“It’s our son,” she said.
He glanced up to see more tears swimming in her beautiful blue eyes, then her words penetrated his happy haze. “Son?”
She nodded, and the movement spilled the tears down her face. “Yes, you can make it all out here.”
He returned his gaze to the photo of his baby boy. He was having a boy. A sharp, warm piercing shot straight through his heart and he had to blink the blurriness from his vision. “He’s perfect.”
“I know.” Her voice wobbled as she squeezed his arm. “I already know what I’d like to name him, if you agree.”
Ripping his gaze from his son, he blinked then studied her beautiful face. “What?”
“Cody.”
He sucked in a breath, and didn’t bother to blink away the sting of tears.
“But if you’d rather Trevor, that’s okay, too.”
Swallowing, he cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, Cody is perfect.”
“Yeah?” She smiled big and bright. “Then how about Cody Trevor Kincaid?”
“Perfect, like his mother,” he said, and was rewarded with a big, sweet kiss. When she drew back, he set the photo on the coffee table, then gently touched her belly. “Hey, Cody Trevor Kincaid, you have the best mother in the world.” He lifted his gaze to stare into shimmering, sapphire eyes. “Thank you.”
She frowned. “For what?”
“For not kicking me to the curb. For giving me a chance. For letting me in your life.”
“Silly cowboy, you are my life,” she said simply, then nodded to the other box. “You have another present, although, technically, I’d like to keep this one in our son’s room.”
Curiosity ran rampant as he opened the box with the green bow. Air funneled into his lungs as he stared at his father’s championship belt buckle. Then to her. “How? Connor had it. I was paying—”
“I know,” she said gently, cutting him off. “I hope you’re not mad, but I paid off the rest of the note. This is an heirloom. Passed from father to son...it belongs to you and our son.”
“I agree,” he said, full of so much love for the woman he was practically bursting. He had no idea he could ever feel this way. So full. So happy. For once, he didn’t care about the money, or the debt. It was the gesture that counted, and damn, what a gesture. “It belongs to Cody. And I’m not mad,” he said, setting the box on the coffee table before he cupped her face and stared into those beautiful, mesmerizing eyes. “God, I love you. So damn much, Jen. Don’t you ever doubt that for one minute, okay?”
“Okay.” She sniffed. “I love you, too.”
He kissed her again, another slow, tender kiss that had him burning from head to toe, needing to get them naked so he could worship the woman and hear her cry out his name as he sank inside her sweet warmth.
Still cupping her face, he broke the kiss and set his forehead to hers, smiling when she yawned.
“I love you, Jennifer Dalton. Will you marry me? Spend the rest of your life with me?” He drew back, gazing into her deep, blue eyes. “I can’t promise you riches, or a struggle-free life, but I can promise I’ll stick. I’ll love you and our children till my dying breath.”
A brilliant smile lit her face. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Brock Kincaid.”
Before she could say more, he captured her lips, and celebrated their engagement with a sweet kiss that soon turned hot and demanding. Her hands were everywhere, touching, stroking, making him nuts. He eased her back against the cushions and deepened the kiss.
She was everything he ever wanted. Everything he didn’t even know he wanted. The fact she only wanted him humbled Brock beyond words. He drew back, softly kissing her lips, wishing the embrace could go on forever, but lack of oxygen was not good for the baby.
He stared down at the woman who stole his breath, turned him inside out and upside down, and had just agreed to spend her life with him. This beautiful woman with sapphire eyes who was carrying his baby. “I’m the luckiest damn cowboy in Texas.”
A sweet, genuine smile stole across her lips as she reached up to stroke his cheek. “That’s because you’re a Harland County cowboy now.”
Epilogue
One year later…
Jen walked into the McCalls’ annual Christmas party with her husband and son, a little surprised it hadn’t been cancelled. The year had been a rough one on the McCalls. Everyone would’ve understood if they had wanted to skip a year.
With Cole’s wife Bess dying in a car accident in early spring, and then Connor…well, she wasn’t sure what to call the tall cowboy’s situation. Since the last party, the cattle rancher had gotten engaged to Tiffany, then called the wedding off the night before the ceremony when the bride-to-be made an unexpected appearance at his bachelor party—on the DVD rental Kevin had slipped into the player to entertain the guys.
That was two ex-fiancées the cowboy had now.
Guilt rippled through Jen’s chest. She’d been so blessed the past twelve months, while her friends had suffered. She got married, graduated, had a son, started her own accounting business. Blessed. Her gaze lifted to the handsome cowboy at her side. A warm, affectionate expression shone in his green eyes as he laughed at their healthy, six-month-old son bouncing in his arms.
Doubly blessed.
“There he is,” Mr. McCall said, striding across the room crowded with guests dancing, laughing, having a good time. “The guest of honor.” He held his arms out to her little blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. Cody didn’t hesitate. He lunged for the older man who produced a stuffed reindeer out of thin air and handed it to the giggling baby.
It hadn’t been Kevin or Mrs. McCall she’d needed to worry about spoiling her son, it was Mr. McCall.
His wife approached and tousled the little boy’s hair. “Aren’t you just darling?” The hostess smiled at Cody’s Santa sleeper, but grief and worry had washed the life out of the woman’s pretty features.
Her heart squeezed. “How’s Cole?”
“Not good.” Mrs. McCall shook her head, sadness dulling her gaze. “He’s in Houston. Working, probably the whole weekend. Month. I doubt he’ll come home until after the holidays.”
Jen nodded. She knew Cole had sold his house and moved back to Wild Creek. She also knew the poor guy worked too much. At first, he took to drinking. Now, according to Kevin, his boss just worked. The kind, caring, helpful cowboy had disappeared when his wife had passed two months before Cody was born.
“He needs to cry,” Mrs. McCall said. “He hasn’t cried since the funeral, but everyone deals with grief differently.”
She missed Bess and could hardly believe the woman was gone. “I just still expect to see her walk in the door,” she said, blinking the stinging from her eyes. Just last year, they were laughing, admiring each other’s dresses.
Brock’s hold on her shoulders tightened as they stood talking to the McCalls. “Well, you know if there’s anything we can do, just tell us.”
“Thanks.” Cole’s mother nodded. “It’s been such a tough year, and not just here. Look at Jordan and Kerri.”
Jen swallowed and hugged her husband closer. “My heart goes out to them.” She couldn’t even imagine what Jordan was going through with her husband shot and killed in front of her, and then poor Kerri, divorcing in the same year.
Yeah, her friends had been hit hard. It was weird; last year at this time, she’d envied her friends and their relationships, yearning to have one with Brock. And now, this year, she was the one with the relationship and none of the others remained.
Fate was indeed fickle.
“Well, at least things are great with this little guy,” Mr. McCall said, handing Cody back to Brock. “And Kevin, Kade, and Connor seem to be having a good time.”
She glanced at her brother, cousin, and her cousin’s best friend all slow dancing with pretty women in their arms.
“When doesn’t Kevin have a good time?” she asked.
“True.” Mr. McCall laughed. “He’s got thi
s girl thing down to a science.”
“Yep,” Brock agreed.
Mrs. McCall nodded. “And he’s a good friend to Cole. He’s been a real trooper this year. Even tonight. He told me he’s heading up to Houston after the party, just to keep an eye on my son.”
“Yes, he told me he’s going to stay there the whole weekend,” Jen informed, warmth rushing through her chest at her brother’s selfless gesture.
“It’s much appreciated,” Mr. McCall stated, then smiled. “Okay, enough with the sad talk. Go on and enjoy yourselves. We’re gonna mingle.”
A second later, their host and hostess were gone. Brock led her to the dance floor, pulled her close with one hand, and together they danced with Cody bopping them on the heads with his reindeer.
Jen laughed. “I think our son is going to have to work on his dancing skills.”
“Didn’t your brother used to take lessons?”
“Yes. Why?”
Her husband shrugged. “Maybe Cody will pick up a few moves from him.”
“Ah, Brock.” She blinked up at him. “When my brother dances, women’s clothes tend to fall off.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Hey.” She smacked the smiling bugger’s arm. “It is…sort of.”
“So you’re saying it wasn’t my dance moves that got your clothes to fall off that first time?” Devilment sparkled in his green eyes, and as always happened, the deep grooves from his smile wrecked havoc with her pulse.
“No.” She shook her head, thankful her son couldn’t understand them yet. “It was your lickfeast.”
Her husband reeled back. “My what?”
“I’ll show you later.”
And she did.
Twice.
It was one of her favorite things about a Harland County Christmas.
♥
L.A. cop Jordan Masters Ryan has a problem. Her normal method of meeting a crisis head-on and taking it down won’t work. Not this time. Not when fate is her adversary. Having kept her from the man she thought she’d always marry, the same fickle fate took away the man she eventually did. Thrown back into the path of her first love, she finds hers is not the only heart fate has damaged.
♥
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Prologue- Her Fated Cowboy
…Something’s not right.
Heading down the aisle at the corner store, unease bit into Jordan’s spine like a swarm of bees. She quickly scanned the area.
Where’s Eric?
There—over by the row of coolers. Heat from his gaze lessened her apprehension. What did I do to deserve him for a husband?
Looking at her through an opened cooler door, rapidly fogging from the California heat, he raised a can of whipped cream, a mischievous grin claiming his lips.
Rogue! No need to ask if he was ready for round two of their all-nighter.
Her sigh rustled miniature bags of chips on a nearby shelf. It’d been so long since their time off coincided.
Unable to contain a spark of devilment, she winked and raised two fingers. They’d need the extra one for what she had in mind.
Sexy grin broadening, he grabbed a second can, then glanced back at her, and his smile suddenly faded.
What’s wrong?
Throat dry, swarm of bees re-attacking her back, she slowly looked down at her hands.
The loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter she had been holding turned to cold steel warmed under her grip as she aimed a loaded 38 Magnum at the man she loved...
Jordan Masters Ryan vaulted upright in her sheet tossed bed, waist-length hair violently jerking forward. She swiped the brown mass from her eyes and bounced her gaze from the cherry armoire to the oversized matching dresser. Damn! She drew in a shaky breath while reality returned. That dream again.
Wet and firm, an eager nose nudged her dangling wrist and brought a quiver to her lips.
“Oh, Bullet.” She slid to the floor and hugged the big German Sheppard to her sweat-soaked body. “I thought they’d stopped.”
A whimper tickled her ear. She drew back from his comforting warmth and raised her gaze to compassion-filled, chocolate-brown eyes.
“I know, boy. You miss him, too.” She rubbed Bullet’s thick, black head and sighed. “No sense in trying to go back to bed. There’ll be no sleep coming after that nightmare.”
Jordan rubbed her eyes and stood, deciding to get ready for her morning flight a few hours early. Maybe she’d have better luck with sleep in Texas.
Nate Masters stowed his cell phone and didn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. “They’re on the plane,” he informed, and a collective sigh echoed around the McCall’s den. “That was their friend, Megan. She said she’d just dropped the girls at the airport and is sure they don’t suspect a thing. Their plane is scheduled to arrive in Houston around one-fifteen; that should put them here around two-thirty.”
“Great,” his buddy, Alex McCall, exclaimed from across the room.
“I sure hope this works,” Alex’s wife, Leeann said, a frown marring her brow. “If I wasn’t so worried about my sons, especially Cole, I would never have agreed to this scheme.” She paced in front of the window overlooking the sprawling south Texas ranch.
Nate understood her tension. Didn’t matter if your children were grown and had lives of their own, you always worried about them and wanted to see them happy. Heck, he wanted the best for his daughters, too. That’s just how it was.
Alex got up to hug his wife, dwarfing the concerned woman by at least a foot.
“Now Leeann, don’t you worry none about this. You’re right, those boys need to do more than work themselves to death and I believe—no, I know Nate’s daughters are perfect for them.” He looked down at her and smiled. “Don’t you remember how those two girls were never put off no matter what Cole and Connor said or did?”
“Yes.”
A smile softened her face for the first time that morning.
“I always thought Cole and Jordan were the perfect match. I just hope it’s not too late and she can bring him back to the land of the living. She’s our last hope.” Despair crept into Leeann’s voice as she continued, “He’s become so mean and unfeeling since Bess’ death. It’s been two years. It has to stop, Alex. It just has to stop.”
Nate shared a look with his wife, Hannah. They’d gone through the same thing with their daughter, but she’d snapped out of her reckless despair after a year. His heart twisted. This scheme had to work. He shared their hope that his oldest daughter would be the key to Cole’s cure. Their children were just too young to be going through such heartache.
“Well, if anyone can get through to Cole, it’s our Jordan,” Hannah chimed in, echoing his thoughts as she stopped in front of Leeann and touched her arm. “Besides, being near Cole just might benefit Jordan, too. She hasn’t fully embraced life either since her loss. I’m praying this reunion helps them both.”
Leeann nodded and pulled Hannah into a hug. “Let’s hope so.”
“All right, then.” Alex filled four flutes with champagne, handed them out, then raised his glass. “Here’s to the McCall boys and the Masters girls.”
Nate grinned. “Let the fireworks begin!”
Chapter One
Cole McCall shot to his feet and shoved a hand through his hair, careful not to loosen the band at his nape. With a thousand and one projects, programs and outlines on his plate, he didn’t need a setback. He needed competence like that with which his team put forth. CEO of McCall Enterprises, software specialists, he employed over one hundred twenty-five people, all of whom did their job. He wasn’t used to ineptitude.
“I don’t care if it is Saturday. That shipment was due in yesterday and it hasn’t shown up yet,” he snapped into the phone. “McCall Enterprises has never had any trouble with your company before, but I have my own
deadlines to meet, and I can’t achieve them with this kind of incompetence. If it means finding someone else who could get the job done, then so be it.” He silently counted to ten. It didn’t help. “You have until Monday at noon to deliver. If the equipment isn’t here by then, I’ll be on the phone with a new supplier at one minute past.” The slamming phone echoed in his otherwise quiet office.
He sucked in a breath, trying to get a handle on his annoyance. It didn’t help. Why was the world full of lazy people?
Exhaling, he eyed the iPad on his desk, glaring the day’s agenda. Great. On top of the mess with this supplier, he had three other projects in the works he himself headed. But could he give them the time they deserve this weekend? No. Why? Because he had to entertain—no, baby sit—the Masters sisters from California. Christ. That’s the last thing he needed.
Muttering a curse, he strode to the window and gripped the metal sill. Anger prevented him from enjoying the breathtaking view of Houston’s skyline. Today, he didn’t witness the myriad of skyscrapers vying for the top position against the cloudless blue horizon, or the beautiful spring morning. No, instead he stared blindly at the one-thousand-foot Texas Commerce Tower, his mind in turmoil over the promise he’d made to his mother and how it was already interfering with his deadlines.
He hadn’t seen those girls in what, ten, almost eleven years now? Kerri had always been sweet, but Jordan? Her favorite past-time had been to try to pull one over on him.
A genuine smile, foreign for so long, twitched his lips. Three years younger than him, a beauty with brown hair, brown eyes, a quick wit and one hell of a backbone, she’d always proven to be a challenge. One thing for sure, life had never been dull with her around.
But times have changed…I’ve changed.
Smile gone, he stiffened and pivoted from the window. That teenage boy who tolerated the carefree antics of a cute but annoying tomboy was long gone. Life had crushed his rose-colored glasses, forcing him to see the harshness of reality, and lay his childhood fancies to rest. His outlook on life dimmed, he no longer sought companionship or warmth from people. People meant feeling, and feeling equaled pain. Therefore, he took people right out of the equation. Life was unpredictable and cruel, and the only way to get through it was to work, and work hard. Predictable and constant, work was now his life.
Harland County Christmas (Harland County Series) Page 11