Harlequin American Romance May 2014 Bundle: One Night in Texas\The Cowboy's Destiny\A Baby for the Doctor\The Bull Rider's Family (74 page)

When he managed to look up, three pairs of eyes stared at him as if he’d suddenly lost all his marbles.

“I had to,” he protested. “Wait till you read the
Beaks and Wings
article. You’ll see. Even they realized she was wasting her talents here.”

Silence filled the room. Sarah’s mouth opened and closed as though she’d started to say something, but thought better of it. Hank stared into the distance, unable to meet Colt’s gaze. At last, Ty cleared his throat.

“Well, what’s done is done.” Slowly, Ty unclenched his hands at his sides. “We left you in charge of the Circle P while we were gone. We have to trust that you made the right decision.”

Sarah glanced at her husband and nodded. She tapped one finger against her lower lip. “The cookbook, on the other hand, that’s one problem I can solve.” She disappeared into the office.

Listening to the sounds of drawers opening and closing, Colt shot a questioning gaze toward Ty. From the look on his face, the owner was as much in the dark as he was.

“Here.” Sarah bustled into the room and pressed a tiny object into Colt’s hand.

“What’s this?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you, cowboy?” The slim redhead grinned up at him. “Computers were a big part of my job with DCF. You don’t think I’d trust all our recipes to paper, do you?”

Colt stared down at a piece of plastic no bigger than a cricket. His thoughts stumbled, unable to absorb the idea that the tiny device held four generations worth of Circle P recipes. Or that it had been here through all the long nights he and Emma had spent together in the kitchen.

The irony of the situation struck him. He’d fallen in love with Emma while they tried to re-create the lost recipes, but they’d been here all along. A chuckle worked its way up from his middle. By the time it reached his chest, it bubbled into laughter. Before he knew it, he was holding his sides, tears streaming down his cheeks. He glanced up and caught his brother staring at him as if he had two heads. Ty and Sarah’s quizzical expressions sobered him.

Seconds later, an altogether different emotion swept over him and he beat feet while he still could. He barely made it to his room before his legs gave out from under him. Slowly, he slid onto the floor, his back against the bed.

He slung one arm over his eyes. After all they’d been through, he had to tell Emma about the cookbook. He owed her that much. Not today, though. Not until he gave his aching heart some time to heal. Soon, though, very soon, he’d track her down in Fort Lauderdale. But he refused to kid himself. There’d be no happy reunion. He would simply deliver a message. Unless...

Was there any chance she’d take him back? He refused to fool himself. He’d hurt her, destroyed their love. If she’d give him a second chance, though, he’d spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

But if not, putting Hank to work finding him a place of his own wouldn’t work. Not unless he had someone to share his hopes and dreams for the future. And he couldn’t stay at the Circle P. His childhood home would never be his home again. Not without Emma. Which left the job with the PBR and, though he knew it was just a job and not a life, he figured it might be all he deserved.

Chapter Thirteen

“This is your office, Chef.”

With a proud flourish, Paul, the owner of Marco Paulo’s, stepped aside. Emma peered into a windowless room far smaller than the Circle P’s pantry. Stacks of paperwork covered a built-in desk. Linens spilled from sample boxes piled in one corner. Hemmed in on all sides by three-by-five cards and Post-it notes, thumbtacks pinned a marked-up copy of the restaurant’s standard menu to the wall.

Paul noted her intense study of a much-revised staffing diagram. He squeezed past the desk to rip the sheet from the wall. “We’ve had some turnovers of late,” he offered. “You may hear a few complaints from those who expected a promotion from within. I’m sure you’ll prove yourself in their eyes. Each of our cooks is brilliantly
creative.
”

Her jaw clenched at the standard euphemism for
difficult.
So Marco Paulo’s kitchen was a hotbed of jealousy and dissent, was it? A wave of homesickness for the Circle P’s quiet atmosphere, where the only rustle was the sound of the breeze through tall grass, swept over her. She squared her shoulders. Dwelling on all she’d lost only made for more heartache.

“Perhaps your daughter should sit here while I introduce you to your staff.”

Bathed in pasty light from the overhead fluorescent, Bree clung more tightly to her hand than the day they’d faced down alligators on the Circle P. Emma didn’t have to glance down to know that Mrs. Wickles dragged on the floor at her daughter’s side. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, return to the days of dropping Bree off at day care before noon and leaving her with a sitter until after midnight. Despite all the responsibilities of her new job, she’d bring Bree to work with her. She’d clear a space for toys and coloring books. Wedge a cot into the miniscule office. Turn the room into her daughter’s home-away-from-home.

“She’ll stay with me.” She snugged the little girl closer.

“Suit yourself.” Paul led the way past a kitchen where every inch of space performed double-duty. “I’ve asked everyone else to meet us in the dining room.”

Seconds later, Emma told herself that, okay, maybe bringing her active four-year-old to work at Marco Paulo’s wasn’t such a great idea. The owner obviously thought black was, well, the new black. Black linens and plates adorned the tables in the dining room, where black draperies blocked every ray of sunlight. Even the staff dressed in black from head to toe. The few touches of color scattered about the room looked so strikingly out of place they actually hurt her eyes.

She brushed a hand down the front of her own chef’s whites while she took a measured look at the predominantly male assembly. Passed over for promotion, her new second-in-command leaned insolently against the wall. His deep scowl warned Emma to double-check every dish that left the kitchen lest he sabotage plates destined for important patrons. In the opposite corner, the pastry chef leaned a little too familiarly against the saucier while, from across the room, the fry cook—the apparent low man in a lover’s triangle—glared at the couple. She moved on to the pantry chef, who clutched the keys he wore on a chain around his neck as if he’d refuse her request to see the larder. In between, junior cooks and assistants spread out according to an unfriendly pecking order.

Clearly, managing this kitchen would take as much tact and diplomacy as it did actual cooking skills. As for raising her daughter here, Emma shook her head. Try as she might, she couldn’t imagine Bree growing up a healthy, well-adjusted child in such a hostile environment. She inhaled a breath that shook with longing for the easy camaraderie of the Circle P.

Another bridge burned,
she told herself. Or, more appropriately, doused. Stiffening her spine, she drew her carry case out of her pocket. On the Circle P, she’d begun each day by giving Chris and Tim a short lesson in the culinary arts, a tradition she intended to carry forward into this new job. She’d even chosen her topic—the intricately carved strawberry roses she meant to install as her signature garnish.

Tha-pet-ah, tha-pet-ah.
The cotton case filled with gleaming chef’s knives unrolled on the table. She stared down at the tools by which she plied her trade. From them, she looked up into a dozen angry faces. Suddenly, her heart wasn’t in it. As quickly as she’d opened her case, she rolled it up and tied it closed.

“As you were, chefs,” she said, adapting the term she’d heard far too often in her childhood home. “This isn’t going to work.”

She had to face facts. She couldn’t submit Bree to this unfriendly atmosphere any more than she could stand it herself. She’d left her heart on the Circle P. Maybe she couldn’t go back there. Maybe there wasn’t another kitchen in the world exactly like it. But she didn’t have to settle for this. For the hostility, the long hours, the oppressive heat. She wanted warmth from soft breezes blowing through a window overlooking a cow pasture, not the sweltering, chaotic atmosphere of a restaurant kitchen.

Paul turned as red as one of the beets in the house salad. “Chef, we open in—” sputtering, he glanced at his watch “—six hours.”

“You’ll have to do it without me.” Paul’s hand on her forearm slowed her. At a deep growl from somewhere behind her, the man flinched away as if he’d been bitten.

Emma’s heart thudded an extra beat. She knew that sound. Almost afraid to breathe, to look, she pivoted slowly. Framed in the open doorway stood the imposing figure of Colt Judd, the one man she’d never expected to see again. Her traitorous heart broke into a staccato rhythm.

“Mr. Colt!” Bree broke free. Making a beeline for him, she clambered over a chair and fairly launched herself into his arms. “Did you bring Chocolate?”

Colt lifted the girl high and hugged her close. He ruffled Bree’s hair. “No, sweetheart. He’s too little to be this far away from his mama.”

“That’s what Mommy said. But I miss him.” Bree curled her little arms around Colt’s neck. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

Tears stung Emma’s eyes, but she mustered a firm, “Let’s go.” She swept past, her head held as high as her throbbing heart would allow. Figuring Marco Paulo’s staff had heard enough of her personal life, she led the way through the cramped kitchen, down the hall and out the door into the alley.

Carrying the stench of rotted food, a heavy blanket of heat and humidity slapped her in the face. Her feet stuttered to a halt. She scanned the dark passage and the blinding sunshine that lay beyond. Where now? She had no home, no job, no future.

“I know a place.” Colt shifted Bree to one hip. “It’s not far.”

Her head full of questions she refused to ask, Emma put her feet in motion behind Colt’s. A short walk along Fort Lauderdale’s tree-lined Riverwalk took them to a gazebo set among lush tropical plants. Built to resemble a cupcake, the pink-and-white setting looked far too romantic for goodbyes, and the tiniest drop of hope that Colt had come to whisk her home to the Circle P landed in her chest. She wiped it away. Instead, she stared at the river that lapped gently against a peach-colored breakwater while she gave herself a stern talking-to. By choosing the PBR over her, Colt had stomped on her dreams of home and forever and family. So why had he trailed her to Fort Lauderdale?

“Mommy, can I look at the water?” Bree scrambled from Colt’s arms.

“Is it safe?” Emma hesitated.

“It’s fine,” Colt answered. “She won’t be out of my sight for a second.”

When they met hers, his blue eyes ignited a flame under her broken heart. She drew in an unsteady breath when he tore his gaze away long enough to tell Bree to stay on the safe side of a wide coquina border.

“Did I hear right back there? You’re walking away from Marco Paulo’s?”

Her hands grasping the gazebo’s sturdy rail for support, she met Colt’s probing gaze. “Life’s too short to waste it doing the things I don’t want to do. Bree’s growing up. Soon, she’ll be in kindergarten, and then elementary school. I can’t spend this time away from her, and Marco Paulo’s is no place to raise a child.”

“Any chance you’d consider coming back to the Circle P?”

“You fired me, Colt.” Her breath hitched. Colt hadn’t said
he
wanted her there, and why would he? He wasn’t sticking around. He was leaving. Her resolve firmed, she focused on unfinished business. “Why are you here?”

Colt took a thick roll of paper from his back pocket. “Turns out, you and Sarah were on the same wavelength. She had every one of the Circle P’s recipes stored on her computer. She said to give you this copy.”

He thrust it into her hands. Relief flooded her chest as she gazed down at the pages that fluttered in the midmorning breeze. The recipes had been saved, after all. Did that mean she’d wasted time trying to re-create them with Colt? She glanced up at the tall rancher and knew, despite her broken heart, she wouldn’t have traded a moment of it.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

Colt stared over her head. “Ty and Sarah were miffed when you weren’t there for their homecoming. Jimmy misses Bree and wants her to come back. They all do. As quick as you can.”

She imagined creeping down the stairs to put the coffee on in the mornings and not being able to share a cup with Colt. Serving meals he hadn’t taste tested. Roaming the house alone in the middle of the night because he wasn’t there to put her troubles to rest. Slowly, she shook her head.

“No,” she said, her voice a soft sigh. Blinking rapidly, she spared a quick glance at Bree. Her daughter stood far from the river’s edge, tossing pebbles into the water. “I’ll find another ranch, another place. Somewhere that doesn’t hold...so many memories.”

“I’m sorry I let you go. Sorrier than you could ever imagine. Won’t you think about coming back?” Colt’s blue eyes sought hers. “Will you come back...to me?”

A gust of wind muffled the last part of his sentence. Certain she hadn’t heard him correctly, she drew in a breath that was far too unsteady for the words he was forcing her to say. She squared her shoulders, her voice a mere whisper. “I don’t think I could stand it without you there.”

Colt’s brows knitted. He stepped closer, invading her space, herding her toward the wall of the gazebo. “What if I changed my mind? What if I stayed?”

Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to understand what she was hearing.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said rather emphatically. “I turned down the PBR’s offer. The only reason I considered it in the first place was to let you have a chance at the kind of success you deserve.”

Despite a pulse rate that rocketed toward the stars, she held her place. “Bree showed me your bags. She said it was a secret.”

“She’s four,” Colt insisted. “Are you really going to leave over something a preschooler said?”

Not leaving.
Her heart staggered beneath the weight of what she was hearing.

Colt moved marginally closer. “She was right about one thing. I am moving. To the little house. Now that Ty and Sarah are home, I thought it’d be best.” His shirt stretched across his chest as he took a breath. “I was actually kind of hoping you’d move there with me. You and Bree.”

Her heart stopped. “You want me and Bree...” Her voice trailed into nothingness.

“Not forever.” He held up a hand, shushing her when her face fell. “Just until I can buy a piece of land, build us a real house. One with lots of space, a huge kitchen.” He grinned. “I’ll tell Hank to start looking for someplace close by. But I’m gonna need a cook...”

“What a coincidence.” She summoned a tremulous version of her sauciest smile. “I happen to know one who’s available.”

Laughter sparked in Colt’s eyes. He closed the gap between them. “I don’t know.” He frowned, teasing. “I’m kind of hard to please.”

With that, Emma moved into his arms. “What kind of terms are you offering, cowboy?”

“I’ll need a lifetime contract. I won’t take anything less. They tell me I’m a hard, demanding man. It would take someone special, someone I loved with all my heart, to fill the position.”

“Mmm.” Emma pretended to give his offer some serious thought. “I think I can go for that. I’m head over heels in love with a rancher.” She tipped her head, expecting the press of his lips against hers. Instead, he backed out of her arms, out of her embrace.

On bended knee, he drew a small box from his pocket and said the words she’d longed to hear ever since she first glimpsed him on the front porch of the ranch house.

“Emma Shane, I’d be honored if you’d do me the favor of becoming my wife.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Oh, yes.” Tears stung her eyes.

At her quiet cry, Colt slipped a ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. The diamond flashed like fire when it caught the sun’s golden rays. Colt stood, but before he could sweep her into his arms, Bree tugged on the hem of Emma’s white coat.

“Mommy, Mr. Colt, what’s going on? What’cha doing?”

Emma placed one hand over her heart as Colt leaned down to her daughter.

“I asked your mommy to marry me. She said yes,” he answered. “But I have one more question.” The heart-shaped locket he slipped from his pocket hung on a simple gold chain. “Will you be my little girl?” he asked Bree. “Forever and ever?”

Bree stared up at him. “Can I have Chocolate?”

“What would a ranch be without a dog or two?” Taking her response for an answer, he fixed the clasp around Bree’s neck.

Emma smiled up at him as Colt slipped an arm around her waist while Bree studied her new necklace. When the little girl looked up, Emma held her breath. Her heart leaped into her throat as her daughter dropped to one knee in a perfect imitation of Colt’s pose.

Her little voice filled with hope, Bree asked, “Will you be my daddy?”

Emma choked back tears, but she wasn’t the only one. Moisture glistened in Colt’s eyes, too, as he said words that, not so long ago, she’d never dreamed she’d hear.

“Forever and ever.”

She was still brushing tears from her eyes when Colt’s mouth claimed hers. The kiss to seal the deal didn’t last long enough or go deep enough before she felt his lips curve into a smile. They drew apart to the scattered applause of passersby who’d glimpsed his proposal and stopped to watch. Pulling Bree into a group hug, Emma leaned into Colt’s embrace, knowing they’d pick up where they’d left off once they were back home on the Circle P, where she’d found happiness and forever in the arms of her Glades County cowboy.