“I’m her mother!”
“I wish you’d taken that responsibility and privilege seriously. I wish you’d loved her enough to be the best version of yourself, because the woman I dated years ago was fun and happy and excited about becoming a mom. Maybe that was all a figment of my imagination. Maybe you changed. Whatever happened, you’re not who I thought you were. You’re not the mother Emmy deserves.”
She crossed her arms and fell back in her seat. “So you’re just going to replace me.”
“I always intended for you to be a part of Emmy’s life. You took yourself out of the picture. You showed Emmy that you don’t deserve her. Maybe one day you can fix that. I don’t know. I’m not fixing things for you anymore. This is the last time I’ll come to see you. I’m not paying for your lawyer or bailing you out.”
“Jon, please, I need your help.” Panic laced her words and filled her eyes with desperation. She leaned in, her eyes pleading. “My father refused to come. He said he didn’t condone child abuse, especially when it came to his grandbaby.” Her eyes glassed over at her father’s unprecedented dismissal of her pleas for help. “He cut me off.”
Jon would keep in mind that Steph’s father had drawn a line for Emmy when they asked to see and talk to her.
“I helped and helped and helped and everything progressively got worse. I didn’t hold you accountable. But the law will this time. So you’re on your own.” He stood and stared down at her. “I’m going to make a life with Trinity and Emmy. We’re going to be a happy family together.” He turned and started to walk away.
“She’s mine. You can’t take her from me forever. When I get out, I expect to see her.”
Jon turned, knowing that day would come eventually. “When you finally do see her again, I hope you look at Emmy and see what an amazing young woman I know she’ll turn out to be, because she’s got a strong, smart, independent, loving, kind, sympathetic, generous woman who raised her as her own. I hope you thank Trinity for doing the job you should have done and realize that she was there every day for Emmy because you made it impossible for you to be there yourself.”
Jon walked out, not caring one bit about all the things she ranted at the top of her lungs as a guard tried to subdue her and shut her up. He didn’t have to listen to it anymore. He wasn’t responsible for her anymore. She’d severed the ties that bound him to her because of the daughter they shared.
Emmy was with him and Trinity now, where she belonged, and with two parents who loved her unconditionally and would never harm her.
Yes, Steph was still Emmy’s mother.
But Trinity would be the mom Emmy deserved and the woman she looked up to and aspired to be. When Emmy faced Steph again, she’d be a strong, confident young woman who could stand on her own because that’s the kind of person Trinity would show her how to be.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“He’s here, Trinity!” Adria called out from her position by the front door.
Trinity’s stomach fluttered with anticipation. She’d planned everything down to the last detail and in a matter of days. With a head injury. Everything, except Jon’s response. She had no idea what he’d think of this wild idea. Or if he’d even agree to go through with it.
He might think she needed her head examined again.
“Go get him,” her dad encouraged. He and her mom had come home to see her in the hospital and to help Declan and Skye get ready for their wedding. Next week they planned to buy a place in town so they could be here to welcome Drake and Adria’s twins. Drake stood by with Declan and Skye, Tate and Liz, and her mom, who gave her a quick hug before she passed.
“Smile, sweet girl.” Jon’s father helped her into the long coat she’d brought to hide her dress. “He needs a good surprise in his life.”
She hoped Jon liked surprises because she had a doozy.
Noah and Austin, the husbands of Adria’s sisters Roxy and Sonya, and the rest of the guests sat in the chairs that had been set up earlier in the restaurant’s banquet room, which had been decorated to look like the inside of an elegant cabin. Barnwood paneling adorned the walls, string lights with Edison bulbs draped from one side of the room to the other overhead, and an explosion of flowers Trinity had ordered from the local florist completed the stunning room. Pink roses, white hydrangeas, fuchsia-colored snapdragons, and pink and white peonies filled vases on all the tables and lined the aisle.
Roxy, Sonya, and Adria waited for Trinity in the alcove between the banquet room and the front of the restaurant.
Trinity slipped through the doors and scooted behind the table they set up so that Jon wouldn’t get a glimpse of the bottom of her dress as he walked in with Emmy. He glanced from her to Adria, Roxy, and Sonya.
“Hey, sweetheart. Are we late?” The closed doors to the banquet room threw him off.
“No. You’re right on time.” She looked down at Emmy dressed in her beautiful purple dress. “You look so pretty, sweetheart.”
Jon noticed Adria wearing a dress nearly identical to Emmy’s. “What’s going on?”
The three ladies looked to her.
Jon’s eyes filled with questions.
Trinity took a breath and dove in, knowing everything was going to be okay because Jon loved her. He wanted a life with her. And she couldn’t wait to get started.
She flipped open the satchel on the table and pulled out the business proposal he never gave her.
His eyes narrowed. “Where did you get that?”
“Tate found it in your office trash the day after I came home from the hospital.”
“Sweetheart, I told you not to worry about that. It’s not important.”
“I hope you don’t mean that, because Adria and I discussed it and we’d like to sign with you with a minor change to the agreement. Adria’s sister Sonya”—she held her hand out toward her—“is an accountant. Adria and I would like to hire her as the accountant for the new business. She’s more than capable of overseeing both your grocery store expansion and the growth of Almost Homemade.”
Jon eyed her, surprise mixed with a bit of confusion and hope. “You’re serious. You want to partner with me.”
“Adria’s other sister, Roxy”—she held her hand out toward her—“backed us when we opened. She’s a silent partner. We’d all like you to be our other partner.” She smiled at Jon, excited and hopeful and wanting him to see it. “It’s a great plan, made even better by the fact that Adria and I like to do business with family.”
Jon’s smile widened. “I’m all for that.”
“Great. But there’s only one thing that would make partnering with you in business better for me.”
“Anything,” he said without hesitation.
She pulled out the prenup. “We become life partners.”
Jon grinned and tilted his head, his eyes alight with enthusiasm and surprise. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“I love you. These last few days have been wonderful, living with you and Emmy on the ranch, having dinner together, watching you teach Emmy how to ride a horse, feeling so connected to you. I want more of that and so much more. I want you to be my husband and partner and the father of our children. So yes, will you marry me?”
“You name the day, and I will be the one waiting for you at the altar.”
“Thursday. You still owe me that dinner we never had. I thought we could do it here, tonight.”
Emmy clapped her hands. “I kept the secret.”
Jon glanced down at Emmy, then at her, his focus on the unnecessary coat she was wearing, and his eyes went wide. “You mean we’re getting married today.” That sounded like a yes to her, but she wanted him to say it.
“Declan and Skye rented out the whole restaurant for their rehearsal dinner. All of our family and friends are waiting inside with the flowers and cake and everything we need for a wedding. But all I need is you.”
“Trinity.” Her name was an answer to everything. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” Jon couldn’t be
lieve she’d put all of this together in less than a week. He had no idea what to expect. He didn’t care. So long as she said I do, he was good.
He tried to get past Adria so he could kiss Trinity to seal the deal, but she held him back with a hand to his chest. “Business first.” She handed him a pen.
He signed the business contract he’d put together with his attorney and initialed the small changes they’d made to it. He signed the prenup knowing they’d never have to use it.
He held the pen out to Trinity. “Partners?”
She signed both documents with her usual determination and confidence, then looked him in the eye. “Partners.”
Adria quickly signed the business deal, and it was done.
A gentleman appeared behind him. “If you’ll sign the marriage license, please. Trinity has already completed the required blood test.”
He wanted to ask when she’d done that, but didn’t because the amazing woman had planned a whole wedding this week without him knowing about it. Granted, he took Emmy to school each morning and picked her up at the end of the day. Because Trinity couldn’t go in to work because of her head injury, he stopped in at Almost Homemade and completed whatever list of things she gave him to do and check on.
And that’s how she got me out of the house so she could plan our wedding.
He signed the license and smiled at her. “You know, next time you send me out on a bunch of errands and have me running your store for you, I’m going to know you’re up to something.”
“From now on, I want to be up to everything with you.”
He couldn’t help the wide grin or the way his heart beat faster with the excitement humming through him. “Deal.”
“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Crawford, I believe the ladies will join us in a few minutes.”
Jon reached out for Trinity’s hand. She gave it to him and he kissed the back of it. “I’ll see you at the altar.”
“Deal,” she mimicked. “Oh wait.” She pulled out the black velvet box he’d stashed in his desk after he’d taken his grandmother’s ring to the jeweler and had them replace the center stone with one much larger. He did it the day after they were called to Emmy’s school and Trinity had been everything Emmy needed her to be that day. “Is this for me?”
“Remind me to scold Tate for snooping.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “It’s not mine.”
“Yes. It’s yours. I planned to propose to you next week after Declan and Skye were married. I didn’t want to steal the spotlight from them, but I guess all they want is for you and me to be happy.”
“True. And they know once I get an idea in my head there’s really no stopping me.”
“True,” Adria, Roxy, and Sonya said in unison.
He lifted his chin toward the box in her hand. “Do you like the ring?”
“I haven’t looked at it. I wanted it to be a surprise when you gave it to me.” She handed over the box.
Emmy stared up at him. “I’m the flower girl.”
“And a beautiful one. You stay with Trinity then, and I’ll go take my position and we’ll make Trinity officially your mommy.”
Emmy bounced on her feet. “Yes.”
The day he returned from seeing Steph and told her that Steph would be out of her life for years, Emmy asked if she could call Trinity Mom. It made his heart ache to know that his little girl wanted Trinity instead of, not in addition to, Steph. But he knew she would be loved and thrive with Trinity in her life, so he told her yes. And when Trinity woke up from her nap because she needed some quiet time to help heal her injuries, Emmy asked, “Can we make brownies, Mommy?” Trinity’s eyes had filled with tears that silently rolled down her cheeks, but she said, “Of course,” and held her hand out to Emmy.
And that was it. Emmy called her Mommy all the time now. When he stayed for sharing time at her preschool, she told the whole class she got a new mommy who made the best brownies and gave the best hugs.
Jon turned back to Trinity. “Hurry up.” Now that he knew they were getting married, he wanted her to be his wife immediately.
He followed the justice of the peace into the banquet room and was immediately taken aback by the smiles and clapping.
His father came forward holding a pink rose boutonniere and pinned it to his lapel. “Now I know why Trinity asked me to wear my nice black suit.” She’d laid it out on the bed for him with a basic white dress shirt and simple black tie to match.
A photographer took their picture, capturing the moment. Trinity had thought of everything.
“You ready for this?” his dad asked.
“More than I can say.” He thought about how he and Trinity met. “You know, I met Trinity on a Thursday, that first day I came back to town and I found her dragging you out of the house. I thought it might be the worst day of my life if I lost you.”
“Turned out to be a good day. I was fine and you met her.”
“We had some difficult Thursdays in between, but I think getting married today, on Thursday, is the perfect day.”
“Every day you get to spend with the love of your life is the perfect day. Today, let the past go. Be happy with your wife and Emmy. Enjoy the life you make together.”
Jon hugged his dad like he hadn’t done in a long time. “I will, Dad. Thanks for encouraging me to move back home and reminding me what’s most important.”
“Family, son. Nothing else matters more.”
Jon pretended to straighten his father’s tie. “Looking sharp. Will you stand up with me and be my best man?”
“I thought you might ask.” And no doubt Trinity had asked his father to wear a similar black suit like his and gave him the matching boutonniere as well.
They walked down the aisle. He nodded to each of Trinity’s brothers and their respective wives and fiancée, waved to his aunt, uncle, and cousin, who he hadn’t seen in years, and smiled at Roxy and Sonya sitting with their husbands, he guessed. He’d get to know them better later. Especially Sonya, since they’d be working closely together on the new expansion of Almost Homemade and his grocery business.
Tate had also bought and delivered nearly fifty head of cattle to his place. His new foreman had hired two ranch hands. They’d expand that fifty head soon, but right now, he had a working ranch set up and ready to thrive.
He had everything he wanted and needed. It made his head spin because it had all happened so fast, but he loved it. All of it.
When he reached the front, the couple sitting there stood to greet him. The man held out his hand to shake. Jon took it.
“I’m Trinity’s dad. We don’t have a lot of time to talk now, but we will once you all are married. She’s told us a lot about you and your little girl, Emmy. Can’t believe we get a son-in-law and a grandchild in one day, but we sure are happy for you all.”
Jon couldn’t believe the warm welcome. “Thank you, sir. I know this may seem fast. I mean the first time we’re meeting is at the wedding.”
Mr. McGrath shook his head. “Trinity’s a smart girl with a big heart. When she loves, she loves deep. Ask her stubborn brothers. But she never loved a man the way she loves you. We see that in her. We hear it in the way she talks about you.”
“I had no idea she’d spoken about me to you.”
Mrs. McGrath touched his arm. “Every Sunday the kids know they’re getting a call from their mama. Now we’re back in town to stay awhile with the grandbabies coming. So we’ll have time to get to know each other. I can’t wait to spend time with Emmy. We’ve been waiting to spoil our grandchildren.”
“I’m sure she’d love that.”
Mr. McGrath smiled. “Who knew the youngest would give us our first granddaughter?” He slapped Jon on the back. “I better go walk your bride down the aisle. As fast as she put this wedding together, I bet she can’t wait to get it done.”
Jon liked Mr. McGrath.
He kissed Mrs. McGrath’s cheek. “Thank you for coming and embracing me and Emmy.”
“Welcome to the family.”
He felt welcomed and included and amazed by how Trinity’s family rallied around her when she needed them whether it was at the hospital when she was hurt or when she was putting together a wedding in a matter of days.
He took his place between the justice of the peace and his dad.
Soft music began to play as the back doors opened and Emmy stepped into the room wearing the pretty purple dress he’d brought her in, and a halo of tiny white roses on her head. She held a basket of red rose petals and tossed them on the floor in front of her. She smiled so bright his heart melted. She hadn’t been this happy in a long time. When she got close to him, she ran the rest of the way and buried her face in his thigh. He scooped her up and held her close.
“You did so good, sweetheart.”
“She’s coming.”
Actually, Adria walked down the aisle next, carrying a bouquet of white roses. She looked beautiful in her purple gown, her baby bump very prominent. But she glowed when she winked at her husband, Drake, as she passed him and took her place on the other side of the justice of the peace.
The wedding march began and everyone stood for the bride.
His heart pounded as he waited to see her walking toward him. And then there she was on her father’s arm, gorgeous in a classic white gown that had a scoop neckline and hugged her curves to her waist, where a crystal-encrusted belt wrapped around her. Layers upon layers of white billowed around her hips and legs to her feet.
“Princess.” Emmy hugged his neck and stared at Trinity.
She looked like an angel with her golden hair falling in thick curls and a crystal headband sparkling in the overhead lights. The black-painted ceiling with the tiny white splotches that looked like a million stars made the room feel like they were outside.
And there was his heaven standing right in front of him.
True Love Cowboy Page 30