Whatever she did, Jack deserved to grow up rooted in the legacy of this place—this Everett land—the way Ty had.
“You keep saying that,” Ty said when she ranted something like that in his ear as they danced. “But those aren’t really happy memories.”
“There’s no better magic trick than that,” she said softly. “To take the bad memories of your own childhood and turn them into the best memories of your son’s.”
She tipped her face back and looked at him. “Isn’t that the point of this whole life thing?”
Ty kissed her. A soft, public sort of kiss, laced with promise, that made them both smile.
“I promise you, Hannah Everett, that we are going to do whatever we can to make sure that when it comes down to it, there are always going to be more good memories than bad ones,” he said. “I’m not going to give up on you again.”
“There’s no more giving up allowed,” she whispered.
Luanne’s response to all this had been a surprise. Hannah had called her the day after Ty’s big victory at the rodeo, because she didn’t have it in her to be estranged from her mother, no matter how mad or hurt she was. That wasn’t who she was.
Still, she’d braced herself as she called, expecting the usual dose of her mother’s patented acidity.
But to her surprise, Luanne had sounded … chastened.
Your Aunt Bit lost her temper with me after you left, Luanne had said.
Had she announced that dinosaurs had appeared on the streets of Sweet Myrtle, Hannah could not have been more shocked. She couldn’t even quite imagine what it would look like if Aunt Bit lost her temper.
Hannah, her mother had said. Baby girl. All I ever want is for you to be happy. I hope you believe that.
Hannah had believed her.
She wasn’t sure that her husband was entirely pleased that Luanne’s next move had been to decide that she needed to relocate to Cold River because she’d gotten used to spending time with her grandson and was inclined to keep doing so. And more than that, because Hannah had been right. She didn’t need to live her life at the citizens of Sweet Myrtle any longer. She didn’t need to marinate one moment more in all that spite.
You mean she’s going to live in town, Ty had said, sounding only faintly alarmed when Hannah told him the good news. Not out on the ranch.
She’d chosen her moment carefully, crawling over him on the couch in their tiny bunkhouse once Jack had gone down in the other room. She settled herself astride him, making him groan as his arms wrapped around her.
In town, Hannah had said, arching into him. Definitely in town.
Ty’s hands moved into her hair, and he rolled himself against her, those dark green eyes of his glittering with need and love and forever.
Because I’m more than happy to take a few acres over by the river and build us a house. And I love you, Hannah. Madly. But if your mother thinks she’s moving in with us, I’m prepared to live right here in this cabin for the rest of our natural lives.
She’d laughed down at him, looping her arms around his neck and sighing as he slid a hand up beneath her tank top. Then all the way down, to cup her bottom.
Mama and Aunt Bit are a package deal, she told him. They’ll find themselves a place to stay in town. Just think of all the extra babysitting. All the things we can do while my mother is there, watching the baby.
Let’s practice, Ty had suggested, reaching between them to find her slick, hot, and ready. Always ready.
And now, they danced.
Around and around, while their friends and neighbors—and neighbors that Hannah hoped would turn into friends, like Abby’s marvelous grandmother, and Hope and Rae—were arrayed around them, celebrating. Gray and Abby were dancing after a fashion, laughing about dancing this baby out. The Kittredge family took up several tables on their own, and over Ty’s shoulder, Hannah could see Amanda, looking beautiful and not at all twelve years old, in an animated conversation with Brady.
She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she had used her seamstress skills shamelessly in an attempt to win Becca over again. The result was the gown she wore tonight, which had made Gray wince. A win, obviously. Becca looked sophisticated and beautiful, every father’s worst nightmare.
She had even started smiling at Hannah again. Cautiously. But at least it wasn’t that fake smile of hers.
She’ll come around, Ty told her. You don’t understand what a triumph it is that she’s acting like a teenager in the first place. Before Abby came around, she was like a robot. I know it might not feel like it to you, but this is better.
The truth was, Hannah had been much more worried about getting herself back into Abby’s good graces.
Though as it turned out, she didn’t need to worry.
I understand, Abby had said when Hannah and Ty returned, and Hannah had come to her to apologize for … well, everything. Abby had rested her hands over her belly and smiled. This baby isn’t even born yet, and I would do absolutely anything to protect it. I don’t blame you for doing what you thought you had to do, I promise.
As surprising as that had been to Hannah, that appeared to be the end of it.
Brady had given her sharp nod at the next family dinner. Gray never acknowledged that there had ever been a situation to begin with.
And that was that.
That was family.
Ty dropped a kiss on her forehead now, and Hannah cuddled closer to him. She liked this land beneath her feet. This man’s arms around her. Their baby nearby, being cared for by people she trusted. And nothing but their life ahead of them.
“I love that this time around, we can see the stars,” she said in his ear. “I missed that in Vegas.”
“Colorado, baby,” Ty said, and the grin he gave her was all hers. “We’ve got sunlight in winter, all summer long, and all the starshine a body could take. Just stick with me.”
Later that night, Ty laid her out on their bed and came inside her hard and sure, making them both groan with the sharp, sweet pleasure of it.
Jack was staying with his grandmother, which meant that they could take their time. There was no rush after this second wedding. They had no secrets to keep.
There was only this. Only them. Making memories instead of chasing lost ones.
Making promises instead of breaking them.
As they drifted off to sleep, they were tangled all around each other the way they always had been, no matter what they could or couldn’t remember.
Their bodies always knew. Their hearts always knew.
Hannah put her hand over Ty’s heart, and fell asleep like that, the way she intended to do all the days of her life.
After all, rodeo queens always got what they wanted.
One way or another.
* * *
Four thirty came the way it always did on the ranch, harsh and mean and what is your life.
But Ty couldn’t be that upset about it today. Because his wife, properly recommitted and all, was curled up next to him. Sweet and warm, and this morning, he didn’t mind if he made himself late. Because how was a man supposed to resist her when she was so sweet and flushed and adorable and all his?
Ty greeted the day the way a man should, and left her smiling and shaking in their bed.
He expected his brothers to ride him when he finally turned up in the barn. And they obliged him by rising to the occasion.
“You sure you got your memory back?” Gray asked, looking particularly stern. Until Ty looked closer and saw that gleam in his dark eyes. “Because that alarm was supposed to go off at 4:30, in case you forgot. Not 4:45, or whatever time you call this.”
“It must be broken,” Ty offered. He grinned. “I’ll be sure to check it.”
“You do that,” Gray said, and rolled his eyes.
“He already did the checking,” Brady chimed in as he walked by. “If that grin on his face is any indication.”
“Keep your mind out of the gutter, Denver,” Ty advised him.
&nb
sp; After the morning rounds, as they were all headed back to the ranch kitchen to get another dose of coffee, and some breakfast, Ty paused.
The sun was dancing over the top of the mountains. He felt lighter than he ever had.
“I know we’re not a family who really talks,” he said. Squabble, sure. But actually talk? Not so much.
“No need to start, I hope,” Gray said. But he stopped walking.
“I want to thank you,” Ty said, sounding stiff because he felt all this. He felt everything. It was a gift and it was a curse, and he understood why weak men went to great lengths to numb themselves rather than face all that.
He’d been weak himself. For longer than he cared to contemplate.
But Ty had ridden bulls for most of his adult life. He’d been strong too. What were feelings but one more challenge—and this time, without the broken bones to go with it?
He looked at Brady, then Gray. They’d been raised by the weakest man he’d ever known. But they’d all come out of it strong, in their own ways.
“I didn’t know how to be a father, and I still don’t, but you’re a good example,” he said to Gray. “Thank you.”
“The secret is, no one knows how to be a father,” Gray said gruffly. “My general rule of thumb is: ‘Don’t be Dad.’ It’s served me well so far.”
“‘Don’t be Dad’ is pretty much my guiding principle in life,” Ty replied.
“Amen,” Brady agreed. “I’ll make some T-shirts.”
Ty looked at him next. “And thank you, Brady, for being a good brother. I’m not one myself, so I’m not sure I recognized it, but I do now.”
Brady straightened. “Whatever our disagreements”—and he slid a look at Gray—“we’re all we’ve got.”
They weren’t huggers, thank God. And they didn’t shake hands, because that would be weird. They hadn’t made any new agreement. This was overdue thanks, that was all. A spot of gratitude on a late summer morning. But they were all smiling, even Gray, as they started toward the ranch house again.
Brady went inside and cut toward his room. Gray followed, going straight to his wife. And Ty stayed where he was, looking through the window. Abby was sitting down while his Hannah moved around the kitchen, laying out plates while Jack played at her feet in his dangerous saucer.
Ty remembered what it had been like to look in on all that love and laughter and feel nothing inside him but the cold.
Now he had everything. He had his brothers. He had his wife and his son.
And the land that had waited him out.
That land was behind him and all around him, and he understood it now. Roots were what he made them. They couldn’t choke him unless he let them. They could be gnarled and treacherous, or they could hold up huge trees to shelter the earth for years to come. It all depended on him.
Ty knew what he would choose. Hannah had showed him. Together, they would show Jack.
But right now, he took a deep breath as the sun came up, and he could smell the first hint of fall in the air as the new day dawned. He forgave himself for the darkness inside him, at last, because it had led him here. To love. To joy.
To a beautiful second chance at this rich, sweet life.
Ty had no intention of wasting a moment of it.
“Goodbye, Dad,” he said to everything and nothing. The mountains and the sky. “You missed all the good stuff when you were here. You don’t get to take any of it now you’re gone.”
Finally, Ty let the ghost of Amos go.
Then he walked through the back door of the ranch house, kissed his pretty wife, and picked up his perfect little boy, and together they headed straight on into all the gleaming bright tomorrows they could handle.
Hand in hand.
Want more cowboy romance?
Don’t miss this other novel by USA Today bestselling author
Caitlin Crews
A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS
From St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Also by
Caitlin Crews
A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS
Praise for Caitlin Crews
“Full of emotion, humor, and small-town charm. Caitlin Crews delivers everything I want in a cowboy!”
—Maisey Yates, New York Times bestselling author of Claim Me, Cowboy
“Caitlin Crews writes cowboys you’ll swoon over, heroines you’ll root for, and families that will grip your heart.”
—Nicole Helm, author of Cowboy SEAL Redemption
“Crews hits the mark by concentrating on personal development and internal struggles, minimizing outside drama. The story flows smoothly, is loaded with charming characters, and is full of wit. These mature, thoughtful, caring protagonists will win the heart of any romance fan.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Readers willing to brave the emotional turmoil like a frigid winter day will be rewarded at the very end with Christmas warmth and love.”
—Booklist
“Get yourself a cowboy for Christmas this year!”
—Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
USA Today bestselling, RITA-nominated, and critically acclaimed author Caitlin Crews has written more than ninety-five books—and counting. She’s won fans with her Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Dare, and contemporary cowboy books as well as the romance, women’s fiction, chick lit, and work-for-hire young adult novels she writes as Megan Crane. She loves contemporary romance in all its forms, from cowboys to military heroes and beyond—including her take on futuristic Vikings, outlaw bikers, and fairy-tale princes. She has a Master’s and Ph.D. in English Literature, has taught creative writing classes in places like UCLA Extension’s prestigious Writers’ Program, and is always available to give workshops (or her opinion). She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her comic book artist husband, though, at any given time, she is likely to either be huddled in a coffee shop somewhere or off traveling the world. Preferably both. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Also by Caitlin Crews
Praise for Caitlin Crews
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Paperbacks, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
COLD HEART, WARM COWBOY
Copyright © 2019 by Caitlin Crews.
All rights reserved.
For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
eISBN: 9781250295262
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext.
5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2019
Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy Page 29
