Once Upon a Cowboy (25 page)

“I don’t think you’re going to be hearing from them again,” Cole said. He lifted his coffee cup and winked sadly at Jess. They were at a diner halfway between Smugglers’ Gully and Charleston, and she had finally stopped shaking enough to hold a mug of tea without slopping it into her lap.

“You put the fear of God into them.”

“Actually, I think
you
did that. I just helped you put the
fear of the
law
into them. Which someone should have done a long, long time ago. You never should have had to endure what you did.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe nobody ever turned them in.”

“Nobody knew, Cole.” Jess looked out the window. “I never told anybody.”

A look of pain crossed his features. “Why not? Was there
no
one who could help you?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t matter, though. I certainly
thought
nobody would help me, so that’s why it was easier to be quiet. I was way more afraid of Roxie and Luanne finding out I’d ratted them out.”

Cole sat back, sipping his coffee. “Weren’t you ever tempted to tell Kyla? Hayley? How did you keep this bottled up for so long without going crazy?”

“Ha. I
did
go crazy. There were times I felt stark, raving mad. Especially that first few months
after the baby. And then the due date came and went, and I thought I was going to die all over again. I was supposed to be holding a baby, and my arms were so painfully empty. I know she wasn’t even as big as my hand, but God, Cole. I loved her. I loved her so much that I thought I’d never come out of the fog.”

She sniffed, trying not to lose it here in the diner. “But once I got to Boston, I
realized it was my one chance to be someone new, my one chance to really leave it all behind. And telling somebody—
anybody—
would have just opened up all those scars, and that’s the last thing I wanted. But then Grampy died, and—well, you know the rest.”

“What made you decide to donate the money? Where did you actually take it?”

“I donated it to the shelter Grampy took me to that last night.
They saved my life, and I think he would be happy to know that’s where the money went.” She remembered Christyne’s mouth cracking into a huge smile this morning when Jess had showed up at Safe Haven. “They took me in as a broken-down, hopeless, angry teenager, and turned me into—well, somebody who believed maybe I was worth fighting for.”

“I love them.”

Jess laughed softly. “I know they’ll do
good things with that money. It’s not much, but it will help. They’ll take another girl just like me, and they’ll give her hope, too. It was good to go back there. Good to let them see I turned out okay, you know? I bet they never know sometimes.”

He nodded, then reached for her hand. “I can’t imagine the guts it took to drive up to that trailer just now.”

“More than I had, I was afraid. I’m
really glad you found me there.”

He smiled ruefully. “Kyla had the truck gassed up, a boarding pass printed, and your aunt’s letter on the dashboard before I had time to grab my hat. And once I got here—well, it wasn’t too hard to find somebody who’d point me to Breezy Meadow. But I’ll tell you, when I pulled into that trailer park and saw you standing on that porch, all I wanted to do was grab
you, put you in my rental car, and drive like hell out of there.”

He stared at her long and hard, nodding. “But it turns out you didn’t need me at all.”

Jess shook her head, remembering how relieved she’d been to hear his voice on those steps, how beautiful it had felt to have his arm slip around her and pull her close.

“I think I did need you, Cole.”

He laughed softly, and then his face grew
serious. “So what’s next, cowgirl? Are you heading back to Boston?”

She paused. No way did she want to head back to Boston right now. Not alone. “Why? Do you have a better idea?”

“I have a
lot
of better ideas. Front and center would be heading back to the airport and taking you back to Whisper Creek.”

“Ooh, I don’t know. It’s a long trip.” She couldn’t hide her smile from sneaking out. There
was nothing in the world she’d rather do at this moment than head back to where the skies were impossibly blue, the grass rolled endlessly toward the majestic mountains, and the days were filled with laughter and love and hot, hot cowboys.

He squeezed her fingers gently. “Is there anything I can do to convince you?”

“Well, you could kiss me. That seems to work pretty well.”

He slid out of the
booth and put some bills on the table, then reached for her hand. Without even thinking twice, she slid her hand into his and closed her eyes, just reveling in the sensation of not being—scared.

He pulled her up out of her seat and hugged her close. “Come back to Whisper Creek, Jess. Please come back with me, and let’s just see what happens. No pressure, no expectations. Let’s just see.”

“Okay.”
The word flew out of her mouth, and she knew it surprised him.

“Okay? That’s it? Easy as that?”

“There’s nothing easy about it. But it’s where I want to be right now. If you’ll still have me, I want to go back. I really do.” She smiled as she pulled him toward the door. “Plus, it turns out I forgot all my clothes. I need to go back anyway.”

When they got outside the door, she stopped, looking
up at him. “Thank you for coming.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“I know. Kyla had you on the road before you had your hat on. I know.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He tipped up her chin. “I didn’t have a choice because the moment I realized you’d left, the
only
place I wanted to be was wherever you were. I would have chased you a lot farther than”—he looked around—“where were we, exactly?”

Jess
laughed. “Smugglers’ Gully.”

“Who
names
these southern towns?”

“Seriously? You live in Carefree, Montana. Who named
that
?”

He smiled down at her. “Come home with me, Jess. Really come home.”

She breathed in slowly, taking her time. “I can’t make any promises, cowboy.”

“A toast!” Decker held up his glass, motioning for everyone else at the table to do the same. Jess looked around, smiling as she scanned the faces gathered on this Christmas Eve at Whisper Creek. They’d just stuffed themselves full of ham, turkey, a gazillion vegetables, and four kinds of pie, and the atmosphere was warm and festive.

At Decker’s left, Kyla sipped hot cider, smiling
and more serene than Jess had ever seen her. Daniel and Hayley sat next, with their girls, and Cole had opted for the chair right next to Jess’s. Ma sat at the end of the table closest to the kitchen, but her sons had convinced her to stay put in her chair and let them do the work for once. It was almost working, but she kept casting nervous glances every time the swinging doors opened, like she
expected one of these times the whole kitchen was going to be on fire.

Jess thought back to all the years she’d spent pretending to be happy alone, all the Christmases she’d spent eating cold tuna in an even colder dorm, or hiding under her bed so a liquored-up Roxie wouldn’t find her.

But now here she was, surrounded by a huge, loving, laughing family who’d opened their arms to her like she’d
belonged to them from the start. She’d come back to Montana on that fateful day back in June, and the funny thing was, she’d never left.

After she and Cole had come back from Smugglers’ Gully, she’d stayed on for a couple more weeks, and then a couple more after that, and then decided August was really too hot in Boston anyway, and then it was September and the leaves were going golden, and then
by October she’d realized there was no way in the world she’d ever want to leave.

In November, she’d gone back east with Kyla and Hayley, and they’d spent a week packing up her things, stuffing them into a U-Haul truck, and then driving back to Montana. Gianna had grumbled about finding a new tenant for the space, but as Jess had locked her apartment door for the last time, her landlord had already
been showing the studio to a dance instructor.

While the women were back east, Decker and Cole had finished up the apartment above the spa, and Jess had been staying there ever since. And now it was Christmas Eve and snow was falling outside, but Jess had never felt so warm.

“Ahem. It’s Christmas Eve at Whisper Creek.” Decker put on his best television announcer voice. “Once again, it’s been
a year of big, wonderful things. We’re thankful for our health and for our growing family. We’re thankful for how well the ranch is doing, and we’re especially thankful that Jess decided to take a chance on us and move out here. Most days, anyway. We need to talk about how much work the spa is causing, but we can get into that later.”

Jess giggled. That spa was the most amazing one in Montana,
and Decker knew it.

He reached behind him for two brightly wrapped presents. “So to kick things off, we have special presents here for Bryn and Gracie.”

The girls squealed and leaped off from Hayley’s lap, making a beeline for Decker.

The girls ripped into the packages, then got matching looks of consternation on their faces when they realized what was inside the wrapping paper.

“Clothes?”
Gracie screwed up her little nose.

Bryn flipped hers back and forth. “You got us a shirt?”

“Read them.” Decker pointed at the lettering on the front of both shirts.

Gracie and Bryn focused on the shirts, sounded out the words, looked at each other wordlessly, and then let out identical squeals.

“Cousin? We’re going to be a cousin?” Gracie jumped up and down, then stopped abruptly. “What do
you mean?”

Kyla smiled, and suddenly the last six weeks of fruit smoothies and saltine crackers made sense to Jess.

Apparently everybody else at the table clued in at the same second she did, because there was an eruption of squeals and laughter and scraping chairs, and Decker and Kyla were smothered with hugs.

When the crowd had abated, Jess crouched beside Kyla, a hand on her tummy. “A baby?
I can’t believe it.”

“I heard the heartbeat yesterday—saw the little flutter on the ultrasound.” Kyla hugged herself in glee. “I still can’t believe it.”

Jess got a little pang in her gut when she realized she’d never had an ultrasound—had never gotten to see her baby at all.

Daniel sidled in and pulled Kyla into a brotherly hug. “So who gets to be the godfather? Hmm? Cole’s totally going to
play the brother card, but I should definitely rate godfather duty here.”

Kyla laughed as Decker put a protective hand on her stomach. “You’re
all
going to be the godparents.” Then her smile turned teary as she looked around the room. “This baby is going to be the luckiest child on earth, being born into a family like this.”

As Jess watched Kyla and Decker, her own hand slid to her stomach,
and that familiar, dull ache threatened. But before it could take hold, she felt Cole’s arms come around her, felt his hands cover hers, felt his lips on her ear.

“Hey, cowgirl. You okay?”

“Yeah. Just surprised. And happy.”

“But sad, too?”

She squeezed his hands. “Yeah.”

“You want to get out of here?”

“Yes and no. What do you have in mind?”

“What say we go see if your new fireplace works?”

Jess shivered deliciously. “It worked fine last night.”

“Let’s go see if it
still
works.” He pulled her closer, and she closed her eyes, drowning in the sensations he ignited. “Come on. We’ll see everybody in the morning.”

Two hours later, Jess sat wrapped in a cozy robe in front of the fire. Cole leaned against the couch, and she nestled against his chest. She looked up at him, over her shoulder.
“Have I mentioned how much I love my new fireplace?”

He kissed her ear. “You have.”

“And my new tub?”

“Over and over, yes. You’re very—appreciative.” His dimple showed as he smiled down at her.

“Okay.” She looked back at the fire. “Just wanted to be sure.”

His hands slid around to the front of her robe, played idly with the loosely tied belt. “How about your bed? Do you like your bed?” The
last word was delivered on a soft kiss.

She put down her mug and turned to sit on his lap, not really trying all that hard to prevent her robe from gaping open. She leaned toward him, laughing as he tried to keep his eyes on hers. And then she kissed him.

“I love my bed. I do.” She undid the ties. “But I like right here just as well.”

“Ah, hell, cowgirl.” He kissed her hard as his hands heated
her up. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“I think you must have been very, very good in a previous life.”

“That must be it.” He smiled against her mouth, then tied her robe back closed, groaning as he did so. “All right, you. I have something for you to open.”

“But it’s not Christmas yet!”

“It’s Christmas Eve. And tradition in the Driscoll family is that you get to open your stocking on
Christmas Eve.”

“But—what about Santa? He didn’t fill your stockings?”

“Ma filled them twice. We always hung them back up after we opened hers, then Santa came.” He looked at her for a long moment. “Did you have a stocking?”

“Yes, but I taped it to the table. No fireplace in the trailer. To her credit, Roxie usually did try to hold it together on Christmas—at least till noon. I actually even
got gifts sometimes.”

Cole reached around the side of the couch and came out with a bulging, bright red stocking that had her name painted in glitter on the fuzzy white part. She laughed as she caught sight of it. It was the kind of stocking she’d dreamed of as a kid.

“Did you do this?”

“Of course.” He rolled his eyes. “No. I’m way better with a hammer than I am with glitter glue, whatever
that is. Bryn and Gracie made it for me.”

“It weighs a ton, cowboy! What’s in here?” She felt like a little kid, looking at the stocking, imagining a pile of brightly wrapped presents inside.

“Open and find out!” He stood up to put more wood on the fire, then settled beside her once again. “Come on. It’s the first time I’ve ever made a girl a stocking. I’m dying to know how I did.”

Jess grinned
as she extracted the first box and slid her fingers carefully under the tape. She didn’t want to rush this, not a bit. As she slid the box out of the wrapping paper, she laughed out loud. “Junior Mints?”

“Yes. They are the ultimate movie food, and it’s high time you realize it.”

“But I like—”

“I know, I know. Twizzlers. Which is not a real movie snack because it does not contain chocolate.
Aren’t women supposed to
need
chocolate?”

“Sorry. I’ll work on it. Thank you.”

“Open the next one.”

The next one crackled and bent, and she smiled as she pulled out a package of Twizzlers. “Thank you. I was concerned that you were trying to convert me.”

“Totally am.” He reached out and took the Twizzlers. “But in case you don’t like the other candy, you have a backup.”

The next present was
a Best Movies of the Eighties set of DVDs. Jess smiled. “Wow, cowboy. You’re enabling my eighties addiction.” She held them in her hands, raising her eyebrows. “So if you put movies in a girl’s stocking, does that mean you promise to watch them with her, too?”

“Absolutely.” He grimaced comically. “I can’t wait.”

“Such a romantic!” Jess laughed as she pulled out another present and unwrapped
it. It was a fancy box of her favorite tea from a tiny little shop back in Boston. She’d run out of it three months ago, but the owners of the shop didn’t ship. “My tea! How did you—”

Cole shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “I have my ways.”

“You’re good. They wouldn’t even ship it to
me,
and I was their best customer!”

“Open the next one. It might be my favorite.”

Jess reached in and pulled
out something oblong and boxy. She tore the wrapping paper carefully, but when she held the item in her hand, she was perplexed.

“A box of rubber bands?”

Cole nodded like it was the best present since—she had no idea what. But something really, really good. He pointed at the label. “They’re the rainbow-colored ones!”

She laughed. “I don’t get it.”

“I thought you could use them when you do
those fancy braids you love to do on Sky Dancer.”

“Oh-h. Got it.”

Really? A box of rubber bands?

He studied the box as she held it. “I think there’s something on the bottom. Turn it over.”

She looked at him sidelong, then flipped the box, only to see a blank piece of paper folded in half and taped to the bottom. When she flipped the paper open, she felt her eyes widen as her hand went to her
mouth.

“No. No, Cole. No way. No, no, no way.”

“It’s been discussed at length, and we all agreed. This is your Christmas present from all of us.”

“But—it’s a horse!! You can’t give me a horse!” Her eyes threatened to overflow as she ran her fingers over the transfer-of-ownership words on the page. “Sky Dancer’s yours!”

“Haven’t you always
wanted
a horse?”

“Of course I have! But Cole! No!
It’s too much. It’s way too much.”

He shook his head, pulling her into a hug and wiping a tear from her cheek. “It’s not, Jess. And besides, Sky Dancer won’t even
look
at the rest of us anymore. That horse is completely in love with you. He’s useless to the rest of us.”

“I don’t even know what to say. I’m completely floored.”

“Good.” Cole grinned. “Now open your last present.”

“Are you kidding
me? You just gave me a
horse
! How can there be anything else?”

He shrugged, amusement in his eyes. “It goes with the horse.”

Jess reached into the bottom of the stocking, her heart leaping when she found a shiny box with a fancy bow. She swallowed hard.

“Cole?” She held the box cautiously.

“Don’t panic. It’s not a ring. Box is too big, right?”

“Oh. Right.”

She should be relieved, right?
As well as things were going, they certainly hadn’t talked about permanency here. Hadn’t talked about marriage.

Certainly hadn’t talked about kids since that night in the hayloft.

So, why was she actually a little disappointed?

She opened the box gingerly, folding the wrapping paper carefully. In the box were two folded sheets of paper, and she braced herself as she unfolded them.

He put one
hand over the words before she could read them, using his other to tip up her chin so she was looking into his eyes. “Before you look at these, there is absolutely no pressure intended. None. We haven’t talked about this, and I respect your right to say you never want to. But I just wanted to let you know that I’m open to all possibilities here.”

What was he talking about?

He pulled his hand
away so she could see the print, and once again, she felt her eyes go as wide as golf balls. One sheet was from an adoption agency in Billings, and the other was an informational sheet about foster care.

She felt her forehead furrow as she read the words, but they blurred before she got two lines in.
Was he suggesting—kids? Together?

He slid the pages out of her hand, then reached up behind
the couch cushion. Before she could process what he was doing, he’d knelt on one knee in front of her.

Oh. God.

“Jessalyn Alcott, I have been in love with you since the day you stepped onto this ranch, only I wasn’t prepared to admit it because it scared the hell out of me.” He closed his eyes and grimaced. “Sorry. That wasn’t very romantic.”

She laughed, squeezing his hand. “It’s perfect.”

“I do love you, and when you agreed to come back here with me this summer, it felt like suddenly, my life fell into place. It felt like all these years, I’ve just been waiting for you but I didn’t know it.”

“
That
was
definitely
romantic.”

“Shut up, cowgirl. I’m trying to propose here.”

Jess put her hands to her mouth, laughing and crying at the same time. “Okay. I’m quiet. Go on.”

“This present
here? These papers? If we’re meant to have children, then we’ll find a way. And if we’re not, then we’ll be the best damn auntie and uncle in Montana. Either way is fine with me. We’ve got a big family, and there will be kids
every
where. We wouldn’t even remember which ones are ours, anyway.”