by Cindy Kirk
“But your business,” she protested. “The hours—”
Capturing her hand, he brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them one by one. “Don’t worry. It won’t be a problem.”
He might be able to make it work, but she knew it’d be difficult not only for him, but for them as a family. Still, it appeared he was willing to make the sacrifice.
Because he loves me. Because he wants me to be happy.
Shannon loved her friends, her family and her little town. But there was a whole, wonderful—slightly scary—world out there she’d yet to explore. Was it fear that had made her so adamant about remaining in Horseback Hollow?
“Would we build a home in town? Or would you prefer living on a ranch? If you could pick,” Oliver prompted, “tell me what your dream home would look like.”
His blue eyes were focused on her. She had his full attention.
“In my perfect world—” she slid closer to him “—you’d have your arm around my shoulders during this discussion.”
Before she’d finished speaking, Oliver closed the remaining distance between them and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss against her hair. “Better?”
“Much.” The heat from his body mingled with hers and the coldness inside her began to thaw. “Actually, I’d like two homes.”
He smiled. “That could be arranged. One in town, the other in the countryside, I presume?”
“Actually, I was thinking of one home here, the other in London. We could spend part of the year in England and the other part in Horseback Hollow. When Ollie is school-age, we might need to reconsider, but for now, that’s what I’d like.”
His brows pulled together. “Are you certain?”
“Yes.” She kissed him on the lips. “Absolutely certain.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He smiled. “What about children?”
“What about them?”
“How many would you like?”
She hesitated.
“Be honest.”
“Six,” she said. “I’ve always wanted six.”
His smile widened. “What a coincidence. That’s how many I’d like, too.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Tears flooded her eyes. “This is overwhelming.”
“Oh, sweetheart, there’s more.”
“I don’t know if I can handle more,” she said with a shaky laugh.
It appeared, in this, he would give her no choice. Oliver rose, then dropped to his knee before her.
Shannon’s breath hitched when he pulled out a velvet jeweler’s box and flipped it open. The large diamond glittered in the sunlight. Smaller diamonds, but no less brilliant, surrounded the large marquis-cut stone.
“Shannon.” He spoke her name softly, and in the quiet she heard the love, saw it reflected in his eyes.
“It’s...it’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”
His smile flashed and she knew her response had pleased him. He took her hand and focused those blue eyes directly on her as he began to speak.
“When I first saw you at the Superette, I was impressed by your kindness, your willingness to help a stranger find his way. Being around you, getting to know you, I realized just how special you are, and I began to fall in love.” He squeezed her fingers. “If you count the days since we first met, we haven’t known each other that long, but it feels as if I’ve known you forever. I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. Without a single doubt I know what we share is right and true and strong enough to last a lifetime.”
It was quite a speech from a man not prone to verbosity. And she knew without a doubt the words came straight from his heart.
“Oh, Oliver.” Joy sluiced through her veins. If this was a dream, Shannon prayed she’d never wake up.
“I promise no one will work harder to make you happy or cherish you more than me.” His gaze searched hers. “And I will listen. Always. My life will never be complete without you beside me to share it. Will you marry me, Shannon? Will you be my wife and Ollie’s mother?”
For several heartbeats, Shannon struggled to find her voice, to put into words all she was feeling.
“When I look into my heart, I see only you,” she said finally. “I can’t imagine growing old with anyone else. I love you so much. So yes, Oliver, I will marry you. And I’ll be proud to be Ollie’s mother.”
Then the ring was on her finger. When he stood and pulled her into his arms, Shannon knew with absolute certainty there was no other place she wanted to be.
Not only for now, but for eternity.
Epilogue
The opulent hotel room on Buckingham Palace Road surrounded Shannon in a sweet cocoon of luxury. But the true treasure was the man sleeping beside her. She glanced at her husband, then at the large diamond solitaire on her left hand, now made complete by a wedding band.
Last week she and Oliver had tied the knot in Horseback Hollow, surrounded by family and friends. Two days ago, they’d flown to London, accompanied by her parents and brothers.
Oliver had insisted on paying for her family’s trip to England and had gotten them all seats in first class. While in the UK, her parents and brothers were staying at his home in Knightsbridge. Shannon and Oliver would join them there at the end of the week.
She’d never thought she’d get her father on an airplane, much less out of the United States, but Shep had taken to England like a duck to water. Once he’d figured out how to use the Tube, her dad had been unstoppable. For her mother, this was the honeymoon she’d never had, but Oliver had waved aside her thanks, telling her that they were family now.
His family had embraced her just as easily. Last night, Brodie had hosted a reception for them, inviting not only family but Oliver’s UK friends and business associates to celebrate their marriage at the swanky Savile Club in Mayfair.
The best part of the evening for Shannon was having the opportunity to get to know Brodie better. He wasn’t as uptight as she first thought. She’d come away from their lengthy chat knowing she and Oliver’s brother were destined to be good friends.
She was trying to decide whether to get up or go back to sleep when she felt Oliver stir.
“Can’t you sleep?” he asked, pushing himself to a sitting position.
“Just admiring the view.” She glanced around the sumptuous bridal suite in one of London’s premier hotels. “This sure beats the B and B in Vicker’s Corners.”
“It’s lovely here,” he admitted. “I’m enjoying the view myself.”
She turned to see what part of the room had captured his gaze. Was it the paintings? The mural on the ceiling? Or the opulent fixtures?
Instead she found his gaze focused directly on her.
Her skin heated beneath his gaze.
“The B and B was nice, too,” he said, offering her a lazy smile. “I’ll never forget that first night with my beautiful wife.”
The images from their wedding day—and night—were forever etched in a special place in Shannon’s heart. There were the vows they’d written and the scent from the orchids Oliver had had flown in because she’d mentioned once they were her favorite. Most of all, she’d never forget the look of love in his eyes when he’d seen her walking down the aisle on her father’s arm.
“I like hearing you say ‘my wife,’” she admitted. “Almost as much as I like saying ‘my husband.’”
She snuggled beside him, her fingers toying with the hair on his chest. “Brodie mentioned last night he’s taking full credit for us being together.”
Oliver rolled his eyes and chuckled. “I don’t know how he arrived at that conclusion, but it sounds like something my brother
would say.”
“Brodie is really very sweet.” Shannon paused thoughtfully. “He’s not nearly as stuffy as he first appears. I believe with a little help from the right woman...”
“You really think he just needs the right woman to warm him up?” Amusement ran through Oliver’s voice like a pretty ribbon.
“I do.”
“You know, I’m feeling a bit stuffy right now.”
Shannon couldn’t keep from smiling. “Is that code for you need some warming up yourself?”
“It is, indeed.”
Oliver clasped her face gently in his hands, lowered his mouth to hers...then jerked back as the door to the bedroom was unceremoniously flung open.
Shannon gave a little yelp. “I thought we locked the door.”
Oliver sat up straight, just in time to see his son race across the room, the nanny hot on his heels.
“Mama, Daddy,” Ollie called out happily as he ran to his parents. “I come see you.”
When he reached the bed, Ollie pulled himself up, then crawled over the covers, as quick and agile as a little monkey.
The drama continued when Barnaby appeared, zipping past the nanny, emitting deep woofs with each step. He reached the bedside and began to bark. Because of his short legs, the corgi required Shannon’s help to make it to the top of the silk duvet.
“I’m so sorry, sir, ma’am. The little tyke got away from me.” The distraught nanny’s face was flushed and a strand of gray hair had come loose from her serviceable bun.
Though many relatives had offered to watch Ollie during their honeymoon, Shannon and Oliver had wanted the boy close, so they’d secured a suite and enlisted the help of Mrs. Crowder.
Ollie flung his arms around both parents, burrowing against them. He giggled as Barnaby reached him and began licking his face.
Nanny Crowder wrung her hands, obviously unsure if she should snatch her young charge and his pet out of his parents’ honeymoon bed or simply beat a hasty retreat. “Oh, my. Oh, my. This will never do.”
Oliver caught Shannon’s eyes and they exchanged grins. It may have been a chaotic scene, at least to anyone unused to small boys and dogs, but this was his new reality.
He’d been blessed with a beautiful wife whom he adored, a son who brought joy to his life every day and a corgi that could always be counted on to liven things up.
“No worries, Mrs. Crowder,” Oliver told the nanny, his heart overflowing with love and thankfulness. “This is all quite perfect.”
* * * * *
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THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: COWBOY COUNTRY
Matteo and his brother Cisco have always competed over everything—until Matteo sets his eyes on Rachel Robinson! But the girl of his dreams is clearly hiding something—can their new love last in the face of this bombshell?
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MENDOZA’S SECRET FORTUNE
by
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Prologue
Standing at the front door to his grandmother’s Denver home on that sizzling August afternoon, Beau Camden heard a car pull up the drive behind him.
He spun around so fast he might as well have still been in the caves of Afghanistan with a rifle in his hands.
Then he recognized his older brother Cade at the wheel of a blue sedan and relaxed.
Beau watched as Cade parked behind his own black SUV, thinking that maybe Cade would have better luck getting someone to answer the door.
“Beau! Hey!” Cade called as he got out of his car and headed for the landing. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
“GiGi asked me to come over. But I rang the bell and knocked, and no one seems to be here.”
Cade raised his chin knowingly. “Oh, that’s right, GiGi said you’d been doing that—knocking and ringing the bell instead of just coming in. Acting like you don’t belong here—that’s what she calls it. She doesn’t like it. This is home, pal. Our home—we grew up here, remember? I know you’ve been gone a long time, but nothing’s changed. We don’t stand on ceremony.”
But standing on ceremony had been ingrained in him in the Marines.
And he had been gone a long time. Thirteen years. The first four of them in college at Annapolis with summers and holidays spent on the Camden ranch in Northbridge, Montana, to toughen up. The last nine years a marine.
Once a marine, always a marine...
“Hard to get back to things,” he muttered.
An understatement.
Beau was having a lot of trouble fitting in again. The few occasions over the years when he’d been home on leave had been vacations from reality. Every waking hour had been filled with activities and seeing family and friends who all wanted to spoil him and show him a good time before he left again.
Being back for good was something else.
When Cade joined him at the oversize front door with its arched top and the stained glass in the upper half he reached in front of Beau, punched in the code that unlocked the door and unceremoniously turned the handle.
“Finally! It’s about time, Beaumont Anthony Camden!” came a victorious call from inside before the door was open all the way. “I thought I was going to have to stand here till dark before you got the idea!”
Georgianna Camden, matriarch of the Camden family and the woman who had raised all ten of her grandchildren—the grandmother they called GiGi—stood several feet inside the entry, facing the door as if she’d been there all along.
Spotting Cade, she deflated slightly, her shoulders drooping into her dumpling-like shape, her head shaking enough for her salt-and-pepper curls to shimmy and her frustration showing on the lined face that still bore evidence of beauty.
“Oh, Cade...” she said. “I didn’t know you were coming—you opened the door, didn’t you?”
“Well, it’s open, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Cade asked.
Beau knew his older brother was covering for him.
So did GiGi, if her disapproving frown meant anything.
Cade ignored it and said, “I left my sunglasses when we were here Sunday. Just came to pick them up on my way home.”
“Ah. We wondered who those belonged to. They’re in the kitchen on the counter.”
“But you were waiting for Beau?” Cade asked with a glance from GiGi to Beau. “Standing here in the middle of the entry? With a bowl of marshmallows? What’s that, his reward if he came in without ringing the bell or knocking?”
“I was waiting for him to come in, yes,” GiGi confirmed. “I’m trying to get that stick out of his—”
“GiGi!” Cade teasingly cut her off.
“He keeps acting like a stranger around here. It has to stop!” To Beau she added
forcefully, “It has to stop!”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Beau apologized automatically.
And for that, his grandmother threw a marshmallow at his chest.
Beau’s reflexes were lightning quick and he caught it as his grandmother’s frustration erupted.
“Every time you call me ma’am that’s what you’re getting!” she warned. “I changed your diapers and wiped your nose and kissed your boo-boos. I am not ma’am!”
Cade laughed again and said, “I told you she wants the old Beau back. We all do. The uniform is off. You’re just one of us again. That’s how we want you to feel.”
Beau kept himself from saying the automatic yes, sir that was on the tip of his tongue and merely mimicked his brother’s earlier tilt of the chin to acknowledge Cade’s comment.
But he was thinking, easier said than done...
Unsure what else to do with the marshmallow, Beau ate it.
“Is this why you invited him over today?” Cade asked GiGi then. “To keep him hostage here and thump him with marshmallows until he’s retrained? Un-boot camp? Marshmallow deprogramming?”
“No. I need to talk to him,” GiGi said more seriously. “I just decided that from now on I’ll leave him cooling his heels on the doorstep until he figures out to come in like everyone else does. And every time he calls me ma’am he is going to get thumped with one of these,” she threatened, jostling the ammunition in her bowl.
Beau thought how like his strong-willed grandmother it was not to accept something she didn’t care for. And he made a mental note to try harder not to be so formal with her. With everyone. But his training went deep and he wasn’t sure what it was going to take to change that.
His brother’s expression sobered suddenly, as if something had occurred to him. “Oh, GiGi, you aren’t thinking about sending him out on one of our missions, are you? Give him a break—it’s too soon for that. He’s only been home two months. You can’t—”