by Marin Thomas
“Mom likes J.T. better ’n me, doesn’t she?” The wobble in his little voice cut Fletcher to the core.
“Your mom loves you, she just doesn’t show it very well.” Fletcher hugged his son close.
“I wish Miss Darla was my mom.”
The announcement surprised Fletcher. “You weren’t very nice to Miss Darla when you first met her.”
Danny picked at a piece of lint on the bed covering. “I didn’t want you to like her because I wanted you to like Mom again.”
“Danny, your mom and I don’t love each other anymore and that’s not going to change.”
“Can’t you try to love each other again?”
Fletcher’s heart ached for his son. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Grandpa said you used to love Miss Darla a long time ago.”
What kind of talks were his father and son having these days? “Miss Darla and I were very close when we were growing up.”
“Are you gonna try to love Miss Darla?”
Try? Fletcher had never stopped loving Darla. “Love is complicated, Danny.” He really didn’t want to have this conversation with a seven-year-old.
“Is Darla gonna be my new mom?” Danny’s eyes shined with hope.
Fletcher wished he could promise his son a new mom but he hadn’t brought up the subject of marriage with Darla because he hadn’t figured out a way to work out the logistics.
“Miss Darla lives in Dallas, buddy, and that’s a long way from Junket. She’s got a very important job and we can’t ask her to quit that.”
“Can we go live with her in Dallas?”
Fletcher had tossed that scenario around in his mind the past few days and he didn’t see how he could make it work. His father couldn’t handle the ranch on his own. There’s enough money to hire a foreman to run the operation when you’re not here.
He’d have to commute every two weeks or so and spend a few days at the Rocking J keeping the books and handling any problems that cropped up. Buy a small commuter jet and fly back and forth as often as you need to.
But what about his father? He hated leaving him alone especially after he’d gotten used to having Danny underfoot all the time.
He and Darla get along great. Buy a bigger place in Dallas and Dad can visit as often and for as long as he wants.
“How would you feel about starting over in a different school and having to make new friends?”
The sparkle in Danny’s eyes fizzled out. “Do I have to go to a new school because I broke the rule in the science lab and let Fred out of his cage?”
“No. If Miss Darla and I got married, we’d have to move to Dallas.” Danny didn’t understand how far apart Dallas and Junket were.
“What about Grandpa? Would he go to Dallas with us?”
“If he wants to.”
“I guess I can make new friends.” Danny sat up straight in bed. “And it’s okay if Darla wants to be my new mom. I told her I was gonna be a fireman when I grew up and she said that was a really important job.”
“I thought you wanted to be a bull rider?”
Danny shrugged. Looked as if the famous J. T. Riker had fallen off his pedestal. “Dad?”
“What?”
“Can you ask Miss Darla to marry us?”
You read my mind, son. He yearned to recapture the years he and Darla had lost. But he hated to get his son’s hope up that Darla might become a permanent part of their lives. “I’m glad you like Miss Darla, Danny. We’ll see how things go, okay?”
“Are you gonna buy Miss Darla a Christmas present?”
“Yep.” He’d had one in mind all week and planned to drive into Midland on Monday and shop. He tucked the blankets around his son. “Better get some shut-eye.”
“Night, Dad.”
Outside Danny’s room, Fletcher leaned against the wall and rubbed his brow. He knew what he wanted—a do-over with Darla. But if he flubbed it up with her again, he wouldn’t be the only one hurting. He had to consider what was best for Danny. His son had already been abandoned by one mother and he’d become attached to Darla in a short time. In Fletcher’s mind there was really only one solution—marriage. Now he just had to convince Darla they could make it work.
“Everything okay?” Darla’s whispered question came from the top of the stairs.
How long had she stood watching him? He pushed away from the wall, grabbed her hand and promptly pulled her into his arms and kissed the daylights out of her.
He took his time, wanting to convey with his kiss how much she meant to him. How much he appreciated her suggestion they visit the fire museum. He wanted her to know he loved her for treating his son the way a real mother should. He wanted her to know he was proud of her career accomplishments. How attractive he found her. How he couldn’t stop thinking about making love to her again. How much he wanted her to be a part of the rest of his life. Eventually they had to come up for air.
“Wow.” Her breath puffed against his lips. “What did I do to deserve that?”
Tell her. He wanted to. But when he spilled his guts, he intended to follow with a ring and a proposal. “That was for saving the day.” He smoothed the wrinkle that formed between her eyebrows. “Danny had a great time at the museum. Now he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.”
“I’m sorry Sandi hurt his feelings.” Darla snuggled her head beneath his chin. “And I’m sorry she hurt you.”
“I guess you figured out J.T. Riker was the man Sandi had the affair with.”
Darla nodded against his chest. He grabbed her hand and led her downstairs. “What do you say we bundle up in our coats and sit by the pool?”
“Sure.”
Once outside, Fletcher switched on the stone fire pit, then dragged a lounge chair closer to the flames. He stretched out and snuggled Darla in his lap. For a while they enjoyed the peace and quiet and stared at the stars.
“Tell me about the guys you were engaged to.”
“Richard was in law school with me. Benjamin, I met through a friend. He was an accountant. And Blake is a lawyer at the firm.”
All professionals—none of them bull breeders.
“Mind if I ask why those relationships didn’t work out?” At her hesitation he said, “I expected you to be married and have a few kids by now.”
“The truth?” she whispered.
“Always.” He was done with lies. He’d experienced enough dishonesty in his marriage.
“None of those men were you.”
Her declaration soothed his ego, but at the same time scared the hell out of him. She hadn’t said the words, but her confession came close. He clasped Darla’s face between his hands and kissed her, allowing her sweet taste to calm his anxiety.
“I need to tell you something,” she said.
“What?”
“I have to go back to Dallas.”
“You said you’d stay until Christmas.” Danny wouldn’t be the only one who’d be crushed if Darla wasn’t here to open presents with them on Christmas morning.
“Something’s come up at work.”
“I thought things had slowed down at the office?”
“They have but I scheduled a meeting with my boss next Wednesday. It was the only day he could fit me in before he leaves on vacation for two weeks.”
Fletcher’s insides twisted into a knot. Was he going too fast for her? Had he said or done something to provoke second thoughts about their relationship?
“I could go with you?” He feared if he let her out of his sight he’d lose her.
“That’s sweet, but I won’t have time to spend with you. Besides, you need to be here with Danny.”
He shrugged. “Danny can come along. We’ll find stuff to do while you’re working.”
Darla wiggled out of his arms and stood. “I need to go alone, Fletcher. I plan to leave early in the morning before Danny wakes.”
He watched her head into the house, and the question on the tip of his tongue—Is this goodbye?—
never left his mouth.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE you’re leaving?”
Darla spun and found her coworker, Anna Crane, standing in the office doorway. “Me neither.”
“The guy must be pretty special if you’re handing over the wetlands case to Harry. Especially after you laid all the groundwork.”
“The guy—” Darla smiled “—is indeed a very special cowboy.”
“I wish I could find a cowboy willing to put up with my long hours.” Anna blew her bangs off her forehead. “You’re going to kill me for asking this but are you sure this time?”
Darla deserved the question. She’d cried on Anna’s shoulder through three engagements and three breakups. “Yep, Fletcher’s the one. He’s been the one since the very beginning.”
“When’s the wedding?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Whoa, wait a minute.” Anna moved across the room and sat in the chair at Darla’s desk. “You put your condo on the market and he hasn’t asked you to marry him?”
She’d worked tirelessly to realize her dream of becoming a lawyer, but in the end she’d paid a high price. She possessed a fulfilling career but her personal life was nothing to brag about. No husband. No children. Her day-to-day existence consisted of endless work hours with a few vacations thrown into the mix. “Who says he has to be the one to ask?”
Darla believed if she were to have a chance at her own happy-ever-after, then she’d need to make a few sacrifices—the biggest being she’d move back to Junket.
“You’re going to propose?”
“Yes.” There was no way she’d ask Fletcher to move Danny to a new school in Dallas when the boy was having trouble adjusting to his mother’s absence. And the idea of leaving Fletcher’s father alone on the ranch didn’t sit well with Darla.
She wanted to make the sacrifices needed for her and Fletcher to have a future. Practicing law was important to her and she didn’t want to walk away from her career, but she was willing to prove how much she loved Fletcher by cutting back on courtroom appearances and reverting to a behind-the-scenes role, helping the other lawyers in the firm prepare their cases. That would leave her plenty of time to be a wife and a mother.
“When do you plan to—” Anna rolled her eyes “—ask for his hand in marriage?”
“I’m leaving in the morning. I intend to spend Christmas Eve with the McFadden men.”
“Did someone mention the McFadden men?”
Darla gasped and Anna popped out of the chair. Both women stared at Fletcher in surprise.
“We didn’t mean to scare you, Miss Darla,” Danny said, peeking around his father.
“Ah…Anna, I’d like you to meet Fletcher McFadden and his son Danny.”
Anna smiled. “Nice to meet you both.” She glanced at Darla. “Keep in touch.” Then headed for the door. “Merry Christmas, gentlemen,” she said, skirting past them.
As soon as Anna left the office Danny raced across the room and jumped in the chair. “Guess what, Miss Darla?”
“What, honey?”
“Dad and I are gonna move to Dallas.”
Darla’s face paled and anxiety gnawed away at Fletcher’s confidence. Had he jumped the gun?
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Fletcher prayed for the right words. He moved closer, stopping next to her. “What Danny’s trying to say is you mean the world to us and we don’t want to lose you.”
“Wait!” She pressed her palm to his chest, her gaze glancing back and forth between him and Danny. “You can’t do this.”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Do…do what I think you’re about to do.”
He grinned. “What is it you think I’m about to do?”
“You’re going to do what I’d planned to do.”
Danny’s face scrunched into a frown. “What’s she talking about, Dad?”
“Maybe we should let Miss Darla tell us.” He shifted closer, invading her personal space, inhaling her sexy perfume and sweet scent.
“I was packing my things,” she said.
For the first time since entering her office, Fletcher paid attention to his surroundings. He noticed the cardboard box on her desk filled with coffee mugs, a plant, picture frames and other junk. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Was she running from him?
“Where are you planning to go?” he asked.
“Home.”
Danny beat him to the question. “What home?”
Darla’s eyes glowed as she set aside the paperweight she held and stared Fletcher in the eye. “Home as in the Rocking J.”
Relief swept through him, leaving his limbs shaky. He swallowed twice but the words stuck to the sides of his swollen throat.
“I knew when I saw your photo on MySpace,” she continued. “That you were the reason I couldn’t commit to other men. I’d never gotten over you. Being with you these past weeks confirmed that…” She shook her head.
“What?” The word escaped his mouth in a husky whisper.
“That you haven’t changed. You’re the same sensitive, wonderful, caring, generous guy I fell in love with back in high school. The same guy I never stopped loving.”
“And…”
“And I don’t want to live without you. I want that happy-ever-after that was meant for the two of us from the beginning.” She placed her hand over his heart. “I’m saying…marry me, cowboy.”
“What about me, Miss Darla? Are you gonna marry me, too?”
Darla held her hand out and Danny jumped off the chair and joined the adults. “Yes, Danny. I’ll marry you, too, if you’ll have me.”
“Have you what, Miss Darla?”
“Have me as your mother.”
“Cool. That’s what Dad said you’d be if you married us.”
Fletcher couldn’t stand it any longer. He pulled Darla close and brushed his lips across hers, saving the big kiss for later in private.
“Yuck.” Danny lost interest in the adults and rummaged through the box, giving Fletcher a moment to speak his heart.
“I love you, Darla Baker, and yes, I’ll marry you.”
“This time everything will work out and we’ll be happy, won’t we, Fletch?” Her breath sighed against his neck as he hugged her close.
“I won’t take you for granted, Darla. Every day I’ll show you in as many ways as possible how much I love you and how grateful I am for this second chance with you. But—”
“There’s a but?”
“But I don’t expect you to give up your career at the law firm. I talked it over with Danny and he’s willing to move here and go to a new school. I’ll commute back to the ranch when needed to help Dad with the bulls. And we’re hiring a ranch manager to run things while I’m in Dallas. Dad and I worked it all out.”
“Your father doesn’t mind you and Danny moving so far away?”
“He’s always believed you and I were meant to be together and he wants us to be happy.”
“What are you going to do all day when I’m at work and Danny’s in school?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He grinned. “I can always fool around on MySpace.”
“Oh, no. My used-car salesman is not going to flirt with big-haired blondes.”
“What’s a flirt?” Danny asked.
The little stinker had big ears. “Someone who says nice things to another person,” Darla explained.
“I told Mrs. Tuttle that her red shoes were cool. Does that mean I’m a flirt?”
Fletcher chuckled. “No, that was just being nice.” He rubbed his finger across Darla’s lower lip. “Danny and I drove up here to bring you back to the ranch for Christmas. We missed you and didn’t want to spend the holiday without you.”
“I’d planned to leave in the morning for Junket.”
“Sounds good. In the meantime, can Danny and I bunk at your condo tonight?”
“You can bunk with me anywhere, cowboy.”
CHURCH SERVICE Christmas
Eve was packed. Ushers directed the McFaddens to a pew in the middle of the sanctuary. Fletcher was a wreck. Tonight it was his turn to propose to Darla. He had it all planned out…A roaring fire. A bottle of champagne. And the engagement ring he’d bought in Midland for her the day she’d returned to Dallas. He’d known then that he wasn’t going to let anything keep them apart. And to be sure he’d covered all the bases he’d purchased a box of fancy chocolates and a fresh bouquet of flowers.
For the umpteenth time his gaze shifted to the woman who’d possessed his heart since kindergarten. Darla took his breath away in the knee-length black cocktail dress with a glittering rhinestone jacket. Fletcher had noticed the envious stares of other men when they’d entered the church.
Mrs. Polanski tapped his shoulder and slipped him a folded note.
We need to talk. Meet me by the pond tomorrow at noon. L.T.
Fletcher swiveled in his seat and spotted Logan Taylor sitting three pews back with Cassidy Ortiz and her mother. Cassidy Ortiz? When had his friend and the local hairdresser become an item?
The fact that Logan was present tonight was a miracle in and of itself. Until now, the man hadn’t stepped foot inside the church since his wife had died. He nodded, signaling he’d gotten the message. Logan stared pointedly at Darla, then quirked an eyebrow.
Yeah, they’d both kept secrets from each other.
Right then the children’s choir broke into song and Fletcher grasped Darla’s hand, noticing his son held her other hand. The McFadden men were definitely staking their claim on Darla.
An hour later the service ended and Fletcher whisked his family out of church, bypassing the long line of well-wishers. Once they arrived at the ranch Darla made hot chocolate for everyone and Danny fixed a plate of cookies for Santa. They sat on the couch in the family room in front of the fireplace, a Christmas CD playing softly in the background. Fletcher’s father had retired early to his room to watch TV before going to bed.
“Dad, can I give Miss Darla her Christmas present now?”
“Don’t you want to wait until tomorrow?” Fletcher asked.