by Emmy Eugene
“Janelle—” He shook his head, anger firing from those dark eyes now.
Travis’s feet shifted, and Millie hated the awkwardness in the room. She didn’t know what to say though. She knew Russ, sure. But she wasn’t going to give him advice, as she didn’t know exactly what had happened. But something definitely had.
“Her ex came back into town,” Russ finally said. “And she’s unsure about us—again.” He shook his head and looked down at his phone again. “I don’t get it. I feel so sure about us.”
“I’m sorry,” Travis said. “What can we do?”
Millie marveled that he always seemed to know exactly what to say. She’d have said something like, Maybe she just needs some time, or She has two girls to think about. Give her a few weeks.
“Nothing.” Russ got up from the barstool. “At least she waited until after Christmas, but now I feel like a royal idiot for all the gifts I got her and the girls.” He shook his head, pure agony rolling off of him. “I’m going to go to bed. Wait. Do we have any of those steak bites left?”
He detoured over to the fridge and pulled out the container Millie had put the steak bites in. “Still a few,” he said. “I’m taking these with me.” He didn’t bother to heat them up, and Travis didn’t say anything as his miserable brother left.
He sighed as Russ’s footsteps went up the steps. “I know he likes her, but Janelle has really jerked him around.”
“He doesn’t just like her,” Millie said. “He’s in love with her.” She actually thought it was kind of sweet, the loyalty of his brother, and she sent up a quick prayer that Janelle could figure things out at home so she could be with Russ.
“Okay, so that was anti-climatic,” Travis said. “I could call my mom?”
Millie grinned up at him. “Why was that a question?”
He shook his head and started laughing. “I don’t know.” He gathered her close and whispered, “Maybe this is just a secret for another night.”
“Ooh, a secret engagement.” Millie kissed him, and keeping their engagement a secret was almost as much fun as broadcasting it from the mountaintops.
Three months later:
“Travis,” Millie said as she entered the farmhouse he’d been working on non-stop for the last ninety-two days. “This is stunning.”
“There are a few things that aren’t done yet,” he said, looking around at the space in front of them. Millie had watched the house go from a hole in the ground, to a two-story structure, to a building with walls and a roof.
She’d come out to the ranch nearly every day over the past three months, and she loved the house more and more with every visit. “I can’t believe this is ours,” she said.
“Office here,” he said, leading her into the office. Her custom-made desk was already there, and Travis added, “You can pick out curtains and anything else you want.”
“We have some great curtains at Furniture Row.” She smiled at him. “I want to see the kitchen. I haven’t seen the countertops yet.” The custom cabinetry had been beautiful, and he’d ordered granite for the whole house. He’d made a custom butcher’s block for the island, and Millie hadn’t seen any of it yet.
She’d been busy planning the wedding, and then their honeymoon. Travis had never been out of the state of Texas, and Millie hadn’t either. When she’d asked him where he wanted to go, he’d said, “How about the beach?”
And the warmest beach she could find in March was in Hawaii, so he’d funded their honeymoon to the islands. Travis had been funding almost everything to do with the wedding, and Millie sometimes felt bad about it.
But he didn’t, and Millie didn’t doubt his love for her. He said to do whatever she wanted for the wedding, and Millie had decided to take the cowboy billionaire at his word. She’d booked the flower gardens at Serendipity, and with any luck, there would be some early bluebonnets blooming, as well as some red poppies, or paintbrush, or something. If not, it didn’t matter. She’d ordered almost a truckload of flowers for the nuptials. So many, because she was going to wear them in her hair too.
Her dress had been tailored, she had the perfect shoes, and everything was set for their wedding in only three days.
“The kitchen,” Travis said when they reached the end of the hall. A built-in desk could be seen from the front door, and Millie was glad she only had to keep that small area clean. Not that she was expecting many visitors. Just the Johnsons, and maybe Jenna—who was a Johnson now—and Ang.
“Oh, wow.” Millie’s breath caught in the back of her throat. The wall in front of her was loaded with windows, and the morning light coming through was simply spectacular. She couldn’t imagine eating breakfast there with her husband, and her emotions overcame her.
“Everything is so beautiful,” she said. She let go of his hand and ran her fingers along the countertop. It was a nice, gray granite that looked high-end. The butcher block was stunning, and Travis pointed to something in the corner.
“I sealed that,” he said. “So you can still cook on it.”
Millie moved over to the corner to inspect the carving there. It was professionally done, and it said JOHNSON in all capital letters. A T and an M sat above it, and tears came to her eyes.
“We can add initials for our kids,” he said.
Millie sucked in a breath and faced him. “I love you so much.”
“I can’t wait until we’re married and living here,” he said.
She couldn’t either, but there was still so much to do. “The furniture is going to be delivered tomorrow,” she said. “So we’ll have somewhere to sit and eat and sleep.”
“Right,” he said. “I’m picking up my tuxedo tomorrow too.”
“Exciting,” Millie said, smiling at him. “All of my brothers are coming the next day, and then it’s wedding day.”
“Three more nights,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “The house is ready, baby. I’m ready.”
“Me too,” Millie said. “I’m so ready.” And she was, because she wanted to be Travis’s mistletoe kiss every Christmas, and she absolutely couldn’t wait to be his bride.
“Love you.” He touched his nose to hers, and Millie kissed him.
“Love you too.”
Keep reading for Travis and Millie’s wedding, as told by Travis’s brother, Rex!
Be sure to preorder THE COWBOY BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET BABY.
Or, if you want to rewind and go back to the beginning of December, there’s another delicious cowboy billionaire Christmas romance for you in THE COWBOY BILLIONAIRE’S CHRISTMAS CRUSH, where you’ll get to see what happens with Russ and Janelle!
It all starts at Seth and Jenna’s wedding, with the sparkler sendoff… Be sure to preorder THE COWBOY BILLIONAIRE’S CHRISTMAS CRUSH too!
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Sneak Peek! Chapter One of The Cowboy Billionaire’s Christmas Crush
Russ Johnson stood outside, the faint music from the wedding dance behind him. He couldn’t go back inside, not with his chest as deflated as it was. He was thrilled for Seth and Jenna, who’d been friends for a very long time. And he owed his last two months of dating the beautiful Janelle Stokes to Seth, who’d encouraged him to get out there and meet someone.
And he had. He and Janelle may not have seen each other every day for the past two months. Some people would call their relationship slow.
Russ didn’t mind either of those things. When something awesome happened, he wanted to tell Janelle. When she had something to celebrate, he wanted to be the one who showed up with a cake.
And he’d thought they’d been getting along really well since the speed dating event in October. Slow and steady wins the race, he’d told himself.
Except he was losing. Big time.
Janelle had
called him on Tuesday, and Russ had known from the moment she said his name that he wouldn’t like what she was about to say.
And he hadn’t. Because she’d broken up with him, citing her daughters as the reason why. He’d wanted to meet them. She’d freaked out.
It’s fine, he’d texted her after she’d told him she didn’t want to see him anymore. I don’t have to meet them until you’re ready.
He hadn’t heard from her since.
He took a big breath and looked up into the starry sky. Behind him, the music stopped, and the door opened. People began piling outside, and Russ wanted to disappear again. But he joined the crowd instead, stepping over to Griffin and Rex while he scanned the crowd for Travis. He didn’t see his brother, and Rex stepped out to help their parents get out of the fray.
The photographer came out and raised both of his hands. “Okay, everyone,” he yelled. “Sparklers for everyone. Don’t light them until I say, and you’re going to hold them up like this.” He held the sparkler right up above his head. “And wave them in short bursts. We only get one shot at this.”
He started passing out sparklers, as did his assistant. Russ had no way to light the sparklers, but the photographer and his assistant started handing out matches too. He backed up to the doors and opened them a couple of inches. “Are the bride and groom ready?”
He must’ve gotten the go-ahead, because he turned back to the crowd outside. “All right, light ‘em up.”
The buzzing and fizzing of sparklers started, and the photographer called for Seth to bring Jenna outside. He did, and Russ could feel his brother’s joy all the way at the back of the crowd. A cheer went up, and everyone lifted their sparklers and started waving them as taught.
The camera went click, click, click as the photographer walked backward, capturing the sparkler sendoff. He turned and took several pictures of the car, which Rex and Griffin had decorated. The décor was barely appropriate, but Seth and Jenna laughed at the cookies stuck to their car and ducked inside.
With them gone, the event concluded, and the vibrant atmosphere fizzled along with the sparklers. Russ watched his burn all the way down, and then he put it in the pile with all the other burnt-out fireworks. He and his brothers still had an hour of clean-up to do, and he still didn’t know where Travis had gotten to. Probably with Millie, Russ told himself, as he’d told his brother to go ask her to dance.
Russ found him inside, alone, folding up chairs. “You didn’t come out for the sparkler thing?”
Travis shook his head, looking a bit dazed. Russ didn’t have time to wonder what that was about, because they had to be out of the posh castle where Seth and Jenna had gotten married in exactly one hour.
He started helping with the chairs too, while others pulled down decorations, picked up centerpieces, and loaded everything into boxes to be taken outside. When everything was finally done, he got in the truck with Travis and started back to Chestnut Ranch.
Neither of them spoke, and Russ was grateful Travis wasn’t the kind of brother who needed to know every detail of everything the moment it happened. He alone knew that Janelle had broken up with Russ—well, until that disastrous dinner conversation. Now everyone knew, and Russ was actually surprised his mother hadn’t cornered him during the dancing to find out what had happened and then offered advice for how to fix it.
His momma meant well, he knew that. But she didn’t understand that Janelle was as stubborn as the day was long.
She was smart too, and beautiful, with a wit that spoke right to Russ’s sense of humor. She outclassed him in every way, and he told himself he should be grateful he got two months with her. But he couldn’t help wanting more time. Wanting forever.
“How was the dance with Millie?” he asked when he went through the gate and onto the ranch.
“Good,” Travis said.
“You gonna call her?”
His brother sighed and looked over at Russ. “Yeah. How do I do that?”
Russ grinned at Travis, who was a couple of years younger than him. “You just put in the numbers, and when she answers, you ask her to dinner. Easy.”
“Easy,” Travis said, scoffing afterward. He got out of the truck when Russ parked, but Russ stayed in the cab for another moment. Could he just tap a few times to pull up Janelle’s contact info, call, and ask her to dinner?
“Yeah,” he said to himself darkly. “If you want another slash on your heart.” And he didn’t. It was already hanging in shreds as it was, and Russ rather needed it to keep breathing.
Russ survived Saturday and Sunday, because Travis was there. They did minimal chores on the ranch on the weekends, and he and his brother could get the animals fed and watered in a couple of hours. He’d napped, and he’d stared at his phone, almost willing it to ring and have Janelle on the other end of the line.
Monday morning, Travis loaded up with the ranch hands that lived in the cabins along the entrance road, and they left to go move the cattle closer to the epicenter of the ranch.
Russ was glad he hadn’t drawn that chore this time, but his loneliness reached a new high in a matter of hours. Griffin and Rex worked somewhere on the ranch, but Russ wasn’t as close with them as he was Seth and Travis. He certainly didn’t want to talk about Janelle with Rex, who thought it was fun to go out with one woman on Friday night and a different one for Saturday’s lunch.
Evening found Russ standing on the back edge of the lawn, looking out over the wilder pastures of the ranch. In the distance, dogs barked and barked and barked. Russ normally loved dogs, but the increase of them on the ranch over the course of the last month had been too much.
And with Seth gone for the next couple of weeks, and Russ didn’t even find the puppies cute anymore. Winner barked, as if she was the mother hen and was telling the other dogs to settle down. They didn’t, and she ran along the grass line, barking every few feet.
“Enough,” Russ told her. Eventually, he turned back to the house. He ate dinner, showered, slept. Then the next morning, he got up and did everything all over again. Travis returned that afternoon, and Rex ran to town for pizza and their mother’s homemade root beer.
“To a successful relocation,” Rex said, his voice so loud that it echoed through the kitchen.
Travis just grinned at him and took a bite of his supreme pizza. Russ was just glad there were more people in the homestead that night. It was a giant house, and he didn’t like being in it alone.
“I’m goin’ to shower,” Travis said, and Russ picked up another piece of pizza. Griffin started telling a story about something Darren had said, and Russ was content to listen and laugh. A few minutes later, Travis came thundering down the stairs, his cowboy boots loud on the wood.
Rex was practically standing in the doorway already, and he ducked out to see what Travis was doing. He whistled and said, “Hoo boy, where are you off to?”
Russ exchanged a glance with Griffin, and said, “He’s so loud.”
“Try living with him,” Griffin muttered, and they both moved into the living room, where Travis was putting one of his nicest dress hats on. He turned toward everyone and said, “I’m goin’ out with Millie.”
A smile crossed Russ’s face. So he’d called her.
“Good for you, bro,” Rex said.
“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Griffin said.
“Go,” Russ said, stepping in front of the younger brothers. “Don’t listen to them. Have fun.” He smiled at Travis and nodded, because his brother needed to go out, and he needed the encouragement.
“What if—?”
“Nope,” Russ said. “Now where are your keys?”
Travis patted his pockets, panic filling his face. “Shoot. I must’ve left them upstairs.” He bolted back that way, and Russ shook his head.
“Don’t give him grief over this,” he said to the other two brothers. Rex held up both hands as if surrendering, and Griffin wandered back into the kitchen. Travis came back downstairs, his keys in his
hand, and Russ said, “Have fun.”
Travis said nothing as he left, and Russ chuckled and turned around. “I hope he calms down and has fun.”
“He will,” Rex said. “Travis gets along great with Millie. They’ll be fine.”
Russ nodded, wishing he was the one going out tonight. He didn’t realize Rex had left until he brought him a piece of pizza from the kitchen. How much time did he lose thinking about Janelle?
“What about you and Janelle?” Rex asked, lifting his new piece of pizza to his lips. His eyes were sparkling, like he wanted all the dirt on the painful break-up. His half-smile said he’d definitely tease Russ, who wasn’t in the mood.
“There’s nothing about me and Janelle,” Russ said.
“You like her though, right?”
“Of course I like her,” Russ said, his voice growing as loud as Rex’s. “I like her a whole lot. But what am I supposed to do? Drive over to her house and beg her to go out with me? She won’t talk to me, Rex. She doesn’t want me in her life. So liking her is irrelevant, isn’t it?”
Rex lowered the pizza and stared. “I’m sorry, bro,” he said, really quiet.
All the fight left Russ, and his shoulders slumped as the air whooshed out of his lungs. “Me too. Sorry, none of that was fair.”
“I get it,” Rex said. “No explanation needed.” He fell back a step. “But if you like her as much as you say you do, she probably likes you too.”
“Knock, knock?” a woman said, and Russ spun back toward the front door. It started to open, which meant it hadn’t been latched all the way.
How much had Janelle heard?
Humiliation filled Russ, and he turned back to Rex, but he was gone. At least his brother had done one thing right that night. He’d brought dinner too, so Russ would give him two points.