Trevor felt a surge of anger and gripped the arm of the chair tightly, willing himself to stay calm. “I’d be careful if I were you, little brother,” he said slowly. “I’m not interested in hearing fairytales. I’ve been sitting with this for a long time.”
“Which you shouldn’t have done,” Randy shot back. “Although we’ll leave that for another day. Besides, this isn’t based in fairytales. Your adoption papers aren’t the only thing we found in that trunk.”
“Oh, yeah?” Trevor asked, unable to suppress sarcasm. “What did you find, a diary?”
“Close,” Carson said, shrugging his shoulders. “We found a stack of letters. Letters between Dad and his sister.”
“Sister?” Trevor echoed, feeling the first flickers of self-doubt flare up. “I didn’t know he had a sister.”
"Yeah," Carson said, and followed the heavy-weighted word with a sigh. "Neither did we. She was a younger sister, turns out, and she died in a car accident.” His gaze drilled into Trevor’s. “She was your mother, Trevor. She—she didn't give you away. There was a locket with your hair, and pictures. You looked exactly like her. If Dad really did treat you differently, that's got to be why. From what we saw in the letters, he was close to his sister. Losing her must have just hurt too damn much."
Trevor took a deep, shuddering breath that hitched in his chest and threatened to turn into tears. He felt dizzy and slightly nauseous, suddenly cut adrift. In a way, he supposed he had been. Half his life, he'd operated under the weight of knowing that nobody had ever really wanted him, not from the moment he'd been born. Finding the truth out now lifted a weight that had been almost too heavy to carry.
Everything was different now. Everything could be different—if he was willing to let it. “So we’re not brothers, then,” he said, his voice in his ears sounding dazed and far away. “I was right about that much. Not brothers, but cousins.”
“No way,” Randy said loudly, his voice breaking with conviction. “Don’t even think such a thing. You aren’t getting out of it that easily. You’ve been our big bro for our whole lives. No piece of paper can change that. Family is about love. If you didn’t understand that before, please tell me that you do now.”
17
Lacey was careful not to look herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. This was a new habit, something she'd started doing since leaving the McCall ranch for good. She'd never thought of herself as the most beautiful girl in the world, but she'd never had a problem with the reflection she saw staring back at her. Not until she'd walked out on the only man she had ever loved.
A lot of things about Lacey had changed since staying on the McCall ranch and then leaving so abruptly. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be done learning about those changes for a long time yet. While she felt as if she’d opened Pandora’s box, in truth, it was nothing quite so brutal. She was getting to know herself for the first time, to know herself as a woman, and it was more painful and surprising than she could ever have imagined.
Never in her life, for instance, would she have thought herself strong enough to walk away from Trevor that way. Not as he was proposing marriage after so resolutely declaring that he would never be a husband. Looking into his eyes, her mind had flown a million miles a minute, considering all the scenarios where she might have been able to say yes. She had wanted to agree to his offer, the kind she had always wanted. She had almost been able to make herself do it, too, except for one small, terribly significant thing.
He had never mentioned feelings, not even once. He’d never alluded to caring for her, nor acknowledged any awareness that she was so clearly in love with him. The whole thing had read as a business proposition and nothing more, even though it might be for a good cause. As much as Lacey loved Jade and wanted to be there for the little girl, that was an offer she wasn’t prepared to accept. Saying yes to a loveless marriage would turn her into the kind of woman she had never wanted to be: a woman like her mother. Oh, she’d start out optimistic, with high hopes that Trevor would learn to love her over time. As the years passed, however, she would lose that spark of optimism. In its place would be an unending supply of bitterness. She would grow angry, whether or not she had the right to be.
"You did the right thing," she whispered to herself with a cautious glance at her pale face in the mirror. She cringed at what she saw. "You did the right thing, and you know it."
That much was true, but it didn't stop her from sleeping in one of Trevor's shirts every night, in the bed at the bed and breakfast they had once shared. In her hurry to escape his house, she had packed it by mistake, and although she kept meaning to return it, she couldn't quite bring herself to let it go. She couldn't wash it, either. It still had his smell on it. Once that was gone, she would lose him for good.
“Hello?”
A deep voice and a knock on the front door startled her out of her miserable thoughts. She looked at herself again, winced, and threw her hair up into a messy bun. After grabbing a bathrobe and belting it tightly, she hurried down the stairs. She was receiving all kinds of deliveries for the bed and breakfast these days, and although she didn't remember one being scheduled for today, that didn't mean much. She had been preoccupied lately, and it was starting to show in her day-to-day life. Breathless, she pulled the front door open, an apology already forming on her lips. When she saw who was standing there waiting for her, the words were replaced by a gasp of shock.
“Hey,” Trevor said nervously, shifting from one cowboy boot-clad foot to the other. “I know you probably don’t want to see me, but please, don’t shut the door in my face. Not before you give me a chance to say what I came to say.”
"I don't know, Trevor," she said, pulling the robe more tightly around herself. Just seeing him made her want to cry, and she had serious doubts about her ability to hold it together while hearing him out. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
“I know,” he sighed, his expression pained. “And I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. I never wanted to.” He shook his head, his eyes boring into hers. “Never meant it.”
"I know, but—" she started, her mind racing. They'd already had this conversation, and it had been bad enough the first time. She didn't think she could live through it again.
“Please, Lacey,” he said softly, lifting his hands, palms up. “I know. But everything is different now.”
“Different?” she asked, curiosity stirring in spite of herself. “What do you mean? How?”
“Well, for starters, I learned who I am—who I really am. My parents adopted me after my mom died because she, my birth mom, was my dad’s sister. I guess they wanted me after all. I read that whole situation wrong.”
“That’s amazing,” Lacey breathed, her heart swelling at the news. Just because she couldn’t have Trevor didn’t mean she didn’t want him to be happy. Anything that could help him to feel less broken, she was in favor of it. She would have pulled him into a hug if she hadn’t known how painful feeling his touch would be. She settled for a large, genuine smile.
“Yeah, thanks,” he laughed shakily. “But that’s not all. I talked to Penny, too.”
“What?!” Lacey practically shouted, momentarily forgetting everything but Jade.
“She’s in some kind of facility, getting cleaned up,” Trevor said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite believe the news. “She said she wants a better life for herself—a better life for Jade, too.”
“Oh, Trevor,” Lacey sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted to keep her.”
“You’re right, I did.” He paused and added quietly, his eyes shining with tears, “And that’s what Penny wants, too.”
Even her sense of self-preservation couldn’t stop her now. She stepped forward, taking hold of his arms and peering up into his face. “I...I don’t think I understand,” she said carefully.
"She asked me to be Jade's permanent guardian, Lacey," he choked out. "She wants to give Jade a better
life, and she wants me to be a part of it. She wants me to adopt her little girl."
“I’m happy for you, Trevor, honestly, I’m so happy for the both of you,” Lacey said, tears springing into her own eyes now despite her best efforts to keep her emotions in check. Giving words to her confusion, she released him and added, “I guess I just don’t see how this applies to me.”
“Probably because I haven’t gotten to that part yet,” he said with a sudden chuckle that surprised her, even as he reached for her tentatively and took her hands in his.
She winced as if his hands were made of fire, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to pull away. “That’s not a good idea,” she said, her voice small and uncertain.
"I came to renew my offer, Lacey, but this time for real. What I did before was stupid, and you deserved better. You should have gotten no less than a declaration of love.” He nodded firmly, suddenly dropping to one knee. “That's what I'm here to do now. I want you to marry me. I love you. Jade loves you. And I might be wrong, Lord knows I have been before, but I think I’ve seen something in your eyes when you look at me. I’m hoping it was love, because I want the three of us to be a family."
Lacey looked deeply into Trevor’s eyes, desperate to figure out if he was being sincere. He was a standup guy. She had no doubt about that, even if he might, from time to time. He was such a decent guy that he might just try to make up for the hurt he’d so obviously caused her before.
But oh, how badly she wanted to believe! Her love for him hadn't diminished with distance. If anything, it had grown exponentially. There was no place in the world she would rather be than in his arms, but seeing him kneel before her now, feeling the touch of his hands holding hers, made it difficult to think straight. What if he was just being nice? What if he was only trying to make up for past mistakes and tie up loose ends?
“I don’t know what to say, Trevor,” she whispered, her chest starting to hitch.
“Then just say yes,” he answered throatily, gently squeezing her hands. “Please, Lacey. Say yes. Make me the happiest man in the world.”
Words failed her, but as it turned out, she didn't have to speak. She dropped to her knees so that the two of them were face to face and kissed him deeply. That was answer enough.
18
“I’m just saying, I don’t have to be happy about it, okay? I’m not exactly looking forward to taking the brunt of the responsibility for everything, with you gone. I’m just a kid, remember?” Randy said, batting his eyelashes in a grotesque imitation of an innocent schoolgirl. Jade groaned at the sight, then made a sound as if she was going to puke.
Carson held out a hand for a high-five, which Jade returned willingly. "I'm with the kid," he said with a laugh, glancing at Lacey for agreement. "Nobody's buying your sob story. I'm only going to be gone on this rodeo gig for a week, and you're probably the smartest out of the three of us. You can handle this, baby brother. I've got no doubt."
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Randy said dryly, although he tipped Jade a wink that made her giggle.
“What do you want me to say?” Carson asked in exasperation. “Should we ask Trevor and Lacey to take the load? You seriously want to go with the four-months-pregnant newlyweds on this one?”
“All right, boys,” Lacey laughed. “I think that’s quite enough of that. We’re all going to be kind and courteous at Sunday supper, remember? Those are the rules.”
“Fine,” Randy grumbled, taking a sip of Lacey’s famous lemonade. “Then kindly tell Carson that he’s a huge pain in my—”
“Little pitchers,” Lacey reminded him, raising her eyebrows and looking pointedly in Jade’s direction. Randy mouthed the words “I’m sorry” and shut his mouth, although he lobbed one more glare in Carson’s direction for good measure.
Trevor watched the whole exchange from his place in the open kitchen doorway, his heart so full of love that it felt like it might explode. Even six months after getting everything in the world he’d never known he wanted, he was still routinely tempted to pinch himself and make sure it wasn't all a dream.
For the first time in his life, he truly felt he belonged. Everywhere he looked, his parents’ home and the ranch itself took on a whole new meaning, an entirely new life. Where he had once seen only slights and letdowns, a lack of love and personal failure, now he saw a family that had done whatever it could to stay together. It was still new to him, this feeling of being wanted, but he was more than happy to take on the challenge. He felt like a man reborn, gifted with something almost nobody on the planet was lucky enough to get: a second chance at life.
His one regret was that he couldn’t go back in time and make amends with his father. He had been so sure that he’d understood the man, he’d never taken the time to get to know him at all. Trevor had railed against his father, saddled him with the blame for his own misery, and he’d done it all on account of false information. He would have given a lot for one last conversation with the patriarch of the McCall family. To have the chance to say he was sorry.
“What are you thinking about, mister?” Lacey asked, moving up beside him and sliding her hand into his.
He bent and kissed the top of her head, inhaling deeply and relishing her clean, floral scent. “Nothing,” he said with a smile. “Just thinking about how lucky I am. I don’t deserve all this, you know.”
"You shut your mouth, McCall," she warned, giving him the no-nonsense look that almost always got the woman her way. "I won't tolerate you talking badly about my husband."
"That gets me every time," he laughed, pulling her in even closer. "I wonder when I'll stop feeling like a kid in a candy store, hearing you call me that?"
“Probably about the same time I stop feeling like the whole thing is a dream,” she giggled, one hand straying to her belly in an unconscious gesture he’d noticed more and more these days.
“They’re going to be at each other’s throats, you know,” Trevor said, nodding in the direction of his brothers. “It can make a person go crazy.”
“But it won’t do that to us,” Lacey said, her face serene and completely confident. “Because we know the secret.”
"Do we now?" he laughed. "And what, pray, tell, might that be?"
“Love,” she said simply, beaming up at him, and so beautiful, it hurt. “We’ve got real, true love, the group of us, and that means we can make it through anything. Just so long as we do it together.”
He nodded, his heart fit to burst. “Just so long as we do it together.”
End of The Rancher’s Inherited Family
McCall Ranch Brothers Book One
The Rancher’s Inherited Family, January 2, 2020
The Cowboy’s Rescue, January 9, 2020
The Cowboy’s Pregnant Sweetheart, January 16, 2020
PS: Do you love rugged men? Then keep reading for exclusive extracts from The Cowboy’s Rescue and The Cowboy’s Surprise Nanny.
Thank You
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About Leslie
Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.
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BLURB
Single mom Heather Browning will do anything to get away from her controlling ex-husband--including buying a rundown strawberry farm in Montana. Maybe the locals are right, maybe she
is crazy. Still, she’ll do anything to keep her twin son and daughter safe and happy—and keep her ex out of the picture. When her only horse comes up lame, she calls local veterinarian Randy McCall. The sexy cowboy takes one look at her farm and dilapidated house and offers his help, but Heather is quick to say no. She doesn’t need anyone’s help—no matter how gorgeous and tempting Randy is. But after hurting her ankle and discovering her roof is riddled with leaks, she reluctantly agrees to temporarily move herself and the twins to the McCall Ranch. If Heather wanted a charming, sexy, man—which she does not—Randy would be perfect. Good thing she only wants to be friends…
For as long as he can remember, Randy has liked saving things. So when he’s hit with the impossible-to-ignore need to help Heather, he chalks it up to his nature. Thanks to matchmaking townsfolk, Randy is “given” to Heather for twenty-four hours of free labor, and he’s happy to oblige. It’s certainly not because he’s crazy attracted to her. Definitely not because the twins are making him think silly thoughts about being a dad. And no way is it because that one soft kiss made his heart feel like it was struck by lightning. Even as Randy tells himself—over and over—that he’s not a relationship kind of guy, his stubborn heart doesn’t believe it. Knowing Heather has already been hurt by a man, he decides to stop things before they get out of hand. But can he stop himself from falling in love?
Grab your copy of The Cowboy’s Rescue (McCall Ranch Brothers Book Two)
January 9, 2020
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