The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (24 page)

Nothing was worth that.

Not even the ranch.

Colt stood up slowly, reached across the table and took hold of Heather’s plate. He slid it roughly back toward Autumn then reached for Melanie’s and Eric’s too. “We’re done here.”

“Hey!” Eric reached to take his back. Autumn lifted a hand to her throat while Heather only watched him, that bleakness still in her eyes.

“Colt, what are you doing?” Austin stood, too.

“Nothing against your cooking, Autumn; the cakes are fine,” Colt went on. “But I’m done. Heather’s done. It’s over.”

“Now, wait a minute—” Mason began.

Colt cut him off, his gaze locked with Heather’s. He willed her to understand what he was saying. “I won’t marry someone I don’t love. I won’t watch the woman I love marry someone else, either.”

Austin leaned forward, but Ella laid a hand on his arm.

Heather blinked as if waking from a dream and swiped her sleeve over her cheeks. “I’m okay. I can do this. I’ve just had a rough day—”

“No.” Colt refused to listen to another word. “You can’t. Neither can I. And I’m ashamed I let it go this far. Look at us. Look at what we’re doing. We’re all lying. Together. To our relatives. To our friends. To our minister. To… God. All because Heloise gets off on making us dance to her tune. I won’t do it.” He braced his hands on the table and faced Heather. “I love you. I want to marry you right now. Today. I should have done it thirteen years ago.” He turned to the rest of them. “As for the ranch, I’m sorry; the last thing I ever wanted was to let you all down again—to let our land be broken apart and sold off. Whatever happens next, I will do everything I can to help each of you set up a new home.”

Silence met his declaration and before anyone could breach it, Colt decided to come clean about the rest of it too.

“I’ve got more to say.” He gathered his thoughts. “Austin, I’m not sorry I hooked up with Heather all those years ago. I loved her as much back then as I do now. I am sorry we snuck around and weren’t up front about it. That was wrong.”

“I—”

Colt cut him off. “And before we move on and talk about what to do next, there’s something else I have to say. Something all of you should know. I was there the day that Dad died. I spoke to him minutes before his aneurysm. Hell, seconds maybe.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the dining room. A ring of faces waited to hear what he’d have to say next. Autumn had eased herself back from the table to stand near the door, but she was still listening. He knew there were few secrets in this small town. Knew too that Autumn cared for the others at this table nearly as much as he did. She had every right to hear what he said next.

“I was on my way to meet Heather. Dad knew it somehow. He tried to stop me. I refused to talk to him. I ran right on by.” His voice went rough and he cleared his throat. “I wish to God I’d listened. I wish I’d stayed—”

Mason stood up. “Nothing you could have done would have saved him. We all have our regrets.” He surveyed the rest of them and sighed, bowing his head a moment before he began to speak again. “Colt’s right; this is too much to ask of anyone. We had a good run, but the game’s up.”

Zane nodded slowly. “I’m sure glad I met Storm, but you’re right, Colt; Heloise’s conditions are ridiculous. And maybe we have been silly to let it get this far.”

Colt turned to Austin. “You have every right to be pissed.”

“I am pissed,” Austin said heavily. “Not at you, though. At me. Back when Heather broke up with me I knew we weren’t meant to be together. I didn’t want to admit that, though. I wanted to bring a little piece of home with me when I left for the service. That was selfish. I’m sorry, Heather, and Colt—I’m sorry you thought you had to hide your feelings all this time. You two are meant for each other, that’s clear to anyone who looks at you.”

Colt let out a breath. He’d waited years for his brother’s forgiveness and now he had it. It felt good. “How about the rest of you? Aren’t you mad?”

“About Dad?” Zane asked. “I wish you’d stayed with him, too. I wish he hadn’t died alone. He was a great man—a family man. He didn’t deserve that. But his passing was fast and if I got to choose the way I went, I’d want that for myself. At any rate, we don’t get to control that, do we? The one thing I know is Dad wouldn’t want us to sit around a table sniveling over him.” He grinned. “He’d want us to celebrate.”

“While we lost the ranch?” Colt couldn’t find a way past that part.

“While we found each other. Look at us. After all these years apart here we are, building a life together.”

“Dad would like that,” Mason agreed.

“I’ll miss this, though,” Regan said slowly. “I love having everyone around this table.”

Ella nodded. “I didn’t think I’d like sharing a home at first. That’s why I pressured Austin to make the bunkhouse our own place, but I’ve grown to like sharing meals and chores.”

“I love it here,” Storm said simply. “I love being with all of you. I’ll miss that a lot, too.”

“Why don’t we just buy another ranch?” Richard piped up from the far end of the table. “All together?”

Colt gazed at his son with affection. Richard looked as worried as any of them, but the anger he’d carried for days was gone, replaced by a hopeful look in his eyes. That alone told Colt he’d done the right thing.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Mason said after a moment’s hesitation.

“It’s not the first time the idea’s come up, either,” Austin put in. “I’ve got a lot of good memories here. We all do. But we could start fresh.”

The others nodded.

“Of course we can,” Regan said. “Why couldn’t we build a life together somewhere else?”

“I’m in,” Storm said. “Zane?”

“Hell, yeah.”

“I’m in, too,” Ella said. “Heather? Colt? What do you say?”

Colt could barely speak over a throat that had suddenly constricted. “Heather?”

She nodded vigorously, tears sliding down her cheeks again. “Yes, I’d love that.”

“Then I’m in, too.” He walked around the table, pulled Heather up from her chair and kissed her.

“You all are making me cry,” Autumn said, wiping away her own tears. “I know all of us at the Cruz ranch will do whatever we can to help, too. Now stop talking and eat some cake!”

Ella was the
first to pull out her phone and start looking at real estate, but before long Mason and Storm had joined her. The others ate cake and squabbled good-naturedly over which was the best one.

“I guess I can cancel my wedding dress,” Melanie said to Heather when they met up in the kitchen to replenish their cups of tea. “For now, at least.”

“You and Eric have hit it off, huh?”

“We have.” Melanie smiled. “I think I might move to Missoula next so we can give this relationship a chance. Eric wants me to move in with him, but it’s too soon for that. I don’t want to rush anything. I’ve decided I want to savor each and every step of the way, you know?”

“I do know. Except I feel the opposite now. I want to marry Colt before something else happens.”

“We could fly to Vegas tonight,” Colt said, coming into the room. “I’ve got a credit card.”

Heather shook her head. “I want to be married right here in Chance Creek. I wish we could hold the reception at the Hall like all your brothers did, but I’ll be happy no matter how it turns out. I’m going to miss this place, though.”

“No more tears,” Regan said, joining them. “Ella’s already got a list of five ranches for us to go see.” She filled up her cup of tea and sailed back out of the room.

“Are you all right with this?” Heather asked Colt.

“I’m better than all right. I’m going to marry you. I’m going to be a dad to Richard. We’re going to have another baby.” He kissed her softly on the cheek. “And this time I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Heather folded into his embrace. “I could be wrong, you know.”

“If you are, we’ll get busy and put it right.”

“I love you.” She rested her cheek against his broad chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was steady and strong, like Colt.

“I love you too.”

“Get a room!” Storm said, coming in to grab more napkins. “I’m just teasing. You’d better get back in there, actually. The cake is going fast.”

They broke apart and Heather led the way back into the dining room. She laughed when she saw the state of Autumn’s beautiful desserts. Most had been almost totally consumed. It relieved her to see how well everyone had rallied after making such a momentous decision. In fact, she didn’t think she was the only one who felt like a weight had slid from her shoulders. The atmosphere in the dining room was almost giddy.

When Autumn left, the men went back outside to check the livestock one last time and Heather joined the other women in the kitchen as they did a final clean up. She felt the need to express again how sorry she was that they were going to lose the ranch.

“Don’t even say it.” Ella held up a hand when Heather opened her mouth to speak her thoughts. “We know you’re sorry. Heather, it’s not your fault. It’s not Colt’s fault. Heloise has to take the blame and Colt’s right; I’m ashamed I let it go this far, too.”

Regan and Storm nodded. “We let her push us around,” Regan said. “Not that I minded the outcome when I married Mason.”

“I didn’t mind marrying Zane either, obviously,” Storm said. “But that doesn’t make what Heloise did right.”

“I know what you mean,” Ella said. “On the one hand, if Austin hadn’t placed his ad, I never would have met him. On the other, who is she to tell them they have to marry?”

“I’m glad I met Melanie, too,” Heather said, smiling at her. “But it isn’t fair for Heloise to punish all of you for Colt’s actions, either.”

“You know, it’s strange how much good has come out of Heloise’s craziness,” Storm said. “But it’s time to stop. Colt can’t marry Melanie. That’s all there is to it.”

“I’m worried about the men, though,” Heather said. “This ranch is where they grew up and it will be hard for them to leave it. Watching it be developed—that’s going to break their hearts.”

“They left it once before and they survived,” Ella reminded her. “Not only that; they thrived. It’s only land—and there’s a lot more of it around. Tomorrow we’ll go look at new ranches. Who knows? Maybe there’ll be an even better one.”

Heather appreciated her upbeat view, but she wondered how everyone would feel once they’d all retreated to their bedrooms and reality hit. She had a feeling the transition would be a lot harder than Ella thought.

‡

“H
ere comes trouble,”
Heloise said when she let Colt into her room at the assisted-living facility the following morning.

Colt bristled. He’d known what he would face today when he came to tell his aunt the news, but her broadside did nothing to calm him down. He was committed to his plan to marry Heather, but he’d lain awake most of the night sick at heart at the idea of the ranch being divided up and sold off piecemeal. The land had been in their family for generations. It killed him to know that legacy was over. Still, they had no other choice but to give it up. “You’re exactly right, Heloise. You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

“And yet you’re going to say it anyway.”

“Here’s the thing. You don’t get to call the shots in my love life anymore. In fact, I can’t believe my brothers let you mess around with theirs.”

“Your brothers aren’t complaining about where they’ve gotten. Each one of them is in love with his bride.”

“Maybe. No thanks to your meddling, though.”

“Ha! Absolutely thanks to my meddling. Not one of them would have found his wife without my help. You should know all about that. Now sit down, you’re giving my neck a crick.”

“I’d prefer to remain standing. I won’t be here that long.” He took a step closer, liking the advantage his height gave him. “I’m not going to marry Melanie.”

“Well, you want that ranch, so I know you’re going to marry someone. Who is it?”

He struggled to keep her needling words from getting under his skin. “Heather.”

“Which means I was right all along! I can smell a liar like a pig smells truffles. I knew the minute I saw her in your house you two were together.”

“Fine. Now we’ve cleared everything up.” He turned and headed toward the door.

“We haven’t cleared anything up. I told you I wouldn’t stand for a fake wedding.” Heloise rose creakily and followed him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Away from here.”

“Colt Hall, you stop right there, you stubborn, stupid—”

“You know what, Heloise? You can take Crescent Hall and shove it up your—” He bit back the rest of his words, yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him instead. Striding down the hall, he heard the door open again, but he wasn’t going to stop for anything now. He thought it would hurt to leave Crescent Hall behind, and it did, but he felt like he could breathe for the first time in almost a year. Ever since the start, this deal with Heloise had pressed down on him. He’d known he would have to pay the piper sooner or later. He’d thought the best ending he could hope for was to be saddled with a wife he didn’t love. He’d thought he’d end up with a divorce and the desire to stay away from Crescent Hall—and his brothers—for the rest of his life. Instead he’d found his way back to them, and to Heather—and his son. No matter how hard it might be to say goodbye to his family’s home, he’d come out ahead. Far ahead.