“Hey, gorgeous.” The baby gripped his pinkie finger. “You got so big.”
“Looks like she remembers you.”
“Mind if I hold her?”
“Not at all. But tell me one thing first.”
“Shoot.” He downed more beer.
“Those things you said at mediation. Did you mean them?”
“What do you think?”
Gaze shimmering, she shook her head.
“You’d be right. For my delivery style, I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, but no way could I let you pass up that kind of opportunity.”
“You mean living under my in-laws’ thumbs?”
“I mean never worrying about a damned thing other than your child.” He finished off his beer. Until this moment, he hadn’t realized the full extent to which he’d missed her. Lark. He wanted to claim them both as his own. But clearly, she had no desire to be owned.
Wonder if she’d want to be loved?
As soon as the thought popped into his head, like a game of whack-a-mole he hammered it back down.
“What do you worry about, Laredo?”
“Lots of things.” He signaled to the bartender for another beer, exchanging his empty for a full. “My goats and their kids being warm enough over the winter. My roof making it through the winter. My woodpile lasting through the—”
“Besides winter, what keeps you up at night?”
You.
Missing you.
Wanting you.
Loving you.
Lord help him, but he did love her. He didn’t know how or why, but in some crazy twist of fate, they’d wound up together and he’d never wanted to let her go. Until he’d had to. And he’d been miserable every day since.
He blurted, “Ever think about me?”
“Honestly?” She grinned before shifting Lark to her other hip. “I try not to.”
“Ouch. Way to bruise a guy’s ego.”
“You think about me?”
“Every. Single. Day.”
His confession caused her big brown eyes to fill. “I have something to tell you.” She was looking down again. “It’s kind of big—well, not at the moment, but it will be. I don’t want you to feel responsible, but you do need to know. That’s why I’m here. To tell you my news.”
His pounding heart threatened to implode.
Was she finally moving to Arkansas? Engaged? Moving to Arkansas with her new man? The guy with perfect day and night vision. The guy who didn’t live on a ramshackle homestead out in the middle of nowhere but in a white house with a perfect picket fence.
Laredo hated that guy.
He envied that guy.
More than anything, he wanted to be that guy. Downing the rest of his beer, he said, “You and your new man have a great life. I really did enjoy our time together.”
“What are you talking about? And just how many of those have you had?” She nodded toward his bottle.
“Lost count a while back.”
“Well, you might want to sober up, cowboy.”
“Why would I want to be sober when you’re delivering shitty news?” He covered Lark’s ears. “Sorry.”
“Maybe I made the wrong decision in coming. I should have told you via snail mail.”
“Told me what? Spit it out already.”
“Not like this. I wanted, hoped—prayed—you’d be happy.”
“Why would I be happy about you being with another guy?”
“Laredo—my news has nothing to do with another man. Unless I’m carrying your son. In which case, yes. There will soon be another very important guy in my life. Until then, you’re going to have to do.”
“Hold up...” He used his bottle to tip back his cowboy hat, then press the cold, sweating side to his suddenly too-hot forehead. “Did you just say what I think you did?”
Silent tears falling, she nodded. “I’m pregnant. And as much as I don’t want to, I miss you. I miss laughing with you and fighting with you and...kissing you.”
He set his bottle down on the bar to draw her and Lark into a hug. “I love you,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love you,” he said after kissing the tip of her nose. “I love you,” he said to each of her cheeks. He kissed Robin’s lips before telling Lark how much he loved her, too. “I’m so sorry for my courtroom stunt and for just now thinking you’d run off with another guy. It’s just that... I love you.”
“You may have mentioned that.” Her grin lifted him higher than a dozen more beers.
All around them the reception grew rowdy.
The band blared honky-tonk and most every cowboy, ghost and fairy in the hall was already well beyond the legal limit. But for Laredo, suddenly the only two people in the room—in his world—were Robin and Lark.
And his baby. His baby!
He dropped to his knees, kissing Robin’s still-flat belly. “I love you, too.”
“Laredo...”
“That’s me...” Still drunk on beer and life and his two girls, he grinned before standing, slipping his arms around her waist, drawing her close. “I know we barely know each other, and given our past crap luck in love, this is probably a lousy idea, but would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Laughing, crying, she said, “This is probably a really bad idea, but yes!”
Epilogue
Robin drew back the kitchen curtain and shook her head.
She was thrilled to have such a large turnout for her first Fourth of July celebration on the homestead, but if William and her grandfather didn’t stop trying to one-up each other, one or both would wind up hurt.
Her grandparents’ wedding gift had been to renovate the shed into a darling guesthouse that they used every couple of months when they visited.
Not to be outdone, the Pierponts had gifted a swimming pool complete with a diving board and slide. Both family patriarchs now stood alongside the diving board, goading each other to do more outrageous dives.
Luckily, Charlotte and her grandmother stepped in, pulling them to opposite sides of the pool.
“When do we get the house to ourselves again?” Laredo stepped up from behind her, holding sleeping two-month-old Clint in his arms. They’d named him after her deceased father.
“I’m afraid it’s going to be a while and I need to study.” In between caring for the kids and garden and lovingly restoring the historic home, Robin was taking online classes to earn her teaching degree. “Now that your parents bought the RV, I’m afraid they’ll be parked here indefinitely.”
He groaned.
Also in attendance were his two big brothers and their families. Augusta and Ned, Jimmy and Sally, even Lulu and Sarah, who were flirting with every eligible bachelor—mostly Jimmy’s cousins.
After nuzzling her neck, her husband asked, “Do you ever think about how far we’ve come in such a short time and feel blessed?”
“Every minute of every day—until Charlotte and Grandma take cues from their one-upping husbands and spoil Lark. What is Grandma giving her now?” They’d moved to the pool’s fence to greet a man leading a pony.
“Is that Kyle?” Laredo asked.
“He didn’t... He wouldn’t...”
“I’m afraid he did bring our toddler a pony. Now the only question is which of the grandmothers in her life put him up to it?”
Now, Robin groaned. “Do we have to go back out there? Looks like everything’s kind of under control. I just want a nap.”
“Mind if I join you?”
She grinned. “You know if you’re with me, the last thing we’ll be doing is napping?”
“Yep. Why else did you think I asked?” He winked. “Let me slip this guy into his crib, then meet me between the sheets. Or on top—I’m not choosy.”
As usual when her husband propositioned he
r, she swooned. And then waited for him to join her in their bedroom...
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Her Favorite Maverick by Christine Rimmer.
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Her Favorite Maverick
by Christine Rimmer
Chapter One
As Sarah Turner emerged from the tiny back-room office of the former train depot, Vivienne Shuster Dalton glanced up from a worktable covered in fabric swatches, to-do lists, project folders and open sample books.
“There you are,” said Viv.
“Just giving it all one more look.” Sarah tried for a light tone, but going over the books yet another time hadn’t changed a thing. The news was not good.
“Please tell us you’ve found a solution to our problem.”
If only.
Viv’s business partner, Caroline Ruth Clifton, stood across the worktable from her. Caroline turned her big dark eyes on Sarah and asked hopefully, “We can swing it, right?”
The answer was no.
And for Sarah, whether she was trying to claw her way up the food chain at the biggest accounting firm in Chicago or working in her dad’s little office right here in Rust Creek Falls, Montana, her least favorite part of the job remained the same. She hated telling clients that they were in trouble—especially clients she liked and admired.
Viv and Caroline were a couple of dynamos. They’d even opened a second location down in Thunder Canyon, Montana. Caroline spent most of her time there.
And here in Rust Creek Falls, all the brides flocked to the old train depot to get Viv to create their perfect wedding.
Unfortunately, both the rustic train depot and Viv’s primary local wedding venue—the brick freight house nearby—needed new roofs. All new. They couldn’t just slap a fresh layer of shingles on. Both buildings required tear-outs and rebuilds. Plus, there were structural issues that would have to be addressed. Viv had collected bids. She knew what the work would cost.
It was a lot.
And the wedding planners had already stretched every penny to the limit.
Gently, Sarah laid it out. “I’m sorry. I’ve been over and over the numbers you gave me. The money just isn’t there. You need a loan or an investor.”
“A loan against what?” Viv was shaking her head. “The buildings and the land belong to Cole’s family.” Her husband, Cole Dalton, was a local rancher. Cole and his large extended family owned a lot of the land in the Rust Creek Falls Valley. “I can’t take a loan against my in-laws’ property. We’re doing great, but, Sarah, you already know it’s all on a shoestring—and frankly, I struck out on my own so that I could do this my way.” Viv’s big green eyes shone with sheer determination. “An investor is going to want a say in how we run things.”
“Not necessarily. Some investors just want a percentage of—”
The little bell over the front door cut Sarah off midsentence.
“Good morning, ladies,” boomed a deep male voice. The imposing figure in the open doorway swept off his black Stetson to reveal a thick head of silver hair. “Maximilian Crawford, at your service.” The man plunked his big hat to his heart. Tall and powerfully built, with a handsome, lived-in face and a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache, the guy almost didn’t seem real. He reminded Sarah of a character from one of those old-time TV Westerns. “I’m looking for Vivienne Dalton, the wedding planner,” he announced.
“I’m Viv.” Viv started to step out from behind the worktable.
But Maximilian was faster. In five giant strides, he was at her side. He took Viv’s hand and kissed it. “Such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard great things.” He turned to Caroline, kissed her hand and then took Sarah’s and brushed his mustache across the back of it, too.
Viv, who’d looked slightly stunned when the older man bowed over her hand, recovered quickly and made introductions. “Maximilian, this is Caroline, my partner, and Sarah Turner, with Falls Mountain Accounting.”
“So happy to meet you, all three of you—and please call me Max. My sons and I have bought the Ambling A Ranch east of here. We’re newly arrived from the Dallas area, but we have Crawford relatives here in Rust Creek Falls. We’re putting down roots in your fine community.”
“Welcome to town, Max.” Viv cut to the point. “How can we help you?”
“I have an important job that needs doing. And, Vivienne, I know you are the one to tackle it.”
“Well, if it’s a wedding you’re after, you’ve come to the right place. I take it you’re the groom?”
Max threw back his silver head and let out a booming laugh. “Sorry, Viv. Not me. I’ve had enough of wedded bliss to last me three lifetimes. But my boys are another story. I’ve got six, each one better lookin’ than the one before. Goodhearted, my boys, if a bit skittish on the subject of love and marriage. As we speak, all six are single.” He shook a finger. “You ask me, that goes against the laws of God and man. It’s about time my boys settled down.”
Caroline wore a puzzled frown. “So, then, what you’re saying is that all six of your sons are engaged?”
Max let out a low, rueful chuckle. “No, pretty lady. What I’m saying is that my boys need brides. And, Viv, that’s where you come in. I want you and the lovely Caroline here to find each of my boys the perfect woman to marry—for a price, of course. A very nice price.”
A silence followed. A long one. Sarah, who’d moved back from the worktable to let the wedding planners do their stuff, couldn’t help wondering if maybe Max Crawford was a few bucking broncs short of a rodeo. And judging by their carefully neutral expressions, Viv and Caroline also had their doubts.
However, the train depot roofs weren’t going to replace themselves. Viv needed a large infusion of cash, stat. And if Max was for real, cash was exactly what he offered—too bad he was ordering up services Caroline and Viv didn’t provide.
“But, Max,” Viv said patiently, “we plan weddings. We aren’t matchmakers.”
“And why not? Matchmaking is an honest, time-honored practice. A lucrative one, too—at least it will be for you, with me as your client.”
Viv slowly shook her head. “I’m so sorry. But we just don’t—”
“A million,” Max cut in, bringing a trio of stunned gasps from Viv, Caroline and Sarah, too. Max nodded at Viv. “You heard me right. A million dollars. You find my boys wives and the money is yours.”
“Max.” Viv let out a weak laugh. “That’s just
crazy.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve made my fortune thinking outside the box. And that makes me living, breathing proof that anything can be achieved if you’re willing to make your own rules.”
Sarah took another step back from the worktable. She couldn’t have disagreed more. Rules mattered. And as much as she would like for Max to be the solution to Viv’s money troubles, fast-talking men were dangerous. Sarah had learned that sad lesson the hard way.
Viv wasn’t going for it, either. “Are you asking us to set up six arranged marriages? No. Definitely not. Caroline and I could never do that.”
“Arranged?” Max huffed out a breath. “No way. My boys would never go for that. They’ll choose their own brides. All I’m asking is that you find the perfect woman for each of them.”
“Right,” Viv scoffed. “Easy peasy.”
“Love isn’t something you can force.” Caroline added her quiet voice to Viv’s mocking one. “It really does have to develop naturally and—”
“Caroline, darlin’.” Max patted her shoulder. “I couldn’t agree with you more. We’re on the same page. You won’t be arranging anything. You won’t need to. I’ve heard all about Rust Creek Falls. Love is everywhere you turn around here and the percentage of pretty women is satisfyingly high. You set my boys up and they are bound to fall.”
Sarah took another step back. How could they believe a word the guy said? He talked too fast and he’d openly admitted that he made his own rules.
As if he’d sensed her retreat, the big man shifted his glance to Sarah. “So how ’bout you, darlin’?”
Sarah straightened her shoulders and hitched up her chin. “What about me?”
“Are you looking for the right guy to marry?”
She was looking for anything but. “Excuse me? You want to marry me off to one of your sons?”
“Sweet, sweet Sarah, just say yes.” Max actually winked at her. “You won’t regret it.”
“Sorry, but I’m not on the, um, market.”
“Got a sweetheart already, then?”
“No. I’m simply not interested.”
Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy SEAL Page 18