He brought her all the way into his arms and ran a hand tenderly down her spine. “I know you like excitement and being in the thick of things.”
She snuggled against his hard, strong body. “And I know you’re a rancher, not a farmer, and that you like the quiet of wide-open spaces.”
The need she felt was reflected in his gaze. “The fact we’re opposites in a lot of ways, and just alike in others, is what makes our attraction so powerful. And it is, powerful, Rose,” he concluded softly, bending his head to kiss her, sweetly and evocatively.
Tenderness wafted through her, fueling an even deeper reverence and need. “I know that,” she whispered back, cupping his jaw in her hand. “But I’m also aware that you can’t have a successful relationship unless both partners are willing to acquiesce to make the other happy. So—” she took another deep bolstering breath, meaning her next words with all her heart and soul “—if you want to mow down the berry patch and make it all pastureland, I’m okay with that. If you still want to give up on the ad campaign entirely, I’m okay with that, too. I’ll even give my part up if—”
He cut her off with a Texas-size grin. “Actually, I like the idea of us working together. And playing together. And building a life and a home and raising a family together.”
The tears she’d been holding back finally spilled over her lashes.
Eyes dark with emotion, he hugged her close, everything they had yet to say symbolized in that single move. He caught her against him, their hearts pounding in unison. He threaded his hands through her hair, pressed a kiss on her temple and gazed adoringly down at her. “I love you, Rose.”
Everything she had ever wanted was suddenly hers for the taking. “Oh, Clint,” she murmured joyously, “I love you, too. So much.”
“And one of these days, when you’re ready and your kids are ready, I want you to marry me.”
“I want you to marry me, too.” She marveled at the wonder of the moment, then sighed contentedly, teasing, “Perhaps sooner than you know.”
He laughed out loud. “Is that a yes?”
Rose nodded and hugged him closer still. “You better believe it is!”
Epilogue
“I get to be in a wedding!” Stephen zoomed past.
Clint scooped the little boy up in his arms before he could run out into the chapel, where guests were gathering. What a difference six months could make. Rose’s son had gone from complaining about anything and everything ceremony-related to sheer elation.
“Slow down, little fella,” Clint chided fondly, bussing the top of his head before giving him an affectionate hug. “You have to save some energy for your trek up the aisle.”
Stephen beamed and laced his arms around Clint’s neck, looking as happy to be with Clint as Clint was to be with him. “I get to carry the ring on a pillow!”
“Yes, you do.”
“And us girls get to carry baskets and sprinkle flowers,” Scarlet announced, not to be outdone.
“And then you and Mommy are going to say ‘I do’ and put rings on and kiss and you’ll be our daddy and we’ll be a forever family,” Sophia concluded.
Not that they didn’t already feel like one, Clint thought on a wave of contentment. But it would be good to have it official, to have the whole world know how deep his commitment to Rose and the kids went, and vice versa.
Clint sat down on the bench in the anteroom, Stephen on his lap, the girls on either side of him. It was a scene that had been enacted many times, yet he never got tired of it. And never would.
“You-all look so nice today,” he complimented them warmly. Stephen was in a black miniature tuxedo and pleated white shirt that matched Clint’s. The girls wore dark green chiffon with ribbon sashes and big flouncy skirts, like the rest of the bridesmaids.
“Mommy is pretty, too,” Sophia confided with a dreamy look on her face.
“But you can’t see her yet,” Scarlet warned. “Not until she comes down the aisle.”
Clint smiled. “I can hardly wait.” Not just to see his beautiful bride in her wedding finery, but finally to have Rose and the kids move into the Double Creek Ranch house.
They were going to use the bungalow at Rose Hill Farm, too, as an office for Rose and a small, cozy retreat when they all needed a change in scene, or simply to be closer to Rose’s base of operations.
That way they’d be able to hold onto everything that meant so much to both of them and minimize the number of changes the kids went through, too.
In the chapel, the music started.
Clint realized on a satisfied exhalation that it was time.
Rose’s five sisters filed into the anteroom. As previously arranged, they took charge of the flower girls and ring bearer. Gannon came to collect Clint. He and Clint and the groomsmen joined the minister. The ceremony started on a rush of excitement and joy. First the children and bridesmaids came down the aisle. Then Rose appeared on her father’s arm. Clint met his bride’s eyes. And in that instant, Clint lost his breath and his heart all over again.
In an ivory lace gown and tiara, Rose was not just gorgeous as could be. She was getting the wedding of her dreams. He was getting all of his wishes, too. A woman to love who loved him back just as fiercely as he loved her. A family. With, Rose had promised him the last time they’d made love, more babies to come. It would be impossible, he thought, to be any happier than they were at this very moment. By the time Jackson gave his daughter’s hand in marriage, and Clint joined her at the altar and took Rose’s hand in his, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. The wave of emotion built as they said their vows in clear, steady voices. It ended with a rousing cheer when the rings were on and he finally, exuberantly kissed his bride, cementing the union for all time.
“What do you think?” Rose asked hours later, when the reception had finally wound down. The two of them were getting in the limousine hired to drive them the short distance from the dance hall to the cottage on Lake Laramie, where they planned to honeymoon. She snuggled as close as the skirt of her wedding gown would allow and laid her head on his shoulder. “Were our nuptials everything you had hoped?”
“You’re everything I ever hoped.” Shifting her onto his lap, Clint buried his face in the fragrant silk of her hair and cuddled her close. She felt and smelled so good. Like a soft, warm field of wildflowers on a sun-drenched spring day. Like Rose...
He nestled even closer, aware she stole his breath, even now. He admitted gruffly, “But to answer your question, yes, they were. And then some.”
He felt her lips curve against his throat. Saw her smile. “For me, too.” She kissed his pulse and made it jump.
He smoothed a hand down her back, over the gentle slope of her hip. “Have I told you how much you mean to me?” he rasped. “How you’ve made every single one of my dreams come true?”
She loosened the bow on his tie, undid the first two buttons of his shirt and ran her fingers over his skin. “Only about a hundred million times.”
Threading both hands through her hair, he tilted her face up to his and kissed her softly, evocatively. “Just so you know.”
They drew apart. She gazed into his eyes for a long moment. “You mean the world to me, too,” she told him tenderly.
“That’s good to know,” he whispered back triumphantly, kissing her once again with everything he had.
And their life together as husband and wife began.
* * * * *
Watch for the next book in the
MCCABE MULTIPLES miniseries,
LONE STAR BABY by Cathy Gillen Thacker.
Coming September 2015, only
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Chapter One
For all practical purposes, Rock Bluff, Oklahoma, was gone.
Navy SEAL Grady Matthews pulled his rental sedan onto the highway’s shoulder, being careful not to hit a pink bathtub that rested on its side in a nest of debris. He lowered his window, bracing his forearm on the vehicle’s frame to take in the tragic view. The early-May tornado had been damn near a mile wide, and it had razed everything in its seventeen-mile path.
When his dad called, asking him to help rebuild their ranch, Grady thought he’d exaggerated the degree of the storm’s damage, but if anything, Ben’s description had been inadequate. Grady’s brain knew that a hundred yards down the road was where the historic Flamingo Motel should be, along with a McDonald’s, an Arby’s, the First Baptist Church and the Dairy Barn, but all of it was just gone, as if God had swept His hand over it, wiping the slate clean. Only the resulting mess wasn’t clean. It was an unfathomable pile of concrete blocks and upended church pews and— Tears stung his eyes.
He wanted to blame those tears on dust from a passing National Guard convoy, but the truth was that all he seemed capable of focusing on was the fact that the last place he’d seen Jessie, held her hand, begged her to give him another chance, had been at the Dairy Barn. They’d sat in the back booth that always caught the afternoon sun. Her honey-gold hair had come alive in the glow, and he’d reverently skimmed the crown of her head, kissing the soft waves of her hair, inhaling the simple strawberry sweetness of her shampoo, because it hadn’t been enough to just touch her—he’d needed to breathe her in.
I don’t love you, she’d said. This...us... We’re just not going to happen.
An hour later, Grady had signed his recruitment papers down at the strip mall that was now also gone.
He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the fact that physical proof of his memories—the only thing left of him and Jessie—had been erased.
His cell rang. The caller ID read Rose Matthews.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, yourself, sweetie. Where are you? Almost to town?”
“Yeah, I’m just sort of taking it in.”
“It’s a shock. Your dad and I have had a few days to get used to...well, everything.”
“Sure...”
“I do have some good news, which is why I’m calling. You remember Jessie’s parents, don’t you? Roger and Billy Sue?”
“Yes, ma’am...” He released a long, slow exhale.
“Well, they heard we’ve been staying at the shelter, and since they have that cute little guesthouse out by their pool, they asked if your dad and I would like to stay with them until our house is done.”
Grady leaned his head back and groaned. Seriously?
“Since the guesthouse is just the one room and the bathroom, Billy Sue said she’ll put you in one of their spare bedrooms.”
And Jessie? Because he could tell all the way from his current vantage that her downtown apartment building had been another of the storm’s victims. His pulse doubled just thinking her name.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but your poor Jessie’s place—”
Could this day get any worse? “She’s not mine.”
“You know what I mean. Anyway, she’s staying with her parents, too, but the more the merrier, right? I know it’ll be fun for you two kids to catch up.”
* * *
JESSIE LONG RUBBED the aching small of her back.
She’d been out here for hours, sifting through the wreckage of her apartment in the hot sun. It’d rained that morning. The air was so thick with humidity and sediments from the debris that it felt hard to breathe. For the plastic tub filled with clothes and a few pictures, was this really worth it?
She knelt, tugging a taped-together plastic spoon from beneath bricks and dirt and the stainless-steel kitchen sink.
Standing, tears welling in her eyes, she held back a sob while cradling the spoon to her chest. Of all the things she could have found, this was the most precious.
The last time she’d seen Grady had been at the Dairy Barn.
They’d shared their favorite booth in the back, and though he’d ordered Frito chili pie for them to share, neither had taken a bite. As usual, he’d gotten a spoon for her and a fork for himself, but both utensils had remained unused.
After she’d broken up with him, she’d quietly cried against his chest, but he’d pushed her away, telling her that she didn’t get to use him for anything anymore. He’d fished her favorite pink Sharpie from her purse—the one she used for doodling when she got bored in class—and drew a messy heart in the bowl of her spoon.
See this? he’d said, waving it in front of her face, then snapping it in half. This is what you did to my heart. You just broke it. Like it doesn’t mean a thing. But it does, Jess. I freakin’ love you. I gave you a ring. I wanna get married and have a big family. You and me—we’ll build a house out by the catfish pond, and every night at dusk, we’ll sit on our front porch swing, watching the kids play while the sun goes down. What’s the matter with you? Why can’t you see everything as clear as me?
Stop, she’d begged, scooting off the bench’s smooth seat. I see everything, she’d said under her breath. Mostly, that you and me and all of your big dreams are never coming true. I don’t love you.
To prove it, she’d walked away—but not before taking the pieces of that spoon as one last souvenir of what might’ve been.
* * *
THE FAMILY RANCH was worse off than Grady ever could have feared. Once again, tears stung his eyes as he absorbed the full weight of what his parents had lost.
The four-bedroom home he’d grown up in was now no longer a home, but a jumbled pile of drywall, four-by-four studs and the shredded remains of the china cabinet his mom had dusted every Saturday morning.
The barn he’d done chin-ups in to prepare for basic? Gone. The chicken coop? Flattened. His dad’s workshop? A graveyard of tractor parts and mangled sheet metal.
The wreckage went on and on. It was so bad that he couldn’t really even take it all in.
Grady had seen a lot of horrible things overseas, but even the worst didn’t compare to this. Where the hell did they even start in making this right?
Hands on his hips, he released a long, slow exhale.
Off on the horizon, he spied his dad’s truck heading his way. When that storm hit, if Ben and Rose hadn’t been in Norman at a doctor’s appointment...
His stomach cramped just thinking about it.
And where were the horses?
Two chickens sat on the underbelly of an overturned car. He didn’t recognize it as belonging to either of his parents. Who knew how far it’d traveled?
A deep sense of loss overwhelmed him. He’d come home to help rebuild, but how long would this take? His commanding officer had given him two weeks, and then he was due back on base in Virginia. Two weeks wouldn’t even clear the drive, let alone erect a house.
His dad pulled up, stopping the truck in what used to be the front yard. When he climbed out, he didn’t have to say a word to convey to Grady how low he was feeling. His shoulders were hunched and his expression grim as he stepped in for
a hug. “Wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
“You and me both. Where’s Mom?”
“With that girlfriend of hers who moved a few years back to Norman. Your momma... She needed to get away from all this.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
His dad patted his back. “Good to have you home, son. Real good.”
Grady wished he felt good or bad, or really just anything at all besides numb.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, once his dad left to pick up his mom, Grady bit the bullet by showing up at Jessie’s parents’. It was gonna be awkward and awful, and he’d rather pitch a tent in the pasture, but that would only upset his mom, so he pasted on a smile and strode up the wide porch steps.
“Aren’t you a tall drink of water.” Jessie’s mom, Billy Sue, sat in one of six white rockers.
Cotton, a miniature poodle who hated everyone but Billy Sue, yapped in her arms.
“Cotton, hush.” Jessie’s dad, Roger—one of two town dentists—extended his hand. “Thank you for your service to our country.”
Grady smiled at Jessie’s mom, but not knowing what to say to the man who was the father of the only woman he’d ever loved, he just stood there like a damned fool, nodding like a bobblehead SEAL doll.
“Come on in,” Roger held open the screen door on the Southern-fried McMansion, with its two-story white columns and hanging ferns. How had this place remained as pristine as ever while his folks’ house was a pile of rubble? “At the moment, I don’t have all that much to do since my practice was blown halfway to Kansas.”
“Sorry to hear that, sir.”
He shrugged. “Way I see it, I’ve got my family and home, so I came out a-okay. It was about time to remodel anyway.”
“Let me know if I can help. Once Mom and Dad’s insurance money comes in, I’ll be out at the ranch, but until then, I don’t mind lending a hand.”
“All this excitement has stirred up my emotions, and...” As if he was choked up, the man’s voice cracked. He placed his hand on Grady’s shoulder the same way he had when lecturing him on having Jessie home by midnight after prom. “If you don’t mind my saying, Billy Sue and I both thought you would have been a fine match for our baby girl.”
Lone Star Daddy (McCabe Multiples) Page 20