Brandon straightened and turned toward his dad. “I appreciate that.” He’d appreciate it more if he wasn’t so worried about Cassidy. He’d also be more focused on the fact that his dad went to a couples workshop.
“You love that woman,” Cornelius said. “Like I love Jessica, God help me.” He turned to look at his wife, who sat across the room, talking to Dirk and Dustin.
The air whooshed out of Brandon. He’d known in the Lewistown B and B that his feelings for Cassidy had gone rogue and were beyond his control. His subconscious must have been working behind the scenes the past days to keep him held back just enough. Self-preservation.
But now? All he could think about was Cassidy. Cassidy and his baby. If he had to punch himself in the head to wake the hell up about what was important, he’d do it.
Actually, Cassidy walking away last night had done that. Knocked him upside the head.
“I do,” Brandon said, realizing he’d lost the fight against love. He’d tried and failed spectacularly and for that he was grateful. It shouldn’t have taken an emergency to conk him over the head and free his heart, but it had. And now he knew the truth. “I love her very much.”
I love you, Cassidy Ware! He wanted to jump on his chair and scream it for everyone to hear. I love you!
“Told ya,” Daphne whispered as she walked by, stopping to give his hand a squeeze. She nodded at Cornelius, her expression deservedly hard on the man, but still acknowledging their dad had done something right here.
Poor Brandon. Madly in love and fighting like hell against it.
What he needed right now was for Cassidy to be okay. For their baby to be okay. His baby was his priority rock, he knew, his brother’s words coming back to him. Find or make your own priority rock... It’ll help.
Actually, the baby alone wasn’t his priority rock. Cassidy was, too. They both were. He loved them both. Cassidy because of the woman she was. The baby because he was Brandon’s child. And when he met that child this spring, Brandon would love him for who he was, as well.
Understanding slammed into his head and his heart with such force that he almost tipped over.
He did love Cassidy. Madly. But he had a terrible feeling that he’d come to that realization too late.
Chapter Sixteen
Cassidy knew Brandon had to be sick with worry. Over an hour had passed since she’d arrived at the hospital, waiting, filling out forms, getting poked and prodded. She was fine. The baby was fine.
The moment she’d heard those words from the doctor she’d known that nothing else would matter as much. She would be okay.
With or without Brandon Taylor.
Her heart was broken, but her baby was just fine. And for that, she would be forever grateful.
The doctor had just signed her discharge papers, and as soon as she could get out of this hospital gown and into her clothes, she could leave.
According to a nurse, the waiting area was full of Taylors, one in particular who’d been pacing and constantly asking about her and the baby’s condition.
That Brandon cared wasn’t at issue. Of course he cared. But caring and loving were two different things.
A knock came on the door, and Cassidy called out for the person to come in. Brandon appeared, his face ashen, his dark eyes worried.
Her heart squeezed in her chest. How she loved this man. How was she supposed to let him go?
“Please tell me everything’s okay, Cass,” he said, sitting on the bed and taking her hands. “No one would tell me anything.”
“The baby and I are both fine. The doctor ran tests. All is well. He said it was just some natural cramping, but that it’s good I came in to be checked out. I have my discharge papers so I’m good to go once I get dressed.”
She could see the relief hit him—so hard that he dropped his head in her lap.
He sat up straight and looked at her. “Cassidy, I have so much to say. So much to tell you.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked. More of the same, she was sure. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. Tears stung the backs of her eyes.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Not here. Not while I’m in this bed and in this dumb backless gown. I want to go home.”
“I’ll give you some privacy to get dressed,” he said. “My family’s outside. They may mob you. My dad included. I’ll let them know you’re okay and they should go to give you space.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. She wasn’t a part of that family. Her baby would be.
But not her.
He left and she let out a haggard, heartbroken sigh, then quickly got dressed. She waited a solid ten minutes before peeking outside. The Taylors were gone. Only Brandon remained.
He was quiet on the way to her apartment, quiet as he gently helped her up the stairs.
When the door closed behind him, she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Okay, I’m listening, Brandon.”
Go ahead. Break my heart all over again.
Somehow, she was going to have to accept that he didn’t love her, couldn’t love, wouldn’t love her.
She sat down on the sofa. He sat beside her and took both her hands, his eyes serious on hers.
“I’m so sorry about last night, Cassidy. You asked me if I loved you, and I didn’t respond, like a total fool, but the truth is, I love you more than anything in the world. You mean everything to me. You and our baby. I love you so much. So, so much.”
She stared at him. Everything she’d wanted him to say last night he was saying now. A few hours and a scare made that much difference?
She wasn’t buying it. He cared. He’d been very afraid for her and the baby just an hour ago. But he didn’t love her.
“That’s the fear talking, I guess, Brandon. You were afraid you’d lose me or the baby and realized how much you care about both of us. That’s a beautiful thing. But it’s not love.”
He gaped at her.
“Brandon, tonight, tomorrow, you’ll realize what I’m saying is true.”
“Now who doesn’t want to believe the truth because she’s scared?” he said softly. “I deserve not to be believed, Cassidy. You’re right to be wary. And yeah, you scared the hell out of me. But I knew in Lewistown while sitting next to you in that baby seminar that I loved you like crazy.”
“Lewistown?” she repeated. She remembered how he’d said he’d try. How he’d made love to her at the B and B. Like a man in love. Like a man who’d never let her go. That night, she’d believed in him, in them. That they really had a chance.
“I love you, Cassidy. You. And I love our baby-to-be. I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much.”
She gasped. She could see the sincerity in his eyes, in his expression. She felt it in his hands. “You do love me. You really do.”
He moved the coffee table back a bit and then got down on one knee. “The ring is coming, Cassidy. But will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest man on this planet?”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. Oh, Brandon. “I will marry you. Yes, yes, yes!” she screamed.
He grinned and stood up and scooped her into his arms and kissed her. “I love you, Cassidy Ware.”
“Guess we’re not going our separate ways forever,” she said with a smile.
“No, in fact, I want to marry you as soon as possible. Not because of the baby. Because of you. Oh, and my dad helped knock some sense into me. He said you were one in a million, and he’s right.”
“Speaking of millions... Well, a tenth of that, I got my loan. The bank officer left a message for me last night.”
“Congratulations!” he said “I had nothing to do with that. I swear,” he said, pressing a hand to his heart.
“I know,” she said. “The loan officer assured me of that.”
“I’m sorry I was so
stubborn. That I fought against us. I’m so grateful to you for sticking by me, Cassidy.”
She gasped again. “I’m glad I did it,” she said slowly. “That’s it! That’s what Winona knew I’d be glad that I did. Not give up on you. I knew my goodbye last night wasn’t permanent. It never could be. We have a baby between us. I believed at the very beginning that you’d come around, and you did.”
“I love you with all my heart,” Brandon said, then kissed her again.
“We kissed and made up and it turns out we’re staying together forever. Take that, fifteen-year-old bet.”
He smiled. “Can I call the Taylors with the good news? I’ll start with my Dad and Jessica.”
“Go right ahead. Put them on speaker.”
A few minutes later, there was whooping and wolf whistles, Cornelius and Jessica talking over each other in their excitement, yelling for Dirk and Dustin to come hear the great news.
“We all bought out the hospital gift shop,” Cornelius said. “Lots of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals await you two. Sorry, but a quarter of it won’t fit in that tiny apartment of yours. Guess we’ll be seeing you around the ranch?”
Cassidy laughed. She and Cornelius would find their way. And she couldn’t wait to get to know Jessica better. All the Taylors.
Cassidy Taylor. She liked the sound of it.
Finally, it was just the two of them again.
“Selfie of this special moment,” Brandon said, getting out his phone. “I’m going to send the photo to the family.”
“You’re going to be a great dad—and a great husband.”
He hugged her, then held out the phone and snapped a photo, their smiles big like the love in their hearts.
Brandon grinned at the selfie. “You, me and our baby. Our family. Now I really know the meaning of the word priceless.”
“Love you, Brandon Taylor.”
“Love you times a million, Cassidy Ware Taylor to-be.”
This time, she had no doubts of that.
Priceless, indeed.
* * *
Look for the next book in the new Harlequin Special Edition continuity Montana Mavericks: The Real Cowboys of Bronco Heights
Grand-Prize Cowboy
by Heatherly Bell
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The Rancher’s Summer Secret
by New York Times bestselling author
Christine Rimmer
For His Daughter’s Sake
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The Late Bloomer’s Road to Love
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
George Fenelli looked quite good for a man who’d had an all but debilitating heart attack almost two years ago. A born fighter, George had come back from that the way he had from all the curveballs, large and small, that life had thrown him.
What he wasn’t able to overcome was his discomfort for the reason why he was sitting across from Maizie Sommers in her real estate office. He had known Maizie a long time. Known her long before his beloved Marilyn had died, leaving him to soldier on and raise their only daughter, Rachel, on his own. His friendship with Maizie went way back.
As a matter of fact, it was Maizie who had sold him the restaurant that he had worked hard to build up and had turned into the thriving, trendy go-to eatery it had become. From the very beginning, working at the restaurant had been a labor of love for George, his wife and daughter, even though Marilyn had a full-time job as a nurse and Rachel had been a middle school student. Whenever they could spare the time, they worked at the restaurant. He had to admit that it was Marilyn’s salary that had kept them afloat those days, when money had been tight.
Gradually, things changed and the restaurant had become a success. It was around that time that Marilyn began to grow ill. Three years later, she was gone and the restaurant was the only thing that kept George going. He pushed on relentlessly, doing the work of three men.
And that was the problem. Just when Rachel graduated high school—with honors—and was about to go off to college with the young man she considered to be the love of her life, George had suffered a heart attack.
Rachel never hesitated for a moment. She immediately put a halt to all her plans. Despite his protests, she remained by his side through the surgeries and then his slow, long road back to the land of the living. Somehow, with her relentless determination, she also continued to run the restaurant that she knew like the back of her hand. What that meant was that she slept in snatches and worked like a demon the rest of the time.
Meanwhile, she had to forfeit over two years of her life, as well as the man with whom she had thought she was going to share the rest of her life.
George was determined to make it up to her, to give Rachel back at least part of what she had lost because of him. Which was ultimately what had brought him to Maizie’s office.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about her getting back together with that fickle creep, Elliott James,” he told Maizie. “If you ask me, my girl is better off without him.”
“You’re talking about her former fiancé, right?” Maizie asked.
How Maizie kept everyone’s life straight in her head was beyond George, but that was why he had sought her out to begin with. She was exceedingly bright and intuitive and he needed her to apply her special magic to Rachel’s life.
Word had gotten around that Maizie and her two lifelong best friends, Theresa and Cilia, dabbled in matchmaking on the side, although all of them ran their own businesses, as well. So far, there hadn’t been a mismatch among all the people they’d helped—and George’s hopes had soared when he’d heard that.
A man worthy of his daughter—that was what he was looking for.
Someone far different from her disgusting ex. “Yes, the one who thought nothing of leaving her behind the moment he found someone else to tickle his fancy, or whatever they call it these days,” he said. “That loser’s married now, you know.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Maizie answered. “I take it that despite your recovery, Rachel hasn’t gone back to college yet?”
He shook his head. “She won’t hear of it. She’s afraid if she leaves me, I’ll start to overdo it again and have another heart attack. You ask me, Rachel’s the candidate for a heart attack. She’s running the restaurant and taking courses online at night. Don’t ask me when she sleeps. I don’t think she does.”
Maizie did her best to get the facts straight. “I thought you were back at the restaurant.”
He sighed. Life had certainly gotten out of kilter. “I am, but only part-time. Rachel refuses to hear about me going back full-time until I complete the physical therapy requirements the doctor insisted on. Rachel’s the one who’s running Vesuvius.” He frowned, thinking about the physical therapists he had been saddled with. “The therapists I’ve tried so far I haven’t liked, but Rachel won’t let me give up. She’s determined to have her way. She’s stubborn, like her mother,” he added with a faint smile.
“Uh-huh.” More like her father, Maizie thought, although she kept that to herself.
Normally, Maizie was an exceedingly patient woman, but she had clients coming in shortly, so she tried to coax George along a little, although she was certain she knew exactly where this was heading.
Matchmaking.
Matchmaking had just started out as something she and her friends had undertaken to nudge their children in the right direction when it came to finding someone to share their lives with.
When that had turned out so well, they’d just decided to continue. There was an unspoken agreement among them that if any of the matches they made wound up failing, they would cease their efforts. But so far, they still hadn’t failed. Every couple they brought together had gotten married and remained together.
Every single one of them.
It was a track record all three were exceedingly proud of.
Maizie decided it was time to prod George along just a little. “Everything going well at the restaurant?”
“Absolutely. We have more business than we can handle,” he told her.
“Wonderful,” she replied with enthusiasm, her mouth curving. “And you’re not in the market for a new house, are you?”
This time his response was more emphatic. “Oh, no, that’s the house where Rachel was born, where Marilyn and I made all those wonderful memories. I have no intention of ever selling it.”
Maizie nodded. She could understand that. “Then I take it you’re here because of my other ‘vocation.’ And since I’m assuming that you’re not looking for a date at this stage of your life, I take it this is about a match for Rachel.” As she said the words, she saw George cringe. “Something wrong?”
“No, it just sounds so businesslike, not to mention that it seems like I’m pushing my nose where it doesn’t belong.” He was painfully aware of what Rachel would say if she ever found out what he was doing.
Maizie smiled. “Ah, the business of romance is a very important part of our lives, George. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes strings have to be pulled. I just need to make certain that that is your intent. And don’t worry, unless you tell her yourself, Rachel is never going to find out that any of this was arranged. I promise,” she added very seriously.
Rather than say yes, he told her, “Because of me, Rachel put going to college on hold. And because of that, she stayed behind while her worthless fiancé went to college.”
The Most Eligible Cowboy Page 19