“Do you have any words you’d like to say to each other?” the preacher asked, smiling as he patted their joined hands.
“I do,” Matt said, and everyone laughed. He grinned at the crowd, then gazed into Cass’s eyes. “When I told you I loved you, and you said you loved me too, that was the best day of my life—until now.” Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and he brushed them away. “You are my heart, my life, my world. I promise to be your best friend, your lover, your soulmate for as long as we both shall live.”
Now tears were dribbling down his face too, and she wiped them away with unsteady fingers. “The night I met you, I remember wondering what kind of man took advantage of another man.” He cringed and she squeezed his hands. “But then I got to know you and everything changed.”
She glanced out at the crowd and gave a watery smile to her father. “You see, I learned the problem wasn’t with you. It was me.”
She turned back to Matt and gazed up at him with so much love it almost brought him to his knees. “You taught me to believe in myself. To be strong, and maybe most of all, to forgive.” She reached up and gave him the sweetest kiss, it was like a benediction. “I love you forever, Matthew Shaughnessy.”
The crowd cheered, clapping wildly.
The preacher grinned and said, “We better get you two married or there’s going to be a mutiny. Who has the ring?”
There was a moment of panic as Aaron felt around in his pockets and came up with nothing, but then he used a sleight of hand trick and brandished the little blue box.
Matt mock-growled and clapped him on the back. “Wait until it’s your turn, buddy.” The two brothers shared a heartfelt moment before Matt turned back to his bride.
He opened the box and took out the sapphire and diamond ring that had landed him a stunningly beautiful fiancée and gently placed it on her finger.
“The best bet I ever made,” he murmured for her ears only.
“You may kiss the bride,” the preacher boomed.
“Well?” Cass smirked.
Matt grinned and swept her into his arms. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Afterword
Reviews are the lifeblood of any successful author. Without you, we can’t be heard.
If you enjoy the story, please consider sharing on your favorite social media sites, as well as GoodReads and from wherever you’ve bought the book.
Thank you,
Jacquie Biggar
Jacqbiggar.com
About the Author
JACQUIE BIGGAR is a USA Today bestselling author of Romantic Suspense who loves to write about tough, alpha males and strong, contemporary women willing to show their men that true power comes from love.
She is the author of the popular Wounded Hearts series and has just started a new series in paranormal suspense, Mended Souls.
She has been blessed with a long, happy marriage and enjoys writing romance novels that end with happily-ever-afters.
Jacquie lives in paradise along the west coast of Canada with her family and loves reading, writing, and flower gardening. She swears she can't function without coffee, preferably at the beach with her sweetheart. :)
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Also by Jacquie Biggar
Wounded Hearts Series
Tidal Falls
The Rebel’s Redemption
Twilight’s Encore
The Sheriff Meets His Match
Summer Lovin’
Wounded Hearts Box Set
Coming Soon- Maggie’s Revenge
Mended Souls Series
The Guardian
The Beast Within
Single Titles
Silver Bells
Missing: The Lady Said No
Hold ’Em
My Baby Wrote Me A Letter
Tempted by Mr. Wrong
Preview My Baby wrote Me A Letter
A family's brush with the past will threaten the fabric of their lives.
Grace Freeman is eight months pregnant, and with her navy husband away on a mission, she craves the security of her childhood home in Canada.
When she finds a letter written by her long-lost mother, it creates a tear in the foundation of those she loves.
Can Grace find a way to bring her family peace, or will a message from the past destroy their future?
Excerpt:
Ray woke with a start. He sat up and glanced around, the switch to gravel from the smooth pavement telling him they were close. Twilight had swept over the land while he’d slept, bathing the dense mountain forest around them in an ethereal pink-red glow. The spruce and pine stretched their noses skyward, breathing air scented by wildflowers, glacier fed streams, and the mildew smell unique to rotting wood and moist earth.
Home.
He’d been to many beautiful countries in his lifetime, but nothing had ever compared to the Canadian Rockies. He remembered the first time he and Beth had traveled this road, young and in love. They had just enough money to put a down payment on the acreage, the house came later—in stages as the kids were born. Money was tight, but it hadn’t mattered. They had a roof, the land supplemented their diet. And then he’d ruined it by taking the correspondent’s job.
They hit a deep pothole and he grunted, feeling the punch to his arthritic joints.
Thomas glanced over his shoulder, hands wrestling the steering wheel. “Sorry, Dad. We’re getting the road resurfaced, just waiting for the frost heaves to come out first.”
Ben looked back, too, a reckless grin on his still-round face. “I told him to leave it, more fun this way.”
Leo leaned forward so he could tap his brother’s head. “You’re such an idiot,” he said, the affection obvious in his tone.
“Hey,” Ben grouched good-naturedly, rubbing the supposed injury. “Watch the hair.”
“What hair?” Grace added her two bits, her smile bright enough to light up the dim cab.
Ben shot her a wounded look. “Ouch. That hurts, sis. You know I’m sensitive about my curls.”
It was true. He could have had shares in a popular hair product, the amount he used to flatten those dreaded curls.
“You kids quit your squabbling,” Ray muttered, anxious for his first glimpse of the house. He’d only been away a few months, but it seemed longer. In some indefinable way, he thought if he just waited long enough, maybe Beth would hear he’d changed and come back. Silly, but his heart lived in hope nonetheless.
He placed his hand over the letter hidden away in his chest pocket, and met Gracie’s worried gaze. Did she realize how much she looked like her mother with the same expressive, warm hazel eyes and silky chestnut hair? It hit him in the solar plexus every time she smiled.
“You’ll have to talk your brother into giving up his room while you’re here,” he said. The boys had moved out and then back home more times than he could count. He had a feeling they did it because they didn’t want to leave him alone. They didn’t understand he’d been alone for the past twenty years.
“You can have my room if you clean it,” Benjamin was quick to answer. “I’ll bunk with Leo.”
“Like hell,” Leo said. “You’re a pig.”
Ben shrugged. “Takes one to know one, bro.”
“Aren’t you glad you came back?” Thomas said, eyeing them in the rearview mirror.
Yeah, he was. His kids made life worth living.
“Any word on Dan?” Leo asked.
Grace sighed, her fingers spread protectively over the babe. “No. I keep hoping he’ll get here before Ebenezer is born, but it’ll be close. This little guy is anxious to get out and investigate the world.” Her smile about broke his heart. “Like his granddaddy.”
“Honey…” But what could he say? Their family had fractured and he was at fault. Sometimes he wished that damn bomb had finished the job.
“Dad, don’t.” Grace grabbed his closed fist and hung on. “I didn’t mean anything by that. Junior is lucky. He’s going to have amazing role models to look up to.”
Just then Thomas hit another rut that threw the vehicle from side to side on the narrow road. When they finally straightened out again, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Those trees had looked plenty big in the windshield.
“Everyone okay back there?” Thomas asked.
“Sure,” Grace nodded. “But just so you know, none of you are teaching this kid how to drive when he gets older.”
There was a startled silence and then Benjamin asked, “How about snowboarding?”
Ray leaned back and let the kids squabble, contentment giving the melancholy a gentle nudge to the back of his thoughts.
Hold 'Em: A Gambling Hearts Romance Page 12