Cowboy Tough

by Stacy Finz

  “Ellie’s coming with Uncle Cash and Aunt Aubrey. Uncle Sawyer too. We’re all caravanning together.”

  “Do I have to go to school?”

  “Yep, right after breakfast at the coffee shop. Mrs. Kerr will pick you up this afternoon.”

  Grady groaned. “D-a-a-a-a-d. Why does she have to be our babysitter? She smells like onions all the time.”

  Because she was the best he could come up with after Charlie left. “She’s a nice lady and you guys remind her of her grandkids who live on the other side of the country. Can’t you cut a grandmother a break?”

  “I guess. Why can’t Charlie move back?”

  “Because she lives in Oregon. You know that.” They’d been over it more than a dozen times and he really didn’t want to discuss it again. Not now, when he had enough on his mind. “Where’s Travis? I want to talk to you guys.”

  “I’ll get him.” Grady ran out of Jace’s room, shouting at the top of his lungs for his brother.

  Jace slipped the bolo tie over his neck and adjusted the braided leather cord under his collar. He took one more look in the mirror and decided he was presentable enough. He’d gone back and forth on whether to wear his uniform and decided to go with plain clothes. Because no matter what happened today, he’d always be a rancher.

  “Grady says you need to have a talk with us.” Travis stood in the doorway of Jace’s bathroom, Grady crowding behind him.

  Jace gave both boys a once-over, grabbed a comb from his vanity drawer, and ran it through their hair.

  “Ow,” Grady cried.

  “So this is the deal,” Jace said. “A newspaper reporter is coming with us to the grange hall to watch me vote. So mind your p’s and q’s.”

  “What does that mean?” Travis asked.

  “Be on your best behavior. No fighting, no burping, no foul language. Got it?”

  Both boys nodded and he smothered a grin.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  “Let’s do it,” Travis and Grady said in unison and bumped their fists with his.

  Jace gathered them up in a bear hug and dropped a kiss on the top of each one’s head. Outside, a horn tooted. Tiffany sat in the driveway at the wheel of her Mercedes with the reporter, who hopped into the front seat of Jace’s truck. Tiffany and the rest of the gang followed him to the grange hall in their respective vehicles.

  There was a small crowd assembled near the entrance to the polls, talking and drinking coffee out of travel mugs. They applauded as Jace and the rest of the Dalton clan crossed the parking lot to cast their votes.

  “Go Sheriff! Go Sheriff!” Ruben’s mom, Kelly, chanted.

  “I think she’s single,” Sawyer whispered in Jace’s ear.

  Jace ignored him and went over to the group to shake hands. The reporter snapped a few pictures.

  Jace broke away from the crowd and joined the rest of his family in the hall. Mitzi Lerner, Jace’s former first-grade teacher, sat at a table, checking names on a registration list and handing out ballots. She greeted the Daltons with a big smile.

  “We’re a little crowded right now. The booth on the end is open, though.”

  “You take it, Jace.” Cash said.

  Travis and Grady went with him and he let them mark his name on the ballot.

  “Like this, Dad?” Grady asked as he colored in the line with pencil.

  “Yep. That right there is the lucky vote. Why don’t you guys go outside while I finish up here?”

  He cast the rest of his votes and met his cousins at the door. “Why don’t you and the boys go on ahead to the coffee shop,” he told them. “I’ll meet you there as soon as I finish up here.”

  Tiffany hung back to make sure he stayed on script—whatever the hell that meant—and to shuttle the reporter back to his car after the interview.

  “Let’s go over to the side of the grange hall where it’s private, so Josh here can finish up without any interruptions,” she said.

  They followed Tiff to a secluded corner of the building where the reporter did a Q and A.

  By the twelfth question, Jace was starting to get antsy. One of Jimmy Ray’s waffles was waiting for him. “We good?”

  “We’re good, Sheriff.” The reporter stashed his pad and pen in his back pocket and Jace watched Tiffany talk his head off on the way to her car.

  Jace started for the parking lot, only to be stopped along the way by more well-wishers.

  “Atta boy.” Dougie Sampson, the local backhoe driver, high-fived Jace.

  Mama tapped the horn of her tow truck a few times and stuck her hand out the window to give him a thumbs-up.

  Twenty handshakes later, Jace made a beeline for his truck, hoping to avoid getting further waylaid.

  And that’s when he saw her.

  She was on the outer edge of the parking lot, standing next to her CR-V, with a tentative smile playing on her lips, as if she didn’t know how she might be received.

  He squinted a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. But it was her.

  Charlie.

  He froze, trying to absorb the shock. He wanted to go to her but his feet wouldn’t seem to move.

  When he continued to just stand there she said, “I voted,” and pointed to the red, white, and blue sticker on her blouse. “Uh…I used your address to register online…I hope you don’t mind.”

  The soft breeze blew her dark hair around her face. And he could’ve sworn he’d forgotten how to breathe, let alone walk. She was so astonishingly beautiful that he continued to stay rooted in place, just staring.

  She’d changed since March. Her hair was shorter now, falling in soft waves around her face. Her brown eyes sparkled. And the gaunt planes of her body had been replaced with soft curves. Gone was the haunted look he remembered so well from the first time he’d met her.

  “So you came back to vote?” He was still trying to process her presence.

  “To vote and to see you and the boys, if that’s okay.”

  He sucked in a breath, not knowing whether he could survive another goodbye from her. But if all she had to give was a brief visit, he’d take it. And cherish every damned second he had with her.

  His legs began to move and the next thing he knew he was lifting her in the air.

  She laughed, and the sound of it was so joyous that heat radiated through his chest. He put her down and she went up on tiptoes and spread kisses across his face.

  A part of him wanted to hold on to this moment forever. No questions, no worries about tomorrow. There was only today. There was only now.

  But for his own sanity he needed to know. “How long are you staying?”

  “How long will you have me?”

  He pulled away and looked at her. Really looked. “Forever,” he said. “I want you to stay forever.”

  She threw herself into his arms. “I thought maybe you’d forgotten about me by now…that you had someone else.”

  “Never. There’s only you. But I thought …” He backed away just far enough to peer into her eyes. “How are you, Charlie? Why the change of heart?”

  “My heart never changed. It was always set on you. It was the rest of me that needed healing.”

  He tilted his head. “Has that happened? Have you healed?”

  “I had a lot of time to reflect, if that’s what you mean. It was good to be with my family. Good to come to the realization that I would never let another man, or anyone else, come between me and them again. I saw a therapist while I was in Portland. A really good therapist. We worked through a lot of things.”

  “I’m glad.” He stroked her face, reveling in the softness of her skin. “Are you ready to be with me, Charlie?” Jace held his breath. If she said no, he’d figure out a way to persuade her to stay.

  “So ready,” she said, her voice shakin
g. “I missed you more than you can imagine. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I just needed time to trust my feelings again.”

  He lifted her chin with his finger. “You trust ’em, then? Because I won’t let you down. I might make mistakes but I would never intentionally hurt you, Charlie. I’ll work every day to make you happy, the happiest you can ever be. That’s a promise.”

  “You’ve already made me happy.” There were tears glistening in her eyes. “I love you so much, Jace.”

  “Not half as much as I love you.” He kissed her, losing track of time and everything around him. For him, there was only Charlie.

  “Uh, I think we’re making a bit of a spectacle of ourselves,” she said against his lips and reluctantly broke the kiss.

  “I don’t care,” he said, and glanced up to see a few passersby who’d come to vote, staring. “But if you want, we can sit in my truck.” He didn’t want to let go of her even for a minute.

  “Let’s go home,” she said. “Let’s go home to Dry Creek Ranch.”

  His breath caught in his throat. She was coming home with him, this time for good.

  Epilogue

  “It was the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to.” Charlotte swung Jace’s hand as Travis, Grady, and Ellie ran to the ranch house ahead of them. Ellie was staying with them for a week while Cash and Aubrey went on their honeymoon.

  “You pick up any ideas?” Jace asked.

  “For ours?” Charlotte glanced down at her engagement ring, a one-carat asscher cut that Jace had found in an antique store while she was trolling for goodies to restore. “I want it at the ranch too. I want my sister to do the flowers and Aubrey to do the table settings. Like Allison, Aubrey’s got an amazing eye.”

  “Have you thought any more about Aubrey’s business proposal?”

  “It’s a go.” Charlotte beamed. “We shook on it at the rehearsal dinner last night. I can’t believe she’s willing to risk leaving her lucrative job at the architectural firm to pair up with me, especially because I don’t have a dime to put into this venture. But I’m crazy with excitement about it.”

  They’d reached the house and Charlotte suggested they sit on the front porch and watch the sunset. “I love it here.” She sighed. But she suspected she’d love any place as long as she was there with Jace and the boys.

  “I’ll be right back,” Jace said.

  “Do you need to call in?” The hours of a country sheriff were unpredictable. And after getting 80 percent of the vote, it looked like this was going to be his career for a good long time.

  “Nope, I’ve got something for you.”

  She couldn’t imagine what. He’d already given her everything she could ever want. A house, a family, a place for her business, and enough love to make her the happiest woman in Mill County.

  He returned with a white envelope and handed it to her.

  “What’s this?” She opened the flap and looked inside. A stack of bills peeked back at her.

  “I sold my grandfather’s coin collection to pay the back taxes. That’s the money you earned from your business. You should use it for your and Aubrey’s store and design studio.”

  “Oh, Jace, I wanted you to put it toward the ranch.” She pushed the envelope back at him. “Please, this is important to me.” Corbin had turned her into a kept woman and she never wanted to be in that position again. Couldn’t Jace understand that she needed to hold her own?

  “Ultimately, it will be for the ranch,” he said. “Remember how you said we needed to figure out a way for the land to support us? This is that way. The shop and studio, Charlie. If it thrives, we thrive. And maybe along the way we can house a few more small businesses. I have no idea what kind yet, something agricultural, I hope.”

  She did a double take because it was perfect. “Leasing out business space…What an inspired idea. You could rent to places that would complement Aubrey and my shop. A country mercantile for instance. Or a café where we could serve Dalton beef. And a—”

  “Let’s not get carried away just yet.” Jace’s lips slid up. “When Cash and Aubrey get back from Hawaii and Sawyer from New Mexico, we’ll all sit down and brainstorm.”

  Charlotte rested her head on Jace’s shoulder. “Sawyer decided to go, huh? You think this woman will give him any more information about his sister?”

  “I don’t know. I guess if he didn’t go, we’d never know for sure. But my gut tells me that whatever he learns won’t be good. I don’t think Sawyer—or any of us, for that matter—are really prepared to find out what happened to Angie.”

  Charlotte knew Angela’s disappearance had taken a toll on the Daltons. And while Jace stood tough, he’d suffered enough loss.

  But today had been Cash and Aubrey’s wedding, a time of joy and new beginnings. Tomorrow they could talk about Angie. Tonight should be about their bright future together.

  “I’m excited about your ranch idea,” she said and laced her fingers in his. “You’re a brilliant man, Sheriff Dalton.”

  “Me? It was your idea.” Jace pulled her out of her rocker and onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  She cuddled against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. “Good thing you decided to marry me, then.”

  “Decided?” Jace hitched a brow. “I’ll give you credit for the ranch idea. But marriage, that was my idea, woman.”

  “But I said yes.”

  “And what a wise choice that was, because I’m the love of your life.”

  “Yes, you are, and I’m yours.”

  His mouth captured hers in a kiss that went from sweet to needy in under a second. “What do you say we watch the sunset from the bedroom?”

  “I say that’s an excellent idea.”

  He lifted her like a bride and carried her inside.