Cody took her kisses in like the air around them; he couldn’t stop himself. He knew he should, he knew he needed to, but this was Skye, the woman he had loved his entire life, and they were alone in the bunkhouse that they had made love in so many other times almost a lifetime ago. And despite everything, he wanted her more now than he did as an eighteen-year-old boy. He wasn’t that kid anymore, and Skye wasn’t that girl; she was a woman and the mother of his son. As their kiss deepened, and before he let their animal instincts take over, he stopped and pushed her away. “Skye, darlin’, before we go too far, I need to know what happened. Why did you leave? Why did you leave me…us?” he begged.
“Does it matter, Cody?”
“Yeah, it does to me,” he replied.
“I’m afraid to tell you.”
Cody took his hand and cupped her cheek, pulling her in closer. “Skye, you don’t have to be scared to tell me anything. I promise whatever your reason was, I will understand. We were both young and impulsive. So please tell me,” he said, looking into her dark brown eyes.
Skye took a deep breath and organized her thoughts, then proceeded with her story. “The night I left I just wanted to die. My heart ached, and all I wanted to do was get out of town. When I saw you with Dee Dee Freeman, and she was hanging all over you and kissing you, my heart broke, and I died inside. I just wanted to run away. I couldn’t stand to see you holding her. All I wanted was to be your wife and make a life with you, so when I saw you holding her, I just had to leave.”
“Skye, sweetie, you didn’t see everything. You didn’t see me push her away, and you didn’t hear me tell her I was in love with you and that we were running away to get married. You didn’t hear me tell her she was drunk, and you didn’t see me load her into my truck and take her home to her daddy so she wouldn’t be driving drunk,” Cody explained as he placed his hand on hers.
“Cody, I know that now. I didn’t know it then. It wasn’t until I was on the phone with Cassie Reinhardt. She told me everything when I called 911. I had no idea. My heart sank when she told me. She also said that you had been injured in Afghanistan. She mentioned you just got home not long ago and that you’ve been helping my daddy on the ranch.”
“That’s all true. I joined the Army not long after you left. I couldn’t stand staying in town. It reminded me too much of you, of us, so I left. Joined the same unit that your daddy was in. When you left, he and I had a lot of long talks and, well, none of us knew where you went off to, and he knew I was hurting, so I did what I thought could help me ease the pain of losing you, of living out my life without you. I think that was the worst. I volunteered for every mission and every detail just to keep myself as busy as possible, because when I was alone, lying in my bunk, I always thought of you. Where you were, what you were doing. In the ten years I was gone, I never came back. I hired hands to help my daddy and yours on the ranches, and I finally decided it was time after I was medically retired. So in these ten years, what have you been up to? Besides giving birth to our son,” he said as he smiled back at her, her eyes filled with tears.
“Well, I drove to New York City, got a small place, and started college. Found out I was pregnant and got a job as an assistant to Parker. After Tyler was born, I went back and finished college with a degree in Art History, and then Parker and I started dating. We moved in together, but it never felt quite right, like there was always something missing. I thought of you every day, Cody. I know you probably don’t believe me, but it was hard not to think of you when I had our son to raise. I named him Tyler, and of course, yes, I never ever stopped loving you. I tried to stop—it just wasn’t possible. We have been a part of each other from the first time we made love. No one ever compared to you, and no one was ever good enough.”
When she was finally done telling her story, Cody leaned over and said, “Skye, you know you’re right about Christmas…it is a time to put the past in the past and move on. This is a time of renewal, a time of giving and a time of forgiveness, and Skye, I forgive you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Can we go back to the beginning and start where we left off?” Cody stood up, then got on one knee. “Skye Howard, would you do me the honor of finally becoming my wife on this Christmas Eve and making me the happiest man in the entire world?”
Tears came like rain down Skye’s cheeks, then she lunged for Cody, knocking him to the floor. She kissed him deeply, then she looked into his eyes, finally coming up for air.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, Cody Wilson, I will marry you! But first, before we do anything else, make love to me, right here, right now.” And as the snow fell, this Christmas Eve not only had Cody found a wife and a son, but he also found a new life on this special night on the Triple H Ranch in a bunkhouse where it all began so many years ago and where it would begin again on this, A Montana Christmas.
The End
About the Author
Shannon is a USA Today Bestselling Author of over 18 novels and novellas.
Shannon is a multi-genre author who writes, Military, Contemporary, Historical Romance and is working on her first Fantasy series.
Shannon started her writing career while still serving in the US Army. She served from 1987 to 2015 during Operation Desert Storm and during Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In April 2015 Shannon retired from the US Army with 23 years of service. She is a mother of 4 children and a grandma to 2 beautiful Granddaughters. She has been married 26 years to her husband,
Website/ Newsletter - http://www.shannonnemechek.com
https://linktr.ee/nemochick_1969
Other Books By Shannon
Check the books out here
Warranted Pleasures (A Warranted Series Book 1)
Warranted Desires (A Warranted Series Book 2)
Snowed In (A Warranted Novella)
ANTHOLOGIES
Craving Soldiers
Craving Secrets
Craving Christmas
Craving Country
Craving Once Night
My Soldiers 2
Blame it on the Night
ARES TEAM
Rules of Engagement
TORN
FAIRY TALE RETELLING SERIES
ELLA UNCOVERED
MMA SERIES
BAMA TIDE
Book of Eleanor Series
The Traveler: Chimera Rebellion
The Traveler: Chimera Revolution- June 2020
The Traveler: Chimera Rising-Dec 2020
The Traveler: Chimera Requiem-June 2021
The Traveler: Chimera Reign- Dec 2021
The Traveler: Chimera Resistance- June 2022
The Traveler: Chimera Rivalry- Dec 2022
The Traveler: Chimera Reclaimed- June 2023
Chance Maxwell Serial
NEVER SAY NEVER
9th Special Ops Serial
CALLSIGN: WOLVERINE
Holiday Romance
CHRISTMAS ON THE RUN
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