by Kasey Lane
Damian walked out the door. “She’s all yours. Good luck,” he said as he passed the anxious group waiting outside the conference room.
Chapter Fourteen
When Kendall emerged from that conference room almost two hours later she expected to find a message on her phone from Damian that he’d meet her at the hotel. Instead she found him in the lobby as promised. Sitting on a sofa with his tablet and a notebook spread out in front of him he looked every bit the successful cowboy businessman he was in his rumpled suit with the tie long removed and the jacket hanging over the arm of the sofa.
Such a ruggedly handsome man with those glowing hazel eyes framed in thick lashes, and the dark hair falling over his forehead. She had loved this man nearly her entire life and now he was hers. Finally.
At least that’s what it had sounded like back in that conference room when he’d held her hands in his and stared into her eyes, practically begging her to believe him, trust him. He looked up from his work and a slow smile curved his lips when he spotted her. She froze mid-step for a moment before his chuckle snapped her out of her stupor. Quickly he gathered his belongings and threw them in his backpack before standing and pulling her toward the elevator.
They held hands, but said nothing. She felt as nervous as a high schooler on her first big date…not unlike the one she’d gone on with Damian years before. The conversation they were about to have was a biggie, no way around it. Everything they’d been through, everything they’d endured was merely practice for what lay in front of them.
The Uber that Damian had called from the lobby was sitting at the curb and delivered them back to her hotel within twenty very long minutes. When they finally made it to her room he released her hand and pushed her toward the bed.
“Damian, stop. We need to talk.” He pushed on her shoulder and she sat on the bed where he kneeled in front of her and took her boots off.
“So talk, baby,” he said and sat next to her on the bed. How could he be so damn calm when there was a tornado of emotions ripping her insides apart?
“Don’t you want to know what happened?”
“Of course I do. But I want you to tell me when you’re ready,” he said, confidence oozing from him.
“How can you be so calm? Ugh. I gave them the check, Damian.” She clutched her fists at her sides.
He laughed, an arrogant chuckle. Like he knew she was going to give them the money, like there hadn’t been any question that she wanted to go back with him. “You knew that?”
“I had hoped you would. I think you made it clear you wanted to come home.”
“I did.”
“You did.”
She cleared her throat, which suddenly felt dry. “I, uh, told them I’d be interested in writing songs, but not recording them.” She shifted her hands to her lap and looked down.
“That’s great, baby.”
“Really? That’s all you have to say?”
“Nope,” he said and dropped to his knees with a small box in his hand.
“Damian. I already have a wedding ring.”
“I know.” He flipped the box open to reveal a platinum charm bracelet with one single charm, a jeweled goat, dangling from it. “This is more of a promise, Kendall. I’m going to buy you a charm to mark every important event in our lives moving forward.” He pulled it from the blue-velvet-lined box and fastened it around her wrist. The simple action felt like so much more. It was a promise and a commitment and an anchor to her home and her man and the life she was meant to have. No more running.
“It’s beautiful. But there might be one more charm we need to add,” she said quietly.
“And which one is that?” he asked, raising a brow.
“I’ve been sick to my stomach the past couple days. On a whim I bought a test and took it before I left this morning.” He grabbed her hand and held it tightly still on his knees in front of her.
“And…” He reached up to touch her face, like he always did, seeking that deeper connection.
“I don’t know. I was afraid to look. It’s in there.” She held her breath and gestured to the bathroom. Damian jumped up and pulled her to the bathroom until she dug in her heels and stopped. “What if it’s positive, Damian?”
He turned around and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into that safe place of love and comfort and Damian. “Then we’ll be parents, Kendall.” He stroked his hands down her hair and she leaned in to him.
“But what about what my grandma said?”
“Probably bullshit. Even if it’s not, it doesn’t matter.” His mom had told her that her grandma’s claims were wrong, but hearing Damian say so was more important. And the relief that flooded through her body was like sunshine and waterfalls and butterflies all wrapped up in one big giant pink bow. “Ready?”
Kendall smiled against his chest, before turning and walking into the bathroom. The simple plastic wand sat on the edge of the sink, taunting her. Did she deserve to get everything? Was she going to get her happily ever after in the form of this incredible man and a baby? Her own family?
Damian squeezed her hand again and kissed the back of her neck. “If not now, then later. And if not later, then we have each other. Forever, Kendall.”
He was right, of course. He always was. “I can’t look and it’s probably too early and I don’t feel sick now and I’m still pretty young and we just got back together.” Everything froze and narrowed down to Damian’s big hand as it reached down and picked up that little stick. She studied his face as he stared at, but he gave nothing away.
Finally a grin so big it stretched his face into one she hadn’t seen since he was a teen, and he asked, “What does a plus sign mean?”
Then he dragged her to the bed and spent the next two days showing her exactly how he felt about her.
Epilogue
Kendall Kelly was home.
She finished changing her infant daughter, smoothed her strawberry blonde curls with her hand and picked her up from the changing table. Cradling Sophia in her arms, Kendall walked toward the noise coming from her recently finished living room. The room was filled with people, people she loved laughing and drinking and talking.
Delilah sat on one of the couches speaking to Damian’s brother, Duncan, who had come home for the weekend. Damian’s mom laughed at something one of the girl’s from the shop was saying. A group of the farm’s workers, including Coleman and Samantha, were circling a table full of appetizers and desserts. Kendall continued out to the big house’s grand porch and found her husband sitting on a chair laughing with Colin and two friends that Damian had recently reconnected with.
In her husband’s arms was the other man she’d been looking for, her son, Evan. She marveled as her husband’s large hand stroked their son’s matching dark hair. That she could have missed all this—the family, the love, the one—was a startling realization. She could have missed her own life if she had continued to run from her own fear instead of take it on. Instead she won the lottery. In the year since Damian had brought her back home they’d settled into a busy, but infinitely rewarding life. Her husband had worked like a madman on both the farm and renovating her grandmother’s old house. He insisted on creating the home their children would grow up in and he and Kendall would grow old in.
Today had been their housewarming slash vow renewal and they’d invited just about everyone they knew to the simple, but meaningful ceremony. Of course, a couple fussy babies helped a lot in keeping the exchange short and sweet. Life was exhausting with two busy babies, renovations, and the farm to run, but having her mother-in-law in their cottage was endlessly helpful. Not only was Evelyn an incredible grandmother and always helpful, but she had become like a mother to Kendall. She filled a dark void in Kendall with love and acceptance and kindness that she had never known from another woman other than Delilah.
When Damian looked up from his conversation and caught her staring at him, he laughed and called to her. She paused for a moment before moving t
o sit on the wide arm of his chair.
“Hey, baby,” he said and patted her leg, before stealing the baby in her arms.
“Baby hog.” She laughed. Because that’s what she did these days—she laughed. A lot. Sure there were still tears and there were times she felt overwhelmed, but every time her husband was there to catch her before she fell.
And as she sat there on her glossy new porch with her husband, her children, and their friends and families, Kendall watched the sun lower in the sky and touch the hill at the edge of their little valley. The way the sky was painted in vibrant colors before it began to tuck itself in for the evening was the very last thing she remembered that night before falling asleep in Damian’s arms, exhausted from lovemaking. And the last thing she felt was the press of his lips on her shoulder before he said, “I will love you forever, Kendall.”
The End
The Blackberry Cove Cowboys Series
Book 1: Punk Rock Cowgirl
View the entire series here
Book 2: Big, Bad Cowboy Soldier
Coming Soon
Book 3: The Rebel Cowboy’s Bride
Coming Soon
More Books by Kasey Lane
Beautiful Wreck
Coming soon!
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About the Author
Award-winning author Kasey Lane writes sexy romances featuring alpha males and the strong women that bring them to their knees. A California transplant, she lives with her high school crush turned husband, two smart, but devilish kids, two dumb-as-rocks Papillons, and a bunch of bossy chickens in the lush Oregon forest. Visit her on line at www.kaseylane.com where you’ll find her swearing too much and talking about hockey, music, and happily ever afters.
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