A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (27 page)

Then she climbed out the damn window, letting Troy help her to the ground.

By now streaks of light were brightening the sky, and she held Troy’s hand and let him lead her where he wanted, which seemed to be around the side of the house to the back where…

…a shiny blue Mustang waited in her parking space.

“Holy shit—you
didn’t
.”

“I did.” Troy pulled keys from his pocket and shook them. “I’ve been waiting two months for this moment.”

But instead of handing them to her, he pulled her into his arms, tipped her head back and kissed her soundly.

When he finally let her go, Nicole was grinning from ear to ear. “Forget the car, give me more of those kisses, please.”

“I’ll do both, but first, Nicole Adams?”

He paused, and her heart skipped a beat at the expression on his face. The complete and utter fascination. The longing.

“Yes?”

Troy’s gaze held her in place. “Will you elope with me?”

Oh God. It was so
him
, she burst out laughing. “Elope? Not
get married
?”

“Elope, as in this minute, right now. Weddings suck, remember?”

It wasn’t what she’d expected, but it was perfect because it was Troy, and he was everything she needed. “Sure. Love to.”

They were in the car, the two of them grinning like fools, headed down the road before she could worry about anything remotely like details. She figured Troy had a plan, or if not, they’d make it up as they went along…

Only when he pulled to a stop outside a wire fence blocking what was not much more than a snowy path leading onto ranching land, she glanced at him in confusion. “Troy?”

“Trust me.”

He left the car to open the gate, then drove along the snow-packed route toward the rise of the hill.

Ahead of them the sun continued its slow journey skyward, orange and gold streaks growing stronger.

They topped the ridge and Nicole gasped.

A mass of people stood waiting in a semicircle, battery-operated candles in hands. Tall pillars lined the perimeter, each one supporting another enormous candle and turning the area into an impromptu wedding hall set in a hollow on the ridge.

She twisted to face Troy. “Eloping?”

He grinned as he put the Mustang in park. “Well, the ‘right now’ part of eloping. I couldn’t imagine us getting hitched without our family and friends there.”

“Everyone is…” Nicole’s throat tightened, and she used the minute it took for him to walk to her door to get herself under control. He offered his hand to bring her to her feet. She went all the way into his arms. “I love you so damn much,” she confessed.

“I know.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles as he stared into her eyes. “Official sunrise is in fifteen minutes.”

“Then we’d better get moving.”

“Oh, hang on.” Troy reached under his coat and pulled out toques. His with a long jester tail, hers with a crown trimming the top peak.

Both of them rainbow colours.

Nicole laughed. “Really?”

“You going to argue with me?”

Was she going to argue with him? Probably, but not about this. “It’s a lovely wedding outfit,” she said, taking the toque and slipping it over her head. She adjusted his to fit more rakishly, the long tail draped over his shoulder. Snickers of amusement escaped her at his mock-serious expression.

Laughter. It was going to be a big part of their future—might as well officially start on the right foot.

Surprise sunrise ceremony—when they’d started their fling last January, Troy had no idea this was where they’d end up.

Yet here they were. The woman he loved more than his next breath held his hand as they paced between two massive glowing pillars, all their friends and family gathered around. Wide grins spread across every face as Troy and Nic made their way to the front, where the justice of the peace waited to hear their vows.

It had been one wild ride, but this was exactly where they were meant to be, and Troy wasn’t going to miss a second of the adventure.

He took the time to scan the crowd, meeting individual gazes for a meaningful exchange before going to the next. Friends waved their candles. Some offered a nod or a wink, like Kevin and Cyndi. Mike gave them thumbs up. Laurel stepped forward to give Nicole a collection of lace snowflakes on long stems, bundled up like a glittering bouquet of winter flowers.

Short. Sweet.

But with others, it was as if an entire lifetime passed between them in that short moment of connection.

Len smiled, silent as always, but he tipped his chin as if in thanks as he reached an arm around Janey and held her tight. Troy’s little sister Katy leaned against Gage, the front of her winter coat swelling over her growing belly. Tanner clutched his daddy’s neck with one arm, the other furry mittened hand wrapped around his candle.

Mitch stood next to Anna, and Troy grinned harder as he took in their contrasting outfits. Anna wore full RCMP uniform, Mitch—full biker gear.

They’d announced they were expecting this past week at the Thompson family dinner. The bedlam had been deafening, especially since Clay and Maggie had made the same announcement just a couple weeks earlier.

Troy met his oldest brother’s gaze, and damn if Clay didn’t swallow hard, as if he was holding back his emotions.

Oh, hell, no.
Troy was not going to lose it right now. This was a fucking
happy
moment. He squeezed Nicole’s fingers tight, centering himself on her.

Her bright smile grounded him as they continued the slow march forward. Nicole looked past him into the gathering, searching faces as well. His father, her parents…Jodie and Dale.

Jodie, who had all but fallen over herself to make amends over the past months. Having them over to visit, spending time getting to know him better. Troy had waited it out, and in the end he knew Nicole was relieved at the obvious attitude adjustment in her sister. In fact, Jodie had gotten up hours ago to make sure everything was ready for this morning’s ceremony, and she’d offered their home for a celebration breakfast afterward.

Whatever awkwardness might have existed was gone, erased like a brilliant winter sunrise after a chilling storm.

Nicole tugged on his hand. “We’re here, sweetie.”

He turned his attention to where it belonged for the rest of his life, pulling off Nicole’s gloves to enfold her bare hands in his. Troy looked into her eyes, and everyone around them faded away. She was beautiful and mesmerizing, but more than that.

She was laughter and light and all that he needed.

Her lips curved into a smile as the justice of the peace raised his voice. “We’re here this morning to celebrate. A new day begins, and a new start for Troy and Nicole. New, in that they’re making a commitment in front of us. The love they share has been growing for a long time. We don’t need to follow any formula to make this official, so I’m going to turn this over to them.”

Troy was up, and it still seemed as if they were completely alone, even surrounded with so much family.

“Nic, I threw this at you, so I didn’t plan a lot of fancy words. I figured what was in our hearts was the most important part. Plus, we should probably spend more time talking going forward than worrying about what we say at this moment.”

“Talk time?” Nicole said with a mischievous smile, and Troy burst out laughing.

“Lots and lots of talk time.”

“Sounds good to me.” Nicole glanced into the sky. “Do we have a deadline?”

“No. No deadlines, ever. This is you and me, forever, sweetheart.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “I love you.”

Her eyes sparkled. “I love you too. Forever.”

It wasn’t him who moved first, and it wasn’t her. They kind of flowed toward each other, wrapping together and making contact.

Their lips met in what was a surprisingly sweet kiss considering it was them, but what wasn’t a surprise was the cheer that rose into the air. Family, friends—shouting their names and congratulations.

Nicole tilted her head and offered a brilliant smile. “Does this make it official?”

“As far as I’m concerned, hell yeah.” Troy turned them to face the crowd. “Hey, everyone. I’d like you to meet my wife, Nicole Thompson.”

His wife. Holy shit.

Troy glanced back at her. “My light.”

Sunrise burst into full view right there in his arms, and it was perfect.

I hope you enjoyed Troy and Nicole’s story and the final book in the
Thompson & Sons
series.

You'll see more of Laurel (and the Thompsons!) as the
Six Pack Ranch
series comes to a conclusion with
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DEVIL
and
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOME
.

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Thompson & Sons
:

Rocky Ride

One Sexy Ride

Let It Ride

A Wild Ride

(
Baby Be Mine
– bonus book! Time wise overlaps with Rocky Ride)

If you want a bit of a lighthearted escape, try DreamMakers, co-written w Elle Kennedy. Red-hot Rangers running a dating consultant firm? Oh, yeah! Warning—these are HOT.

DreamMakers

If you want more small town romance with family sagas, check out Six Pack Ranch, which starts with Blake and Jaxi’s story—the cowboy and the girl next door!

Six Pack Ranch

Vivian Arend has been around North America, through parts of Europe, and into Central and South America, often with no running water. When challenged to write a book, she gave it a shot, and discovered creating worlds to play in was nearly as addictive as traveling the real one.

Now a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of both contemporary and paranormal stories, Vivian continues to explore, write and otherwise keep herself well entertained.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

A Wild Ride

Copyright © 2016 by Vivian Arend