by Jillian Neal
“I have to ask Dec if I’d even be a candidate. We might have to wait until the PTSD is no longer such a factor in my life, but someday, I’d really like to do for kids what the Campbells did for me.”
“Me, too. I want to use what we both went through for good. It will never be worth it but that isn’t the point. There are kids that need the kind of help we can give them.”
“Hey, Nat?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for being you, and for loving me, and for giving me a happy ending.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Natalie’s family caravanned all the way to Gentry with the Sevens. They tripled the population of the town when they arrived.
“Oh my gosh, you’re getting married,” Holly squealed as soon as she got out of the truck. They hugged in the front field of the Campbells’ farm for five minutes straight.
“Guess this was one thing she wasn’t gonna let simmer.” Ev helped Jessie out of the car.
Aaron couldn’t help but laugh. “We let things simmer for years, sir. We’re ready for a new life.”
“Well, welcome to the family, son. Same things still apply. I like ya. Heck, I’ll even learn to love ya like one of my own. You hurt her or you ever lie to her again I’ll kill ya. Just that simple.”
“You have my word, sir. I’ll never hurt her or lie to her again. I was raised better than that.” Aaron nodded to his foster parents. “Ev, Jessie, this is Gary and Judy Campbell. My parents.”
They hugged and started talking like they’d known each other their entire lives.
“Dude, when she puts you on a leash, she pulls it tight,” Voodoo goaded. He handed Aaron his dress uniform. “Had it pressed for you and I brought you Josh’s tags. Kinda thought you might want them.”
“No leash required and thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“You owe me so many more than one, which is why I did not get you a wedding present.”
The next morning, Aaron stood in front of a new mirror in his old bedroom. He held the green beret in his hands seeing a thousand memories staring back at him instead of his own image. Josh’s tags were laying on the bed.
“Want some help with that?” Mrs. Campbell peeked her head in.
“Uniform still fits.” He was strung tighter than a racked pistol. The past two days had gone by in a blur and by the end of the night he was going to be married to Natalie Camden. How had he ever gotten so lucky?
“You look very handsome.” His foster mother smiled at him and dabbed the tears in her eyes.
“Been a long time since I wore it.”
“Maybe you should put it on more often. I bet Natalie will love you in it.”
“I can’t believe she loves me out of it.”
Mrs. Campbell laughed.
“Didn’t quite mean it like that.”
“I wasn’t offended. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you so nervous and that includes the day you first arrived here.”
“I wasn’t all that nervous that day. I just remember being so damn tired.”
“You did nothing but sleep and eat for a week straight. Then we finally got to know you.”
“I remember.”
“Don’t you sometimes wish life was kind of like a pencil? That one end had an eraser so we could erase all the parts we wish weren’t a part of it?” She took the beret from his hands.
“I used to wish that but Nat told me one time that there’s no way out of your only life and that even with all of the bad stuff she went through she didn’t want out of hers. I decided if she’s in it I don’t want out of any part of mine either.”
“Sounds like she’s a very smart girl.”
“She is.”
“Aaron, you do know Josh would have been so proud of you.”
“I just wish I’d been here for him when he needed me.”
“We were here. We thought things were getting better. I refuse to believe any of us could have stopped him. You know what depression can do. Please, don’t blame yourself for what happened.”
The last words Aaron needed to hear to have total forgiveness reached his ears. “I miss him so fucking much.”
“Me too. Every single day.”
“I kind of like thinking that he can see us. Maybe he’ll get to watch me marry her. Maybe he’ll see that I’m okay now.”
Ms. Campbell scooped Josh’s tags off of the bed. “He’s right here whenever we need him watching over us all. And he is most certainly out there now. I kind of like to think he has the best seat in the field.” She pressed the cool metal into his hands. “Lean down just a little.”
Aaron did as he was told. She placed the beret on his head. He stood back and looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in his entire life he knew where he was going and he knew it was a place he wanted to be.
“It’s too long,” Natalie fussed as the hem of her sister’s wedding gown dragged the flooring.
“That’s why I brought you my highest heeled boots,” Holly handed over the shoes.
“You look beautiful.” Her mother wiped away a few remnant tears.
“Thanks, Mama. I wish I wasn’t nervous.”
“I’d say it’s normal to feel nervous, cowgirl. I couldn’t even eat for two days before I married your daddy. I got down the aisle and almost fainted from hunger.”
Natalie had been avoiding the mirror in Josh’s old room, that had indeed been partially redone, all morning. She hated that she didn’t recognize herself in the dress. This was her life. Why couldn’t she quite understand that she got to live it?
Her mother tucked a stray strand of hair back into the low bun at the nape of her neck.
“Did I ever tell you the first thing I thought when they handed you to me after you were born?” Her daddy’s smile couldn’t quite rid the liquid emotion from his eyes.
“No, I don’t think so.” Natalie shook her head.
“The doc wrapped you up in this tiny pink blanket and put you in my arms and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of ya. Never tell your brothers this, but I’d had more than a few talks with the man upstairs about wanting your mama to have a little girl. But they handed you to me and I knew it wasn’t your mama who needed a baby girl. It was me. I swore right then and there, I’d never let anything hurt my baby. I’ll never forgive myself for not keeping that promise.”
“Daddy, you did…” She shook her head.
Her father kept talking. “I spoiled you rotten but I couldn’t help myself. You were just this perfect little angel with a crooked little smile that brought me to my knees no matter what you’d done. Soon as I saw ya, I knew I’d never deserve the life God had seen fit to give me. I finally figured out those times when you can’t quite believe you got what you have, that’s when you know what you’re doing is the right thing to do. Sometimes this world don’t make a dang bit of sense, but every now and then it all lines up just right and you can’t believe you get to be the one to live it.” Her father shrugged. “You made my whole life make sense, baby girl. Seems to me maybe your Green Beret makes your life make sense, too.”
“Daddy.” Natalie threw her arms around his neck. “He does.”
“Then we better get.” He took her hand and helped her walk out to Aaron’s field.
“You’re sure this is how you want to do this?” he asked her as they came to the back of the aisle she was to walk down.
She took one long look at the line of men in uniforms standing beside Aaron and the man in the wheelchair who was standing in for his son as the best man. Her destiny awaited her. This was so much more than a happy ending. He was her happy beginning.
“Yes, this is perfect. This is exactly how I want to walk down the aisle. I wish it was Sundance but this will do.”
“All right then cowgirl, saddle up.”
Natalie held out the skirts and slips of Holly’s gown and positioned herself in the saddle. Her father led the horse down the makeshift aisle the Campbells had created. The entire town of Gentry had shown up. I
t ended up being much larger than she’d originally imagined and even more perfect.
When she reached Aaron, she hopped off the horse and took his hand.
“There’s my girl,” he whispered.
EPILOGUE
“Seven minutes,” Aaron informed his wife as he scrubbed down the bar top at Saddleback’s one last time.
She’d asked to come with him that afternoon since it was his last shift. Eliza had insisted she stay behind the bar with him.
“I’m enjoying your countdown to our honeymoon.” She giggled again.
“You laughing is the best damn sound in the whole world.”
“Really? And I thought you liked the way I moaned.”
“Okay, you laughing is the second best sound.”
Shaking her head at him, she slid a few clean glasses into their racks. “So, what exactly are we going to do for the next week in a chalet in Vail?”
“Well, first, Mrs. Weber, I’m going to get all up in your business. You thought I was invasive before you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah, baby.”
The clatter of a thrown skillet sounded from the kitchen. Aaron rolled his eyes and started back there. Holding up his hands, he stopped himself. “You know what, it’s no longer my problem.”
A man Aaron had never seen before sank down on a barstool with his cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. “Get you something to drink, sir?”
“Uh, sure. Can I ask you something?”
The man looked up and something in his eyes struck Aaron. “Do I know you?”
“Not unless you’ve ever spent any time in Holder County, Oklahoma.”
“Never been down there. You just look familiar I guess. What can I get you?”
“I’ll take a whiskey neat. This is Pleasant Glen, right?”
“The one and only. If you blink, you’ll miss it so we get asked that pretty often.”
“Can I ask you something else, man?”
“For the next three minutes, I’m the bartender here so you can ask me anything you want.”
“You get fired?”
“I quit. Learning to be a cattle rancher instead.”
The man laughed. “I wish you the best. Cattle ranching’s a crap shoot on a good day.”
“You sound like all of my brothers-in-law.”
“Then they’re probably straight shooters.”
“They are but you were gonna ask me something else.”
“Yeah, you ever heard of the Camdens? They own some land up here or something.”
Natalie whirled around. “I’m Natalie Camden. Well, actually I’m Natalie Weber but I’m still a Camden. My family owns the largest ranch in Lincoln County. Did you need something, sir?”
The man looked like she’d backhanded him.
“What did you say your name was?” Aaron asked.
“Uh… my name’s uh… Colton. Colton Holder.”
He’d spent the first three seconds of his response making up a lie about his name. Aaron eased Natalie away from the stranger. “Holder, huh? Got a good friend from Oklahoma named Maddox Holder. I think he’s even from Holder County. He used to be a Screaming Eagle from the 101st. He any relation to you?”
“Mad-do... No. Never heard of him.”
“Interesting.” Aaron nodded. To have never heard of him he knew his nickname. “Well, my time’s up. We’re heading out of town. It was nice to meet you.”
Aaron removed his apron, took Natalie’s hand, and got her the hell away from whoever that guy was.
“We’re going home to tell Daddy about him before we go to Vail aren’t we?”
“Yeah and I’m all kinds of pissed about our delay but that isn’t his name and I want to know what the hell he wants with your family.”
WAYWARD SON
Colton Holder isn’t his name but he is on a mission. Find out who he is, what he wants, and why he’s looking for the Camdens in my upcoming novel, Wayward Son. Join my mailing list to get clues, excerpts, and gossip about what happens when he finally confesses the reason he’s in Pleasant Glen. You’ll also get all of the insider info on my upcoming series, Holder County.
Wait there’s even more you can learn about if you join my mailing list. I’m also launching a Western Military Romance series. Read all of the stories of Team Seven as they each find their Happily Ever After! Griff’s book, Dirty HALO, will be out in the Spring of 2018.
Join my mailing list now!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bestselling author Jillian Neal likes her coffee strong and sweet with a shot of sinful spice, the same way she likes her cowboys. In fact, her caffeine addiction is quite possibly considered illicit in several states as are a few of the things her characters do. When she’s not writing or reading, you’ll find her in the kitchen trying out new recipes or coming up with excuses reasons to purchase yet another handbag or make an additional trip to Sephora. Though she’ll always be a Bama girl at heart, Jillian hangs up her hat and kicks up her boots outside of Atlanta with her hunk-of-a-husband and her teenage sons.
For more information…
jillianneal.com
[email protected]
ALSO BY JILLIAN NEAL
THE GIFTED REALM SAGA
Within the Realm
Lessons Learned
Every Action
Rock Bottom
An Angel All His Own
All But Lost
The Quelling Tide
GYPSY BEACH
Gypsy Beach
Gypsy Love
Gypsy Heat
Gypsy Hope
GYPSY BEACH TO CAMDEN RANCH
Coincidental Cowgirl
CAMDEN RANCH
Rodeo Summer
Forever Wild
Cowgirl Education
Un-hitched
Last Call
THE GIFTED REALM: ACADEMY
Free, web serial
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Epilogue
Wayward Son
About the Author
Also by Jillian Neal