The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (25 page)

The drive to Crescent Hall passed in a blur and when he reached the ranch again, he decided there was one more person he needed to speak to. After parking his truck, he walked toward the nearest pasture and pulled out his phone. It was a bitterly cold day with a wind that crept down the collar of his coat, but he didn’t want to make this call inside.

His mother picked up her phone on the third ring and he braced himself for the difficult conversation ahead. “Hey, Mom. It’s me. Colt.”

“Finally. I’ve been waiting for you to call. I was so glad to hear you’d made it home all right.”

“You know I’m here to stay, right?”

“Yes, I heard that. I want to know the whole story, though.”

“I’ll tell you about it sometime. Not right now, though.” He steadied himself. “I’ve got some bad news.”

“Okay.” Her tone was cautious. “I’m listening.”

“We’re losing the ranch. It’s my fault.”

“You don’t want to marry Heather after all?” Her disappointment was plain.

He wasn’t surprised to find she’d heard all about Heather. “I do, actually. In fact, we’re already engaged. I guess you know all about Richard.”

“I met him at Zane’s wedding. You have a wonderful son, Colt.”

“I know that.” He pushed on and explained everything that had happened. “But the thing is, since it’s clear to Heloise that I was going to fake my marriage, she’s going to sell the ranch to developers. They’re going to parcel it up and build houses.”

There was a long silence. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Julie said finally. “But I’m not sorry you’re going to marry Heather. Ever since I found out about Richard, I prayed that would happen.”

“But it means we can’t bring you home like we promised back at the start of all of this. We’re going to lose Crescent Hall because of me.”

“Honey, I can imagine it feels awful for that to happen, but I’ve lived more of my life off the ranch than on it. I’ve had other homes, and I will again. Crescent Hall is special—really special—but it’s just a house and a piece of land. At the end of the day, what matters to me is that you’re happy.”

He struggled to keep the sorrow out of his voice. They were all trying to put a brave face on it, but losing the ranch felt like losing a member of the family. “We’re looking for a new place—together.”

“I’m happy to hear that. And I can be patient. I’ve waited this long to come back to Chance Creek. A few more months don’t matter.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Colt walked a few paces, the snow crunching beneath his feet.

“Family first. Not ranches, Colt; family. That’s what the Halls are all about. Most of us, anyway.”

“So you’re not mad?” He swallowed against the pain that threatened to block his throat and scanned the landscape, automatically locating the herd of cattle and making sure all was well with them. Satisfied, he leaned against a fence post.

“At you? Of course not! I’m mad as heck at Heloise, though.”

“Never mind about Heloise. Will you come to the wedding?”

“Of course. I look forward to getting to know Heather again.”

“Thanks, Mom. We’ll find a place, you know. We’ll build you a home soon. A good home.” He’d make it his first priority as soon as they’d bought a spread. He knew how much it would mean to his mother to come back to the town where she’d once been so happy.

“I know. I have the best sons in the world.”

“I don’t know about that.” Colt pushed away from the pasture fence and turned toward the Hall.

“I do.”

“Mom, I’ve got something else to say.” This was the hard part. He wished he didn’t have to put it into words, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to move forward in his new life until he’d cleaned the slate of his old one.

“I’m listening.”

“It’s about Dad.”

“Go ahead, Colt.”

“I… I was there the day he died. Just before he… collapsed. He wanted me to stop—to talk. I didn’t. I kept on going.”

“Oh, Colt.” Sorrow thickened her voice. “You know nothing you did had anything to do with his death.”

“The aneurysm got him, but I’m the one who stressed him out so bad. It was me—”

Julie’s laugh stopped him cold. “You stressed him out? You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking.” Stung, he turned around and paced back.

“Colt, you were the least of Aaron’s worries at the time of his death.”

He stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean?”

“The price of beef nose-dived that year. He was terrified he wouldn’t make a profit. Mason was dating that stupid Irene Littlefield. I mean, pardon me for being cruel, but she was dumb as a stump and Aaron was sure Mason would forget to use birth control sooner or later. Then there was Austin all ready to run off and join the Army, when he could barely match his socks in the morning, and let’s not forget Zane.”

“What about Zane?” Colt was bewildered. He hadn’t remembered half of that.

“Zane? Flunking English—a required class for graduation? Aaron was beside himself that Zane wouldn’t get a diploma. And that was just the beginning of his worries, Colt. And guess what? None of it killed him. The aneurysm just happened.”

“But—”

“Honey, here’s the thing. When you’re sixteen you think the world revolves around you. You don’t even see other people or notice their problems—or even their triumphs half the time. Your father had concerns. So does every adult. Life is really darn complicated.”

“I’m beginning to realize that.”

Julie laughed again. “I bet you are. I wish it didn’t have to be so complicated for you. All parents wish that for their kids, and yet that doesn’t change anything. Don’t take too much on yourself. Your father loved you. No, that doesn’t begin to describe it. Your father adored you. He would be so proud of you today. He’d want you to be happy. He’d want you to love your wife and son. And he’d want you to hurry up and find another ranch so that I can come and spoil Richard rotten!”

“I’ll do that. I swear, Mom. There’s more, though.”

“More?”

He laughed. “It’s good news this time. Heather thinks she might be pregnant again.”

“Oh, Colt!” Her happiness rang out through the phone. “Tell her I can’t wait. I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

Meet me at
the obstacle course at noon.

Heather smiled when she read Colt’s e-mail. She’d spent the night cradled in his arms after they’d talked for a long time about their wedding, her possible pregnancy, and finding a new ranch. She’d had fallen asleep at some point and woken to find herself alone. She’d known Colt must have gone to do chores several hours earlier. She’d got dressed, saw Richard off to school and headed into work. Now she checked her watch. She still had an hour before her lunch break.

First things first, she had to call Mia. She hoped it wouldn’t send the wedding planner over the edge to find out their plans had changed again.

Mia answered the call before the first ring finished. “I’ve already heard the news. Thank God you all came to your senses!”

“You aren’t angry?”

“Angry? Heck, no—I’m thrilled! And before you ask if I can change the wedding again—yes, I can pull it off.”

“Actually, I wondered if you could put it off.”

“Really? Why?”

She hoped she could express her feelings clearly. “Because I’ve waited to marry Colt for so long. I want my wedding day to be special. Now that it isn’t about Heloise or the ranch anymore, I want it to be about Colt and me. I want to send out invitations I love; not the ones I can order fast. I want to choose each element of the wedding from flowers to catering with the same care I want to put into my marriage. I will never marry again, Mia. Colt’s my man. I want my wedding to say that.” She hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s possible.”

“Of course it’s possible! That’s my job, Heather. When do you want to get married?”

Heather thought about Heloise. A wicked smile tugged at her lips. Heloise had demanded Colt and his brothers marry before April first. She checked the calendar. “April second.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll check with Reverend Halpern first thing, since I know he’s officiating. Did he ever hear about your double wedding?”

“No. I don’t think Colt got around to calling him before we changed our minds.”

“Good. Less explaining for me to do. You leave it all up to me. You’re going to get the wedding of the century now that I’ve got some time to plan it.”

“Thank you, Mia.”

At ten minutes to noon, Heather arrived at the Hall. The sun was peeking out of the clouds into a partially blue sky. Sucking in the crisp air, she made her way toward the obstacle course, taking her time because she was conscious that she wouldn’t live on this ranch much longer. She hoped the men would build another obstacle course on their new spread when they bought one. Richard loved the course as much as Colt and his brothers had at his age. And who was she kidding? Colt and the rest of them still loved it.

The course was deserted when she approached, but before long pounding footsteps warned her Colt was coming her way. He must have arrived ahead of her and decided to do a circuit through the obstacles.

He burst out of the woods and slid to a stop in front of her. “There you are.” Breathing hard, he checked his watch. “Damn, I’m out of shape.”

“You are not.” Heather loved his shape. “I’m sorry I missed seeing you run.”

“Oh yeah? You like that?”

“It always got me hot when we were young.”

“You don’t say.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “I can do the course again if you like.”

“Hell, yeah.”

Colt chuckled. “Call my start.” He crouched down and Heather smiled, remembering a hundred other times she’d seen him do the same thing as a teenager.

“On your mark, get set. Go!”

Colt leaped up and grabbed the monkey bars, going hand over hand across them before leaping down again. He raced to the climbing wall and jumped up to grab the top, swinging his legs over it in one fluid motion. It never got old to watch the Hall men run the course, and watching Colt run was a treat. He was still so much himself, but at the same time so different from the boy she used to know.

She moved down the center of the course and enjoyed the show that Colt put on. Because he wore a winter jacket, she couldn’t see the ripple of his muscles, but she could imagine it. His body was a thing of beauty.

When he raced to a stop again, he checked his time and walked in a circle to catch his breath. “Better,” he said.

“Awesome, you mean.”

“If you say so.” He wrapped an arm around her, still breathing hard. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I like surprises. Actually, I have one for you, too.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

She hoped he wouldn’t be upset. “I moved our wedding back so we can have time to plan it right.”

He stopped and faced her. “You aren’t having second thoughts?”

“Of course not. I love you, Colt. I don’t want a shotgun wedding, though. I want the real deal.”

“Me, too,” he said after a moment. “I guess I can wait a little longer. What’s the date?”

“April second.”

Colt chuckled. “You really want to stick it to Heloise, don’t you?”

“I guess I do.”

“You know what? Me, too. April second it is.” He took her hand and began to walk again. She went with him happily. Now that nothing stood in the way of their marriage, she could enjoy her time alone with him. As they paced through the snow beneath the trees, she remembered another time years ago when they’d walked this way. On that day, she’d known they were going to make love for the first time. Her whole body had hummed with wanting. She felt like that again today. Just knowing they’d be together tonight made her sensitive to every brush of his arm against hers.

So when they walked out of the woods and she spotted an old Impala parked by the side of the road, she laughed out loud. “That’s not my mother’s, is it?” She knew it wasn’t; Audrey had sold that car years ago.

“No, but it’ll do the trick. Come on.” He tugged her toward it.

Amazed, Heather climbed in when he opened the passenger door for her. “Where did you get it?”

“Rented it in town. I have to have it back by five.” He got in and started the engine. “Should we find us a deserted road?”

“As fast as possible,” she agreed, then laughed again when Colt gunned the engine. Ten minutes later, he pulled the Impala over on a quiet stretch of back road outside of town where they were almost guaranteed privacy. They climbed into the back seat where she was delighted to find several blankets and even a pillow. “This is posh!”

“We’re not as young as we used to be.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Colt unzipped his coat and pulled off his sweater. “Come here.”

She took off her jacket too, and tossed it into the front seat. Colt gathered her into his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck, but when he slid a hand up under her sweater she yelped. “Cold!”

“Sorry.” He retreated, rubbed his hands together for warmth and tried again. Soon both of them were warm enough it didn’t matter anymore. Heather couldn’t get enough of kissing him. Freed from all her worry, she wriggled around until she straddled him and made out with him like her life depended on it.

“Hang on there.” Colt came up for air. “We’ve got time.”

“We’ve got to make up for lost time, you mean.” Heather clung to him. Suddenly she wanted to be sure he never got away again, even for a minute. “I’ve got so many kisses saved up for you.”

“Me, too. But I want to do a whole lot more than kiss you.”

He made short work of her sweater and bra and Heather shivered in the cool air while he tugged his shirt off and laid her down on one of the blankets. Pulling another one up to cover them, he bent to brush his mouth over her breast. Heather arched back, no longer caring about the cold. All she cared about was Colt touching her. Kissing her. Laving her sensitive skin with his tongue. As he moved from one breast to the other, she realized that she could share this every night with him for the rest of her life. No more games. No more hiding. Just the two of them, together.

“I want you inside of me.”