped pacing and joined her. “I love you,” he whispered.
She beamed at him. “I love you, too.”
“Thank you for loving them, too.” He gestured to the top of the elevator as Finn and Sloan came into sight.
Meridian laced their fingers together and laid her head on his shoulder as they waited on their guests to descend. “I’m still trying to love your mama and your daddy, but I’m struggling,” she confessed.
Jack nodded. “Me too.”
Finn hopped over the elevator railing near the bottom to land right at Jack’s feet. “I’m here. Let’s get you two married.”
Shaking his head, Jack hugged his brother. “Welcome to Oklahoma.”
Finn glanced around the airport. “I feel lied to. I was told that there was nothing but cattle. I haven’t seen any cows yet.”
“Oh, just wait,” Meridian assured him. “I can show you cows for days.”
Finn gave her the signature Denton smirk. “Lead the way, Ms. Holder.”
Jack hung back and waited on Sloan, Lila, and Drew. “I guess you decided not to bring Sophie,” he broached hesitantly to Sloan.
He shook his head. “I’m ready to say fuck it and tell everyone. She’s…not.”
Visible tension was locked in Sloan’s shoulders. Jack offered him a consoling grin. “It took me and Meridian four years to even admit we had the hots for each other. Give it time. She’ll come around.”
“Yeah, I know. I just don’t like doing things without her.”
Jack hated it for Sloan that Sophie was hesitant, but he certainly couldn’t blame her. As they made their way to baggage claim, Drew and Lila caught Jack up on life in Louisville.
They stopped by the tux shop on the way back from Tulsa. All of the Bastards, including Lila, were going to be Jack’s grooms-people, so she wanted a tux instead of the dresses Meridian had chosen for her bridesmaids.
The dreaded hour of Jack’s parents’ arrival loomed ever on the horizon, but he tried to enjoy the comradery he always felt when he was with the Bastards and in their ultimate acceptance of his life in Oklahoma.
An hour after they’d gotten the Bastards settled in at the ranch, Jack and Meridian drove back to the airstrip to pick up his parents and Beckett, who’d also been invited to the wedding.
Meridian wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think Sloan and your brothers quite knew what to do when they found out they were going to have to stay in one of the bunkhouses.”
Jack squeezed her leg reassuringly as he slowed his truck again in no real hurry to arrive at the airstrip. “It’ll be good for them.”
“I hope so.”
She’d been gnawing on her bottom lip all afternoon. He knew she was nervous, and he hated that his parents were the cause. “I know it’s difficult, and I know that because I still haven’t mastered it, but try not to care what they think. They’re miserable, and their misery makes them unable to be happy for anyone else.”
She managed a quick nod. “I guess it’s nice they decided to come even though we told them that we weren’t doing this without Drew and Finn here.”
“I think they’re mostly relieved that we’re having it here instead of in their world.”
Despite his best efforts to slow their progression, they did arrive at the airstrip to find his parents, Greer, and Beckett waiting.
“It’s like I’ve always said, punctuality was never your strong suit, Jackson,” Beverly sneered.
“Be nice, Mom,” Greer ground through his teeth.
“Hi, Mom.” Jack ignored her. That was better than letting her get to him. He no longer felt the need to openly defy her. He’d finally earned the life he’d always wanted. He had Meridian. He didn’t have to prove anything else, and that peace wasn’t something he would ever trade just to go toe-to-toe with Beverly. The contentment he’d been seeking was standing right beside him in Wranglers and a cowgirl hat, trying to decide if she was going to respond to his mother’s asinine comment.
“It’s not worth it,” Jack whispered in her ear.
“I know,” Meridian agreed.
* * *
That evening the Holders hosted a massive potluck picnic on the ranch for most of the county as the rehearsal dinner. It was almost comical to watch his Kentucky relatives try to make sense of the lack of waitstaff and them trying to navigate eating outdoors on paper plates.
While Gentry and Meridian’s three uncles, Barrett, Wyn, and Landon all manned four massive grills, since Holder Ranch was supplying the meat, Leigh Holder noticed that Beverly and Palmer had seated themselves at one of the folding tables but hadn’t acquired any of the side dishes the guests had all provided.
“You all go get your plates,” she encouraged.
Jack bit his lips together. He almost felt sorry for his parents’ complete lack of understanding. He decided to step in and help. “Get a plate and one of the napkin rolls of silverware at the beginning of the line. Then you walk down the long tables and pick out whatever you’d like to eat, then stop at the grills for steak or a burger.”
“This is a rehearsal dinner, Jackson,” his mother gasped.
“Yes, and this is precisely how Meridian and I wanted it. Spending a ridiculous amount of money on a pre-wedding party isn’t how we’re doing this. I’m sorry. I know that’s not something you’re accustomed to.”
His mother’s lips drew to a pinched fury, but at least she kept them shut as they made their way over to the line. Eventually Jack and Meridian were seated at the table with his parents, Finn, Barrett and Sara Holder, and Meridian’s parents. The tension was thicker than Sarah Beth McGillicuddy’s seven-layer chili cornbread salad.
Ever the gracious hostess, Leigh Holder plastered on a kind smile. “It’s so nice to finally meet some of Jack’s family. We’re all so pleased you could make it.” She directed this to Finn and the Dentons.
Palmer wiped his mouth and the made a quick scowl at the paper napkin. “Yes, well I suppose…we’re…happy to have been invited.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of you being invited, I think you still owe the Holders an apology for what happened last fall when you decided to try to buy the ranch.”
Barrett and Gentry both set down their f
orks. Palmer eyed both of his sons with outright disdain. “I’m sure you understand,” he cleared his throat uncomfortably, “it was just business.”
Barrett shook his head. “Seems to me it was a way to try to cover up a mess of lies you didn’t want your son and my niece to find out about, so try again.”
Jack and Finn shared a conspiratorial grin. This was too good. No one had ever forced an apology out of Palmer Denton.
“Yes, well,” Palmer bristled, “I understand that no one believes me when I say this but everything I do, I do with the intention of protecting my sons.”
Finn choked on a piece of brisket. Jack slapped him on the back and handed him a cup of water. When Finn finally cleared his throat, he stared at his father like he’d just announced his intentions to give up the whiskey business. “How do you figure that buying these people’s ranch is a way to protect us?” he finally demanded.
“I’d love to know that as well,” Jack challenged.
Palmer shook his head as if the obvious answer was sitting in front of them on the table and they’d somehow missed it. “I want to make certain that you’re taken care of when I’m gone.”
Barrett leapt before Jack could. “You ever think maybe all of your boys would appreciate you trying to take care of them while you’re here instead of worrying about them having enough money after your gone?”
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Leigh tried to smooth things over again. “Finn, now, I know you and Jack are close, so you are welcome out here anytime. We’d love to have you.”
Grinning at that, Finn squeezed Leigh’s hand from across the table. “Thank you, Mrs. Holder. I stay pretty busy with work, but I should get out here more often just to harass to Jack.”
They eventually made their way through the awkward dinner and the fireworks spectacle that all of Meridian’s brothers and most of her cousins put on to celebrate.
Red and white glimmers of light sparkled in Meridian’s eyes as they watched the show. Overcome with how magical he knew she was and filled with relief that after tomorrow they could get on with the marriage portion of their life together, Jack brushed his lips across hers.
She grinned against his lips and then deepened the kiss.
“Save that for tomorrow, you two,” Gentry teased them. “She’s still my little girl for one more night.”
Meridian lifted her head and grinned at her father. “I’ll always be your little girl, Daddy.”
“I sure do like the sound of that.” He winked at her. “But you two still leave room for Jesus between ya at least until I go to bed.”
Jack couldn’t help but laugh. He loved her. He loved her family, and he was thrilled to become a part of it. He hoped that his father had really heard Barrett’s question about taking care of his sons and really took it to heart, but Jack no longer felt that he was responsible for saving his family. He would do what was right and the rest was up to them.
* * *
The next afternoon with the sun high in the sky and the low sounds of mooing cattle in the background, Jack stood beside his brothers and his cousins and beamed as Meridian appeared on horseback to make her way down the aisle.
When her horse, being led by her father, got to Jack, he held out his hands and let her slide off the saddle and into his arms. Then they turned and united their worlds, and their families, and their lives, forever.
About the Author
Bestselling author Jillian Neal likes her coffee strong and sweet with a shot of sinful spice, the same way she likes her cowboys. In fact, her caffeine addiction is quite possibly considered illicit in several states as are a few of the things her characters do. When she’s not writing or reading, you’ll find her in the kitchen trying out new recipes or coming up with excuses reasons to purchase yet another handbag or make an additional trip to Sephora. Though she’ll always be a Bama girl at heart, Jillian hangs up her hat and kicks up her boots outside of Atlanta with her hunk-of-a-husband and her teenage sons.
For more information…
jillianneal.com
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Also by Jillian Neal
Holder County
Oklahoma Sky
Standing Outside the Fire
Broken H.A.L.O
H.A.L.O. Undone
H.A.L.O. Redeemed
Fractured H.A.L.O.
Camden Ranch
Rodeo Summer
Forever Wild
Cowgirl Education
Un-hitched
Last Call
Wayward Son
Boho Beach to Camden Ranch
Boho Cowgirl
Coincidental Cowgirl
