by Tee, Marian
He saw Tilly gulp hard in an effort to control her tears, but violent sobs still ended up racking her body, and the sight made Logan want to carve his own heart out. God. He had never known he had hurt her like this.
"I'm sorry," he said rawly. "I'd sell everything I have just to turn back time and do right by you—-" His voice became hollow. "But I can't. All I can do is make it up to you and hope to God you'll find it in your heart to forgive me...and keep loving me back."
Tilly's lips parted in silent shock.
Love him...back?
Was he saying—-
Logan's fierce gaze captured hers. "I love you." She started shaking her head, and desperation to make her believe him turned his voice harsh and forceful. "I love you."
"You don't—-"
"I texted Raj," he cut in tautly. "I told him the deal's off." But instead of finding the words reassuring, Tilly became visibly distressed, and he couldn't fucking understand it until he heard her speak—-
"I don't want to ever stand in the way of your dreams, and that was your dream—-"
God. That she thought that, that he had made her think that—-
"You're my dream," Logan insisted fiercely. "I was too stupid to figure out what's been under my nose all this time, but it will be different now."
"I don't want you to hate me—-"
"I don't. I won't. I never will. Because I mean what I said, baby. I love you." He kept his gaze locked with hers, willing Tilly to see the truth in his eyes. "I wish there's something else I could do, tear my fucking chest open to show you what's inside my heart. But I've got nothing, and you don't know how much that goddamn terrifies me."
Logan breathed hard, the thought of what he was about to say next making him feel sick to his stomach. For almost his entire life, he had lived by his father's rules, believing that it had been the right thing to do.
But now...
"I worshipped my dad," the billionaire heard himself say, "and it made me blind to his faults. He could've picked up the pieces of his life, but he let his fears and bitterness ruin him. He still had the chance to start fresh when she left. He might have lost his wife, but he still had me, dammit. He could've chosen to live for me, to take another risk at life for me. But instead, he chose to drank himself to an early grave."
Dark eyes filled with agony turned to her, and Tilly had to fight against the urge to pull the billionaire into his arms.
"Seeing how much my father suffered made me believe I had to choose between love and ambition, but living with you...being with you...loving you...it made me realize there doesn't have to be a choice. When you have the right person with you...the bad things aren't as fucking bad and the good things are twice as good...because I have you to share them with. Raising Liam used to scare the hell out of me, but the moment I saw you with him - hearing him laugh and call you Mama - the future stopped looking bleak, and I—-" The billionaire swallowed hard. "Will you believe me if I tell you I actually dreamt of the future, and it was you, me, Liam, and Billie, and our own child?"
Tilly just stared at him, tears falling down her cheeks, and not a single word slipping past her still-trembling lips. But the look in her eyes was enough, and his chest tightened at what he saw.
His hand shook as he slowly reached for her hand.
Please God.
His fingers started to twine with hers—-
Don't make her turn me away.
Her own fingers started to move—-
Please.
In order to twine back with his.
Relief slammed into him, and his gaze started to sting.
Tilly saw the sheen in the billionaire's dark eyes, and her heart...oh, her heart...it started feeling funny again, but it was a good, sweet kind of funny, the kind that promised forever.
Logan tightened his grip on her hand, and emotions turned his voice into a rasp as he uttered the words that he knew he would be vowing to her every damn day of the rest of their lives.
"I love you."
And the words that he used to scorn and fear—-
They completed him this time, as his wife smiled tearily up at him, her answer shining in eyes that were once again vividly brimming with life.
I love you, too.
Epilogue
Hello again, my secretive gossipy little lambs!
You are all going to so love the latest news to share with you, and as always you'll hear this FIRST on my website. Are you ready?
Logan Hardwall, the last billionaire bachelor standing of San Antonio's Finest Eligibles (SAFE) is officially off the market!
And for those who have been avidly following the romantic escapades of the Texan oil baron, many of you may not be surprised that the lucky lady is none other than Mathilda Wakefield.
Yes, it really is that Mathilda, the nanny who had been photographed enjoying the billionaire's, err, devoted attention in various occasions (i.e. doing the deed at the daycare, passion at the park, love at the library).
Our ever-reliable source further revealed that the couple's marriage was a lavish but intimate ceremony held over the weekend at Mariposa House, the picturesque B&B owned by Mrs. Acheron Simonides, who coincidentally shares a similar uniform-to-wedding-gown love story by starting out as the Greek billionaire's secretary before eventually being promoted to becoming the boss' wife.
Mmm...I'm sure you see the pattern here, my rumor-loving lambs. ;)
That's it for today's tea sesh. Yours truly has to go, with so many other rich & famous people to stalk and a lot more trouble to brew.
- Kiss, kiss -
Ms. Tea for Tat
The End
Author's Note
13 Jan 2021 (Wed)
2342H Manila, Philippines
Thank you so much for taking the time to read San Antonio's Finest Eligibles. It's my first time to have all of my four Evergreen mail-order bride books in one bundle, and honestly, being able to revisit it has made me want to write another mail-order bride romance. Yay or nay? Let me know by writing a review for this bundle, pretty, pretty please? :D
But all jokes aside, I do hope you're all doing well. The end of the pandemic is finally within sight, and we just need to keep working together until it's once again safe to go out and be in each other's company.
Sending you guys love and prayers from the Philippines,
Marian Tee
P.S. For those new to my work, the the Crown Prince of Najma first showed up in My Controlling Sheikh, and since then he's gotten his own happy ever after in My Insatiable Sheikh. Check out Acheron's Woman if you'd like to read Acheron & Pippa's story.
P.P.S. These four books are actually part of my Steamy Small Town Romance series. Please flip to the next section to enjoy an excerpt of the fifth book.
P.P.P.S. Last but not the least, please consider subscribing to my newsletter if you'd like to be the first one to be notified about my newest books. No spamming, I promise!
Billionaire Rancher, Secret Lover
In the small Wyoming town he calls his second home, billionaire Slade Wyndham trades his thousand-dollar suits for aprons and jeans, and instead of wheeling and dealing in the boardroom, he's manning the counter at Redwood Cafe and whipping up the best latte art in town.
It's a (seasonal) role Slade's come to enjoy, but when quiet little mouse Kady applies as a part-time waitress, the billionaire finds himself adding a new job title to his résumé: fairy godfather, with Slade unable to resist the urge of teaching Kady how to stand up for herself and steal back her Prince Charming from her fake best friend.
As Kady blossoms under Slade's tutelage, all signs should've pointed to a happy-ever-after ending...until the billionaire realized he was better suited to be a villain.
Women like Kady deserved to be wooed and wedded, but what if all Slade wanted was to bed her?
KADY SLOWED THE CAR to a stop so she could reach for the map she had tossed on the passenger seat.
She had bought it on impulse at a 7-11 near her u
niversity in Laramie. She had heard that the Internet was next to nothing where she was going, and true enough, her Google Maps had stopped working as soon as she was several miles past the city limits and making her way up west.
Unfolding the map on her lap, Kady ran a finger over the map to carefully retrace her route one last time, never mind if it was basically one straight long road then a right turn at the end.
Thirty minutes later, and Kady breathed a sigh of relief as a horse-shaped sign came up on the other side of the road, with the words 'Welcome to the Town of Hartland (Population 9,008)' written in cursive. With directional parking signboards mounted on just about every post, it took only a few minutes for Kady to find a free slot for her five-year-old Toyota. And then she was stepping out, her throat tightening in nervousness at the realization that a new chapter in life could be starting any moment.
This was what you wanted, Kady reminded herself. The simple life, and how simpler could it get if there wasn't Internet to have people compare each other's lives? So get your inner John Wayne going: courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
And almost as if God was listening to her pep talk, she was just about to cross the street when she heard something strange and loud, like...horse hooves chopping over the pavement? Her head immediately lifted up, and her jaw dropped as a man on horseback galloped past her, leaving a faint trail of dust. She rubbed her eyes, and when she looked for the man again, he was reining his steed in, using it to turn the big, black horse towards...
Was this for real?
Was that man really falling in line at a McDonald's drive-thru lane...on horseback?
She could only shake her head, knowing that had to be a sign God was listening...and that He had a sense of humor. As she finally crossed the street, a giggle from a young boy startled Kady into looking around, and it was then she realized she hadn't been alone in her amazement.
The boy was chatting animatedly with his dad now while his mother smiled at Kady, her bemused gaze seeming to say, Wasn't that the strangest and coolest thing ever?
Kady beamed back. Absolutely. It was a tiny wordless exchange, but the whole thing meant the world to her. Her whole life, she had lived in one of the nicer (and snobbier) communities of Denver, and while she had never lacked for anything materially, constant criticism from the people around her had made Kady see herself as an ugly odd duckling with nothing to offer.
But that was then, she reminded herself, and this was now. Kady resumed walking, the memories of the guy on horseback causing her to smile to herself and ease her nervousness. It was even enough to gift her with a (false) sense of security when she eventually found what she came for: a job vacancy ad framed on the window of a charming two-story coffee shop.
It was as picturesque as the rest of the town, a brick building with flowers all around it, and what seemed like a vegetable and herbal garden at the back. Craning her neck, she even saw the edges of a swing set, and it just about completed her idea of small-town living.
The only thing that could've made this whole scene perfect was if the sign door had not been flipped to CLOSED.
Kady bit her lip as she considered whether to try her luck anyway. She knew small towns had to close earlier than the shops back home, and Denver wasn't even like NYC to begin with, but for this one to be closed at 3:30 in the afternoon...surely that couldn't be the norm?
YOLO, Kady reminded herself. Quoting millennial jargon wasn't really her thing, but this particular modern-day shorthand she had instantly gravitated to the moment she realized what it meant. YOLO was something she had never done in all 24 years of her life, but that, too, would change.
Starting now.
Chin up, Kady tried the knob and it turned under her fingers a little too easily, making her think fancifully that this was the door of opportunity she was fated to open.
The interior was a cozy take on industrial, with its old brick walls, hanging vertical shelves in black iron, and polished concrete flooring. The furniture was a mix of elegant and comfy, with its leather couches and refurbished wooden tables, while the ubiquitous use of copper - from flower pots to pans and coffee mugs - added an attractive metallic accent to the place.
A dreamy smile curved over Kady's lips. I can see myself working here every day—-
A couple suddenly burst out of the kitchen, their voices easily drowning out the soothing notes of True by Spandau Ballet playing faintly in the background.
Or maybe not.
The woman was a petite golden-haired beauty who seemed to be making a conscious effort to downplay her looks, with her granny glasses, pine-cone-and-lavender printed sweater, and shapeless sweatpants. She also looked, Kady observed nervously, ready to murder someone.
"You know how I feel about him," the other woman was snarling.
And the man currently tying apron strings behind his back growled in return, "He caught me at a bad moment, okay?"
Tall, tanned, and dark-haired, the man had the kind of chiseled features that easily placed him in Henry-Cavill levels of perfection - the farmboy Clark Kent version, Kady couldn't help thinking, considering the amount of facial hair he was sporting, not to mention his rugged choice of clothes: red plaid shirt, faded jeans, and a well-worn pair of boots.
It didn't exactly scream cowboy (he was patently missing a Stetson hat for that), but he definitely seemed down-to-earth enough to have the upper middle class society Kady had grown up with turn their noses in the air at him.
All the better, Kady thought, except...
"I just can't believe you'd let something like that slip so easily!" Banging noises suddenly cut through her silent fretting and caused Kady to nearly jump out of her skin. Lord help her, but was it normal for the drop-dead gorgeous pair to fight like this? Kady hated confrontations of every kind, and yet the other woman appeared intent on creating as much furor as possible, with the way she was slamming pots and pans against each other.
"Will you fucking quit that?" Hartland Superman roared.
"Never!"
"For fuck's sake. No wonder Steel March hasn't ever—-"
"AAAAARGH!"
Seeing that steam was about to come out of the other woman's ears anytime, Kady slowly started backing away.
Definitely not the right place to apply for a job.
She tried to leave without drawing attention to herself, but as all best-laid plans (of hers) tended to go, she ended up doing the opposite instead, with her hip accidentally bumping against the corner of one table.
Thud!
Two pairs of eyes immediately snapped to her direction.
Oh God.
"H-Hi." Kady's voice came out in a squeaky little whisper, the words barely audible even to her ears with how loud and hard her heart was beating.
"Who the hell are you?" the man growled.
And he sounded more like Lex Luthor x Ted Bundy this time, Kady thought with a gulp, rather than gentle and polite like Clark Kent.
Swallowing hard, she tried to get some words out. "I...uh..." But oh dear Lord, the man terrified her so, and in the end Kady could only point at the job ad posting, stammering, "H-hire...w-waitress...me?"
TINY. PALE. BLONDE. Like a toothpick version of his baby sister Lace or a shyer version of Farica. Either way, it was clear to Slade the girl was damn near petrified of him. She was shaking like a leaf, and if he had her speak, he hadn't any doubt the girl would end up stammering again.
So, yeah, petrified.
Petrified.
And when Farica turned to look at him over her shoulder, her wide-eyed expression told Slade that she had come to the same conclusion as he did.
The girl was petrified, just that.
And for both of them, that changed everything.
Farica quickly pasted a smile on her lips just as Slade got rid of his scowl, and throughout this they had also swiftly made their way to the newcomer, both of them intent on not letting this heaven-sent opportunity slip past their fingers.
; OMG, finally, Farica was thinking. A girl who wasn't bowled over by Slade's looks!
Let this girl be the fucking last, Slade was thinking at the same time. He had gone through five waitresses in the past three months, and he was getting fucking tired of having to go through the whole recruitment and training process over and over.
"I'm so sorry you had to see us at each other's throats like that," Farica said ever so sweetly even as she determinedly took hold of the other girl's arm, just to make sure the latter wouldn't have any chance of escaping.
"It's mostly my business partner's fault, of course," Slade inserted smoothly as he pulled a chair for the girl he was determined to have working for him.
"Yeah right," Farica muttered.
Ignoring this, Slade flashed a wicked smile the other girl's way, just to see how she'd react. "You believe me, don't you?" The simple banter would've made most women titter and come on to him, but instead the girl was fighting against a visible urge to shrink away.
Perfect.
Farica tried not to roll her eyes at the way her billionaire friend was practically purring in a mixture of satisfaction and fiendish amusement as he continued to question the girl, who was now seated between her and Slade.
What's your name, sweetheart?
K-Kady Abrams.
Do you have your résumé with you?
Y-yes, sir.
Please call me Slade.
S-S-S-S-S-S...
Taking pity at the way the billionaire had Kady near tears, Farica said quickly, "You can call him Mr. Wyndham, too, if it makes you more comfortable."