Ava nodded. “Promise,” she answered.
When Brianna walked into the living room with Ava, both Connor and Axel stopped what they were doing.
Axel scrambled up to his feet. “You’re back!” he cried. And then, because he didn’t want Ava to think he was happy to see her, he said, “I gotta finish playing with Connor.”
“Hold on a minute,” Connor told the boy. Getting up, he crossed over to Brianna and her daughter. But instead of saying anything to the woman, he first stooped down to Ava’s level and pretended to scowl. “What are you doing out of bed, young lady?”
Ava raised her chin. “Doctor said I’m all better.”
“Oh, he did, did he? I bet he also said he wanted you to get some rest when you came home,” Connor told her. “Am I right?”
Reluctantly, Ava nodded her head and said in a small voice, “Yes.”
“I thought so,” he said. “Let’s get you in bed.” He picked Ava up in his arms. And that was when he finally looked at Brianna. “Right, Mama?” he asked her with a smile.
Oh Lord, she’d missed that smile. Missed the sound of his voice, too, Brianna thought. She felt guilty now for the way she’d treated him at the hospital. She’d been so afraid of losing Ava that she had just lashed out at the first target she could find, which in this case turned out to be Connor.
“Right,” Brianna answered. She followed Connor to the kids’ bedroom.
Ava was asleep before they finished tucking her in.
“I’ll stay with her to make sure she doesn’t wake up and need something,” Axel volunteered, totally surprising his mother.
“You’re a real big help, Axel,” she told her son, kissing the top of his head.
It was obvious that he was pleased to have his efforts recognized, but Axel pretended to shrug off her words. He dragged over his chair and sat down beside the bottom bunk, a silent sentry watching over his sister.
Connor waited until he and Brianna were both out of the room before he suddenly took her aside and said, “I can’t tell you how scared I was when I saw Ava looking so sick that day. I didn’t know how to act,” he admitted, “and I was afraid to think.”
Brianna nodded. She understood that now. “I could see that from your reaction at the hospital,” she confessed, “but I thought you felt it was too much for you to handle and that you just wanted to bail.”
Connor took her hands in his, grateful beyond words for a second chance.
“I just wanted to catch my breath,” he said. “I didn’t realize just how much I loved all of you until I saw Ava lying in that hospital bed, looking so tiny and helpless. I’d never been so scared about anything in my life. Scared of losing her. Scared of losing all of you,” he emphasized. “That’s when I realized that I already thought of us as a family. I’m so sorry I didn’t make that clear to you. I had my doubts in the beginning,” he admitted, “but not anymore.”
This one time in her life, Brianna told herself that she wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. “What are you saying exactly?”
His eyes met hers. “What I’m saying is that I love you and I want you to marry me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked him. She didn’t want to say yes and then have her heart broken again. She couldn’t bear it. “I’ll understand if you just got swept up in the moment and you want to back out—”
Putting his hand in his pocket, Connor took something out. And as Brianna watched in utter amazement, he got down on one knee, opened the box he’d taken out and offered her what was inside it.
The diamond ring caught the light, winking at her like a flirtatious young girl. Brianna stared at it, her breath caught in her throat.
“Does this look like I want to back out?” Because she was still utterly speechless, Connor went on to tell her, “I’m moving back to Houston for good—and in with you if you’ll have me. So what do you say, Bri? Will you marry me?”
“Say yes, Mama! Say yes!”
They turned to see Axel standing in the doorway with Ava right beside him, eagerly adding her voice to his. Axel had woken her up when he heard Connor talking to his mom.
“I guess it’s unanimous,” Brianna told Connor with a laugh.
“Good answer,” Connor replied. Then he turned toward the children and told them, “I’m going to kiss your mom now, so, Axel, take your sister back to her bed, will you, son?”
Axel giggled in response to being called son, and Ava did, too. Taking his sister’s hand, he led her back into their bedroom.
“This is as alone as we’re going to get,” Brianna told Connor.
“Fine with me,” he said just before he lowered his lips to hers.
And it really was fine.
For all of them.
* * *
Look for Guarding His Fortune by
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Stella Bagwell,
the next book in
The Fortunes of Texas: The Lost Fortunes.
On sale April 2019,
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And catch up with the previous books in
The Fortunes of Texas: The Lost Fortunes:
A Deal Made in Texas
by Michelle Major
Her Secret Texas Valentine
by Helen Lacey
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Anything for His Baby
by Michelle Major
Chapter One
Paige Harper punched the heel of her hand into the bread dough she was working as the doorbell rang for the third time.
“Still ignoring it,” she muttered under her breath.
She turned the dough, stretched it against the counter then reached out and hit the volume button on the portable speaker at the edge of her work space. Barry Manilow’s rich voice filled the space, drowning out all other noise. Even the chatter in Paige’s head.
She continued the rhythmic kneading, flouring her hands when they began to feel tacky. Bread was new for her, and she loved the intensity of working the dough, the strength it took to mold it into a smooth ball.
Closing her eyes, she hummed along with the music as Barry sang about long, rocky beaches.
Just as the song came to its crescendo, Paige felt a tap on her should
er. In the space of a few minutes, she’d become so wrapped up in the motions and the music, she’d forgotten about the world outside her kitchen.
Which was why the man standing behind her scared the living daylights out of her. She screamed and hurled the hunk of bread dough at him. Unprepared for the assault, he let out an oof as it hit his stomach then dropped and landed with a thunk on the wide-plank floor.
Paige grabbed her phone, turning off the music and plunging the kitchen into a sharp silence.
She and Shep Bennett stared at each other for several seconds then simultaneously glanced down at the sad lump of dough on the floor.
“What are you doing in my house?” she demanded. “You’re lucky I was making bread and not polishing the barrel of my Glock.”
“You own a Glock?” Shep asked, his full lips struggling not to pull into a smile. “I find that hard to believe.”
Okay, the truth was she’d never held any kind of gun, Glock or otherwise. She’d heard the term used on the Law & Order spin-offs she’d binge-watched this week. She’d made it to season six out of approximately three hundred and fifty and knew way more about police procedures than any civilian had a right to. Not that she was going to admit that to Shep.
“You’re still trespassing,” she said through clenched teeth, ignoring the spark of heat that raced along her skin as Shep gave her an appraising once-over.
The perusal didn’t take long as there wasn’t much of her to see. Five feet two inches tall with slim hips and very little in the way of curves anywhere else. Paige wasn’t a woman who’d normally attract the attention of a drop-dead gorgeous man like Shep, with his lean, muscled build and tousled dark hair. Not to mention those whiskey-colored eyes. She wasn’t looking to attract his attention anyway. Shep Bennett would clearly be a handful, and she had too much on her plate already.
“He’s here with me,” a voice said from the back door and Paige dragged her gaze away from Shep.
Lorena Jones, the thirtysomething real estate agent Paige’s mother had hired without bothering to mention it to Paige, walked into the kitchen, frowning as she took in the state of the room. “I left you three messages about a final walk-through today,” she said, her glossy mouth pulling down at the corners.
“I didn’t get them,” Paige mumbled.
“Liar,” Shep whispered under his breath then winked, like this was some kind of game.
It wasn’t a game for Paige. This was her life, and Shep was well on his way to ruining it.
“Have you scheduled movers?” Lorena continued as if Paige hadn’t spoken. “Your mother told me—”
“She’s not going to sell the house,” Paige blurted. “She changed her mind.”
Lorena crossed her arms over her chest. Her ample chest, Paige couldn’t help but notice. It was difficult to ignore those assets, encased in a dark gray bandage dress more appropriate for a big-city nightclub than a Tuesday morning in Crimson, Colorado. “I spoke with her on the way here,” Lorena countered. “She didn’t mention that to me.”
Paige glanced at Shep, expecting to see him ogling Lorena. Most men would, but his gaze was still trained on Paige, his head inclined like he was trying to riddle out some sort of puzzle. Not having anything to do with her, she guessed. She had no secrets.
“She probably doesn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Paige lied. Her mother would cut someone off at the knees if it served her purpose. “She appreciates the work you’ve done so far.”
Lorena sniffed, fluffing her wavy blond hair. “I’ve barely done a thing since you wouldn’t give us access to the house.”
“Because I’m not leaving.” Paige congratulated herself that her voice didn’t waver. She said the words strong and sure, the way she’d been practicing in the bathroom mirror every night this week.
“The closing is set for this week,” Lorena reported tartly. “All that’s left is to complete the terms of the financing. Shepherd is going to take possession, so you’ll need to have your personal belongings out of here. You’re under a time crunch, but you have to manage it, Paige. Obviously, the furniture stays since your mother made the sale of it part of the contract.”
“She did what?” Now Paige couldn’t keep the emotion from her voice.
“Take anything that has special meaning to you,” Shep said gently—far too gently—like she was a fragile piece of china. That wasn’t his personality. Although Paige didn’t really know the man, she’d bet her life that gentle didn’t come naturally to him. The fact that he could manage it for her made her feel more pathetic.
“This house has meaning to me.” She jabbed a finger against the counter. “It’s my home. My business.”
“You haven’t even officially opened,” Lorena pointed out, none too helpfully.
“I’m aware of that.” Paige turned toward the counter, gripped the edge and looked down at her flour-coated hands, swallowing back the tears that rose up hot in her throat. The plan had been for The Bumblebee Bed-and-Breakfast to be operational by now. If the plans for renovations and her budget had stayed on track, the inn would be filled with guests for the busy Rocky Mountain summer tourist season.
But nothing had gone quite according to plan for Paige, not for years. She wasn’t supposed to be pushing thirty alone, with only a ramshackle house to her name. No, not even that. Her grandmother had left the beloved Victorian to her only daughter when she’d died a year ago.
It still hurt that Nana had left the inn to Paige’s mother when Paige had always loved the property, but that emotional slight didn’t stop her from wanting to continue her grandmother’s legacy in Crimson.
Susan Harper had wanted to sell the property at that point, but Paige had convinced her to let her move in and begin renovations to once again open as an inn. She just needed a little more time and she’d be ready for guests. Ready for the income that would allow her to purchase the house from her mother and truly make it hers. She could make something of it. Of herself.
“I need more time,” she said, turning around and schooling her features. She wouldn’t let either of these people see how truly desperate she was.
“Could you give us a minute?” Shep asked the Realtor, who flashed him a sickeningly sweet smile. Paige had seen Lorena’s face on shopping carts, billboards and bus-stop benches around town. She was Crimson, Colorado’s top Realtor according to her ads.
“That’s fine.” Lorena walked forward, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Who wore heels in Crimson anyway? Lorena placed a hand on Shep’s arm, an almost proprietary gesture. Paige wondered if the two were an item. It wouldn’t surprise her.
Shep Bennett was new to Crimson. His company had recently purchased the ski resort that sat adjacent to Nana’s house and renovations were underway that would allow him to reopen in time for the upcoming winter season. That made Shep a hot commodity in town, and Lorena seemed the type to want a powerful man at her side.
“I need to measure the bedrooms upstairs.” She arched a brow in Paige’s direction. “I assume that’s okay with you.”
“Fine.”
Lorena left the room, hips swaying as she moved. If Paige tried to swing her hips that way it would probably look like she was being electrocuted.
“You have awful taste in music,” Shep said conversationally as he bent to pick up the dough from the floor. “And you couldn’t carry a tune out of a paper bag. I swear I heard neighborhood dogs yowling along.”
“My nana used to listen to Barry Manilow.” She took the dough he handed her, dumped it into the trash, then grabbed a wad of paper towels from the roll on the counter and flipped on the faucet. “He’s a musical god and it helps me concentrate when I’m baking.”
“It makes me want to concentrate on finding a decent set of earplugs.”
Paige wet the paper towels then wrung out the excess water. It was all she could do not to fling them at Sh
ep. First he made her ruin her bread dough and now he was going to stand in her kitchen and insult her musical taste.
Her kitchen. The place where she was happiest in the world. And Shepherd Bennett was taking it from her.
Jerk.
He walked to the far side of the kitchen, taking in the oak cabinets, which Paige had painted a cheery yellow, and the row of antique plates she’d hung on one wall. “This is the first time I’ve actually been in the house.”
She dropped to her knees and scrubbed the floor. It would be easier to clean up the dough splatter before it dried completely. “What kind of idiot tries to buy a house he hasn’t even seen?”
“This kind of idiot,” he said, the scuffed toes of his work boots directly in front of her. “And I didn’t try to do anything. You know I close on this place this week.”
“Not if I can help it,” she muttered.
“You can’t.” All the gentleness had disappeared from his tone. He stated a fact, and her body burned with anger at the certainty in his voice. “I don’t care about the house. I wanted the land.”
She stilled, staring down at her hands splayed out on the cherry floors, the veins that ran across the tops of her hands faint and blue. Paige might be petite and delicate looking to some, but she had sturdy hands. Hands like her grandmother.
“This property will give secondary access to the ski mountain and allow us to create a Nordic ski trail plus a new terrain park. We’ll bulldoze the house before the end of summer. I’ll give you a couple of weeks to move out if you need it.”
Paige felt her mouth drop open. Blood roared through her head, making her feel at once dizzy and nauseous. “No,” she whispered.
“The furniture was your mom’s idea. I think she threw it in to save the trouble of having to move everything. She claims it’s mostly old junk.”
Paige sat back on the balls of her feet and looked up, past the jeans that hung low on Shep’s hips and the crisp button-down he wore, smudged with stains from the dough she’d thrown at him.
Texan Seeks Fortune Page 17