True Love Cowboy

by Jennifer Ryan

  Her father took her hand, kissed the back of it, whispered, “Be happy,” and held her hand out to him.

  Jon stepped forward and took it.

  Trinity stood before him and Emmy, smiling with a lightness and love that lit up his heart.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  The smile brightened to megawatt.

  He set Emmy down between them and held her hand. Trinity took Emmy’s other hand, and he and Trinity looked to the justice of the peace.

  “We are gathered here today to witness the union of Jon and Trinity and Emmy.”

  Jon turned to Trinity and saw the confirmation that she’d been the one to include Emmy in their ceremony.

  “Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, and who trust in that love, who honor each other as individuals, and who choose to spend the rest of their lives as partners.”

  Jon shared another knowing look with Trinity.

  “No matter what challenges you face, you now face them together. The successes you achieve, you now achieve them together. The love between you joins you as one.”

  The justice of the peace turned to him. “Do you, Jon, take Trinity to be yours? Do you promise to keep living, learning, loving, and growing together for the rest of your lives?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you, Trinity, take Jon to be yours? Do you promise to keep living, learning, loving, and growing together for the rest of your lives?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you have the rings?”

  Jon pulled the box out of his pocket and plucked the ring from the velvet holder, then handed the box to his dad.

  Trinity handed her lush bouquet of white flowers to Adria and accepted the ring she handed to her.

  “Jon. Place the ring on Trinity’s finger and repeat after me.”

  Jon slid the ring on her hand and watched her eyes light up.

  The justice of the peace told him what to say and he repeated, “With this ring, I give you my heart. All that I am, all that I have, I share with you. Wear this ring today and every day so that you will always have a part of me and my love with you.”

  Jon thought the vows, promises, and symbols were really heartfelt and touching, but he added, “This was my grandmother’s ring. With an upgrade.” He brushed his thumb over the large center round diamond. “She and my grandfather were married for sixty-two years. May we be even luckier than them.”

  Tears gathered in Trinity’s eyes. “That’s beautiful, Jon. Thank you.”

  He squeezed her hand, then held out his left one.

  She slipped a thick gold band on his finger. “This was my granddaddy’s ring. He loved me as fiercely as he loved my grandma, because I was his princess.” Trinity glanced down at Emmy because that’s what she’d called her, then met his gaze.

  The justice of the peace recited the vows, and Trinity held his hand in hers and poured out her love to him. “With this ring, I give you my heart. All that I am, all that I have, I share with you. Wear this ring today and every day so that you will always have a part of me and my love with you.”

  “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may seal your promises with a kiss.”

  Jon pulled Trinity in for a kiss that promised a lifetime of love and happiness.

  The crowd cheered and Emmy pressed into both of their sides, her little arms wrapped around them.

  Jon reluctantly broke the kiss and stared into Trinity’s eyes. “This was perfect.”

  “I’m so glad you’re happy.”

  He couldn’t be happier. “I am because you’re my beautiful wife.”

  She beamed with joy, then crouched next to Emmy. “I promise to be the best mom I can be to you.” She sealed that promise with a kiss on Emmy’s cheek.

  He picked Emmy up and held her at his side, took Trinity’s hand, and they turned and faced their family.

  “I give you Mr., Mrs., and Emmy Crawford,” the justice of the peace announced.

  Everyone clapped and cheered again.

  Jon set Emmy down again and she ran to Trinity’s brother. “Uncle Tate!” She climbed into his lap and hugged him.

  “What can I say, the ladies love me.” Tate smiled. Liz smacked him on the shoulder and laughed with everyone else.

  After everyone came up to congratulate them, and Jon thanked Declan and Skye for turning their rehearsal dinner into his and Trinity’s wedding, they all sat down to dinner. The drinks flowed, toasts were made, everyone danced, and he reveled in the fact that Trinity wasn’t just the love of his life, she was his wife, his partner, his true love.

  Epilogue

  Trinity and Jon rode the high of their wedding into Declan and Skye’s wedding at Cedar Top Ranch two days later. It was a beautiful country affair. She’d never seen Declan so happy and carefree. Skye was beautiful and glowing in a gorgeous white gown. When they kissed at the end of the vows, everyone saw and felt the love between them. And when they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. McGrath, Trinity smiled at her mom and dad down in the front row, watching with pride and joy as their last child married the one he loved.

  At the outdoor reception, Jon leaned in and kissed Trinity over Emmy, who sat in the middle of them and said, “I still think you were the most beautiful bride ever.”

  With all that love in the air, it wasn’t surprising that babies followed, starting with, of course, Adria and Drake’s twins . . .

  PROUD PARENTS,

  ADRIA AND DRAKE MCGRATH,

  WELCOMED TWINS!

  JULIANA—6 pounds, 4 ounces, 20 inches

  AND

  JAMES–7 pounds, 3 ounces, 21 inches

  IT’S A BOY!

  PROUD PARENTS,

  LIZ AND TATE MCGRATH,

  WELCOMED

  WYATT—7 pounds, 5 ounces, 21 1/2 inches

  IT’S A GIRL!

  PROUD PARENTS,

  SKYE AND DECLAN MCGRATH,

  WELCOMED

  BROOKE—6 pounds, 8 ounces, 19 inches

  IT’S A BOY!

  PROUD PARENTS,

  TRINITY AND JON CRAWFORD,

  AND BIG SISTER EMMY

  WELCOMED

  LUKE—7 pounds, 9 ounces, 20 3/4 inches

  About the Author

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author JENNIFER RYAN writes suspenseful contemporary romances about everyday people who do extraordinary things. Her deeply emotional love stories are filled with high stakes and higher drama, love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find.

  Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head . . . until she puts them on paper.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Announcement

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at the first book in Jennifer Ryan’s new Wyoming Wilde series

  Coming soon from Avon Books!

  Chapter One

  “Chase! Wake up!”

  Chase shot up in bed, the rat-a-tat-tat of automatic gunfire and the blast of explosions going off in his head overlaid with a newer nightmare, the ghostly image of a beautiful blonde staring up at him with dead eyes and blue lips. His unwelcome brother’s scowling face only made things worse.

  He sucked in a ragged breath and shook off Hunt’s hand from his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here?” It took Chase a minute to figure out where here was because everything inside him wanted the last twelve hours erased from reality. He didn’t want it to be true. He didn’t want to be held responsible for another death.

  Hunt’s narrowed eyes went wide. “You OD’d and nearly died. Where else would I be but here to force you back on the right path? Again.” The last time Hunt tried to set him straight he’d arrested Chase and had gotten the DA to agree to a deal, rehab instead of jail.

  “Why bother?�
� Hunt obviously thought Chase threw away sixty days of rehab the second he got out. “You don’t care what happens to me.” Sometimes it felt like no one cared about him anymore.

  “Because Mom would have wanted us to look out for each other—even if I hate you.” Hunt knew just how to slice open old wounds and make them bleed all over again.

  Their mother died seven years ago and nothing had been the same since. His father and brothers blamed him, but he’d done what he thought was right for his mom. She begged him to help her die on her terms. He did it to spare her more pain, so she could die in peace even if she had to do it without her beloved boys.

  Chase fell back in the hospital bed and turned away from his brother only to come face-to-face with his younger one. “You too.”

  “Yep.” Max gave him a condescending frown. “I think you might have set the record for relapsing after getting out of rehab. Sixty days in and you OD in less than one day out.”

  Only he didn’t. His Army buddy Drake did him a solid and asked his girlfriend, Adria, if Chase could crash in the apartment over her shop for a couple days. He needed a minute to figure out how to go home after rehab and rebuild his demolished life.

  All he wanted to do was see his little girl and that meant facing her mom, Shelby, and convincing her he’d changed his ways and wanted to put Eliza first.

  He prayed he could make Shelby believe him.

  “Why are either of you here?” After his mom’s death, his father banished him from their ranch. His mom made him promise to make his dad see reason and let Chase rebuild and repair the failing business. She wanted all of them to always have a home at Split Tree Ranch.

  Their family tree had definitely split, leaving his branch broken on the ground while his father and brothers stood against him and kicked him off the ranch and out of their lives.

  But he’d kept his promise to his mother and left them all with a business plan and the money to carry it out. The only way to get his hands on a chunk of money without putting them further in debt had been to join the Army and take the big bonus they offered him at enlistment. He needed to escape their hatred and anger and find a place to go and a purpose. He got both, and a new kind of family with his brothers in arms. Knowing he wasn’t welcome at home but he was needed in the service, he reenlisted after his first term ended and sent the bonus he got for that to the ranch, too.

  At the time, he thought his service and helping his family was his penance.

  It turned out to be his undoing.

  He’d served, and served well, but the battles left him scarred, battered, mentally unstable, and ultimately addicted to the very painkillers they gave him for the wounds that healed on his body but not in his mind. That kind of pain never ceased.

  His brothers didn’t come today because they cared. They came to pile on the punishment.

  Juliana’s haunting face filled his mind. Last night seemed like another nightmare, but it had been all too real. Watching Juliana die because he’d been unable to hold it together long enough to save her killed him. He’d seen her collapse. By the time he got to her, her heart had stopped. He tried to give her CPR, but his demons reared their ugly head. He had some sort of panic attack and couldn’t breathe and passed out. She died because he’d buckled under the pressure.

  It had never happened to him in the field under heavy fire, but seeing a young woman, so bright and fresh with so much life left to live drop dead right in front of him broke the last shred of whatever he’d been hanging by these last many months.

  “We’re here to take you back to rehab.”

  Right. They wanted him out of sight, out of mind.

  But he didn’t have a dime to his name. He’d spent everything he had for the sixty days of treatment and therapy.

  Right now, he couldn’t even pay his child support.

  Shelby told him he didn’t need to until he was back on his feet. Shelby could support Eliza on her own. She told him Eliza needed her daddy and that meant he had to do whatever it took to bring him back, because the man he’d become was not the daddy Eliza deserved.

  He stared up at the ceiling tiles and shook his head. “I finished rehab.” He’d done the work. Now, he wanted to get his life back. He’d missed too damn much time with Eliza. She deserved better. He wanted to give it to her, even if he wasn’t quite sure how to do that.

  He picked up his phone, hoping it still had a charge.

  What if Shelby left him a message? What if she needed him? What if something happened to Eliza?

  His thoughts spun out and his breathing turned sharp and desperate when he stared at the black screen, his phone completely dead.

  Hunt took his phone and set it on the table. “Look at you. You’re so desperate to call your supplier—”

  “I’m not doing drugs,” he snapped, trying to keep from losing it. “Is Drake around? I need my stuff.” His military buddy had helped save his life more than once. He got Chase into the same rehab where Juliana had stayed, though she’d arrived after him and left before him.

  Hunt planted his fists on his hips. “Dude. Focus.”

  “I need to charge my phone. It’s important.”

  Hunt stepped aside and revealed the military duffle bag sitting against the wall behind him. “We picked up your stuff this morning before we came here.”

  “Is my charging cord in there?”

  Hunt rolled his eyes, annoyed as hell, but Chase didn’t care. Hunt pulled the cord out of the top of the bag. Chase snatched it out of his hand and plugged in his phone and the cord to the wall behind his hospital bed.

  The second the phone lit up with the battery-charging symbol, he pressed the side button to turn it on and stared at the spinning circle as his phone went through its start-up.

  Hunt swore. “You need to face reality, Chase. You OD’d. You nearly died. Again.”

  “I’m not using!” He’d gotten clean and worked with a therapist to quiet his demons, even if he couldn’t kill them.

  “You can’t lie to us, man.” Max leaned forward. “We’re not buying your bullshit anymore. The doctor said you’re using.”

  Only he wasn’t. He couldn’t explain how he OD’d last night. He hoped Drake could fill in the blank in his mind. It had happened before, losing time. PTSD, anxiety, and depression had taken over his life along with the drugs. He just needed to talk to Drake to figure out what happened to Juliana and him last night. Because he felt like he was missing a huge piece of the puzzle that landed him in a hospital bed.

  “I’m not taking any more of your accusations and blame and anger. Go home. I don’t need you.” He needed to see Eliza.

  She needed him. She wanted him. She was the only person in his life who loved him. Because she didn’t know who her father really was, or what he’d done, she accepted him as is.

  He had a chance to be the man she needed, because at two, she didn’t know there were bad things in the world and he was one of them.

  “You need to get your shit together.” Hunt liked to throw out orders like that without any idea how hard that was for Chase after all he’d been through. He expected Chase to snap out of it. He wanted Chase to find a way to undo the past and make everything right.

  If Chase could do that, he would.

  All he could do now was accept that all the bad shit in his past happened because he’d done the best he could each and every time he’d been faced with impossible decisions. And when it all got to be too much, he’d hidden in a prescription drug haze meant to kill the pain, but all it did was make things worse.

  And nearly cost him everything.

  Get help, or you will never see Eliza again, Shelby had ordered him, her words and angry voice still ringing in his ears.

  The thought of never seeing his little girl had him immediately calling Drake for help before he even left Shelby’s driveway. He’d gone to rehab the next day.

  He’d learned his lesson.

  He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

 
And even though what happened last night left him reeling, he knew the only way to get through it was to feel it, no matter how bad it hurt.

  His phone came alive with a series of dings and pings as emails and text messages blew up his phone.

  He ignored the emails and tapped Shelby’s text string. She never really said much, but what she sent him was better than anything in this world. Pictures of Eliza started downloading, one after another. Her smiling face stared at him and all the tension went out of his chest. He breathed for the first time in twelve long hours.

  When he was serving overseas, he got a picture a day. She’d even hooked up a private web cam in Eliza’s nursery. He could log in with his password anytime and see his little girl in her room. Some days, the pictures and seeing the livestream were all that kept him sane. And Shelby hadn’t stopped now that he was stateside. At some point every day she sent him a picture.

  He’d spent every night in rehab watching his baby sleep.

  Three pictures popped up today. They went a long way to stitching up his bleeding heart. In the first picture, Eliza stood in front of the fireplace with a piece of paper with an I made out of multicolored buttons glued on it. Above her head on the mantel sat a picture of him. A selfie he’d taken and sent to Shelby to show Eliza while he was overseas. Behind him in the photo, nothing but desert sand spread out as far as the eye could see. The second picture showed Eliza on her swing in the backyard another piece of paper in her hands with the word Love spelled out in animal stickers. And the last, Eliza in the princess chair he sent her for Christmas with her finger pointed at him and another paper with You spelled out in glitter.

  His sweet girl liked to stick things on everything. The walls, windows, and doors when her mom wasn’t looking and forcing her to use paper.

  Hunt closed in on him. “Chase, put the phone down and pay attention.”

  Chase didn’t like being loomed over. At all. “To what? You telling me what you think I did. What you think I am. What you want me to do. Seriously, haven’t I done enough for everyone? Haven’t I paid enough? Lost enough? You guys don’t even want to be here. So why are you? Go home and leave me the hell alone.”