by B. J Daniels
“I think we should all leave and let her get some rest,” Hilde said to the crowd of friends and family.
“I agree,” Hud said. He looked exhausted and so did Liza, who’d stopped in earlier. It had been a shock to hear about the deaths up on the mountain and Tessa Ryerson Spring’s involvement. Tessa had died before the ambulance got to her.
Jordan had stopped by earlier, his shoulder bandaged. Dana had hugged him for a long time after hearing what he’d been through. Both he and Liza were lucky to be alive.
Dana noticed that they had left together. She smiled to herself. There was nothing like seeing two people falling in love.
Now as everyone said their goodbyes with Stacy and Clay taking Hank and Mary home, she finally relaxed. Everything was turning out just fine. Stacy had her baby—and a job working for Hilde at Needles and Pins.
“I want to stay around, if that’s all right,” her sister had said. “I want Ella to know her cousins.”
Dana couldn’t have been happier. Clay, though, said he would be returning to Hollywood, but that he would come visit more often.
And Jordan, well, Liza was right. Jordan had changed. Love did that to a man, she thought, studying her own husband as he came back into the room pushing two bassinets.
“I thought you’d like to see your sons,” he said. “Isn’t it time you told me what names you’ve picked out? I know you, Dana. Or do you want me to guess?”
She merely smiled at him.
Hud laughed and shook his head. “You do realize what you’re doing to these two innocent little boys by naming them after our fathers, don’t you?”
Dana nodded. “I’m giving them a little bit of family history. It isn’t just about the ranch. It’s about the lives we’ve carved out here.”
Hud looked into the bassinets. “Angus?” he asked as he picked up one of their sons. “And Brick?” He handed her both infants. “So when is the building going to start on the new house?” he asked as he climbed up in the bed beside her and the babies.
“What new house?”
“Jordan’s. You know he’s staying.”
“Did he tell you that?” she asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice.
Hud gave her a disbelieving look. “You know darned well he is. I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t already picked out a spot on the ranch for him and Liza to live.”
“You’re taking this pretty well,” Dana noted.
He chuckled at that. “Your mother always said Jordan would be back. Stacy, though, I think even that would have surprised your mother.”
Dana nodded. “Mom did know her children. She always knew that one day you and I would be together. Mary Justice Cardwell was one smart woman.”
“So is her youngest daughter,” he said and kissed her.
* * *
LIZA REINED IN HER HORSE and looked out over the canyon. The day was warm and dry, possibly one of the last before winter set in. A light breeze stirred the fallen aspen leaves and sighed through the pine boughs.
Jordan brought his horse up beside hers.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yes. Beautiful.”
She heard something in his voice and looked over at him. He was grinning at her and not looking at the view at all.
“She is very beautiful.”
“You know you can’t charm me,” she said, embarrassed. No one had ever told her she was beautiful before. Cute, maybe. Unusual, often. But not beautiful. It wasn’t even the word that warmed her to the toes of her boots, though. It was the way he looked at her. He made her feel beautiful.
She thought of the scars she’d carried since high school. This case had brought back those awful years, worse, those awful feelings about herself. It had also brought Jordan back to the canyon, a surprise in so many ways.
“You think I’m trying to charm you?” He chuckled as he swung down from his horse.
Before she knew what was happening, he cupped her waist with his large hands and pulled her off her horse and into his arms.
“No, Miss Turner, quite the opposite,” he said, his lips just a breath away from hers. “You’re the one who’s charmed me. All I think about is you. You’re like no one I’ve ever known. I’m under your spell.”
She shook her head and laughed softly.
“I’m serious, Liza. You have me thinking crazy thoughts.”
“Is that right?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been thinking that I want to stay here and work the ranch with my sister. How crazy is that? Worse, right now, I’m thinking there is only one thing that could make this day more perfect.”
She grinned at him. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“I’m the one who is afraid to ask.” He dropped to one knee. “Marry me and make an honest man out of me.”
“Jordan—”
“I know this seems sudden. We should probably at least go on a real date where I’m not just another one of your suspects.”
“Be serious.”
“I am. I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you. Say you at least like me a little.” Jordan looked into her wide green eyes and thought he might drown in them. “Just a little?”
“I like you.”
He grinned.
“A lot. But marriage?”
“Yes, marriage because I’m not letting you get away, Deputy, and I can’t stand to spend another day away from you. I’d marry you right now, but we both know that my sister Dana isn’t going to allow it. She’s going to insist on a big wedding at the ranch. But that will give us time to go on a few dates. So what do you say?”
Liza’s laugh was a joyous sound. “What can I say but yes.”
He laughed and swung her up into his arms, spinning them both around. As he set her down, he kissed her, then he drew back to look into her lovely face. Their gazes locked. Electricity arced between them, hotter than any flame.
“I suppose we should wait until our wedding night,” he said ruefully.
“Not a chance,” Liza said, putting her arms around him. “I can think of no place more wonderful to make love to you the first time than up here on this mountain.”
* * *
THE WEDDING OF JORDAN CARDWELL and Liza Turner was a glorious affair. Hud and Clay gave Liza away, and stood up with Jordan. Hilde and Dana were Liza’s attendants. Hilde had made Liza’s dress, a simple white sheath that made her feel like a princess.
The ceremony was short and sweet and held in the large house on the ranch. Stacy baked the wedding cake and the kids helped decorate it. There were balloons and flowers and music. Jordan’s father and uncle came with their band to play old-fashioned Country-Western music for the affair.
Neighbors and friends stopped throughout the day to offer felicitations. Even Brick showed up to congratulate them on their wedding and Liza on solving the Tanner Cole case.
The murders and deaths had rocked the small community. Only a few people knew the story behind them and the twisted motives of those involved.
Fall and winter had come and gone. Jordan had been right about Dana insisting on a big wedding. It was spring now. The canyon was turning green from the tall grass on the ranch to the bright leaves on the aspen trees. Work had begun on a ranch house up in the hills from the main house for the two of them.
Liza had never been so happy. She had loved this family even before she fell in love with Jordan. Now she was a part of it. Raised as an orphan, she’d never known this kind of family. Or this kind of love.
Construction on their house on the ranch wasn’t quite done, but would be soon. In the meantime, the two of them had been staying in Liza’s condo and dating.
Jordan had insisted on a honeymoon. “Hawaii? Tahiti? Mexico? You name it,” he’d said.
But Liza didn’t want to leave Montana. “Surprise me,” she’d s
aid. “Wherever you take me will be perfect.”
“How did I get so lucky?” he asked and kissed her as they left in a hail of birdseed.
She had no idea where they were going. She didn’t care. With Jordan she knew it would always be an adventure.
* * *
Cardwell Ranch: Montana Legacy continues in 2020 with a brand-new trilogy!
Until then, look for more great books from New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels. Here’s a peek at Just His Luck, from the Sterling’s Montana series.
Just His Luck
by B.J. Daniels
Chapter One
Another scream rose in her throat as the icy water rushed in around her. She fought to free herself, but the ropes that bound her wrists to the steering wheel held tight, chafing her skin until it tore and bled. Her throat was raw from screaming while outside the car the wind kicked up whitecaps on the pond. The waves sloshed against the windows. Inside the car, water rose around her feet before climbing up her legs to lap at her waist.
She pleaded for help as the water began to rise up her chest. As it touched her throat, she screamed even though she knew there wasn’t anyone out there who would be coming to her rescue. Certainly not the person standing on the shore watching.
The pond was outside of town, away from everything. She knew now that was why her killer had chosen it. Worse, no one would be looking for her after all the bridges she’d burned tonight at her high school graduation party.
“You’re big on torturing people,” her killer had said. “Not so much fun when the shoe is on the other foot, huh.”
More than half-drunk, the bitter taste of betrayal in her mouth, she’d wanted to beg for her life. But her pride wouldn’t have let her—even if the drug coursing through her veins would have. As her hands were bound to the steering wheel, she was sure that the only reason this was happening was to scare her. But she thought this had gone far enough. No one would actually kill her. Not even someone she’d bullied at school.
She was Ariel Matheson. Everyone wanted to be her friend. Everyone wanted to be her, the sexy, spoiled rich girl. No one hated her enough to go through with this. Even when the car had been pushed into the pond, she’d told herself that her new baby-blue SUV wouldn’t sink. Or if it did, the water wouldn’t be deep enough that she’d drown.
The dank water splashed into her face. Frantic, she tried to sit up higher, but the seat belt and the rope on her wrists held her down. The car lurched under her as it wallowed half-full of water on the rough surface of the pond. Waves splashed over the windshield, obscuring the lights of Whitefish, Montana, as the SUV slowly sank and she felt the last few minutes of her life slipping away.
She spit out a mouthful of water and told herself that this wasn’t happening. Things like this didn’t happen to her. This was not the way her life would end. It couldn’t be.
Panic made her suck in another mouthful of awful-tasting water. She tried to hold her breath as she told herself that she was destined for so much more. The Girl Most Likely to End Up with Everything She Wanted, it said in her yearbook.
Bubbles rose around her as the car filled to the headliner, forcing her to let out the breath she’d been holding. This was real. This wasn’t just to scare her.
The last thing she saw before the SUV sank the rest of the way was her killer standing on the bank in the dark night, watching her die. Would anyone miss her? Mourn her? She’d made so many enemies. Would anyone even come looking for her in the days ahead? Her parents would think that she’d run away. Her friends...
Fury replaced her fear. They thought she was a bitch before? As water filled her lungs, she swore revenge. If she could do it over? She’d make them pay.
Available September 2019 wherever HQN Books are sold.
Copyright © 2019 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781488052750
Iron Will & Justice at Cardwell Ranch
Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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of the individual works as follows:
Iron Will
Copyright © 2019 by Barbara Heinlein
Justice at Cardwell Ranch
Copyright © 2012 by Barbara Heinlein
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