Beckett Brothers: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  A few hours later, Scout ventured into the kitchen, hoping Bran had gone to sleep. His brother hadn’t asked questions, and Scout had been grateful.

  What he hadn’t counted on was Ava sitting at the breakfast bar in the dim light provided by the hood over the kitchen stove.

  “Oh,” Scout said, stopping in the doorway to kitchen, uncertain whether to move forward or back. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were still up.”

  She smiled softly, her hair in a messy knot on top of her head, a cup of hot tea in front of her. He caught the faint scent of peppermint.

  “The baby was up, and now I can’t go back to sleep. Hoping some tea might help.” She held up the cup. “How about you? Want some?”

  “Um, sure,” he answered. “I was just going to grab a sandwich or something.”

  Ava slid off the stool. “Have a seat.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “Pssh. Stop. It’s not a problem.” She went to the refrigerator and started pulling out items.

  He sat in silence as she piled turkey, cheese, and lettuce on a hoagie with mustard then pushed it across the counter to him.

  She stood on the opposite side, her mug cradled between her hands. “You want to tell me what happened?”

  He shook his head with a bitter chuckle. “Not really.”

  “But you will anyway.” It wasn’t a question.

  Scout sighed and began the story of how he’d ended up with his entire life blown to hell. While Ava was usually a talker, she stood patiently and listened until he ran out of steam.

  “Well.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed.

  “You want to hear the other side of it now?”

  He cocked his head, confused by her meaning. “What other side?”

  She laughed softly, murmuring, “And that would be the problem.”

  He just watched her, chewing the smoky turkey and sharp cheddar, not sure what to expect next.

  “Look,” she began. “I know you care about her. I’m willing to bet you love her.”

  He looked away, the whole thing still too raw.

  “And I know you, so I know you’d always be fair and you’d take care of both her and your son. You’re a Beckett man, Scout. Those of us who know you guys have no doubts the kind of partner and father you’ll be. But you have to understand that Stella hasn’t known you her whole life. She’s crazy about you, but that doesn’t change the fact she’s been asked to change her entire life in a way that you haven’t. And all for a man she’s known a few months and a baby she hasn’t met yet.”

  Scout felt defensive but also something closely resembling guilt. “I’ve been working to buy that ranch for six years, Ava. I took that place and turned it from barely breaking even to generating a solid profit in the last three years. I’ve lived in a one-room foreman’s cabin the entire time and driven the same truck so I could save up to buy the place. I ran it pretty much alone for the final eighteen months of George’s life, and I made sure he was taken care of on top of it all.”

  Ava skirted the end of the kitchen counter and put her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. “I know,” she whispered in his ear. “And Bran is so damn proud of you. We all are.”

  Scout nodded silently. At last, she pulled away. Then she looked him in the eyes. “You’ve done everything you were supposed to, and now you need to do one last thing before you get your happily-ever-after—the girl, the farm, the baby, all of it.”

  He waited, his gut clenched in anticipation, as if Ava held the secrets to the universe.

  “Now you need to find a way to compromise.” She gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek and went back to bed.

  18

  It had been sixty-two hours and thirty-six minutes since Scout had left. Two nights and the day in between and now the start to yet another day. Stella had spent the first night crying, the second night stomping around the house furious, and the daylight hours staring at the back door, trying to will him into walking through it.

  Lonny had stopped by the first morning to tell her that he had everything under control and, if she had any questions, to ask. He’d looked at her sympathetically, then muttered something like, “He’s got an extra thick head” before he scurried back to work.

  Now she sat in the sunny window seat in the living room, listening to Kit try to talk cheerfully about the golden retriever she’d treated for swallowing a set of its owner’s underwear.

  “I guess you had to be there,” Kit finally said.

  “What? Oh God, I’m sorry,” Stella answered. “I’m a terrible friend, can you ever forgive me?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive, sweetie,” Kit told her reassuringly.

  Stella shifted and tried not to look out the window at the driveway that led up from the country road. A dark blue pickup rolled along toward the gate, and her heart leaped into her throat. Then it drove on by, and disappointment washed over her for the thousandth time in the last two days.

  “What if he doesn’t come back?” she finally asked. “What if he stays away until the baby’s born, and then we do that thing where we grit our teeth and hand over the backpack full of the baby’s things every Friday and Monday, and then in a few years, he meets some blonde who wears shirts with pearl snaps and rides in western competitions and knows how to two-step and he gets engaged and they take my son to Disneyland for his birthday and then he wants to spend all his time with his new mommy and—”

  Kit burst into laughter. “Slow down there, girl. Good lord, did you stay up all night dreaming that nonsense? You poor thing.”

  Stella felt heat wash over her cheeks. “I’m so miserable,” she finally admitted, tears rolling down her face. “I’ve been so afraid to need him. It’s why I couldn’t sell him the farm. But now I think it might be too late, anyway. No matter what I do, it’s not going to be right. I can’t win.”

  Kit stood and walked to the window seat, sat down next to Stella, and put an arm around her shoulders. “You sniffling, snotty-nosed pregnant women are more than the rest of us can take.”

  Stella laughed and wiped her eyes.

  “Listen up, now.” Kit gave her an extra squeeze. “I’ve known Scout a little longer than you—in a different way, of course—” Stella raised an eyebrow, and Kit laughed. “He’s a hard worker, and a kind person, and an honorable man. But I know you realize that deep down. And I know that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not comfortable leaving yourself with no job and no home and a guy who says he’ll handle it all for you. And you shouldn’t be comfortable with that. But you should be comfortable with him.”

  Stella shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

  “You guys act like this whole thing is either/or. Either you own the farm, or he does. Either everything gets done your way, or everything gets done his way. It’s one of you having all the control, and the other having none. Hunter and I haven’t been married all that long, but it’s been long enough for me to know that relationships don’t work unless everyone has their part and does their part. You deserve to have security that’s not dependent on Scout’s goodwill. But he deserves to have the independence he’s been working so hard for all these years, too.”

  Kit gave Stella a hug and stood. Stella gazed up at her friend, one of the first she’d had in a very long time. One she didn’t want to give up, just like she didn’t want to give up her grandpa’s home or the chance to raise her baby with Scout.

  “There is a solution to this, Stella,” Kit said smiling. “And if you two will stop making things either/or, you’ll find it.”

  Stella sat in that window seat for a long time after Kit was gone. The sun shone on her bare arms, and outside she could hear the sounds of the farm—cows, dogs, cowboys, machines. She heard the men her grandfather had trusted and the business he had built. She cared about it, she wanted it to do well, but she knew that wasn’t the part of him she most wanted to preserve. The things about her family and her grandfather that she loved were here, in this hou
se, where she’d played, and learned, and slept. Where she wanted her child to do the same.

  And as the sun began to set, Stella finally understood what she needed to be happy and raise her baby. But even more importantly, she knew what Scout needed as well.

  It had only been three days, but it felt like a lifetime as Scout stood on the front porch of the Steadman farmhouse and knocked on the door. He’d decided not to walk right in the back door the way he’d been doing for years. He couldn’t view it as his future house anymore. It belonged to Stella, who swung open the door and stood looking like an angel staring up at him.

  Her red hair was loose, and she was wearing a man’s white button-up shirt, several sizes too large so it stretched over her belly. The cuffs were rolled up, and the tails hung down over her skinny jeans. Her feet were bare, and he loved that she’d painted her toenails a silly shade of pink.

  “Hey,” he said, gazing at her like a lovestruck puppy.

  “Hi.” Her voice was breathy, and he wanted to scoop her up and carry her to the bedroom and then bury his face in all that soft hair before burying his cock somewhere else. But instead, he followed her into the house and sat down where she gestured.

  “Do you want something to drink?” she asked, looking nervous and beautiful all at the same time.

  “No, thanks,” he answered. She nodded and sat on the other end of the old leather sofa George had loved.

  “How are you? Are you feeling okay? No more contractions or anything?” He thought she would have told him if anything was wrong, but he wasn’t sure.

  “Everything’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but the baby is fine.”

  “Good,” he nodded, setting his truck keys on the coffee table.

  “I thought we could talk—about the other night, and about the farm…” She looked at him hopefully.

  “I’d like that.”

  “I realized something, the last few days.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I realized there are parts of this farm that mean a lot to me and that I want to have, but parts I don’t.”

  He waited, his heart pounding like a tom-tom drum in his chest.

  “And I realized you’ve never, not once, given me any reason to doubt you or your commitment to the baby.”

  “But I’ve never given you any idea of my commitment to you,” he interjected. “And I’ve expected you to make all the changes—give up your job, give up your apartment, move halfway across the country, birth my baby, sell me your farm.” He scooted closer to her on the sofa and took one of her hands in his. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I acted like you should upend your entire life with no equivalent sacrifice from me.”

  “I don’t need you to sacrifice anything,” she told him. “I’m not trying to punish you.”

  “I know, but I haven’t been fair. This whole thing isn’t fair to you. This is your family’s farm. It always has been. I still want to buy my own place, and I have the money saved up to do it, so there’s nothing stopping me. You’re not stopping me from anything, and I was an ass to act like you were. I can stay on here as long as you need me, help with a transition to your new foreman, and then I can find my own place to buy.”

  She smiled, and it was as if the sun had finally come out after an endless night.

  “I know the perfect place for you to buy,” she told him.

  “You do? I checked around yesterday, and there aren’t any properties in the county up for sale.”

  Stella leaned over and picked up a piece of paper from the coffee table. “There’s one, but it’s not listed, and it’s only available to one specific buyer—handsome guy, really sexy, and going to be a wonderful father.”

  Scout took the paper from her hand and began to read. When he was done, he looked up at her and asked, “Are you sure?”

  “Never been surer,” she answered.

  He pulled her onto his lap, running his nose up the side of her silky cheek. “So if I own the business and you own the house, does that mean I should live in the barn with the cows?”

  She laughed. “Well, you do have the foreman’s cabin…”

  He groaned.

  “Tell you what—if you let me keep a few acres that you don’t use for grazing so I can do some projects with Crops for Kids, maybe I’ll let you live in my house with me.”

  “Deal!” He stood from the sofa, lifting her at the same time.

  “So you think this can work?” she asked.

  His gaze was serious, but his heart was full of light and joy, like a glass filled with sparkling wine. “It’s going to work because I love you, Stella Steadman. And I love our baby. The rest is just details. I know that now, and I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

  “I love you, too. Are you going take me to bed already?”

  He strode to the stairs, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “One more thing,” he told her as he carried her up the long flight.

  She kissed the side of his neck and murmured, “Hmm?”

  “I’m going to ask you to marry me one of these days when we’re settled.”

  She took his earlobe between her teeth. It felt so good, he nearly dropped her.

  “And I’m going to say yes,” she whispered. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  Epilogue

  Stella balanced little George Steadman Beckett on one hip as she leaned down and showed the two girls from Gopher Springs High School how far apart to space the seeds they were planting. Her acreage devoted to Crops for Kids was about to become a successful lima bean field, and the proceeds from the sales would go to the nonprofit to fund more projects in the future.

  Her phone buzzed with an email as she headed toward the truck where she had a snack for George, and she pulled it out of her back pocket to look. It was from her first subconsultant, a bright and enthusiastic young woman with a degree in sustainable agriculture from Texas A & M who was now in Peru, working to help a village learn how to prevent coffee leaf rust in their crops. Stella quickly moved the email to her work inbox, then tossed the phone on the seat of her new SUV before setting George in his car seat and getting out the goldfish crackers.

  It had taken her a while, but she’d come to understand why her grandfather had put that stipulation in his will. In the time they’d been together, she’s seen how headstrong and determined Scout could be when he’d set his mind to something. So much so, it was often hard for him to see alternatives but he’d learned to compromise. They both had. While Stella had thought she’d been following her heart with her career, she’d come to realize that she’d been running from it. No, everything she needed to make her complete was right here in Gopher Springs.

  She looked up to see Scout striding across the field, hat in hand, his long legs eating up the dark furrowed earth. The eyes of both schoolgirls and the two Crops for Kids staffers followed him as he made his way across the field, and Stella couldn’t blame them a bit. She was one lucky cowgirl.

  “Hi, there,” he said with a grin as he kissed her on the cheek before leaning in through the open car door and kissing George as well. The baby giggled and waved his arms at his daddy.

  “I’ll get you out of there in just a minute, big guy. I need to talk to your momma real quick, though.”

  “What brings you out here?” Stella asked with a smile as big as the Texas sky.

  “I wanted to see my girl, and I needed to ask you something.”

  “Okay. Ask away.”

  Suddenly, Scout dropped to one knee on the freshly turned earth. Stella’s hand flew to her mouth as he pulled a ring box out of his shirt pocket.

  “Stella Steadman,” he said with a smile. “I think it’s more than high time I follow through on my promise from all those months ago. You are without a doubt the smartest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. You’re an incredible mother, a savvy businesswoman, and a generous spirit. I love you something crazy, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do in this life than walk through it with you by my side.” He
opened the box to reveal a beautiful cushion cut diamond solitaire. “Will you please marry me?”

  Stella leaned over and kissed him long and hard. When she pulled away, she said one word, “Yes.”

  He looked her in the eyes, love as clear as day in every nuance of his face. “When they first read that will of your granddad’s, I thought he’d betrayed me after all those years.”

  “But now?” she asked as if she already knew the answer.

  “Now I know he was just looking out for me after he was gone.”

  “Amen,” Stella said. Then she kissed him again under the big Texas sky.

  End of Wrangling His Pregnant Cowgirl

  Beckett Brothers Book Three

  Want to saddle up with another cowboy? Please keep reading for a preview from Tempting the Rancher.

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  About Leslie

  Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.

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