Her Cowboy Billionaire Butler

by Liz Isaacson

  “Look at him,” she said, and Wes found Colton leaning on the altar while a vast majority of the audience had twisted to look at them. “He’s panicking. He’s going to run.” Bree turned and reached for Elise. “Elise, get up here. Sorry, Wes, can you move?”

  Elise squeezed between them, and Wes had no choice in the matter. He fell back a step, running into Gray, who moved too. Cy made a big deal about Gray touching him, and then Ames got all bent out of shape too, saying, “What is going on up there?” in a voice that was much too loud.

  Annoyance ran through Wes at his youngest brothers, and he wanted to tell them not everything was about them. But he didn’t want to add to the tension and nerves of this wedding, so he said nothing.

  Not only that, but Bree and Elise had started some sort of elaborate signing with their hands and arms—even their faces. He stared at them, trying to figure out what in the world they could be telling Colton.

  He motioned back to them, and Elise giggled and shook her head.

  “What are you saying?” Gray asked, and Wes was glad he’d asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” Elise said through her laughter. “We’re just distracting him.”

  It seemed to be working, as Colton had straightened, and he even tugged on the bottom of his tuxedo jacket to get it lying flat again.

  “He’s going to stay,” Bree said in a satisfied voice. “Good work, Elise.”

  “Well done to you too,” she said, stepping back to Gray’s side with a wide smile. Gray couldn’t seem to look away from her, and Wes knew exactly how he felt. Bree met his eye, and she wore such a light in hers that Wes wanted to commit what true joy looked like to his memory.

  He reached for her instead and leaned real close to her ear. He even let his lips brush against her earlobe as he said, “I think you’re incredible.”

  She stiffened next to him, as she’d told him she wasn’t used to getting compliments like that. But she was incredible, and Wes wanted her to know it. He’d tell her every day if he could.

  “Okay,” Annie said behind them, her voice on the outer edges of panic. “We’re here. We’re ready.”

  Wes turned to see her brushing her hands down the front of her dress and then smiling at her aged father. He’d probably been taller than her at some point, but he wasn’t now. He wore a nice suit though, and a wide smile, and Wes could feel the familial love they shared.

  “We’re ready, Hunter,” Gray said into his phone, and then he pocketed it again. Eleven-year-old Hunter was in charge of the music, because Colton had wanted everyone in the family to play a part in the wedding, but Hunter didn’t want to walk down the aisle carrying petals or the ring.

  “That’s lame, Uncle Colton,” he’d said. In the end, Annie had suggested Hunter could press the play button as easily as her sister, and Hunter had taken over the job of the music.

  Colton had coached him on what to say too, and Hunter had practiced a dozen times. So Wes expected the wedding march to start blaring from the speaker system he’d helped rig up the previous night.

  He waited…and waited…and waited. He knew not to take a step until that music played, and he glanced over his shoulder to Gray. “What’s—?”

  Deafening applause filled the backyard, and Wes emitted a startled yelp, glad he wasn’t the only one.

  “Wrong one, bud,” Gray muttered while a few people twittered in the yard.

  “Sorry, Uncle Colton,” Hunter said over the speaker system. “Here’s the right one.”

  “Say the thing,” Colton called, and more people laughed, including Wes. He loved Hunter, and the boy would beat himself up for not getting it right when he’d worked so hard on it just last night.

  “Oh, right. Welcome to the wedding of Colton Hammond and Annie Pruitt. The bride and groom are so pleased to have you here this afternoon, and we pray for blessings upon us all.”

  Behind him, Gray chuckled and said, “Well, he did it.”

  “He did great,” Elise said. “He’s the best boy, Gray.”

  “He is great,” Wes agreed, glancing over his shoulder to the two of them. They hadn’t heard him speak at all, as they looked longingly into each other’s eyes. Wes cleared his throat, and Gray jerked his head forward, breaking the connection between him and Elise.

  “We have pictures after this,” Wes said, nonverbally reminding Gray he didn’t want to have a beet-red face in all of them. But he was clearly smitten by Elise, and Wes needed to talk to Bree about it as soon as possible.

  The wedding march started, and Wes took his first step down the aisle, Bree right in sync with him. He smiled at the guests, most of whom he didn’t know. It didn’t matter. In Coral Canyon, he felt like he belonged to the community, and they belonged to him.

  He did recognize Annie’s daughters, and all the Whittakers, and a couple of suppliers that brought goods up to the lodge.

  At the front, near the altar, he kissed Bree’s hand and went to the right while she went to the left. He took his brother in a tight hug, clapped him on the back, and took his spot on the far side. Gray did the same, joining him. Then Cy, then Ames. With the four of them standing there, and four of Annie’s close friends on her side, everyone looked to the back door.

  And waited.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Colton seriously thought Annie was never going to come out. What was taking so long? Why hadn’t she been ready ten minutes ago, when the wedding was supposed to start? He didn’t know, and he felt like he was going to throw up.

  Then, suddenly, Annie appeared, pulling her puffy dress through the doorway with a big smile. She waited for her father to come through, and she laced her arm through his.

  Emily and Eden got up and walked down the aisle to their mother, and they linked arms too. Then the four of them came toward him, and Colton’s pulse increased and increased with every step they took.

  He was getting all of them, and he couldn’t be happier.

  “Love you, Mom,” Eden said, and she went back to her seat while Emily hugged Annie too. When it was just her dad left, he kissed her cheek and passed her hand to the crook of Colton’s elbow.

  He grinned at her father, and then pressed a kiss to Annie’s cheek. “Hey, pretty lady.”

  Annie could only smile, and a rush of joy moved through Colton. They faced Pastor Clemens, who indicated they should move closer to the altar. Colton couldn’t believe he was here again, and in such a short time too.

  But Annie knew what—and who—she wanted, and Colton did too. He’d seen no reason to wait, and they’d ended up getting married before Emily.

  Colton paid attention to every word the pastor said, wanting to hold onto these moments for the rest of his life. Pastor Clemens said, “It is a miracle when two people find each other the way you two have.”

  He really believed the pastor too. He’d shown up at the lodge during Annie’s birthday party, and he’d been stuck at the lodge during the worst snowstorm Wyoming had seen in a decade. If that wasn’t God’s hand bringing him and Annie together, Colton didn’t know what would be.

  He glanced at Annie, and she had a single tear sliding down her cheek. She wiped it quickly and met his eye. His love for her grew tenfold in that moment, and together, they looked back at the pastor.

  “It’s a beautiful thing to pledge oneself to another person. Try to remember who you are, as well as think about what your partner needs to be happy. Work to improve yourself, and strive to support each other too.”

  Colton wanted to do all of that, and he was eternally grateful he didn’t have to do it alone anymore. He couldn’t believe he’d made it forty-three years by himself, and he was glad he didn’t have to go one more day alone.

  “I know neither of you want me to go on and on, so I’ll get to the good stuff,” Pastor Clemens said with a smile. “Love each other. Cherish one another. Keep the Lord with you, and I promise you’ll always be led toward happiness.”

  With that, he allowed Colton to step away from Annie and pull th
e paper with his vows out of his pocket. “Annie,” he said. “You captured my heart in only a few days, when it was wounded and barely beating. You healed it, and then you waited for me to figure out that it was ready to love again. I love you, and I’m thrilled we’ll get to spend the rest of our lives together.”

  He hadn’t looked at the paper once, and he laid it on the altar. “Guess I didn’t need that.” He chuckled, glad when his brothers behind him did too.

  Then Hunter played the laugh track, and the fake laughter filled the backyard. Colton turned and looked at the house, laughing when he saw Hunter’s wide grin. The sound cut off, and Annie shook her head. “You two.”

  “That was a good one,” Colton said. “And it’s your turn, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t have anything that good,” she said. “And I didn’t write anything down.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Colton beamed at her, suddenly anxious about what she might say.

  “I’ve never told anyone this,” she said. “But that night we first met, at my birthday party, when Celia told me to make a wish, I wished for a cowboy billionaire of my own to fall in love with. Not five minutes later, you walked in, wearing this huge, puffy…monstrosity of a coat.” She giggled, and Colton had heard about his coat plenty of times.

  He rolled his eyes while she laughed, and he laughed along with her.

  “We didn’t play games with each other, and I count myself one of the luckiest women in the world to be yours.”

  “So you kinda like me,” he said. “I didn’t hear that in there.”

  “Yeah, cowboy,” she said. “I’m kind of in love with you.”

  He cued Hunter, who was now in rare form as he played a sound clip of several people going, “Awww.”

  Annie shook her head, and she looked back at Colton. “That’s it. Those are my vows.”

  “Great, let’s get this done,” Colton said, looking at the pastor.

  He asked Annie if she’d be Colton’s, and she said yes. He asked Colton if he’d be Annie’s, and he said yes.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Clemens said, and Colton grinned at his new wife.

  “Colton,” she warned, but he whooped and threw his cowboy hat into the air as Hunter played the applause track again, and everyone in the audience joined in with real clapping.

  Colton took Annie into his arms, and without his cowboy hat, he could easily kiss her. So he did, buoyed by the loud cheering and whooping from his brothers.

  He righted Annie as they laughed together, and they faced the crowd of friends and family and lifted their joined hands into the air.

  The applause track ended, but the real clapping and cheering continued, and Annie led Colton down the aisle and toward the house. He paused before going into the kitchen with her to knock knuckles with Hunter, the two of them laughing together for a couple of seconds.

  Then he stepped into the kitchen and into the arms of his new wife.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bree squinted at the computer screen, not about to make an appointment with the optometrist, though she was having a harder time seeing tiny things. Especially on a computer screen.

  But getting glasses made her feel old, and Bree wasn’t ready to go there yet. With the squinting, she could see the numbers, and she clicked to the next tab and typed them in.

  A sense of pride and relief filled her as she sat back, still looking at the numbers she’d filled in. “That’ll pay that credit card off,” she said to her empty bedroom. After this, she only had two more to go, and they were both below fifty percent. Her credit should start to get better, and for the first time in months, Bree could see the light at the end of this tunnel.

  “Thank you, Lord,” she said as she clicked the PAY button at the bottom of the screen. She’d moved into the technology era along with most everyone, and she loved paying her bills online. Twenty minutes every two weeks, and she was done.

  She immediately thought of Wes, because she wanted to share this victory with him. At the same time, she didn’t want to bring up her money issues with him, because he’d simply offer to pay her credit cards off completely.

  And she could admit that would be a huge blessing and relief in her life. She’d thought about it long and hard after he’d offered, though she’d shot him down quickly. But her pride wouldn’t allow her to take charity from him. She could pay back what she owed. In four more months, she’d be debt-free again, and a year of sacrifice was a small price to pay for a few mistakes and bad choices.

  Bree was willing to pay that price.

  A sense of peace came over her, and she felt enveloped in the love of God. She wasn’t sure why. She’d been going to church the same way she always did. She was mindful of the things she did and said, as more often than not, one of the Whittakers would pray for them all to remember who they represented. Bree wanted to be a light in the world, a calm place people could come if they needed help.

  The problem was, she still had some darkness inside her, and she didn’t know how to root it out and get rid of it completely.

  She stood up and tried to push the thoughts away. She knew where the darkness came from, and she wasn’t willing to open that part of her heart and mind. She’d have to acknowledge decades-old mistakes that she’d perpetuated over the past twenty years, and she knew it would be painful.

  Very painful.

  She left her bedroom and went into the kitchen, where Elise sat at the table, a smile on her face and her bowl of breakfast cereal forgotten in front of her.

  “Texting Gray again?” Bree asked, delighted that Elise seemed to have found a cowboy she liked.

  Elise startled, as if she’d forgotten she didn’t live alone, and looked up. A hint of redness crept into her normally pale skin, and she looked at Bree. She reached for her spoon, realized how soggy her cereal was, and got up to dump it in the sink. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe.” Bree scoffed. “Come on, Elise. I know you’re texting him.”

  “How do you know it’s him?” she asked. “It could be my mom.”

  “I’ve never seen you smile at your phone like that when you’re talking to your mom.” Bree reached up to get a mug out of the cupboard. “Besides, Wes told me that Gray told him that—”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” Elise said loudly over her. “I can’t believe he tells his brother anything.” She lifted her phone. “I’m going to tell him to stop that.”

  “Ah-ha! So you are texting him right now.”

  “Maybe,” Elise said again, her fingers flying over her screen.

  “It wasn’t anything bad,” Bree said. “Wes just said that Gray told him he was talking to you. I guess it’s a big deal for him.”

  Elise put her phone down and turned away from the sink as Bree poured herself a cup of coffee. “It’s a big deal for him?”

  “I guess,” Bree said, glancing at her best friend and roommate. “I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it very long. I knew you wouldn’t like it, and I—we—had other things to do.” She didn’t need to go into the details of how she’d kissed Wes after the one time they’d talked about Elise and Gray.

  Elise gave an enormous sigh and sank into the chair at the kitchen table again. Bree joined her and just watched for a few moments. Elise usually said what was on her mind, but it sometimes took her a second to organize everything.

  “I do like him,” she finally said. “A lot. He’s funny, and kind, and serious too. But.”

  Bree swallowed her coffee. Waited. When Elise didn’t continue, she asked, “But what?”

  “But he has Hunter, and he’s…I don’t know. Very hung up on Hunter.”

  “What does that mean? Hung up on him?”

  “He’s very protective of Hunter. He didn’t even introduce me to him when they were here for the wedding.” She wore a look of misery on her face, and Bree reached over and patted her hand.

  “There must be a reason why,” she said. “So you’ll find that out, and Gr
ay will work through it, and everything will be fine.” Even as she spoke, Bree felt a rush of hypocrisy move through her. She would do anything to keep her family secrets, and maybe Gray was the same way. Maybe Gray didn’t want to share all his dirty laundry with Elise. Maybe he wasn’t ready to work through it.

  Maybe everything wouldn’t be fine.

  Bree took another sip of coffee, but the liquid was far too bitter now, and she set her mug on the table. “I have to get going.” She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to continue this conversation with Elise. “Lots to plan today.”

  “I’ll walk over to the lodge with you,” she said. “I’m getting eight new rose bushes delivered today, and I have a ton to do too.”

  They left the cabin together, and thankfully, Elise didn’t press Bree for more advice. She did say, “He doesn’t want to relocate right now. Hunter has a strong friendship foundation—as well as his grandparents—in Colorado.”

  “I see,” Bree said. She took a deep breath of the fresh summer air, the crispness of it refreshing now that September had arrived in the mountains. Soon enough, it would rain and snow, and Bree would be walking under an umbrella to get her chores done in the stable or to get to the lodge for the next activity she’d planned.

  “What about you moving there?” she asked. “I mean, I know you love it here, but you’re not really tied here.” She looked at Elise, who walked with her head bent down.

  She nodded slightly. “Yeah.” She didn’t say anything else, and Bree thought she probably knew how Elise felt. No, she didn’t have family here. She didn’t have children or a boyfriend. But she felt tied to Coral Canyon and Whiskey Mountain Lodge nonetheless, because the Whittakers treated everyone like family.

  Elise did have a core group here she belonged to, and it included Bree. Patsy and Sophia. Annie, and Celia, and Amanda. The women in Coral Canyon watched out for each other, and if Elise left, she’d create a hole in Bree’s life, as well as many others.