by Donna Grant
“I suppose you’ll come to the station and file charges,” Danny said.
He nodded. “Definitely.”
“You did good here today, Clayton. And if you had killed Baxter, it would’ve been in self-defense.”
He looked at Danny and smiled. “I’ll always be a SEAL, but that part of my life is behind me. I’ve got something else to look forward to.”
“You mean someone else,” Danny said with a wink.
“Yeah. I do.”
Danny slapped him on the back. “Good for you. Now, let’s get you home so you can get moving on that. I suppose there’ll be a wedding soon.”
A wedding. Clayton stood there as a slow smile spread across his face.
“I take that to mean yes,” Danny said with a chuckle. His laugh grew louder as he walked to the patrol car.
* * *
The waiting was the worst. Abby could practically feel years being taken from her as she anxiously waited for some type of word.
Each time she thought of Clayton getting hurt, she felt sick inside. In a short amount of time, he’d come to mean so very much to her. She’d tried to ignore it and even attempted to run from it. But there was no getting away from someone like Clayton—and she didn’t want to.
That’s when she knew what her brothers had apparently already seen—she was in love with Clayton East. It terrified her, but worse was the thought of him not being with her, of them not sharing their lives together.
When she and Justine saw Ben jump into his truck, Abby opened the door to ask Caleb what was going on. Before she could get a word out, her youngest brother ran to the vehicle.
“Caleb!” she yelled as he got into the truck and it sped off.
Justine sighed loudly. “It must be good news. Ben was grinning.”
“I just wish I knew,” Abby said as she walked back into the house and closed the door.
“You should take one of your pain pills. I can see you’re hurting.”
Abby shook her head. “I can’t. Not yet.”
“You’ve been saying that since dawn.”
“I’m good,” she insisted.
Frankly, she was. Being so worried about Brice and Clayton, she didn’t feel the ache in her arm as much. That would probably come back to bite her later, but for now, she was grateful.
To pass the time, she helped decorate another batch of cookies. Abby then went into the office. There was no way she could stare out the window, letting all sorts of scenarios run through her mind.
One way to take her mind off everything was to immerse herself in the ranch’s books. So she took a deep breath and pulled up the form she’d been working from as well as the papers. Then she got to work.
To her surprise, while working, she found three instances where it looked as if Gilroy had purposefully transposed numbers. A thousand dollars here, two thousand there, and so on, and it added up quickly.
Now that she knew what to look for, Abby was able to quickly scan through each month and locate the easiest places where the CPA had begun taking the money. But one question remained. Why? The Easts were paying him a very nice salary, so why would he need to take more? That had her picking up the phone and calling the bank.
Because she still technically worked for Gloria, the bank was used to her calling to see about certain clients and how many accounts they had open. Within minutes, she learned that Nathan Gilroy had opened another account at the branch three years earlier.
Abby quickly added up a few months of sums that had gone missing and asked if those exact deposits had been made in each of those months. Once the banker confirmed it, Abby knew for sure how Gilroy had begun embezzling money. But something must have happened that made him need a much larger sum. Or he just got greedy.
She hung up the phone and sat back in the chair. She lifted her eyes, her gaze clashing with Clayton’s. Her heart missed a beat as she jerked upright. His hair was stuck to his head with sweat, and he was covered in dust, but he was smiling and safe. He pushed away from the door and started toward her. Abby rushed around the desk and threw her arm around him.
He pressed his lips against the top of her head and kissed her. “It’s over. Baxter and his men are in jail, the cattle are back in our pasture, and there’s no longer a threat hanging over your family.”
She leaned back to look up at him. “I’ve been so worried.”
“I told you everything would be all right, and I always keep my word.”
Abby nodded and hugged him again. “God, it’s so good to have you back in my arms.”
His hands came to either side of her face as he tilted her head up to look at him. “You and I need to talk. There are things I need to say to you.”
“And there are things I need to say to you,” she said.
A brow quirked up. “Do you now?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His pale green eyes grew laden with desire as his head lowered to hers. Just before their lips touched, Brice and Caleb began shouting her name.
They barreled into the office, both talking at once.
“Abby, you should’ve seen Clayton fight. It was amazing.”
“I got to herd cattle, Abby. On top of a horse. I want a horse. Can I have a horse?”
“I really want to work on the ranch. I’ll even do it for free.”
“Me, too. Free.”
She had trouble listening to both of them talk over each other, so she just nodded and smiled. Beside her, Clayton kept his arm around her while looking between the two teens.
“I think I need a shot of tequila now,” he said when they finally quieted.
But all he did was turn her brothers’ attention to him. They began talking again, this time bombarding him with questions about the ranch. As Abby watched the three most important men in her life, she was finally able to admit to herself that she was happy and that this was the life she wanted.
Chapter 33
The talk Clayton had wanted to have with her, and she with him, didn’t happen. Not that there weren’t chances, but Abby always chickened out. Besides, she wasn’t exactly sure what to say. And since he didn’t bring it up, she was afraid to.
For the next week, leading up to Christmas, she and her brothers remained at the ranch. Brice and Caleb had rooms at the house, but they continued to sleep with Shane and the other ranch hands in the bunkhouse. Yet, they were up and ready on time each morning for school.
As for Abby, she had officially resigned her position with Gloria and had registered for a full load of classes starting the upcoming spring semester. And she continued to work as the ranch’s bookkeeper—she refused to use “CPA” until she had the degree and the certification.
With the extra money she earned at the ranch, she declined Clayton’s offer and paid a crew to go in and clean up the house herself. It had taken them several days, and unfortunately, they were finishing that very day. Which meant she had no reason to remain at the ranch after Christmas.
She saved the spreadsheet she’d been working on and thought about the days—and nights—at the ranch. They had all settled into a routine.
Justine made breakfast where they all gathered in the morning. The boys downed as much food as they could after going so long with so little. Clayton ate almost as much as they did, but she wasn’t much for food in the mornings, so Abby was content with a cup of coffee.
Ben drove the boys to school while Justine cleaned the kitchen. Clayton would give Abby a lingering kiss and a wink before walking out to meet Shane. And she would make her way to the office.
Doing the books for the ranch was a full-time position. There was so much to keep her occupied until lunch, and then again until her brothers came home from school and she helped Justine with dinner.
Most nights, Ben and Justine would disappear somewhere together, and her brothers would head off with Shane, doing whatever they could to spend time with the horses. That left her and Clayton with a lot of time together that they made use of by making lov
e.
Abby pushed back from the desk and stood. Her arm was much better, though she still had some pain. She walked to a closet in the office to take out the bags of presents she’d bought her brothers.
It was a sad fact that she was spoiling them fiercely this year. The extra money she brought in had gone to get them caught up with most of the bills, but she kept some out to give her brothers a Christmas the likes of which they’d never had.
She had wrapped the gifts earlier that morning, and she needed to move them to the trunk of her car so her brothers wouldn’t see them. Because she didn’t plan on putting anything out until Christmas morning.
Yet when she opened the door, the packages were gone. Abby’s heart fell to her stomach. She turned and walked from the office to find Justine.
“Hello, dear,” Justine said when she looked up from frosting a cake.
“Hi. I’m … ah … did you happen to find some bags full of presents that I kept in the office closet? I put them in there this morning.”
Justine smiled and rotated the cake, bending to see it better. “I did. They’re under the living room tree.”
“Oh.” Well, what did she say to that? “I was actually going to put those under our tree.” Never mind that she hadn’t actually bought a new tree or ornaments yet. That was something she’d stay up until dawn doing if need be.
Justine looked at her over the cake. “You mean you’re leaving?”
“Well, the house is ready.”
“So?”
Abby swallowed, racking her brain for what to say. “There’s no reason for us to stay now, and I—”
“No reason to stay?” Justine repeated, raising an eyebrow as she straightened. “Are you sure of that?”
She looked away. There was every incentive to stay, but Clayton hadn’t asked her. And to be fair, she hadn’t had the guts to talk to him about it.
Yet, in her mind, it was his family, his house. It should be up to him to ask her to stay. And he hadn’t. In fact, he hadn’t mentioned anything about a relationship or his feelings toward her at all. She knew he cared for her. He showed her every day in so many ways.
“Don’t go,” Justine said. “You promised to stay for dinner tonight anyway. So why not remain so we can have Christmas together?”
That was two days from now. There was nothing she wanted more than to wake up Christmas morning in Clayton’s arms. Actually, she wanted to do that every morning.
If Ben or Justine knew that they were sharing a bed, neither of them let it show. Abby had gone to great pains so that they didn’t know, and Clayton went along with her, smiling and shaking his head.
“You’re family now, Abby,” Justine said.
She lowered her gaze to the countertop. “Y’all have been so good to us.”
“Then let us continue.”
There was no way Abby could refuse, and Justine knew it. Besides, Abby wanted to stay. This gave her the excuse. Clayton knew the progress on her house. What if he expected her to leave tonight? What if her fears had come true and his feelings had changed?
“Okay,” Abby said, even as her stomach knotted with all her uncertainties and terrors.
She somehow got through the rest of the afternoon until dinner. Clayton walked in the back door and greeted her with a smile and a kiss before he went upstairs for his shower.
Abby had searched his face for any sign that he wasn’t happy to see her, but she didn’t decipher anything. She even thought to go up after him so they could talk. But her doubts held her back.
If he did want to end their time together, why would she want to know that before Christmas? Why not wait until after so at least she, Caleb, and Brice could have a wonderful holiday?
She backed off the stairs and went to the office to do more work until it was time to eat. And when dinner came, she found herself looking around, trying to remember every detail.
Just in case.
* * *
“You need to be careful,” Justine said the next morning.
Clayton glanced behind him to look for Abby. He frowned at his mother. “Shhh.”
“She wanted to leave yesterday.”
He paused with the coffee halfway to his mouth. Clayton pinned his mother with a look. “Why didn’t you tell me last night?”
“Couldn’t you see something was different about her?”
“Yeah. When I asked, she told me she was tired.”
His mother rolled her eyes. “Lord, give me strength.” Then she looked at him. “Your plan isn’t going to work.”
“It will.”
“She’s pulling away, Clayton. Look around,” Justine said, spreading her arms. “She never misses a breakfast, but she’s not here. She’s in the office.”
Clayton set his mug down and blew out a breath. “Damn.”
“Uh, yeah,” his mother snapped.
“I’ve given her no indication that I wanted her to leave.”
His mother shot him a flat look. “You’ve not told her you want her to stay either.”
“I plan on it.”
“Son, you should’ve already told her instead of waiting. I warned you this might happen.”
She had, but Clayton had felt sure Abby would take his actions over his words. And he’d made a point of doing everything he could to let her know that he not only wanted her to stay but that he loved her—short of actually saying the words.
He stood from the bar stool and walked to the office, ignoring his mother, who tried to call him back. He walked into the room and found Abby standing at the window watching Caleb and Brice.
“You feeling okay?” he asked as he came to stand beside her.
She looked at him and smiled. “Yeah, I just wanted an early start today. Then I saw my brothers. Do you know that it used to take an act of God every morning to get them out of bed and into the shower? After their shower, they’d go back to sleep. I had to get them up twice. Every morning,” she said with a grin. But it faded softly. “And look at them now.”
“It upsets you?”
“Just thinking of the future.”
“Which upsets you,” he guessed.
She gave a light snort with a half grin that followed. “I have so much to thank you and your family for. I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to repay any of it.”
“Who says we want you to repay it?” he asked and wrapped an arm around her.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “We struggled for so long, clawing for every little scrap we could get our hands on. This is such a different world.”
“If the money is the issue, I can stop paying you.” He smiled when he heard her laugh.
He wanted to make her laugh every day, because the sound warmed his heart just as her smile touched his soul. She’d healed parts of him he hadn’t known were broken.
“I have a habit of assuming you know what I want,” he told her. “It’s why I didn’t ask you to stay for Christmas. I thought you knew.”
She looked up at him and gave him a genuine smile. “I’ll stay. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get my brothers to leave.”
“I’m fine with that. As long as you stay with them.”
She searched his face. Clayton almost told her everything right then and there, but he’d been planning for a week now and everything was almost complete.
“My house is done,” she said.
He shrugged. “It’s clean. It isn’t furnished. In case you forgot, they broke and tore up the bed and mattresses. I’ve been working you pretty hard here, so unless you bought replacements online, you don’t have a place to sleep.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time we slept on the floor.”
Those words broke his heart. He held her tighter. “You’ll never sleep on the floor again if I have anything to say about it.”
“Living here, working here is like a dream. It’s hard not to wonder when the nightmare will start.”
He kissed her temple. “I could tell you that it won’t, but I d
on’t think you’d believe me.”
“Look at my brothers,” she said. “Their time here has wiped away the past.”
He turned her to look at him. “They wanted to let go. Do you?”
“Yes. Very much so,” she said with a nod.
“Then let go.”
“It’s not that easy.”
He smoothed back her dark hair and looked into her beautiful, blue eyes. “It is when you have someone to catch you.” Clayton wanted to shoot Shane when he called his name from the kitchen. “I’ve got to go. You going to be okay?”
“Of course,” she stated. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He decided not to reply to that question. “I’ll see you later.”
Clayton kissed her deeply, stirring the fires of desire between them. When he pulled back, her eyes were glossy and her lips swollen.
If he couldn’t tell her what he wanted—yet—he could leave her thinking about him.
“Until later,” he whispered.
She nodded, grinning. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“You won’t have to.” He gave her a wink and went to start his day.
Chapter 34
Christmas Eve
He’d never been more nervous in his life. Clayton tugged at the sleeves of his red button-down. As planned, his mother kept Abby occupied all day so she wouldn’t see him.
A knock on his door had him glancing at the clock before he bade them entry. He turned as Brice and Caleb entered the room. Clayton noted that both were wearing the new cowboy boots his parents had gotten them. Unable to wait until tomorrow, his mother had the gifts waiting at breakfast. The boys had been wearing the boots ever since.
“You wanted to see us,” Brice said.
Caleb closed the door behind him. “We didn’t do anything wrong, did we?”
“No,” Clayton said with a smile. “I wanted to ask both of you something. I should’ve done it earlier in the week, but I didn’t want your sister to know anything.”
Brice nodded. “And you didn’t think we could keep a secret.”
“I didn’t want to chance it,” Clayton said. He cleared his throat. “The thing is, I like all of you living here. I want the three of you to continue living at the ranch. And I want to make it official. I love Abby, and I’d like both of your consents for me to ask her to be my wife.”