Wishing for a Cowboy

by James, Victoria

  Will’s chin trembled. “I was really pissed off that Mom just showed up like that, but I knew she wasn’t going to stay. I wasn’t even mad. Well, I was…but not, like, hurt, you know? I like being with Aiden, and he talked to me a lot while Mom was here.”

  Janie’s heart squeezed. “He did?”

  “All the time when it was just the two of us. He came into my room and sat at the end of my bed. He asked me how I was doing with everything. He didn’t bash Mom or anything, but we’d talk about school, and then we’d get talking about her. I think he was really worried that I was upset.”

  Janie leaned against the counter, enjoying listening to the warmth in Will’s voice when he spoke of Aiden. “Of course. Aiden may have been blindsided when we first came here, but it’s obvious he loves you and wants you to be happy.”

  Will nodded. “He’s a pretty cool guy.”

  Janie reached out to hug him again. “So are you. I love you so much, Will. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine. We’ll figure things out. And this summer you’ll be back here with Aiden.”

  He pulled back. “I want you to be happy, too.”

  She smiled up at him, her heart squeezing as she looked into his blue eyes. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  …

  “Aiden, can I talk to you?”

  Aiden turned around to see Will walking to where he was standing outside the barn. The sun hadn’t come up yet, and the air was damp. It felt like rain. He was cutting it close; he knew Janie and Will would be leaving within a few hours. “Yeah, of course. Everything okay?”

  Will shrugged and walked forward. “I’m worried about Aunt Janie.”

  Aiden glanced over at the house. She had looked fine this morning when he’d gone into the kitchen for coffee, desperate for caffeine because he’d been up all night. But then again, they’d barely spoken since Maxi had shown up. Hopefully that would all change soon. “Why? Is she okay?”

  “I guess. But I’m starting to feel really guilty. I know I gave you a rough time when I thought you might be together, but now I don’t care. I really like you, and I trust you. Mom told me the truth before she left. And I liked it better when we were all happy and joking around and eating dinner together and stuff.”

  Aiden swallowed past the lump in his throat as he stared at Will. “You’re a good kid, Will. I know how much you love your aunt, and I get that you want to see her happy. So do I. The truth is that I’m the one who screwed things up with Janie, not you. You have nothing to feel guilty over. But I want to make it right, and I want to ask her for another chance.”

  Will grinned, pushing himself off the post. “Really?”

  “Yeah. There aren’t any guarantees she’ll say yes, though. She might decide this is still too complicated.”

  Will glanced back at the house. “She raised me…and I call her Aunt Janie, but she’s more of a mom than my real one is. Sometimes I don’t think it’s fair. She got shafted.”

  “Maybe we can help her know just how important she is, then. I’m working on a plan. I want to surprise her with something. Wanna help?”

  Will grinned. “Obviously.”

  This boy, this virtual stranger, had filled up his heart without even trying. He was staring at him like he trusted him; he was looking at him like he was a dad. Aiden had never looked at his dad like that. He had never looked at his dad with unabashed joy and trust.

  Gratitude swept through him, tightening his chest, making his throat ache, making him believe that this could all be okay. Daring to even hope it would be.

  “Okay, come with me,” he told Will. “We need to work fast.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Janie frowned as she read the text from Will.

  Aunt Janie, can you help me in the barn? I think there’s something wrong with Patches.

  She quickly pulled her coat and boots on, then placed her phone in her pocket in case she needed to call Logan for help. She knew Aiden was at work, and they couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, so she’d see him later. But right now, it was on her alone to help this horse.

  Stumbling over a rock, she slowed her pace. It would do no one any good if she couldn’t walk. And she couldn’t help but take in the beauty of her surroundings. There was still a heavy chill in the air, and as she turned toward the mountains she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, just letting the sounds filter through. This was the first place she’d truly felt at home; it was the first time she’d truly felt like herself. She was more at home here than she’d been in the same apartment for sixteen years, growing up. She thought the man here knew her better than her own family.

  She opened her eyes and started walking to the barn again, not wanting to start thinking about Aiden. She couldn’t. She pulled the barn doors open, and her heart lurched forward, her mouth dropping open at the sight in front of her.

  Aiden was here, standing in the center of the barn. Twinkling white lights were strung across the stalls and out the back door, leading to a round table for two with a white table cloth.

  She didn’t understand. Aiden slowly walked over to her, and the vulnerability in those blue eyes was enough to make her want to run and jump into his arms. But she didn’t, because she needed to know what all this was, what it all meant.

  “What’s going on?” she said, and then a sickening thought hit her. “Is this a going away party?”

  “No.” He stood in front of her now and gently reached out to hold her hand. And just like she knew it would, his touch sent heat spiraling through her. “This is me trying to let you know how much you mean to me. How much I love you.”

  “You…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, but he answered her anyway.

  “Yes. I love you,” he said, completely in sync with her. “I know that we started out just trying to give Will the best life we could. Somewhere along the way, you became so much more to me, but I never let you know that. When I see you, Janie, I see my whole world.”

  “There is no one who has ever been able to make me want to reach for more, to be more. You make me want things that I thought were just childhood wishes. You make me believe that I can have it, that I deserve to have it all. The only way that’s possible is with you and Will by my side. I will always be grateful to you for loving and raising Will, but I love you for you, Janie. That night in my old apartment, you reached me, a part of me that I’ve shared with no one. I’m sorry. I’m sorry everything is so screwed up with Maxi, and I can’t ever change that. All I can control is right now, and letting you know that I want you and love you, Janie.”

  She blinked furiously, trying to keep it all together, before she wasn’t able to speak anymore. But everything he’d said, the sound of his deep voice, thick with emotion as he told her he loved her, was more than she ever expected. “I love you, too. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance and didn’t trust what we had.”

  He took a step closer to her, framing her face with his hands. “There’s more. I know you have a life back in Chicago and school, and Will does, too, so if you’ll have me, I’ll go back there with you.”

  She felt a stab in her heart. “What? But you’ve lived here all your life— And the ranch— You can’t just— This is your home—”

  “My home is with you and Will.” His thumb stroked her cheekbone. “It doesn’t matter where that is. I love you so much. I will make sure you never have to doubt that again,” he said before lowering his head and kissing her like he did their first time. But this time it was so much better, because he was hers. This kiss wouldn’t end with them saying goodbye. This kiss was their beginning.

  She pulled back and held on to his arms. “You belong here, Aiden. This land, this town, is a part of your soul. I want that for Will, too. And it’s the first place I’ve ever felt truly accepted and loved. Let’s talk to Will… Let’s see if Wishing River can be our home, too.”<
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  He was shaking his head. “I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve already given up everything for me.”

  “No, everything I have is because of you. I know I haven’t told you this, but I was looking at colleges around here and seeing if I could transfer my credits.”

  He kissed her again, then said, “I know. Logan told me. Let’s talk about this with Will, if you’re sure. He helped me set all this up. He wanted us to get back together. He wants the best for you, Janie. Also, he said to text him to let him know if you’re taking me back, because he doesn’t want to walk in on us kissing.”

  Janie laughed, her heart feeling like it was going to explode as she watched Aiden text Will a thumbs-up emoji. Her smile faltered, and she looked up at him. “So you did all this, you were going to give everything up, knowing I was seriously looking into moving here?”

  His eyes glittered. “I would do anything for you, to make you happy.”

  Aiden’s words scraped against her heart. No one had given anything up for her. This man, who’d salvaged a fledgling business, who had dreams of expanding his rescue ranch, who had roots that spanned generations in this town, was willing to give it all up for her. “If I have you and Will, then I’m happy. I’m the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. I can’t believe you did all this,” she said, looking around the barn again.

  Aiden took her hand, leading them over to the table, which was set with candles and a thermal bag with Tilly’s Diner scrolled across the front. “I had a little help. We have a lot of friends in this town,” he said, pulling out takeout containers of classic food from Lainey.

  “We do,” she said, realizing how true that was. She’d been here less than one month, and she had more friends than she’d ever had in her life. Friends who’d already stood by her when life went sideways. Friends she cared about deeply in such a short amount of time. Real people who she’d let in and who’d let her into their lives and their struggles.

  Wishing River had become the home she’d been searching for all these years, without even knowing she’d been lacking until she got here. And Aiden was the man who’d managed to make her realize it. “Aiden,” she said, needing him to know more.

  He looked up from the food. “Yeah?”

  “I know you think that I gave you everything, but you did the same for me. I have Will because of you. And I have this amazing life here because of you. I…I’ve never been close to anyone, either, but you drew me out, and I trust you more than anyone in the world.”

  His blue eyes misted over. “I love you. And I love Will. And I even love Morris. This is just the beginning for us—trust me.”

  “I do. But there’s something missing here that I need if I’m going to stay in Wishing River.”

  “I’ll get it for you today,” he said automatically. “What is it?”

  She pushed up onto her toes to kiss him and said, “A cowboy hat.”

  Epilogue

  “Dad!”

  Aiden paused on his way to the barn and turned around to see Will running toward him, holding something paper in the air. Aiden’s chest swelled at the sight of him, at the sound of being called Dad. It never got old. When Will had first starting calling him Dad, there had been a few times he hadn’t realized he was being called. But he was Dad now.

  These few months had been the best in his entire life. He’d found two loves, both deeply profound and entirely different. But what was the same was how he knew Janie and Will were his entire life and he’d do anything for them, to keep them happy, to keep them safe.

  “What’s that?” Aiden asked as Will approached.

  Will beamed and shoved the envelope at him. “Straight As.”

  Aiden’s stomach tightened. Will radiated pride and triumph, and Aiden basked in the trust Will put in him. He thought of all those days when he’d done the same with his own dad, only to be told he was arrogant. He thought of those days and pushed them aside, tossed them aside, because they had no place here. Because this moment was about him and his own son. He had broken the chain of violence in his family. He wasn’t perfect, but he’d done that.

  Will looked at him as though he were some kind of hero. He trusted him. Aiden would sooner cut off his arm than touch him in anger. Maybe that—his love for Janie and Will—was his greatest accomplishment in life. Not going to college, becoming a vet; maybe, it was loving them well, being the best man he could be.

  He cleared his throat and pulled Will into a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Will. So proud. You’ve accomplished so much this year. You can do anything you want with your life. I’ll be here for you every step of the way,” he said, blinking the moisture from his eyes but not hiding it from Will. He wanted him to know that it was okay to show emotion, that he had that much emotion for him.

  Will’s smile wobbled. “Thanks. I feel like I can do anything. Like, last night I was going to sleep, and I was thinking that maybe I could be a vet with Mom and I could also help you run this ranch for rescue horses. We could turn it into something huge. The three of us,” he said, his eyes wide and filled with hope and dreams and everything Aiden had once had.

  “I would love that,” Aiden said, clasping his shoulder.

  “Me, too. I’m going to go in and see Rocky,” he said, referring to their newest horse.

  “Sure. I’ll join you,” Aiden said.

  “I just saw Mom. She’s on her way,” Will said.

  Aiden glanced at the house, spotting Janie on the front porch. “Maybe I’ll go meet up with her and we’ll be back in a couple minutes,” he said as Will walked into the barn.

  “Okay,” Will said, already in front of the horses.

  Aiden turned back to the house, a satisfaction, a happiness, trailing him, as it had these last few months as he watched Janie. Will had asked them both one night if he could call them Mom and Dad, and they’d been floored. And it had solidified everything they were doing, the family they were building.

  Janie spotted him and waved, walking down the steps. He’d missed her today, but he missed her every day when they didn’t see each other. In the fall she’d be going back to school, commuting and living here. And that’s what he wanted to talk to her about today. He had planned on doing this tomorrow night, but the second he saw Janie approaching him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to wait. Her long hair fell in soft waves from beneath her cowboy hat, the wind toying with a few silky strands as she approached. Her face was glowing, and her gorgeous green eyes were sparkling in that way that made him feel like the luckiest man in the world.

  “Hey there, handsome,” Janie said, leaning up to kiss him.

  He kissed her back and then held her in place. “Hey there, beautiful. I wanted to talk to you about something. I was going to wait until tomorrow night when Will is going to a friend’s, but…I don’t want to wait a minute longer. I feel like I’ve waited for this since the night I met you.”

  “Where’s Will?” Her eyes darted to the barn.

  “He’s with Rocky. I told him we’d be there in a moment.” Aiden took a deep breath, trying to focus on what he was about to do and not what she was thinking he wanted to do.

  He pulled out the small box from his jacket pocket and wished like hell, one crazy last wish, that she would say yes.

  Her eyes widened as he slowly got down on one knee, which unfortunately happened to be in mud, and opened the box. He took the tears in her eyes and the trembling smile on her face as a good sign.

  “Janie, I love you more every day, and I want us to build on this amazing life we’ve already started. You told me that maybe someone was looking out for me from above—that maybe all of this is exactly as it should be—and I didn’t believe you. But I do now. You were the woman I was meant to be with. You walked through the door of the bar that I had cursed my entire life, and you changed everything. Including me. I want to be the man you can always count on. I want
to be the one you run to on your good days and bad days. I will always be there to catch you, not because you’re not strong, but because together we are stronger. Janie…will you marry me?”

  “Yes.” She was nodding and crying and yanking him up. “Yes!”

  As he stood, his knees soaked with mud, a feeling, a rush, swept over him that he couldn’t describe. And then that voice from his childhood dreams entered his head. The voice he knew in his heart was his mother’s.

  I’m so proud of you, Aiden.

  He stared into Janie’s eyes and knew it was she who’d helped him reclaim who he really was. Janie had brought him home.

  “Thank you for having me,” he said.

  She grinned through happy tears. “You mean not thank you.”

  “Yeah.” Instead of the banter he’d normally continue that with, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her with everything he had. He kissed her in a way he’d never been able to kiss another woman, because it was only Janie he’d ever given his heart and soul to. And she’d done the same in return.

  Aiden was done wishing now, because there were no more wishes left for him to make. Janie and his son were the fulfillment of every wish he’d ever had.

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  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To Liz Pelletier… Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to share my story with so many readers and for believing in my work!

  To Lydia Sharp… It was such a pleasure to work with you! Your comments made me smile, even when they meant lots of work ahead!

  To Louise Fury…for always being there and supporting my dreams.

  To Alethea Spiridon…reunited and it felt so good, LOL. Thank you so much for insightful edits!

  To Jessica Turner…for making the most stressful part of my writing career exciting. Thank you for the countless hours of brainstorming and marketing that you put in. It is always wonderful to work with you!