“I wanted to find her and go back to the Chapmans and continue on as before,” he continued. “I can’t do that now.” He looked aside, at her mom, then her dad. “I know you don’t like me, and it’s deserved. I’ve treated women ... people poorly. I couldn’t admit it until your daughter set me straight.”
His gaze returned to hers.
“Like you said, she’s stubborn and bullheaded and reckless. She sees what she wants and goes for it, maybe too strong. But that’s what I love about her.”
Brenna gasped and heard her dad rise.
“Malcolm, don’t ...” Her mom raced to his side, taking hold of his arm.
“Let me go,” he snapped. He pulled free and shoved between them, one hand in the center of Kees’s chest.
Kees never flinched. “Go ahead. Hit me. It won’t change anything. I will love your daughter until the day I die and do my best to be who she needs. As proof, I’m asking your permission to marry her.” Kees paused and took a shallow breath. “I know her age, so if you want me to wait until she’s twenty, I’ll do it. I’m buying the Metcalf place, where we stayed. I’m going to fix it up and put in a road. She’ll have a roof over her head, and I dare any mountain lion or bear to try to hurt her.”
Her dad’s stance didn’t change, but he looked behind. Her heart turned cartwheels, emotions begging to be released. She held herself calm, however. There was no more being rash.
“Dad.” Brenna spoke softly. “Have you forgotten what love feels like? If you love me, give me a chance to experience it.”
He held in place, then swiveled his head toward Kees again. “Twenty-one. I know she’s an adult and capable of doing what she wants, but you’re asking me, so it’s a year and eight months from now.”
“Twenty-one,” Kees replied with a nod.
Her dad lowered his arm to his side. “She’s my baby,” he said.
“And mine,” her mom added.
Her dad looked at her.
“She’s half of me, Malcolm. How quickly you always forget. Now, why don’t we give them some time together? They spent enough of it alone without parental supervision and came out okay.”
Chastised, her dad reversed.
Brenna met Kees’s gaze, her heart in her throat.
“We’ll go outside to the barn,” Kees said. “I think better out there.”
He extended his hand, and Brenna laid her fingers in it, tears forming in her eyes.
“You going to ask me?” Brenna said.
Her hand in his, Kees quirked a smile. “You want me on one knee? You win, Brenna. Isn’t that enough?”
“Not quite.”
Amused, he leaned toward her. The barn was warm and snug, scented with horse flesh and summer hay and the must and oil of tack and tools. Smells he was used to. Smells of hard work.
“Brenna Stratton, will you marry me ... when you’re twenty-one?”
Her eyes lit. “I feel childish, like I’m being bartered to you and it’s 1865.”
“Some things haven’t changed since then,” he replied. “Dads still protect their daughters. Young men still want to spirit them away ... and you have to answer me.”
But she didn’t, looking at the nearby horse instead.
“You changed your mind,” she said.
She questioned it? Of course, she did. He’d pushed her away too long, and all this seemed sudden ... and probably, from her perspective, on the unbelievable side.
“Victory’s not good enough for you?” he asked, light.
“Don’t joke,” Brenna replied, her eyes returned to his. “Why? Me almost dying? I don’t want to marry you because you’re afraid I’ll croak.”
“Now, I’ll say it. ‘Don’t joke.’ That was horrible thing, and I was afraid. But, no, it isn’t my reason. My reason I can’t really put my finger on or give it a name. Just say my eyes opened and leave it at that.”
She bit her lip, as if in thought. “You want a partner, to ride beside you. You want a look at the merchandise.”
Though she was serious, Kees chuckled. “I saw the merchandise, or some of it, and what’s wrong with riding beside me?” He folded their fingers together. “Oh, I get it. You want to be valued for your mind.”
Brenna rolled her eyes. “You’re funning with me now. I can write a few, mostly lame, pieces of poetry. Other than that, I’m useless.”
His face straight, Kees bent further toward her, until he could taste her breath. She seemed overwhelmed with it, so he didn’t kiss her. The time didn’t feel right anyhow.
“Let’s get this straight. You are not useless. At the very least, I’m a better person with you around.”
She seemed to consider that. “So, I’m like your conscience.”
“Brenna.” Kees spoke too sharp and saw doubt in her eyes. A thought poked into his head. “I spoke with Reverend Harris,” he said. “She prayed for me.”
Brenna’s gaze widened just a tad.
“I told her what I intended to do, and she gave me her best advice. She said, ‘A gift needs only to be received to be effective.’ She was talking about God, of course, but it applies to anything else, and so, here today, I’m giving you my heart. You want it or not? Dreams still come true sometimes, and this is yours. I pledge my fealty, my inward thoughts, my complete devotion. We’ll have five rowdy boys and grow old and gray together.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Five?”
“Or six. Smart like their dad and spunky like their mother.”
Brenna’s smile finally returned. “For our honeymoon, let’s lose ourselves in the woods.”
“Honeymoon?” he asked. “Is that a ‘yes’?”
Her lips trembled, and she nodded. When he didn’t make any other move, her gaze changed.
“Shouldn’t we ...?”
“Shouldn’t we what?”
Her cheeks shaded pink.
“Oh, you think I should do something to celebrate?”
A spark flashed in her eyes. “Well, shouldn’t you?”
He tipped his head left and leaned in. “It’ll make it hard to wait until you’re twenty-one.”
He heard her gasp, felt the pull of her breath, and seconds later, tasted the softness of her lips. He’d kissed women before without giving it any thought, but Brenna was different, and he treated it different as a result. He didn’t press her for more, but pulled back, his voice husky.
“Never doubt how much you mean to me,” he said. “There’s no comparison between you and anyone else. I love you, Brenna.”
“I love you,” she replied.
Facing her mom’s departure, Brenna muted her happiness. As great as it was to be engaged to Kees, so much with her parents felt unresolved. Her dad’s acceptance of her new relationship was uneasy still. Mostly, she thought, because of her mom’s part in it, and she worried what would happen once she left.
She hoped Sierra being around would keep him from blowing up. But Sierra was driving her mom to the airport, and that meant a day alone with him.
He reentered the house. “Your suitcase is in the trunk,” he said to her mom.
She nodded at him and appeared to want to say something more. She didn’t though, and he walked out of view. Sierra looked their way, from her place on the porch, but hung back.
Her mom drew her into an embrace. “I’m so happy for you. I’m glad I came, and I’ll call more often. I promise.”
A phone call wouldn’t make up the distance, but Brenna didn’t want to add to her mom’s guilt. She tightened her hug instead.
“And you can call me at any time. You know that, right?”
Brenna raised and lowered her chin, scrubbing her cheek on her mom’s blouse.
“Especially with wedding plans. I am definitely coming for that.”
Brenna pushed back. “I want to see you before I’m twenty-one.”
“Of course.” Her mom laughed. “But I’m just saying ... if there’s anything I can do.”
They stood motionless, for a moment, then her m
om detached herself.
“Unfortunately,” she said, “I have to go. It’s a long drive, and I want to be sure Sierra has time to return before midnight ... I love you.”
“I love you.”
She trailed after her mom outside and stood on the porch steps until the car vanished. Reluctant to reenter, she took a seat instead. She’d been there ten minutes or so when her dad walked out.
“I want to talk to you,” he said.
A headache gripped the back of Brenna’s skull. She didn’t reply, and her dad took a seat at her side.
“Your mom ...”
“Don’t pick on her,” Brenna said. She curled over on her lap, her arms around her knees.
“I’m not ...”
“You are.” Just as quick as she’d folded into herself, she sat up and stared at him. “You think I don’t know? You blame her for me and Kees, but he would have spoken for me regardless. The truth is you can’t stand the thought she’s moved on. That she can speak for herself without you.”
“Brenna ...”
“No.” She pushed to her feet. “You’re the unhappiest person I know, and I won’t let you turn me into the same bitter person you’ve become.”
Turning her back on him again, she headed for the barn. She paused after a few steps. “I’m going to see Kees, just so you know.”
Surging forward, she continued ahead. She saddled her horse and aimed for the Chapmans. She didn’t really know where Kees would be and so was surprised to spot him in the driveway with Harlowe. She rode up to his side. He patted her horse’s neck.
“What brings you by?” he asked, as if it wasn’t out of the way.
“You,” she said.
Harlowe gave a light cough. “I think I’ll make myself scarce and let the lovebirds talk.”
Kees scowled at him, which only increased his laughter. Turning on his heel, he aimed for the main house, his boots thunking hard on the steps.
“Help me up,” Kees said.
Brenna raised one brow. “You’re riding with me?”
Yet, having asked, she slid her foot from the stirrup so Kees could use it. He mounted behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I’m riding with you wherever you want to go.”
“Anywhere?”
He rested his chin on her shoulder. “From now until forever.”
“You’ve lost your spine, cowboy.”
He chuckled in her ear. “Completely, a fact Harlowe has been reminding me of all day. Right now, I don’t care.”
“Me either,” she said.
She tapped Buckley’s sides, and the animal stepped forward, a ray of Montana sunlight slanting in her eyes.
THE END
FROM THE AUTHOR
I intended Kees Butler to be a character off the program, “Mountain Men”, so if you’re a fan of the show and see the resemblance, that’s awesome. He isn’t any one of the men, however, but a lot of them all rolled together with a dash of the romance style I’m known for.
Be sure to look for Malcolm’s story in Book 3. I deliberately left his relationship with Brenna unended. And, of course, there will be a love interest. You won’t want to miss it.
Note: The Bible translation referred to in Scene 2 of Chapter 6 is the J.B. Phillips, and the verse is Ephesians 2:8. The poem Kees Butler quoted in Chapters 2 and 7 is *Give Me The Splendid Silent Sun” by Walt Whitman and is in the Public Domain.
Suzanne D. Williams
www.feelgoodromance.com
If you enjoyed this story, look for Book 3.
He deserved better than he’d allowed himself to have. He deserved to smile and laugh, and going deeper than simple contentment, he deserved to fall in love. To burn for a woman and have her ache for him in return. He deserved to be in love, and he longed to make love.
But what if he was too old and washed up? What if no woman anywhere would look twice at him because he refused to leave Montana?
——-
Malcolm Stratton’s wife walked out on him years ago, and his perfect life collapsed. Left with the care of their independent-minded daughter and running his large Montana ranch, he’s given up any hope at happiness, much less finding love again.
Sierra Trask came to Montana to find quiet time and write a book. Yet the beauty of the land and the generosity of her host are marred by his depression and his constant fights with his daughter.
Taking it on herself to mediate a particularly loud battle, she volunteers to travel south with him to buy a cow. Yet, his reason for insisting on the trip and her reason for volunteering, add sparks to their already growing attraction, and when he meets with an unplanned accident, nothing, it seems, will stop them from falling in love.
Book 3 of 3 in the GRACE & COWBOYS series by author, SUZANNE D. WILLIAMS.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Best-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. She writes devotionals and instructional articles for various blogs. She also does graphic design for self-publishing authors. She is co-founder of THE EDGE.
To learn more about what she’s doing and check out her extensive catalog of stories, visit www.feelgoodromance.com or link with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/suzannedwilliamsauthor or on Twitter at twitter.com/SDWAuthor.
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