by Katee Robert
Her grip tightened on his hands. “And after?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? Daniel’s words echoed through his mind.
You’re not eighteen anymore.
It’s time to stop acting like a scared kid.
“I hear the Rodriguez ranch needs help. Daniel would be more than happy to put me to work.”
A shake passed through her body. “Truly?”
How had he never seen how much his leaving hurt his mama? Selfish to the core. Adam hugged her, holding her as tightly as he dared. “I’m not leaving again.” If he could give his mom something, he’d give her this. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “What I think we both like to forget is that I had two parents. I’m tired of following in the footsteps of that piece of shit.”
“Language.”
“Sorry, Mama. My point is that maybe I could learn a thing or two from the better half of the equation.”
Her smile was a reward all its own. “You’re a good man, baby.”
It was the first time she’d ever said that to him, and if he didn’t quite believe her, not yet, he was determined to make it the truth. He let go of her and stood back, his mind already turning to how he’d make a real life for himself here. He had a ton of money saved up because he’d stopped blowing through it after the first year of bull riding and had lived pretty low-key in the meantime—more than enough for a down payment.
“Baby?”
“Yeah, Mama?”
“What are you going to do about the Rodriguez girl?” Some censure had leaked back into her tone. “I was by Cups and Kittens earlier today, and she looks like she got hit by a truck.” There was no doubt in her mind that he was the cause, and he couldn’t even get pissed because it was the damn truth.
He’d well and truly fucked up.
“I’m going to make it right.” He didn’t know how, and he’d more than deserve it if Jules told him to take a hike while she moved on with her life. Adam didn’t give a fuck. He’d fallen for her, and he’d do whatever it took to fix things and prove to her that he was the perfect man for her. He just had to figure out how.
His mama patted him on the arm. “You better. She’s a good girl. I think she’d make an excellent daughter-in-law.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, let’s take things one day at a time.”
“That’s the only way you can take them, baby.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now, go get your woman.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jules spent the week after breaking up with Adam in a strange haze. She did everything she could think of to snap out of it, but nothing worked. Not riding, not playing bloodthirsty video games with Aubry, not cuddling her cats. Nothing. She caught herself thinking about Adam half a dozen times a day, wondering if he was okay or if the pressure had gotten to be too much and he’d left town.
It hurt to think of never seeing him again.
It hurt worse to think of running into him randomly on his visits back in town.
Everything hurt.
She’d tried to comfort herself by promising herself that she’d find someone else, that she’d finally take the leap and sign up for internet dating, but the words were just that—words. They didn’t comfort her in the least. She’d sat for an hour and just stared at the registration page before closing the browser completely. What did some guy on the other side of a screen have that made jumping through the required hoops worth it?
Would he give her dirty-talking lessons or, even better, would he hold her close and whisper things that made her hot and twisty without laying a finger on her? Would he get Aubry’s stamp of approval and seem to actually enjoy going toe-to-toe with her? Would he make love to Jules in the bed of his truck beneath a summer sky?
And if he managed to achieve that herculean feat…would she be picturing Adam the entire time?
The more she thought about it, the more she had to face the facts—Adam Meyer had well and truly ruined her for anyone else.
She checked the clock, breathing a sigh of relief that she could finally close. There hadn’t been anyone in for over an hour, but she didn’t like to keep changeable hours. People depended on her being open the hours that were posted, and doing otherwise just didn’t sit right with her, whether there were customers or not. She stepped over where Ninja Kitteh was lounging in the middle of the floor and walked to the door to lock it.
And froze.
Adam stood on the other side of the glass, looking even better than she remembered. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she had to clench her hands to keep from opening the door and throwing herself into his arms. He walked away. Just because he didn’t actually leave town in the last week doesn’t change a single thing. She had to remember that, though it was hard to with him looking at her like he’d been in the desert for weeks and she was an oasis.
“Can I come in?”
She didn’t have to be able to hear him to know what words his lips formed. Numb, she nodded and opened the door. Stupid. So freaking stupid. But she’d proven time and again that she didn’t have a lick of common sense when it came to this man. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He looked down as Khan came and rubbed himself on Adam’s legs, purring furiously. “How are things?”
Awful. Terrible. No good. “Great.”
“Good.” He gave in to the cat’s demanding and picked him up. Khan looked at Jules, smug as all get-out. As well he should be—he was in Adam’s arms and she was standing just out of reach.
She was in the lowest of low places if she was jealous of a cat. “Great.”
“You said that.” A small smile quirked the edges of his lips, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to kiss him or smack him for walking back in here and making her heart break all over again.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want, Adam? Because I think you made your position pretty freaking clear the other day.”
“Come for a drive with me.”
“What?” She’d braced herself for him to say a lot of things, but that hadn’t even been on the list. Adam was a lot of things, but cruel wasn’t one of them. “Absolutely not.”
“Please, sugar. I want to show you something.”
“Is it a hole in the ground where you’re going to stuff my dead body?”
He shot her a reproachful look. “It’s funny—your mouth is moving, but I’m hearing the redhead talking.”
Probably because Aubry was a hell of a lot smarter than Jules. She had things down. She stayed inside and interacted with people solely on her own terms—with the safety net of a computer between them. She wouldn’t be standing here, seriously considering going somewhere with a man who’d broken her heart. “Adam, I can’t do this. I’m barely getting through as things stand, and taking a drive with you is only going to make it worse. I don’t think I can survive another go-round.”
Instantly the smile was gone from his face. “I’m sorry for that, sugar. I really am. Let me make it up to you.”
I can’t. It would be a mistake of epic proportions. “No.”
“You’re really putting a wrench in my grand gesture, you know that?” He sighed. “I guess we’ll have to do this a different way.”
She blinked. “Uh, what?”
“Come here.” He pulled out his phone and started typing.
What the heck is going on? She slowly crossed the distance between them, feeling like she was approaching a rabid animal. He’d either run or attack, and she wasn’t sure which would be preferable at this point.
“Here.” He hooked her waist and pulled her into the circle of his arms, turning her so her back met his chest. She was so distracted by the sheer presence of him and the longing the feeling of him touching her awoke that she almost didn’t realize he was trying to show her his phone screen. Jules frowned at it. “That’s one of those house-finding apps.�
�� She liked to search them when she was bored, though she had no reason to move from the comfy little apartment above the café.
His chuckle made her shiver. “Look at the house.”
It was a cute little thing. Two bedrooms, one and a half baths. Just outside town on twenty acres. It needed some love and probably a few months’ worth of renovations, but it had promise. Her chest ached, something like hope sprouting there. “Why am I looking at a house?”
“I bought it yesterday.” His breath ghosted over her ear. “Or at least I started the process of buying it. That shit takes forever. But the earnest money is in place, and assuming all the paperwork goes through, it’ll be mine just inside of thirty days.”
The screen started to blur before her eyes. “You’re buying a house.”
“I’m buying a house.” He turned her in his arms, his hands on her hips. “I’m staying, sugar. I’ve been running for my entire life, and I finally found a reason to stop.”
“Your mom.”
His eyes were intense on hers. “She plays into it, I’m not going to lie. But you’re the one who made me stand still long enough to realize what I’d be missing if I left again. Devil’s Falls isn’t perfect, but it’s got one point in its favor that no other town I’ve ever been to has.”
“What’s that?”
“You.” His hands flexed on her hips like he wanted to pull her closer. “When I said I’d never met anyone else like you, I was telling the truth. You make this world a better place, and you make me want to be a better man.”
They were words she’d wanted to hear so badly, she almost convinced herself that he hadn’t actually said them. “But…” She could barely process this 180. She’d been halfway prepared to spend the rest of her life wasting away into spinsterhood, holding close the memories of the last few weeks to keep her warm at night, and now here he was, saying things she never would have dreamed he’d say. So she focused on the—slightly—easier thing. “You bought a house.”
“I bought a house.” He inched her closer. “And I’m going to be honest with you—someday I want you living there with me. We can take it slow, but if you’ll give me a second chance to do this right, that’s it for me. You’re the one I want, and I fully intend on there being a ring and a couple of babies in the plans.”
A ring. Babies. A house. Her heart leaped into her throat, making it hard to get words out. “You don’t do anything halfway, do you?”
He grinned. “What’s the point?”
Truer words were never spoken. She put her hands on his chest, resisting the last little space between them. “What happened the other day?”
This was it. If he shut her out again, she’d know that his words were just that. She could compromise on a lot of things, but this wasn’t one of them.
He rested his forehead against hers. “My mama has stage-four lung cancer. That’s why I was losing my shit, and that’s what I wouldn’t tell you because I could barely stand to think it.”
Oh, Adam. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too.”
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to ask the question she really needed answered. “Are you sure you’re not just reeling from the news and reacting?”
“Yes, that shit sent me for a loop, but I’ve found my feet. My mama and I have talked, and I’m working to be as at peace with her decisions as I can be, but that’s what they are—her decisions. I’m going to support her and be here for her.” He framed her face. “And I’m going to court you good and proper, Jules Rodriguez.”
She licked her lips. “Court me?”
“Yep. I’ve gone and fallen for you, and there’s only one right way to go about these things.”
She felt like she’d stepped into an alternate dimension—one she wanted so desperately, she could almost taste it. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“I sure as fuck hope not.”
He was really here. He was really saying these things. He was really willing to fight for her.
Jules hugged him close, putting everything she had into it. “I can’t say anything to make the situation with your mom right, but I’ll be here for you to lean on when you need it.” And she’d do whatever it took to help him cope with the inevitable pain. She didn’t want to say the words that rose inside her, but she couldn’t leave a single stone unturned when it came to Adam. “Are you sure this isn’t all to make her happy now, and that you’ll leave after she’s…”
“Gone?” He held her close, propping his chin on the top of her head. Strangely enough, it felt more intimate than anything they’d done up to this point. “I know nothing I say will convince you of this—that I’ll have to show you to prove it to you—but I’m not leaving, sugar. If you want to keep your distance until you believe me, that’s fine. I’m willing to wait.”
It dawned on her that he really would. He’d wait for as long as it took to convince her that this was real and he was earnest. She leaned back. “So, marriage and babies, huh?”
“Eventually.” His eyebrows rose. “Though I’m willing to negotiate on the number of rug rats.”
“How noble of you.”
“Not in the least.” He smiled. “I mean to keep you forever, sugar. And when we’re old and gray, we can scandalize the folk in Devil’s Falls just for the hell of it.”
Epilogue
Adam supported his mama’s arm as they walked down the aisle to her seat in the front row. She couldn’t get around as well these days, but she was determined not to use her chair today. It broke his heart a little bit, but she’d surpassed all the doctor’s estimates and was still holding on to her joy of life in the bargain. He couldn’t ask for more. “Here we are.”
“I’m so proud of you, baby. I don’t say that enough.”
He helped her into her chair and crouched in front of her so they were almost eye to eye. “It means the world to me every time you do.”
Her eyes shone. “I was wrong all those years ago to compare you to that man. I can’t help wondering if…”
“No, Mama. I don’t have any regrets. If things had been different, maybe I wouldn’t be marrying the woman of my dreams today.”
She nodded, her mouth trembling up into a smile. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too. Now sit here and get comfortable—I think we’re about to start.” He smiled at Lenora as she took her seat next to his mom. “You ladies have your handkerchiefs?”
Lenora laughed and waved him away. “Don’t you worry your pretty head about it. I’ve got us covered.”
“Good.” He looked at his mama. “You just wait here after the ceremony. I’ll be back to walk you to the cars.”
“We’ve got it taken care of.” Quinn and Daniel appeared next to him, both dressed to the nines in suits that matched his—black and gray. Daniel pulled him to his feet, and Quinn smiled down at the women. “I’ll be your escort to the reception. Be kind—my ego is so delicate.”
His mama and Lenora tittered. “You’re a good boy, Quinn.”
“Nah, I’m just really good at faking it.” He turned to Adam. “Get to the altar, man. It’s time.”
Time. The moment he’d been waiting for since Jules agreed to take him back. He knew she’d been unsure about it at first, but he never wavered. He wanted her. He wanted to be here. Nothing was going to change that—not now, not ever. And things slowly settled down. He got a job working with Daniel on the Rodriguez farm and started renovating his house. Jules moved in after six months, and here they were, a year later, about to make this thing truly official.
He’d never thought he could be so happy.
The music started, the groomsmen and bridesmaids walking down the aisle. There was Quinn walking with Aubry, who looked like she’d rather chew off her own arm than touch him. And Daniel with their other cousin Jamie.
And then the music changed, and there she
was. His entire world narrowed down to where Jules stepped out into the aisle, her gaze going directly to him and staying there, her big, beautiful smile striking straight to the heart of him.
Quinn nudged him. “Breathe, man.”
Adam inhaled, not realizing he’d been holding his breath. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Jules made her way to him, her dress—a princess dress was what she called it—trailing behind her. She looked like something out of a dream, but she could have been wearing a potato sack for all he cared. She handed her bouquet off to Aubry and took his hands. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
The pastor started speaking, but it might as well have been Latin. Nothing else mattered but the woman standing before him and the vows they repeated. Vows promising forever, through thick and thin. Vows making it official—he was hers and she was his. He’d heard of idiots getting cold feet at making a promise like that, but Adam had never been more sure of anything in his life.
“You may kiss the bride.”
He swept her into his arms and dipped her down into a kiss while their family and friends cheered. He set her back on her feet. “Hello, Mrs. Rodriguez-Meyer.”
“Hello, Mr. Meyer.” She grinned. “Shall we do this thing?”
“We shall.” He offered his elbow to her and they walked back down the aisle, husband and wife. From there it was another blur to the limo until the door shut between them and everyone else.
She stretched her feet out. “Whew, that was crazy. Are you going to think less of me if I kick off my heels and take to the dance floor during the reception? These things are killing my feet.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He pulled her into his lap. “I love you so much, it just blows my mind.”
“Good.” She kissed him. “Because I love you more.”
“Bullshit.” He dipped his head and captured her earlobe between his teeth, biting gently. “And you’re going to pay for saying so.”