Hidden Treasure (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

C
olt paced Brielle’s
front porch, feeling more like a fool the longer he waited. She’d been absent an entire week — she’d completely disappeared, and he had no idea where. When he first found out that she’d left, he’d thought for sure it was over, that he’d lost her for good.

Not that he would have given up so easily. Love like this didn’t just disappear. No. If she moved away, he’d follow her. Even if it took months, years, decades, he would wait for her. He’d barely slept during the last two weeks, his arms empty without her in them, his heart aching without her there to fill it.

He sounded pathetic even to himself, but that was the way it was. He was desperately in love with Brielle Storm, and whatever he had to do to prove that to her he
would
do. There was no way he’d live his life without her.

He’d been greatly relieved to find out from Tony that she wasn’t gone for good, but that she’d left with her father to visit one of her brothers. And Tony had let him know that she was coming home tonight.

So here he was on her front porch, where he’d been waiting for the last three hours. The ranch hands had all walked by at some point or other to snicker or just enjoy the show. Colt didn’t care. He was going to prove his love to Brielle, even if the entire town of Sterling thought him nothing but a lovesick idiot.

That’s what he was, wasn’t he?

“You know you’re going to set her house on fire, don’t you?”

Colt turned to find Hawk walking toward him. “Not now, Hawk. She should be here any minute,” Colt said, turning to pace the length of her porch yet again.

“When I got calls from three of her ranch hands who were concerned that you aren’t in your right mind, I figured I had best come out to investigate,” Hawk said as he came up onto the porch and then kept in step with Colt.

“The candles are all in jars,” Colt pointed out before stopping and looking around, making sure the scene was still set.

Her entire front railing was covered in lighted candles. There were three hundred of them. He knew this for sure, because he’d lit every single one himself.

“You do know that with the dry weather, if even one of these jars tips over, the place could go up in flames, right?”

Of course Hawk had to say it — he was the fire chief. But it was also Colt’s prerogative to ignore him. “If it burns, I’ll build her a better house,” Colt said before he resumed pacing, not even thinking about what an arrogant statement he’d just made.

“All right. Since Tony has the fire tender on standby, I guess I’ll let you be.” Hawk patted Colt on the shoulder and stepped down from the porch to go and sit with Tony, who, sure enough, had the fire truck backed up to the house. He was in a chair behind it, hose in his hand in case he needed to act quickly.

“It would sure help if you’d just go away, Tony,” Colt snapped for what seemed like the tenth time.

“Not gonna happen, Colt,” Tony drawled.

This was not going according to plan, Colt thought with frustration. Then everything else disappeared, because he saw headlights in the distance. That had to be Brielle — unless the hands had called in the sheriff, too.

Colt wouldn’t have put that past them. Still, with his heart thundering and the blood rushing through his veins, he had no doubt it was Brielle. He could feel it. His mood lifted, his heart raced, and a smile returned to his face.

He planned to spend the rest of his life proving to this woman each and every day how much he loved her, and to treat her like the princess he knew she was.

But first he had to convince her to allow him in her life.

Much easier said than done…

Chapter Thirty-Six

E
xhaustion seemed to
be her middle name now, but Brielle was happy to be driving down the long road that led to her home. And yes, this was her home. She’d enjoyed the visit with her oldest brother, loved meeting his soon-to-be fiancée — at least if Crew had anything to say about it — and loved spending time with her father and getting to know her uncles, but she was glad to be home.

What a different drive this was for her now. The first time she’d taken this road, she’d been ticked off, miserable, and certain that her life was over. And it was — life as she’d once known it was over. But that was a good thing.

Unfortunately, Colt lived nearby. Talk about ambivalence.

Her anger was long gone, but that didn’t mean she could just forget what he’d done. If only her foolish heart agreed with her mind. But the longer she was away from him, the more she yearned for his touch.

No. Impossible. How would she ever know for sure that he wanted her and not her land? Was it still about the land? She hadn’t lied to him. She had to remember that and harden her heart to him.

When she turned the corner, she noticed a strange glow coming from her house. “What the…?” she said aloud.

When she pulled up, she realized her porch was lit up with…candles. Yes, those were candles, what appeared to be hundreds and hundreds of candles on her railing. As she emerged from the truck, she found Colt standing on her front deck, his arms at his sides, his whole body tense.

To her left, she saw Tony and Hawk sitting in a couple of lawn chairs beside the ranch’s fire truck, but she barely glanced their way. Her eyes were drawn to one place — to the man now coming down the front steps.

They met halfway and she stood before him. But she didn’t know what to say.
Just leave
?

“I’ve missed you, Brielle.” His softly spoken words were nearly her undoing. But somehow she did manage to find her voice.

“What are you doing, Colt?”

“I can’t go another day without seeing you, Brielle. When I close my eyes, I’m holding you.”

“Colt, please just give it up.”

“I can’t. Though I know it’s only a dream, it feels so real. I picture myself running my fingers through your long red hair, I feel the tremor in your body when we touch. Feelings like I’ve never felt before rush through me, and then I find myself with my lips brushing against yours. I imagine that hitch in your breathing, that small indication that you’re as moved as I am each and every time we touch. Then I open my eyes and you aren’t there. Everything disappears and I’m left with only emptiness. I want to close my eyes again, live in that perfect moment of having you in my arms.”

“Colt…”

She was close to tears, and she didn’t know what to say. He was offering his soul with so much passion, so much love. It had to be real. There was no way it couldn’t be.

“Did you know that every time I come near you, I’m afraid of the way you affect me? And afraid of the way I need you. Or I
was
afraid. I thought I was happy before I met you, Brielle. I wasn’t. And when I look into your eyes, I feel like I’ve found what my life has always been missing. And I didn’t know there was something missing until recently, but now that I’ve had you by my side, I can never go back to the existence I walked through before you, to the way I was. You make me feel like I’m flying. You are worth holding onto forever, and I won’t throw this away. I promise that if you give me another chance, I will never again treat you with disrespect, and I will never tell another untruth. I will hold you, care for you, and
love
you.”

Brielle didn’t try to stop the tears anymore. This man did love her — her! — spoiled little Brielle Storm who’d needed her father’s intervention to help her find herself. Somehow, Colt had managed to see past her facade. And he actually liked the woman hiding inside. When he dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled out a black velvet jeweler’s box, her knees shook.

“Brielle, please end my misery. Please be my wife — help make me a better man.”

His eyes shone bright in the light from the candles behind them and the full moon filling the starry sky, and Brielle couldn’t stand up a second longer. Sinking to her knees in front of him, she placed her hands on his face and brushed her lips against his.

“I don’t want to live another day without you either, Colt,” she whispered, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I love you, Brielle.” He ran his hands up and down her back, pushing the last of her worries away.

“I love you, too, Colt. Yes, I’ll marry you. My heart won’t let me do anything else.”

He sat back, and she felt bereft until he lifted her hand, pulled out a flawless square-cut diamond, and slipped the ring on her finger — a perfect fit.

“You are my everything,” he told her, and he sealed their promise to each other with a kiss.

Tony and Hawk had to turn away from the stirring scene, and from each other. The two gruff men were too touched by the beautiful moment they’d just witnessed.

After Colt carried Brielle through the front door, the two men outside put out all the candles, and then the only light shining down on the old ranch house was from the stars, which seemed to be twinkling a little more brightly on one of the last nights of summer.

Epilogue

I
t looks as
if we’ll be getting at least two weddings this year,” Richard said as he enjoyed a nice scotch with his brothers.

“Yes. I truly admire Colt,” Joseph said. “Always have.”

“Well, of course you do, because he’s a good man. I’m just grateful I found that land. My only complaint is I missed most of the romance.”

“You were pretty lucky in that match,” George said with a laugh.

“I knew Brielle would end up on the ranch, and the first time I met Colt, he was an ornery cuss, but I liked and respected him. I had hoped sparks would fly, but hadn’t held out much hope for it,” Richard said. “I knew when I told the kids what I wanted from them that they would all be mad, but I also knew that Brielle would take the longest to accept her challenge, and there was just no way any of the boys would want anything to do with ranching. It seems each of the businesses I purchased has landed in the right hands, at least so far.”

“Are you ever going to tell her you were hoping she and Colt would find each other?” George asked.

“Are you insane? She’d skin me alive.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much how our kids feel,” Joseph said. “But that doesn’t matter. All that matters is the end result, and that’s a lot of grandbabies and great-nieces and -nephews. I only wish we’d known each other when this ‘journey’ you’ve placed your children on started. There’s nothing I like more than a bit of meddling.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, brother,” Richard said. “Plus, I’m way behind in the grandchild department, so it will be a pleasure catching up with you.”

“From the way Colt and Brielle were looking at each other on our last visit, I bet it won’t take long at all,” Joseph told him.

“I think it’s time to visit with Lance again. I want to see what that boy is up to. I have a feeling he’s going to be my favorite nephew,” George said with a smile.

“Ah, they’re all my favorites,” Joseph said, and he meant it. There wasn’t one of the kids he loved more than the other. Okay, he did have to admit that his granddaughter Jasmine had an extra-special place in his heart.

“Even the strongest of them fall, George. Lance will fight to the end, but it’s only a matter of time before he gives in to his destiny, and that certainly includes true love…” Richard said.

The three men clinked glasses.

THE END

An excerpt from
Safe in his Arms

from “Baby it’s Cold Outside” coming at the end of October 2014 by Melody Anne, published by Pocket Books.

Available for preorder now.

Prologue

C
an you believe
that Edna took off like that?”

“What do you expect, Bethel? Her grandbaby needed her,” Eileen replied.

“I know. I know. But the Christmas pageant is coming and it just won’t be the same without her,” Bethel said.

“Yes, of course, but don’t you see the opportunity this presents?”

Both women turned to look at their friend Maggie, whose grin ran from ear to ear. The three women were thought to be in their sixties, but no one knew for sure—they guarded their age more securely than Fort Knox guarded its gold. Plus, they certainly didn’t act their age, not even on cold Sunday mornings.

“What do you mean?” they asked in unison.

“We don’t get too many new people here in town,” Maggie told them. “Hawk’s been single for long enough. Now that my boy Bryson has gotten married and settled down, I’m more than ready to see the same happen for Hawk.”

The lights switched on in the other two women’s eyes.

“Ooh, I like your thinking, Maggie,” Bethel said. She was practically jumping in her seat.

“So, we just need to find an . . .
appropriate
teacher,” Eileen said with a giggle that took twenty years off her age—whatever it was.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Bethel burbled. “I’m so glad the school board has left us with the task of finding Edna’s replacement.”

“Do they have photographs of the applicants on the places we have to search?” Maggie asked.

“Sure do!” Eileen told them as she flipped open her laptop. “I still hate that these damn contraptions are necessary.” But she resolutely fired up her Internet browser.

“Yes. Technology is a burden,” Bethel grumbled.

Sure, the women complained, but they were much sharper than they let on. A very crafty move that allowed them to get away with a heck of a lot more meddling into the lives of people who would otherwise protest.

A slight blush tinged Eileen’s cheeks when she asked, “Shouldn’t we bring Martin in on this?”

Bethel and Maggie knew that something was happening between the two longtime friends, but they weren’t about to call Eileen out on it.

“We certainly will… eventually,” Bethel said. “But not right now. This girl needs to be for Hawk. Martin would try to steal her away for one of his four boys.”

“Well, we need to find some women for those ornery sons of his, too,” Maggie chimed in.

“Let’s just focus on one kid at a time,” said Bethel, always the logical one. “Besides, I already have plans brewing for my granddaughter Sage and one of the Whitman boys. As soon as she’s done with medical school…”

Maggie’s eyes widened. “Oh, do tell.”

“Now’s not the time.” Bethel clicked on a page and gasped. “Girls, I think we have a winner!”

The other two women leaned over and then all three of them smiled as they read all about Natalie Duncan, who was seeking work as an elementary-school teacher.

“I think you might just be right,” Maggie said.

The three best friends got busy, and their plans solidified. Poor Natalie had no idea what she was about to step into . . .

Chapter One

H
er heels clicking
on the hard tile floor of the airport, Natalie Duncan smiled and popped a Hershey’s Kiss into her mouth. Her first teaching job! It was a dream come true. Four years of college, thousands of study hours, even more volunteer hours, a teaching internship at a beautiful elementary school in sunny L.A., a pretty dang good GPA, and she had finally received the call she’d been waiting for.

Sure, it was November, and sure, she’d been called only because another teacher was going through some sort of family emergency and had to leave the state suddenly, but Natalie was still stoked. She’d been the one the school had called. She was the one who would be stepping into her very own classroom come Monday morning.

The small town of Sterling, Montana, wasn’t exactly where she’d wanted to begin her very first job, but you couldn’t always have everything you wished for, could you? No. This was only a stepping stone.

Wholly unaware of the masculine eyes that were following her in her sharp blue pencil skirt and four-inch heels, Natalie pressed forward. With her slim five-foot-three-inch frame and her fiery red hair, green eyes, and full lips, she was made to turn heads. The thing was, she didn’t ever look up long enough to notice she was doing it.

Why? Because Natalie wasn’t looking for male attention. She had plans. She had goals. And men were far down on her list of priorities. After all, she was only twenty-three. For now, she was content to stick with the third-graders she was going to teach. Let the older males stay clear. They’d just interfere with her goals. Work first. Marriage and family later.

From the time Natalie was a little girl her mother had pushed her, letting her know her only option was to go to college, graduate with honors, and then get a good job. So, Natalie had decided that first she would save for at least ten years, buy a home, and set up a nice nest egg, then, and only then, would she settle down and marry.

A smile flitted across her lips as she thought about her life fifteen years down the road. She’d have a white picket fence and one girl and one boy running through the sprinkler on a nice hot day while she sat next to her husband and enjoyed the successes of her life.

Sure, some might say she was too specific in what she wanted, but wasn’t that the whole point of making goals? If a person just winged it, they might never achieve anything in life—they’d end up like her mother, and that wasn’t something Natalie would ever accept.

As she focused on her fantasy future, the airport doors opened, and Natalie stepped forward with an excited smile. That smile vanished in an instant when the biting Montana wind slapped her in the face, causing her to stumble backward.

“What the hell?”

Her voice came out choked as she struggled to regain the breath that had been sucked from her. Yes, she’d been warned that the temperatures dropped incredibly low in this part of the state, but how could a normal human survive
this
?

She’d been born and raised in Southern California, and was in no way ready for this sort of weather. She’d been so excited over receiving the job, she hadn’t even thought to research what climate she was stepping into. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She fell back inside the terminal and gulped warm air into her frozen lungs.

“Okay. You can do this,” she told herself as she looked down scathingly at her completely inefficient shoes. “Heels? What was I thinking?” Heels and sexy lingerie were her concessions to
blatant femininity
. Otherwise she wore beige and dark colors, and downplayed what she’d been blessed with.

Raising her head, she studied the people passing her by. None of them were wearing heels and a skirt. No. They were wearing warm boots, thick coats, and trousers. She threw her suitcases a disgusted look as it dawned on her that she’d have little choice but to spend some of her precious savings on warmer clothing.

This certainly called for another chocolate.

Look, this was a happy day. She shouldn’t have to dwell on insignificant factors such as clothes and freezing weather. Instead, she should be able to munch on her morsel of chocolate and look forward to her first real teaching job.

Reaching into her carry-on bag, she pulled out her warmest jacket, which wasn’t going to do enough, but it was better than nothing. Then she made her way back to the airport doors. Looking at them as if they were the gates to hell, which they sort of were—just a very,
very
cold hell—she took a deep breath and moved forward again.

As she stepped outside, tears sprang instantly to her eyes, and her entire body shook, but she forced herself to trudge to the curb. Thankfully, there was a cab ready and waiting. Fearing she’d never feel warmth fully return to her body again despite the warm air that billowed from the vents, she huddled in the backseat after giving the driver the address for the little furnished house that the school district had set up for her.

The people had been unbelievably kind. One woman—her name was Bethel—had even sold Natalie a small Toyota sedan, dirt cheap. That was one less thing she had to worry about. The vehicle should be parked in her driveway already.

First, she’d get settled in, and then she’d drive through the town she’d live in until at least the end of this school year. She hoped they kept the roads plowed, because a little car wasn’t going to make her feel particularly safe, and she couldn’t fork out the money needed for a truck or SUV. Her mind drifted as the miles passed and she gazed out absently at an endless expanse of white.

“Looks like Hawk’s here to show you the place.”

Startled, Natalie looked up to see the cabbie peering at her through the rearview mirror. “What?”

One of Natalie’s worst faults, or at least what she felt was one of her worst faults, was that she’d get so lost in her own head that she’d tune out the rest of the world. In her mind she could be lounging around on one of the famous beaches of Brazil while she was actually on a threadbare chair in her own claustrophobic apartment.

A vivid imagination was great when you were teaching young children, but not so great when trying to hold normal conversations with other adults. How pathetic. Her life was so dull that she spent most of her time in a fantasy world.

That was going to change, though. She was a teacher now. A
professional
. Pulling a little notebook out of her purse, she turned to the list of goals she’d written out in clear, even handwriting, with little boxes next to each line. With pure delight, she checked off
Get first teaching job
. Of course, not everything on that list would be crossed off so easily. If anyone were ever to get his or her hands on that notebook, a few of those aspirations would leave her a mass of blushes and shame.

“Hey, Mickey. How was the drive?”

Whoa.
When Natalie looked up and saw the man leaning against the side of the cab, she felt frozen to her seat. And it had nothing to do with the cold air drifting in through the now open window. A pair of linebacker shoulders completely swallowed up the open space. He was wearing a thick coat, and he sported dark and slightly unruly hair, plus piercing brown eyes with lashes that seemed to go on forever.

And those lips. They were full and turned up in an electrifying smile as he bantered with the cabbie. Natalie had no idea what the two men were saying, because the deep timbre of this man’s voice enveloped her. It seemed to be sending all sorts of wrong signals to her stomach, which was suddenly rolling.

When her side door was flung open and the man stood there with his hand out while saying something or other to her, all she could hear was a buzzing in her ears.

Nonsense!

This was total and utter nonsense. She didn’t believe in love at first sight, or even lust at first sight. So to be looking at this man as if he were a piece of her favorite chocolate, one that had just been discontinued—those idiots—was freaking ridiculous.

No. She was a professional woman who’d just had a weak moment. He was holding out a hand to help her from the taxi. That was all. She could do this. She’d reach out casually, take his hand, say a polite thank-you, and then make her way into the house. Easy-peasy.

When she did reach out, however, his gloved fingers gripped her bare ones, and the sensation that thundered through her body like a stampeding herd of wild buffalo was anything but easy. She somehow managed to climb gracefully from the vehicle. But as their eyes met for the first time, she felt as if she were being sucked into another dimension.

“Hawk Winchester.”

It took her a moment to realize he was introducing himself. It took her another moment to notice the narrowing of his eyes, the slight pursing of his lips. His smile had vanished, and it seemed she wasn’t the only one confused by this instant attraction.

Never before had she felt any sort of zing with a stranger. Never before had she stood in front of someone and wanted to tear off her clothes without any preliminaries, civilized or not. She was Natalie Duncan, innocent and repressed schoolteacher. She’d been the one in the library while her peers were out partying. She’d never had lustful thoughts about
any
man, any man at all.

Yes, she’d fumbled through sex during college, but even that hadn’t been as intense as what she was feeling at this moment. As this stranger held her gaze, she couldn’t seem to shake the irrational vision of the two of them entwined together in reckless passion. Oh, this was so bad. So very bad.

It didn’t have to be. The man was just being neighborly. Helping her into her new house. After this moment passed, she wouldn’t see him again. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Right.

“Natalie Duncan.”

She’d finally found her voice. Pulling her hand away, she began walking up the cleared path to the front steps. Let the men handle her bags. There was no possible way she’d be able to get her fingers to quit shaking long enough to actually lift one of those suitcases.

When suddenly the heels she was wearing didn’t make firm contact with the slick path, and she felt herself slipping slightly, her eyes narrowed on the thick piles of snow all around her. Disgusting. That’s what it was. It was horrifying that she’d be dealing with cold, wet, unappealing snow for the next few months. Only fools romanticized the stuff.

“Wait!”

Too late. While Natalie was trying to keep the freezing wind from blowing up her skirt, she took her first step onto the porch and her heel caught in a gap between boards. Her hands flew up, imitating a windmill, and she felt herself falling backward.

Closing her eyes, she prepared for a nasty fall into that wretched snow, but instead she found herself caught by solid arms and an even more solid chest. Afraid to open her eyes, but knowing she had no choice, she peeked from behind her thick lashes.