Beckett Brothers: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  “You didn’t have to,” Hoyt corrected. “It’s written all over your sad, sappy face.”

  Bran glowered at his friend but didn’t respond.

  “Don’t ask her to stay. Tell her how you feel. Quit assuming you have so much influence that my little sister will fall all over herself to do what you say. Ava’s going to live where she wants, work where she wants, and love who she wants. You can’t change that. But you can be honest with her about what you want and let her make her own decisions like a grown-up.”

  Bran just stared in shock as Hoyt stood, gave him the signature Hoyt grin, and then reached in his jacket pocket.

  “Here’s the check. Now go start your breeding program, and give me quarterly reports. I want a profit within the first four quarters, so you have a lot of work to do.”

  He took a step toward the door, then turned back to the table. “And you can pick up the bill for dinner. You near to broke my sister’s heart. Do it again, and I’ll make sure the cattle are the only ones breeding on your ranch.”

  Then Hoyt was out the door, and Bran was left with the remains of a two-hundred-dollar dinner and a heart that couldn’t stop hearing “tell her how you feel.”

  17

  Ava couldn’t believe Bran was being so petty. He had refused to put her final check in the mail, so she was having to trek out to the ranch just to get the piece of paper. If she didn’t need money so badly for her Dallas fund, she would have told him to keep it and put it someplace the Texas sun didn’t shine.

  She slammed the car door and stomped toward the office attached to the barn.

  “Howdy, Ava,” a voice called from farther down the driveway.

  She put her hand above her eyes to shield them from the midday sun. “Carlos?” she asked as the figure came closer.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Well, I’ve been working here for the last six or seven years,” he joked.

  “Oh! I…uh…never mind.” She smiled politely. “It’s good to see you! How’s everything?” She wasn’t sure what to expect for an answer, and for once, her people radar seemed to be jammed.

  He grinned with satisfaction. “Couldn’t be better. You here to see the boss?”

  She nodded. “Picking up my last paycheck.”

  The cowhand nodded. “He’s right inside the office. Make sure to tell the little dude we miss him at suppertime,” Carlos added before he wandered back the way he’d come from, whistling a country tune as he went.

  Ava stared after him, dazed by confusion, but she finally shrugged and took a deep breath before opening the door to the office.

  Bran sat at his desk, concentrating on the monitor in front of him. He didn’t seem to have heard her, so she stopped for a brief moment and took him in. His broad shoulders were covered only by an old t-shirt, his head was hatless, and his jaw had a touch of scruff. Those beautiful blue eyes she had adored gazing into looked tired as he scanned the computer screen. She gave herself a small shake, remembering he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in anything between the two of them—except for making her come crawling to get her paycheck.

  “Hi,” she said softly, hesitating in the doorway.

  His gaze jerked up and instantly softened. “Hey,” he said, standing and smiling. “Come on in.” He gestured at the chairs in front of his desk. “You have time to sit for a minute?”

  She sighed to herself but went and sat down in one of the leather armchairs.

  Bran looked almost nervous as he pulled a check out of the top drawer of his desk.

  “This is for you, but I’m hoping that you’ll give me just a few minutes…I know I don’t deserve it…”

  “It’s okay, Bran, you don’t have to feel guilty. It took two of us to make the mess, and there’s no reason for hard feelings. I’ll be heading back to Dallas as soon as I’m able.” She stopped abruptly, because try as she might to sound like she didn’t care, it hurt. Deep in her chest, it hurt.

  Bran looked out the window for a moment, his face betraying nothing, his posture tense. Then he turned his gaze on her, and it was filled with a heat she’d never seen from him before.

  “But here’s the thing, A. There are feelings. Feelings I should have been more aware of and should have shared with you.”

  He stopped, his hands clenching and unclenching on the surface of the desk. Then, before she could blink, he stood and strode around the big barrier, landing on a knee in front of her. While she was still trying to figure out what was going on, he took her hand gently in his and looked her in the eyes.

  “Ava, I was wrong. Wrong when I told you we shouldn’t be with one another, wrong when I wouldn’t listen to what you were pointing out about my business. I was wrong when I sent you away. And I’m sorry, but more than that, I was wrong to think I could have something temporary with you, that I could simply let you go as if it was all for fun.”

  Ava blinked at him, tears burning at the back of her eyes.

  He bowed his head over her hand for a moment before looking back at her. “You are…the single best thing that’s walked into my life in years, and I want you to be happy. I want you to be successful, and fulfilled, and to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of in life. But if there’s any chance, any way at all you think that could happen here, with me, I’d be the happiest man on the planet. Because dammit, A, I think I’m in love with you.”

  Ava’s heart skipped at least one beat, maybe more like three, and she gasped, trying to get it to start back up. Then a tear slid down her cheek, and she felt Bran’s fingers gently brushing it aside.

  In Ava’s head, she heard Nathan’s voice, a conversation they’d had one night not long after Cam was born. They’d been standing, looking down at their tiny new infant, hearts filled with wonder. “If anything ever happens to me, baby,” he’d said, “you go find someone who makes you happy. Don’t waste time worrying about me. I’m leaving you with a part of me that can never die. You just look at him, and you’ll always know I’m right there with you.”

  “So, last week, before we had our fight,” Ava began slowly. “I had this idea.”

  Bran nodded encouragement, listening written all over his face, even though she hadn’t answered his declaration of love.

  “I want to do more than just an article, I want to try to write a whole book about modern Western life. I want to do interviews, narrative, photographs. I don’t think I want to work for newspapers anymore. I think I want to try for something bigger.”

  “That’s fantastic,” Bran said, a big smile on his face. “I know you can do it. It’ll be amazing.”

  “Bran? I don’t need to live in Dallas to do that—to write books. And I’ve been watching Cam since we got here…he’s so happy. He loves the animals and the fresh air. He loves my parents and that feeling of security they provide.”

  “He’s a great kid. I’ve missed him this last week.”

  She smiled and adjusted her hand in his, twining their fingers together. “Every night at bath time he plays the piranha game, and you should have seen how hard Hoyt laughed when he heard you’d told Cam about that.”

  She felt her heart skip one more beat as she approached the moment of truth.

  “I love you, Bran. I probably always have, and I think I’d like to stay in Gopher Springs. I think I’d like to try to write my book, and let Cam grow up here. Nathan is gone, and he’d want me to do what’s best for Cam and me. I think it might be best for us to stay here…with you.”

  Bran’s lips were on hers before the words had died away. He kissed her as if his whole life depended on it, and she kissed him back, knowing that hers was going to be brighter and better with him in it. It was heat and electricity, and magic and love, and while there was an ending to some things in her life, Ava knew that this beginning mattered more. Because this… was the start of the rest of forever.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

 
“Mom!” Cam called from the small merry-go-round that spun in the center of the town square. Ava waved to him as he went by, smiling at how carefree and confident he looked. Cam had made it through an entire winter without even a cold, the fresh country air and love of family turning him into a healthy, happy boy, and now he was only four months away from starting kindergarten.

  “Here,” Bran said as he walked up carrying an enormous cinnamon roll and two bottles of water. “He can have half when he’s done.”

  “That thing’s huge,” Ava complained. “If you let him eat half of it, he’ll be bouncing off the walls all night!”

  “Hon, once he sees the pony I got him, he won’t be able to sleep no matter what we feed him.”

  Ava shrugged. “True, might as well go for broke. You never did tell me why you want to give him that pony now? I thought we’d wait until his birthday or Christmas. It’s kind of a big gift for no reason.”

  Bran grinned. “Well, he’s been pretty good about his riding lessons, and about feeding Chief every day.”

  “He has been, but still,” she said quizzically, a hand on her hip. “I didn’t get my own horse until I was at least eight.”

  “See,” Bran said, setting the monster cinnamon roll and waters down on a nearby bench before he dropped to one knee in front of Ava.

  She gasped, and several people walking by slowed, heads turning to see what the oldest Beckett brother was up to now.

  “When a man asks a woman to marry him, he gives her a ring…” He withdrew a small velvet box from his shirt pocket and opened it to reveal a gorgeous diamond solitaire. “And when he asks a boy to become his son, he needs to give him a gift, too.”

  Ava’s heart raced as she looked down at the handsomest man she’d ever seen, the one who’d given her a chance to explore a new way of life, the one who’d taken her son in, no questions asked, providing friendship and guidance as if he’d already been Cam’s father. The man who’d been willing to change his worldview to become a better boss, a better friend, a better brother, and a better lover. This man in front of her was the only man she wanted, the only one she’d ever want, and she knew when she looked into his eyes that she was the luckiest woman on earth.

  “Hey!” Cam came running over from the merry-go-round. “What are you guys doin’?”

  Ava and Bran smiled at one another.

  “I’m asking your mom to marry me,” he said, never taking his gaze from hers.

  “And I’m saying, yes,” Ava finished.

  “Married? Does that mean I can call you Dad?” Cam asked.

  Ava saw Bran’s breath catch before he turned a smile on Cam that was like the entire sky lit up with sunshine.

  “Cowboy, that means I would be honored if you’d call me Dad.”

  Cam threw his arms around Bran’s neck, and Bran stood, hugging the boy as Ava slipped the ring on her finger.

  Then Bran pulled her into the family hug.

  “I love you. I love you both,” he murmured.

  And they loved one another for all the years to come.

  End of Wrangling His Best Friend’s Sister

  Beckett Brothers Book One

  Blurb

  Veterinarian Hunter Beckett just got roped into his nightmare: a bachelor auction to raise funds for a local charity. While he’s a hottie, most in town see him as a curmudgeon, a man who manages to be cranky, even after he’s saved your dog’s life. But when women start bidding on him like crazy—one aggressive hairdresser in particular—Hunter’s in need of a savior and finds it in the form of Kit, his veterinary resident. It’s a mercy purchase, but one that puts him in a bind: Kit wants something in return.

  Kit Cowie’s come all the way out to the boonies because of her love of large animal medicine, and because Hunter needs a new resident—badly. But now that she’s got the job, she finds that Hunter is only holding her back, making her give shots to puppies while he’s off doing what she’d really love: fixing broken bones and saving horses’ lives. Now that she’s rescued him from the auction, Kit hopes she can leverage this to get more access in the office. What she didn’t expect is for Hunter to follow the rules of the bachelor auction—or for their date go so wonderfully right, ending with a sizzling kiss.

  But Hunter is sure that the kiss was a mistake and believes they should keep things professional between them. However, the more time he spends with Kit, the more his emotions beg him to see this relationship to passionate fruition, even though he knows Kit is only here for a rotation until her position at her own family’s vet clinic goes into effect and she’s gone forever.

  As the two get more involved, they face the real possibility that their growing love could lay waste to their reputations or become something far more precious.

  1

  "Annd I have one hundred from the lovely lady in green, do I hear one twenty-five? Thank you, Miss Nadine. I’ve got one twenty-five, one twenty-five for a dinner in Dallas with this fine upstanding young man, do I hear one fifty?"

  Kit Cowie watched as the Dolly Parton look-alike in the first row waved her paddle in the air, bouncing on her generous…seat…as she tried to win Bachelor Number Three at the Seventh Annual Gopher Springs Bachelor Auction—all proceeds going to the town library, of course.

  The auctioneer continued calling until Miriam Arness, the eighteen-year-old bachelor’s grandmother, finally won.

  "I can’t believe Miriam had to pay three hundred dollars just to get Sammy, Jr. to go out to dinner with her! He ought to take his grandmother to dinner for free once a week," Ava Beckett, Kit’s best friend from college, remarked as she sat down and handed Kit a glass of red wine in a plastic cup.

  "I’m pretty sure she did it to keep Nadine from winning him," Kit answered, cringing slightly at the idea. "That woman’s a menace."

  Ava nodded in agreement but glanced around to either side to make sure none of the town gossips had overheard. It seemed as if the entire town was crammed into the main hall of the community center. A portable stage took up a third of the room, while folding chairs, buffet tables loaded with cheap booze and Chex mix, and enthusiastic female bidders filled the remaining space.

  "Oh, look!" Ava exclaimed. "Here comes Hunter."

  Kit tried to ignore the heat that washed over her cheeks as she watched her new boss step up onto the stage. He wore a tight t-shirt that said, Vets Do It with Animals, and a pair of Wranglers so worn she was surprised they didn’t just dissolve when the air hit them. When Kit had been finishing veterinary school and had told Ava she needed a residency supervisor who worked with large animals as well as small, she hadn’t dreamed Ava would suggest her own brother-in-law.

  She certainly hadn’t imagined in her wildest fantasies that Hunter would be the hottest thing since Elvis.

  No, when she’d first contacted Hunter to ask about the possibility of doing a residency with him, all she’d thought was that he was cranky and obstinate. He’d given her the runaround for weeks. Then, ten days ago, he’d called her out of the blue and admitted he hadn’t fulfilled his state board requirement to supervise one resident every five years, and if they were going to make him do it, he might as well do it with her. She’d moved to Gopher Springs the next day, and that was when she’d gotten her first look at her new boss.

  Then she’d wished she could drive right back out of town. At no time had Ava ever mentioned Hunter was hot. Now Kit was stuck with an untouchable, grumpy, but hot boss.

  "Dayum," a woman in the row behind them muttered. "Hunter Beckett needs to take off his doctor jacket more often."

  Ava put a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the snort-laughing that followed on the heels of the woman’s words. Kit gritted her teeth, watching Hunter give the crowd a weak smile. He stood stiffly while the auctioneer introduced him as the town’s veterinarian. If Hunter was anything, he was serious. The idea of standing in front of a roomful of half-drunk horny women was probably going to traumatize him forever.

  But Lord help her, was he the
epitome of what every bachelor auction should be. His sultry brown eyes looked as if he’d just walked out of the bedroom. His mop of dark hair curled slightly where it met the collar of his t-shirt, and what was normally a five o’clock shadow had become a light beard that made Kit want to feel the rough hairs against her own skin.

  "A picnic?" Ava asked when the auctioneer described what a date with Hunter would entail. "That’s kind of cute of him."

  This time it was Kit who snorted. "He’s going to take the winner with him while he does a checkup on Marty Anderson’s sheep flock. Marty has a picnic table out in the pasture, and I heard Hunter trying to bribe the receptionist at the office to make some sandwiches he could take along."

  "Wow," Ava’s husband, Branson said as he joined them, taking the seat on the other side of Ava. "That’s low, even for my brother."

  "I swear, you’d think Hunter was trying to drive the women away," Ava added, shaking her head in disgust.

  "He thinks he doesn’t have time for them." Bran leaned over and kissed Ava’s cheek. "He has no idea what he’s missing."

  Kit tried to ignore the lovebirds and watched as the auctioneer called out, "I’ve got three hundred from Miss Nadine here in front, do I hear three twenty-five? Three twenty-five? And I have three twenty-five from the lady in blue…" He pointed to a middle-aged woman in the far corner of the room.

  "Oh. My. God," Kit whispered to Ava. "Eunice McTeggert is bidding on him."

  "What’s so terrible about that?" Ava asked eagerly.

  Kit hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was violating anyone’s confidentiality. Then she decided the tale was too good not to tell.

  “Eunice has this bulldog. It needs a surgery, and of course, Hunter’s the only vet for fifty miles who can do it.” She paused because every good story needed that moment of anticipation. “However, Eunice claims the dog is afraid of men, and so Hunter needs to dress in drag to do the operation.”