Aidan: Loyal Cowboy: Aidan: Loyal CowboyThe Family Plan

by Cathy McDavid

  His brows rose. “Demands?”

  “For starters, you’re going to have to do something about that ancient piece of junk you call a computer. And your filing system.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Is that all? Because I have my own demands.”

  Did he now?

  “What are they?”

  “Date night once a week, including after the baby’s born. And Sundays are family day. No work unless there’s an extreme emergency, and I mean extreme. At least one Sunday every month we visit your family in Billings.”

  “I think we can manage that.” She blinked the tears from her eyes.

  Sarah, too.

  “There’s one more piece of business we have to get out of the way,” Ace announced.

  “Business?”

  He turned to her father. “Earl, I intend to marry your daughter. I’d like your blessing.”

  Sarah gasped with delight and clapped her hands together.

  “Well.” Flynn’s father rubbed his chin as if considering his answer. “That’s really up to my daughter. I’m not sure she’ll have you after what you’ve put her through over the years.”

  Sarah punched him lightly in the arm. “Earl.”

  “Well, he’s not the easiest man to get along with.”

  “And you are?”

  He shrugged.

  “Answer him,” Sarah insisted.

  “You going to do right by her?” he asked Ace. “Take care of her? Because if you don’t, I’ll—”

  “Dad!” Flynn laughed. “Enough.”

  She sobered when Ace drew her into his arms.

  “I’ll take care of her. Count on it.” He spoke as if they were the only two people in the room. In the world. “You’re everything to me, Flynn. Every time I see you, every time I kiss you, it’s like falling in love all over again.”

  Her knees wobbled. If he’d proposed to her like that before, she’d have said yes.

  “Say you’ll marry me.” He bent and brushed his lips across hers in the lightest, tenderest of kisses. “I’ll ask you a hundred times, a thousand times, if that’s what it takes.”

  “Yes. Yes, yes, yes!”

  “Did you hear?” Sarah grabbed Flynn’s father by the arm. “She accepted!”

  “I heard, I heard.” He pretended to scowl. The glimmer in his eyes gave him away.

  Flynn paid them little attention. She was too preoccupied kissing her fiancé and letting him sweep her off her feet—literally.

  Ace had scooped her into his arms and was twirling her in circles. The room was spinning when he finally put her down. Then he kissed her again, deeply and fully, and she realized it was Ace and their love, not the twirling, that made her dizzy.

  “I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together,” she whispered in his ear.

  “And here I thought you accepted my proposal in order to guarantee yourself a job when you finish school.”

  “What!” She squirmed.

  He didn’t release her, pinning her to him until she stopped protesting.

  “Come on, Sarah,” Flynn’s father said. “Let’s get out of here and have that dinner. I’m starving.”

  “We’ll come with you,” Ace said.

  “Stay,” Sarah said. “You have plans to make.”

  “I want to celebrate,” Ace insisted. “And I can’t think of a better place than the Number 1 Diner. Call the rest of the family. Tell them to meet us there. We’ll make an announcement.”

  The place where it had all started just three short months ago.

  That seemed entirely appropriate, Flynn thought as she and Ace walked arm in arm out the door and into their future.

  Epilogue

  “Mom, don’t overdo it,” Ace warned. “Slow down already.”

  “Stop fussing.” His mother waved him away. “It’s your wedding day. You should be thinking about your bride. Not me.”

  “My wife,” he corrected, liking the sound of it. “And I am thinking about her.”

  His glance strayed to Flynn, who was huddled with Nora and Dinah. Her sister and brand-new sister-in-law were fawning over the diamond ring Ace had recently purchased and Flynn’s dress, which had belonged to Ace’s mother and was hastily altered to fit Flynn.

  “She’s beautiful,” his mother said, linking her arm through his. “I’m glad you both finally came to your senses.”

  “She is beautiful.” With Flynn for a mother, their baby—Ace was still hoping for a girl—couldn’t be anything but gorgeous.

  “Are you ready to cut the cake?”

  “Almost.” Ace wanted to spend just a few more minutes enjoying the reception from where he stood.

  His mother and sister had done an amazing job, pulling the wedding together in just ten days. Though dark clouds gathered overhead, the weather had thankfully cooperated, and the ceremony went off without a hitch.

  Ace and Flynn had chosen not to wait and opted for a simple civil ceremony in the Harts’ spacious front yard. Red checkered cloths covered the tables, enough to accommodate the hundred and fifty guests in attendance. Paper flowers taped to the backs of chairs fluttered in the breeze. Children clambered on and over the bales of straw that had been arranged in a semicircle to create a makeshift altar.

  Most of the guests were complaining of overeating. Blame the barbecue beef and chicken and the best cole slaw anyone had ever tasted. Flynn’s father’s secret recipe.

  The day was almost perfect, and would be if not for the two empty chairs at the wedding party table.

  Both Ace’s brothers were absent. They still hadn’t been able to locate Tuf. Neither had he called them. And Colt…Ace didn’t know what to think.

  His brother had promised to be at the wedding, was supposed to serve as Ace’s best man. Only Colt hadn’t come home last night, wasn’t answering his cell phone and wasn’t returning the countless messages Ace had left. Finally, an hour before the ceremony, Ace had asked his cousin Duke to stand in for him.

  Colt had been stepping up the past week, lending Ace a hand with the work around the ranch. But now this. He’d evidently returned to his old ways.

  Ace was angry and disappointed and frustrated. Mostly, he was hurt and sad. Today was his wedding day, the only one he intended to have, and his brothers had missed it.

  “Hey, you two.” Flynn strolled over to join Ace and his mother.

  He couldn’t immediately speak, his breath having left his lungs in a soft rush. She had that effect on him, and he hoped it lasted forever.

  Thoughts of his brothers fled. This was their day, his and Flynn’s. They would enjoy every moment of it and let nothing interfere.

  “Flynn,” his mother said, “I was just asking Ace. Are you ready to cut the cake?”

  “Thank you, Sarah, for everything you’ve done.” Flynn hugged her. “I hope you’ll let me return the favor.”

  “You already have. You’re giving me my first grandchild.”

  “Would you like to come with Ace and I to the doctor’s office next month? We’re having another ultrasound.”

  His mother’s face positively glowed, and she grasped Flynn to her. “I would like that very much.”

  Flynn’s father came over. He placed an affectionate hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Did I miss something?”

  “I’m just being a sentimental fool.”

  “I think you’re rather charming.”

  Ace almost did a double take. Was Earl flirting with his mother? A quick check with Flynn assured him she’d noticed something, too.

  Well, his mother could do worse, if she was indeed interested in Earl. And Earl couldn’t do any better than Ace’s mother.

  “When are you leaving?” Earl asked.

  “Around six.” />
  Ace and Flynn were spending four days at a luxury inn in Billings. He’d wanted to take her on a longer, more exciting honeymoon, but that would have to wait a while. Flynn had yet to finalize her schedule for school, which would start this fall, and Ace still had to move.

  They were going to live in Earl’s house. He’d generously offered to rent it to them at a reasonable rate. Eventually, when the loan Ace and his mother had taken out was paid off and Earl’s land lease with the cattle company was at an end, Ace intended to buy the entire ranch from his father-in-law.

  In the months to come he’d move up his vet practice to Earl’s barn. For now, Ace was leaving it here, close to Midnight, the mares and the bucking stock.

  Suddenly, thunder rumbled ominously overhead.

  “Uh-oh.” His mother peered at the sky with its ever darkening clouds. “We’d better hurry with the cake.”

  More photographs were snapped as Ace and Flynn stuffed cake into each other’s mouths. The guests had barely finished eating when the skies opened up and let loose with a magnificent downpour.

  People scrambled and scurried in a dozen different directions, carrying leftover food inside, collecting trash before it blew away and removing tablecloths and serving dishes.

  Ace grabbed Flynn’s hand and started running.

  “Where are we going?” she gasped.

  “To the barn.”

  “What about our guests? The gifts.”

  “Later.”

  Clothes soaked and their breath coming in bursts, they ducked into the barn and stood just inside the entrance, watching the rain come down and listening to it strike the roof with a mighty force.

  Like the night Ace had kissed her in his truck outside the diner.

  Flynn must have been remembering as well, for she grabbed the lapels of his Western-cut suit jacket and pulled him toward her. “Did I tell you how handsome you look today?”

  “Did I tell you how much I love you?”

  “Yes.” She snuggled against him. “But you can say it again. I won’t complain.”

  “I am without a doubt the luckiest guy in the world.”

  Wrapping her and their unborn child in his embrace, he kissed her. Their second one as husband and wife.

  “Two down.” He nuzzled her ear. “And a million or more to go.”

  * * * * *

  Look for the next title in the

  HARTS OF THE RODEO miniseries,

  COLTON: RODEO COWBOY

  by C.J. Carmichael, in August 2012!

  Available wherever American Romance books are sold.

  The Family Plan

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Jolyn Sutherland swung open the rear door of her horse trailer, retreated a safe distance and waited for the explosion. It came right on schedule.

  Sinbad, her seventeen-year-old paint gelding, charged backward out of the trailer, legs thrashing, hooves clattering and sides heaving. He came to stop only when all four feet were firmly planted on the ground—for about two seconds. Jolyn grabbed his dangling lead rope before he trotted off in search of the barn and the barrel of oats he knew was waiting for him.

  “That old horse never did trailer worth a lick.”

  Jolyn looked up to see a familiar face. “Dad!”

  “You made it.” Milt Sutherland strode toward her. “How was the drive down the mountain?”

  “Touch and go in one or two spots. But we managed.” Ignoring the ribbons of pain that shot up her right leg, she rushed to meet him, a whinnying Sinbad in tow.

  Her father enveloped her in a bear hug and for a brief moment, Jolyn was a little girl again, her big, strong Daddy making everything all right. “It’s good to be home,” she said, her face buried in his shirtfront.

  “It’s good to have you home, sweetie pie.”

  She’d missed Blue Ridge, missed living in a town where folks waved when they drove past and karaoke night at Sage’s Bar and Grill was considered big entertainment. The only thing better than watching the morning sun peek slowly over the top of Saddle Horn Butte was watching the evening sun set in the distant Verde Mountains.

  Jolyn loved touring and wouldn’t have traded the last nine years on the road for anything except this, her father’s arms holding her tight.

  “Your mother’s in the kitchen,” he said, “fixing enough food to feed an army. She’s been a nervous wreck the last few days, worried sick you wouldn’t survive the drive from Dallas in one piece. Especially in this heat. I swear summer comes earlier every year.”

  Jolyn thought it was probably just the opposite. Her dad, not her mom, had been the nervous wreck.

  “Well, we’re here.” She drew back after giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Safe and sound.”

  “Safe, yes. Don’t know about the sound part.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Her dad nodded pointedly in Sinbad’s direction.

  She spun around and let out a gasp. “Oh, my gosh! How did that happen?” Bending over, she inspected Sinbad’s left side.

  The horse sported a nasty gash just behind his shoulder. The wound, in the shape of a jagged V, was at least four inches long and deep from the looks of it. Blood had seeped out, staining the horse’s hide a dark red.

  “I checked the trailer this morning in Phoenix before we loaded him,” she said, her voice echoing her dismay. “So did Uncle Leroy.”

  Jolyn had stayed with various friends and relatives on her four-day trip cross-country from Texas to Arizona’s north country, including stopping to have lunch today with her brother in Pineville. She’d taken her time traveling, not wanting to wear Sinbad—or herself—out.

  Her father came to stand beside her, the two of them contemplating the horse’s injury. “He must have run up on something between Pineville and here. The gate maybe.”

  “I suppose.” Jolyn straightened and shook her head. The mountain road did twist and turn, but she’d driven slowly. Five miles under the posted speed limit the entire way.

  “That horse has always been clumsy.”

  She swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue. It was easier for some people to blame the horse rather than the rider. Jolyn knew better. She, and not Sinbad, was at fault for each of their mishaps, including the last. This latest one was no exception.

  “He’s excitable. That’s what made him a champion barrel racer and headlining performer.”

  Her father smiled. “He was good in his day. So were you.”

  At twenty years old, Jolyn had left Blue Ridge and joined the Wild and Wooly West Equestrian Show. She and Sinbad traveled with the show until fourteen months ago, their signature bareback jump over a wagon full of mock settlers one of the show’s biggest crowd pleasers.

  In a split second, the time it took for Sinbad’s right rear hoof to catch on the side of the wagon, their career was cut short. Sinbad was laid up for six weeks after the accident. Jolyn for six months. She was lucky she could walk
again, much less drive a truck and trailer.

  It was the worst and, if things went well for her here in Blue Ridge, the best thing to ever happen to her.

  “Do you have any antibiotics in the barn?” she asked her dad while patting Sinbad’s neck.

  “No. My supplies are a little low.”

  She wasn’t surprised. Her parents hadn’t kept horses on the property since she moved out. Anything out in the barn had been recently purchased in anticipation of her coming home.

  She reached for her cell phone in her pocket. “I’m going to call Chase.”

  “Is that really necessary? He’s probably in the middle of dinner.”

  “It’s a bad cut, Dad, and needs to be treated.”

  “We’ve got some peroxide in the house.”

  “I’d feel better if Chase looked at it.”

  Chase Raintree was the local veterinarian, the only one in a thirty-five-mile radius. He and Jolyn had been friends since before they could remember. Despite only sporadic contact in recent years, she was certain he’d come if she asked him—in the middle of dinner or not.

  “The horse’ll be fine until morning,” her father said, dismissing her concerns. “You can head over to the feed store first thing after breakfast and pick up some medicine.”

  “I will if Chase isn’t available.”

  She flipped open her cell phone and began to press buttons, assuming the number hadn’t changed. Chase had taken over his parents’ house when they semiretired and moved to Mesa a few years earlier and lived there with his eight-year-old daughter, Mandy.

  Jolyn’s father stayed her hand. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

  “Why?” She gave him a curious stare.

  “Your mother and he are…well, let’s just say they’re having a difference of opinion.”

  “About Mandy?” Jolyn asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, no.” Jolyn’s heart sank. “I thought Mom agreed to let that go.”

  “She’s recently changed her mind.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her father heaved a tired sigh. “I didn’t want to upset you before your trip. Figured you had enough to deal with.”