Drawn to a Cowboy (Brother Duet #1) (22 page)

Sage

I
couldn’t stand it, for once in my life the ranch had absolutely no appeal to me. It was missing the best addition I had ever made to it, Jade. Little did I know that the stunningly beautiful, crayon-red haired woman ranting and abusing her vehicle would climb right up into my heart. I knew there was something about her that I felt I needed. I wanted forever. Love at first sight? Did I believe that? I did in hindsight. She took my breath away and I wasn’t about to let her slip from me. I had decided standing in that gas station. The proposition came out quickly and I have not regretted it for one minute, truly. She scared me, but I would go back and invite her to the ranch all over again.

The ranch came alive with her presence, she added a new dynamic. Just her vibrant hair color alone brightened each day when I saw her first thing every morning, preferably in bed. Then later in the day, just a glimpse of her in the lodge, in the meadow, in the stable, on a horse, wherever, I lit up instantly. She was painting the ranch surroundings, but she painted the place without lifting a paintbrush. She was the best thing I ever brought to the property, best improvement by far.

Yet I found myself without her. I had her in my arms and then I let her go. Even if she needed to clear her head, to figure things out, I should have gone with her. I needed to go get her, I wanted her back—she belonged on the ranch, with me. She loved it, I knew she did, she said she did. Ginnylee… Jinxie contacted me and said she was missing the ranch and sad. She didn’t say that Jade missed me, I guess she felt her daughter needed to tell me that.

Fine, she was going to get the chance to tell me I told myself as I packed a bag. It was time for a road trip out West. Tossing my stuff in the cab of my truck, I told Norma that I was bringing back our girl. She said, “You better,” as she handed me an opened letter from the lawyer. “Read it when you stop for the night.” Normally I would’ve driven straight through, but I was getting a late start and truthfully I was not sleeping very well since Jade left. It would be stupid to crash on the way and never reach my cowgirl.

Driving off the ranch property, I found myself humming her funny little song that I heard coming from her lips since the first day we met. Only I sang it the correct way:
I wanna be a cowboy, so you can be my cowgirl
. Then I laughed like a loon and put on her favorite Lady A satellite radio station.

Stopping for the night, I found a hotel with a restaurant and checked in. I was so tired I was about to call room service and crash out. Instead, I jumped in the shower to wake up a bit then headed to the bar in the lobby. Seated on a stool, I ordered an ale and steak before I opened the obviously read letter. Pulling it out, I could tell that it had been crunched by the reader’s hands and I began to feel apprehensive. Certainly Norma would not send me on my way with bad news, right?

Taking a few swigs, I leaned back and unfolded the legal document that held another sealed envelope stamped confidential. I felt my stomach do a tumble as I realized that Norma didn’t know what was inside and I was scared. I was on my own to view medical records regarding Jade, information that she had insisted that I know, that I see for myself. She could’ve only allowed my access to the results, as to whether she was Hank’s… Carson’s daughter, as the twins had. However she signed documents that showed far more than I needed to know, but upon reading the papers before me I was happy to have access to everything.

After finding out the results from the blood test, I was afraid that a battle with Jade may be imminent. I was going to have to prove to her that I loved her regardless of the said findings.

The blood test proved that Jade was, in fact, Hank’s daughter and that she was going to be a mama. Since the attorneys’ asked for her to be tested with their own lab of choice, our attorneys’ requested that the twins submit to a blood test and DNA test, as well. Turned out that they were not Hank’s children according to the results.

Not only was I shocked to find out that they were not legitimate at all, but to find out that I was going to be a father. I think I was even more shocked that I wasn’t freaked out. Jade was the woman I loved, the woman I wanted to be my forever and the woman I wanted to carry my children. Granted I hadn’t imagined that it would happen so soon, but sometimes things happen for a reason or just as a surprise. Either way, I was actually thrilled and excited and hoped that she would believe me, and would come willingly back to the ranch. I wasn’t going to let her slip out of my sight as Hank had.

Funny! Seemed like the ranch was truly a breeding ground. Jade, like Ginnylee, had left the ranch carrying the owner’s baby. But I was determined to change the ending… not the ending… no, there would be a new beginning. Our child would know me and everyone else would know that I was his or her father. More than that, I planned to take her back to the ranch to live forever even if I had to rope and tie her to get her there. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.

Back on the road at the crack of dawn, I drove with a silly grin on my face. I was going to be a daddy. I couldn’t get there fast enough, and yet I began to question my plan of attack… or surprise. Did I drive straight to the surf shop? Would she be there? Should I stop and buy them both a gift? Did she know? The test had come to me per her consent, she said she had nothing to hide. Did she get a copy too? She had to be four months pregnant. Wouldn’t she be feeling something? I should let her tell me, right? Just in case. “Hey, Jade you’re going to have a baby and you’re coming home with me.” No, that probably shouldn’t be my approach. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was just so excited to see her after almost a month. Too long without her.

Arriving in the little beach town where Jade grew up, I parked right outside the Cowboy-unga Surf Shop. Walking in I asked if Jade was in. “Can I help you? What do you want with her?” a teenage surfer boy asked me with a puffed out chest. I instantly liked him, I knew my cowgirl was looked after, but I was present, my turn to take over.

“I’d like to book a surfing lesson with Jade. I heard she’s the best instructor.”

After signing paperwork, getting outfitted in a wetsuit, sized up for a board, and of course paying, he directed me to the beach area to meet up with my teacher.

I saw her right away. Let’s face it, no one could miss her in a crowd or across a sandy shoreline. She didn’t recognize me until I was practically upon her. “Where’s your hat, cowboy?” Her first words and smile were encouraging. At least I didn’t hear her say “Go back to where you came from.”

“Left it back with my horse.”

“That’s a damn shame, I’m a sucker for a certain cowboy with a straw hat.”

“Is that right, Ma’am?”

“What did I tell you about calling me ma’am!? Do I look like an old woman? A married woman? No ring, see.” She held up her ring finger.

“My mistake, Miss. Although you look like you should be married.”

“Is that so? And why do you say that?” Her hands fisted and went to her waist. It was in that moment that I noticed a definite belly bump. A pretty good size one, actually. “What are you staring at?” She was a sassy little mama, I liked it and smiled.

“The most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in my life. A woman I’m madly in love with, you got a problem with that?” I stood my distance taking every inch of her in.
Damn!
Her wetsuit showed off every delicious curve.

“Only if you don’t take me in your arms and properly greet me within the next two seconds. I’m wait…” She never finished her sentence. With two large steps, she was wrapped up in my arms and my mouth covered hers, saying a very proper hello to my surf instructor, my lovely cowgirl. If not for hoots and hollers from other beachgoers, I may have been arrested for indecent behavior in public.

Broken apart, I asked her if she was going to give me a lesson, and I worried at the same time. Was she out surfing with my baby in her belly? Wasn’t it uncomfortable lying down on her stomach on the hard board? “Can you give lessons?” I looked down.

“You know? Did Jinxie contact you?” I nodded and then I shook my head.

“Yes, she called me. No, she didn’t tell me, I got a letter from the lawyers. Norma gave it to me as I was driving off the property to come get you and bring you home. I read it last night. Not only did it say that you were pregnant, but Hank’s twin boys are not his—you’re his only true child. There are a lot of things that will begin to happen with his estate. I’m sure that they will be in contact with you soon.”

“You were coming to bring me home… Before you knew?”

She skipped right over the news about the twins and moved right to my feelings for her. Who could blame her, she was the only important part about the letters. And even without the results, I wanted her forever by my side.

“Yes, Jade. You belong there with me. It’s not the same without you, it doesn’t feel like home since you left. And that’s saying a lot, I ran away to the ranch and found happiness for the first time in my life.”

“Were you unhappy in your childhood?”

“Let’s sit down,” I said.

She nodded, pulling me to an area where a bunch of surfboards, beach chairs and towels were grouped. “How’s this? I can’t leave until one of the guys from the shop comes to relieve me,” she asked as we snuggled up cozily together on a beach towel, Jade sitting between my legs with my arms around her, both of us facing the ocean.

“Perfect,” I said and then launched into my story. “I didn’t have the best home environment, no. My father was a little rough with my mother. Mainly just prone to pushing and slapping, neither appropriate nor acceptable. My mother was a strong woman in public, but belittled in the family home. My father cheated. She confronted him, ‘Don’t teach the boys you’re cheating ways.’ That was when he would strike out. Our family vacations and outings were a front.”

“That’s why the scene at the corral with the whip upset you so much?” she questioned softly.

“Yes. They were so unhappy, but stayed together because that was what the Donovan family did. He told her divorce wasn’t an option for years when she told him to leave. Eventually, she decided if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. She started a relationship with an understanding man. She seemed happier and she stopped mentioning my father’s indiscretions. My father caught on to her extracurricular activities. He called her names that he had no right to: tramp, whore, et cetera and the slapping started again. He had someone follow her and she had to give up her friend.”

“Divorce happens all the time. It’s healthier sometimes.”

“I agree, they should’ve parted years ago, but they didn’t. They got along for a while until my father’s playmate ended up having his child. This will really shock you, talk about a messed up family. His family paid off the woman and relocated her. As far as I know I have a half-brother somewhere.”

“Oh that sounds like something out of a movie, set in the dark ages or a movie of the week. Please don’t tell me they still live in the same house.”

“They do, it’s a horrible household. After the baby thing they kept out of each other’s separate affairs. I don’t know if they have special friends or not. I know they moved to separate bedrooms and my father had a vasectomy.”

“You said you went home for a family event before we met?”

“Yes, I saw the phony couple at a family gathering. I stayed with Spencer, the black sheep of the whole family. A title he received when he and Valerie split up. My parents tried to talk them out of getting a divorce. My brother had it out with them. He told them he would not live like them, and how fucked up they were. What they had was sick and that he was starting to live similarly with his wife without the abuse part. He said it was no way to live and without their blessing he was the first Donovan of the Bay area to get divorced.”

“Good for him, no one should be subject to abuse or unhappiness. Life is hard enough and too short.”

“I’m thankful that farm girl broke up with me when she did, even as hurtful as it was. I’m not against divorce, but I would prefer to marry once and for love. My parents were not married because they were madly in love, their union was practical. They made sense, both were from good families, equally matched. Spencer did love Valerie and she did love him, but they grew up and apart.”

“Sounds like you and I both have parents that had… have relationships that aren’t conventional.”

“Your parents loved each other, I witnessed it. I always wished that I was part of their family not the craziness I was raised with. Hank was nothing, but respectful to Ginnylee… Jinxie. I’m not saying I didn’t see them argue, but it was mild and as far as I saw about trivial things, they always made up. Never did he raise his hand to her, ever.”

“I’m sorry you had to grow up seeing that, I can’t imagine. Tex and Bonnie were the closest I got to seeing married parents. They got along and if… when they fought, I never knew about it. By the way, Jinxie told me that Hank loved you like family, even she did. She has been telling me about her life on the ranch, you were included in several stories.”