That’s when she noticed Bray’s ex-wife held a cowboy hat that looked awfully familiar. She struggled to keep her expression blank.
Kait held the hat up. “I stopped over at the clinic first but he wasn’t there, so I thought maybe he’d be here. Braydon forgot his favorite Stetson on my nightstand this morning. And I just couldn’t imagine him going without it all day.”
Mal ground her jaws together. “Did you try calling him?”
“Of course, silly! He didn’t answer my calls or texts. I figured he was busy working.”
“But you came over here instead.”
“Sure. Why not?” she asked innocently. She handed the cowboy hat to Mal. “Can you give it to him when you see him? And tell him that I had a good time during his visit early this morning.” Kait winked at Mal.
Actually fucking winked. Mal wanted to rip the false eyelashes off the bitch. Instead, she grabbed the hat out of Kait’s hand and gripped it so hard she crushed the brim. “I’d be glad to give it to him.”
“Watch out, Maleen. He’s a player, that one.”
Mal gave her a leveled stare. “Get the fuck off my property before I drag you through cow shit. The girls have left some fresh, steaming piles with your name on them.”
Kait frowned and wobbled back a step. “You’ve always been trash, Maleen. Always. You have a potty mouth and you’re a whore.”
Enunciating each word slowly and clearly, Mal said, “Like I give a shit what you think of me.”
“You’ve always cared, Maleen. That’s why you’ve always competed with me. You always tried to win Dairy Princess and never could. You lost every year.”
“What did winning a sash and a rhinestone tiara get you, Kait? Hmm?”
“Braydon. I got Braydon.”
“You lost him, Kait. Have you forgotten that?”
Kait raised a brow. “Think so?”
Mal walked away before she was arrested for assault and battery.
* * *
Mal sat on the porch steps, surrounded by the cooler air of the evening and the chirping of crickets and cicadas. She worried at her bottom lip and her hand cramped around the cowboy hat in her lap. She resisted bringing the hat to her nose to inhale Bray’s scent. And not just once either. Her heart and her brain were at odds with each other. Her heart would start to lift her hand, her brain would cram the hat back down.
She inhaled a long, cleansing breath.
She needed a dog. You couldn’t live on a farm and not have at least one. They were loyal and gave unconditional love. Unlike humans.
She would go to the shelter in town this week. They needed some extra barn cats too. Couldn’t hurt to look at some unwanted cats. Might as well do something good and save a life.
Maybe she’d get a few dogs and a few cats…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Bray’s truck rattling up the rough dirt driveway. Her body began shaking with nerves.
And, though she didn’t want to admit it…heartbreak.
That was the exact reason she waited outside. She didn’t want to let him into her house or her heart again.
She kept her emotions hidden as he climbed out of his truck, slammed the door, and gave her a huge smile. “Hey, Princess!”
Mal slowly stood up on the top step and waited for him to approach. He had a long stride, lean hips, and he filled out his off-white western shirt oh-so-well.
She fought back the tears as she closed her eyes. She needed to get it together.
She sensed him stop in front of her at the bottom of the three steps. He hesitated for a second. Two. Three. “What’s wrong, Mal?”
The uncertainty rang clear in his voice. And that pained her even more.
Opening her eyes, she attempted to blink away the sting and held out his hat. “Forget something?”
He stared at his Stetson crushed between her fingers. She could see the wheels turning in his head, recalling the events of his day to figure out where he’d left it.
His gaze slowly rose to hers and he opened his mouth to speak.
Mal raised a hand. “No. You don’t need to explain. In fact, I don’t want to know. Take your hat and go.”
He climbed one step and she scrambled back. He couldn’t touch her. He couldn’t or she’d fall apart. But her heel caught the edge of the porch and she fell backward on her ass, landing hard.
Bray rushed up the steps and dropped to his knees, cradling her head in his hands. “Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine and don’t call me that.”
“Mal... Mal, please,” he begged. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t need you in my life, Bray. I don’t need a man. I don’t.” She tried to sit up but he pulled her against him, wrapping her in his arms.
“I know you don’t, baby. I know,” he murmured against her hair. “I’m sorry.”
One tear escaped, causing the floodgates to open. She struggled against him. “Let me go!” she cried.
“No. Not this time, Mal. Never again.” He rocked her back and forth in his arms, clinging tightly.
Mal sat between his thighs, her back pinned to his chest. It felt so good and it shouldn’t. She shouldn’t let the anger go this quickly. Forgive him so easily.
She sniffled, trying to gain control. “Did you fuck Kait?”
“You honestly think I’d sleep with that woman?”
“You have before,” she mumbled.
“Why in the hell would I leave your bed, Mal…your bed to go to her.” He sounded dumbfounded.
“But you did go to her.”
“Not for the reason you’re thinking.”
“She said you left your hat on her nightstand.”
Bray snorted. “Of course she did.”
“She was wearing a negligee and heels.”
He groaned. “What the hell is wrong with her?”
That’s what Mal wanted to know. “I know you have to deal with her on a constant basis, and because you have a son together, you will for the rest of your life...”
“But I don’t know if I can deal with her in mine.”
Mal’s words were more painful than she knew. Bray closed his eyes, wishing his life had been different. Wishing her pop had never sent her away. Wishing he had gone after her, no matter what.
But he couldn’t wish it all away. It happened and this was the aftermath.
The two of them sat directly on the porch’s wood floor. Bray did not plan on letting her go until they figured things out.
“I realize it’s not fair to you having to deal with her if you’re with me. I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t walk out of my son’s life—”
Mal wiped at her eyes. “I wouldn’t want you to.”
“I plan on fighting her for custody, but even if I win, she’d still be in the picture.”
“I thought you couldn’t afford an attorney.”
“I can’t. But I’ll figure it out. I have to. I’ll make it work somehow.”
“Bray, how? You sold the farm. You have nothing left but your practice. And you can’t sell that.”
Bray’s mind spun with the hopelessness of the situation. He wasn’t one to care about money or fancy things, but without money, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to Nate.
“I don’t know. I’ll sell my sperm, my plasma, my organs. Whatever I need to do.”
Mal quieted in his arms. He wished they faced each other so he could at least guess what went through her mind.
“I’ve got money,” she whispered.
Bray stiffened. “No.”
“I made good money in New York. I socked a lot of it away.”
“No.” No. No. No. He was not going to take her money. That would make him feel like more of a failure than he already did.
Mal pulled away from him and he surged to his feet before she did so he could offer her a hand.
“I appreciate the offer, but, sorry, I can’t accept money from you.”
“
It could be a loan,” she said, brushing the dirt off her ass.
Bray shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be indebted to Mal, to have money come between them. Finances were a common cause of divorces and break-ups. There was no way he would risk that.
“Mal, you just accused me of sleeping with Kait. And now you want me to give me money?” He leaned against the porch rail, hoping it was sturdy enough to hold his weight.
“Sorry. I let her get to me. I should know better than to believe the Wicked Witch of the Midwest.”
Bray snorted at the nickname, grabbed Mal’s hand, and pulled her between his thighs, trapping her between them. “Princess, I might not have much, but I have my pride. Sorry, I can’t do it. I can’t take your money, even if it’s a loan.”
She cupped his face in her hands and his automatically went to her waist. “Swallow your damn pride, Bray… Move in with me. Let’s help each other. It only makes sense. I’d have an on-site vet for the Holsteins. As well as the horses and goats I plan to get. You’d get to expand your practice. There’s plenty of space in the house to give Nate his own room, which will look good for the judge. Need I go on?”
“Will there be room for our own children?”
She pushed at his shoulders, but he held her fast.
The silence hung between them. He leveled his gaze at her. “Mal, would you consider having my babies?”
She dropped her gaze and he watched her shut down, her fingers curling into fists on his chest.
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, put a finger under her chin, and lifted her face. She quickly averted her eyes. “Look at me.”
Her gaze flicked to his and away.
“Mal…”
She whispered, “Bray, I can’t.”
Disappointment swallowed him. “You can. It was never your fault. Are you at least willing to try?”
She closed her eyes, still trying to avoid him, shut him out.
He was scared to ask the question, but he needed to know. He needed to know whether to continue this fight or just let her be. “Mal, do you love me?”
She slowly opened her eyes. This time there was no avoidance, she looked at him directly, eye to eye. “Cow-Boy, I never stopped loving you.”
Bray’s heart flipped in his chest and began to pound. He wanted to run screaming through the yard and around the farm that his Princess loved him. She loves me. But instead, he took a steadying breath and gathered her hands in his. He pushed off the porch rail enough to drop to his knees. He lightly kissed her knuckles and regarded the woman who stood over him, the love of his life.
“Maleen King, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Later he would look back on this and realize the irony of where he proposed. This was his second proposal to Mal on this very porch. The first time caused a train of reactions that ripped her from his life. This time it would be different.
Well, as long as she said yes…
But she wasn’t saying anything. He raised his eyebrows at her and when she remained quiet, he started to push to his feet, his chest tight, the disappointment once again overcoming him.
“Stay on your knees, Cow-Boy.”
He dropped his weight back onto his knees and tried not to look like a desperate fool begging for her to marry him.
Even though he was. “I know I come with baggage—”
“Hush,” she told him. And he did.
She sniffled. Bray didn’t see the tears yet, but he bet they were coming any second now. They would either be tears of joy, or of heartache. And if they were the latter, he may end up crying right along with her.
A loud sob escaped her before she said, “Braydon Charles Daniels, I will marry you. I want to be yours in every way. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want you to be the father of my children.”
“Well, I can’t promise the ‘every morning’ thing. Not with the practice and all.”
She laughed through her tears. “Shut up, Cow-Boy, and kiss me.”
Bray rose to his feet and tipped the brim of an invisible hat on his head. “I’d be glad to oblige, ma’am.”
He crushed his lips against hers, deepening the kiss until their tongues collided then danced with each other. He swung her up into his arms and carried her inside.
And up to her bedroom. No time like the present to start working on their two-point-five kids.
Epilogue
“I wish my pop could see you now,” Mal said, unable to wipe the smile from her face.
“Now? Like right this minute?” he asked, indicating his nakedness.
He only wore his yellowed-with-age, wrinkled Dairy Prince sash. Mal had no idea where he dug that up. But somehow, he had also found hers somewhere here in the house. Mal couldn’t believe it wasn’t thrown out years ago.
She giggled. “No. I mean with how you’ve turned things around. How you run a successful, lucrative veterinary practice.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Princess. You stepping in to be my business partner was what it needed.”
Partner in business. Partner in life. Mal shrugged. “It was a no-brainer. I’m good with the money. You’re good with the patients.”
“Tell them that, please. That stud horse of yours tried to take a chunk of my thigh today when I was checking his wound.”
They had not only built him a large new state-of-the-art facility for his veterinary practice but began raising goats for milk and they built a new barn and arena for horses. Arabian horses to be exact. She loved their beauty, their fiery temperament, and their endurance.
“Marigold is a pisser,” she agreed.
“Who names an ornery stallion Marigold? No wonder why he’s pissed off all of the time.”
“Your daughter does, if you’ve forgotten.”
“Yeah, those two-year-olds… Never thinking their decisions through. That name’s enough to give him performance anxiety.”
“He’s got no trouble with the ladies and you know it,” she scoffed.
“Like me, huh?”
“One lady is enough for you to handle,” Mal reminded him.
“Isn’t that for damn sure. But with Laney and you in the house I have to deal with more than one female. I’m glad to have Nate here a lot more lately. Evens out the estrogen with the testosterone.”
“Yeah, he’s here when he’s not chasing his own ladies.”
“Well, I remember being sixteen. Just getting my license… Chasing after you. Though you held out for a whole year before you let me touch and taste that sweet body of yours.”
“I didn’t want to be easy.”
Bray snorted. “When have you ever been easy?” The bed sank on one side as he put a knee on it. “But you’re welcome to be easy tonight. You’re overdressed.”
Mal looked down the line of her body. She fingered the Dairy Maid sash that barely fit over her baby bump. “Really, this ol’ thing is too much?”
“I don’t want anything covering you and that beautiful belly of yours.”
Mal smoothed a hand over the tight skin, the solid gold band on her ring finger catching the light. “Are the kids asleep?”
“Uh huh.”
She slipped the sash over her head and threw it at him. “You sure the door is locked?”
“Yep.”
“Then what are you waiting for, Cow-Boy?”
“I was just appreciating the view.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Stop staring and start touching. I only have so much patience lately.”
Bray choked.
“Oh, whatever! You swallow a whole watermelon and see how patient you’d be.”
He settled his weight on the bed alongside her. He kissed her belly and then her lips, where he lingered much longer. Much, much longer. “I appreciate you carrying and nurturing my children, baby.”
She let out a satisfied sigh. “I know you do. Just remember that when I’m crushing your fingers in the delivery room again.”
He grunted. “And screaming about how much you hate me and I’m never allowed to touch you again?”
“Yep. That too.”
He climbed over her, careful to avoid her protruding belly. “What’s on the menu tonight, my love?”
“Anything you’re hungry for,” she said, giving him a smile.
“That sounds delicious.” He played with her full breasts. She cried out when he thumbed the sensitive peaks. “I love you, Mal.”
“I love you too.”
“It’s us forever, Princess.”
“Forever, Cow-Boy.”
And just like in the fairy tale, the Dairy Prince and his Dairy Maid lived Happily Ever After.
If You Liked This Book
Thank you for reading Made Maleen: A Modern Twist on a Fairy Tale. I hope you enjoyed reading about Mal and Bray as much as I loved writing about them!
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About Brothers in Blue: Max
Meet the men of Manning Grove, three small-town cops and brothers, who meet the women who will change the rest of their lives. This is Max's story...
Big city party-girl Amanda Barber has been spoiled most of her life. But life for Amanda suddenly becomes a major challenge: adapting to small-town life, dealing with her special needs brother, and constantly butting heads with a frustrating local cop.
As a police officer and former Marine, "responsibility" is Max Bryson's middle name. Never having been in a serious relationship, he has no plans for one in the near future. He likes being his own man. And even if he were interested in a serious relationship, he certainly wouldn't choose someone so immature and irresponsible as Amanda. But no matter how hard he tries, he can't get sexy Amanda out of his head or his heart. Watching her mature in front of his eyes, his protectiveness towards her only strengthens.
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