Chapter 13
Bronco
“What are you doing here?” Vale asks as soon as he sees me. He’s standing in the gardens of the Wildflower Retirement Community. His jeans are covered in dirt, and it’s clear he’s spent most of the day working the land.
I hate that when he returned stateside, the first thing he saw was me kissing his sister. I would have preferred the chance to look him in the eye man-to-man and tell him how much I care about his sister.
Now, Vale hates me, and Lauren is convinced that I was only with her as some type of service to him. I’m working to mend fences with him and create a plan to show her that there’s never been anyone else for me. She’s my forever.
“I hate the way your homecoming went down,” I tell him, figuring it’s best to start with honesty.
He glares at me. “I don’t fucking care.”
“I know. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m in love with your sister. I’m not going to stop fighting for her. She’s going to marry me one day.”
He pauses, tossing down the pair of hedge clippers. “What did you just say to me?”
I look him dead in the eye. “I said I’m marrying your sister.”
“No, before that.”
“I’m in love with her.” Can’t help the dopey grin on my face. It doesn’t matter if he takes a swing at me. I’m in love with Lauren and will be for the rest of time.
“For real?” He repeats, eyeing me carefully. Yeah, he’s thinking about taking that swing.
“As real as it gets. She’s mine forever.”
“You weren’t with her because of your promise to me?” He clarifies.
I swear under my breath. “I’m not that good of an actor, you know that.” Then I pause and admit, “I’ve wanted her since she first sent me that care package.”
He lets out a slow whistle. “That’s a long damn time.”
“For what it’s worth, it’s not like I waited until you were gone to make my move. But make no mistake, I’m going to win her back.”
“I get it. I was pissed off in the moment,” he thinks for a second, then asks softly, “so, what are you doing to win her back?”
“Move the button over there,” I tell Flint. We’re in my kitchen, and he’s sitting on a stool at the island. I’m standing behind him, directing him as he clicks around on his laptop.
“Keep in mind that I’ve never done anything like this before,” he says and tries twice to get the button in the right place. One attempt has it on the opposite side of the page and ends with him cursing and hitting the undo key repeatedly.
“Just get it done,” I grumble even though he’s helping me.
He scowls at me then goes back to moving the box on the website.
He claims he’s using a drag-and-drop editor, which apparently means it’s not nearly as sophisticated as what Lauren did.
For our purpose, it will have to do. There’s a lot this cowboy can do, but I’ve never built a website. Well, up until right now.
I peer over Flint’s shoulder. “Make the button big.”
He clicks around a few times, getting it bigger on his third try. I think it’s fair to say that he’s better at fixing broken tractors than he is building websites. “You know, you could just call her instead of making me update this every five minutes.”
I shake my head, rather than tell him that she didn’t take any of my calls. I showed up at her apartment two days ago. We didn’t resolve anything, but she knows I’m going to fight for her and keep fighting for her for as long as it takes for her to see how crazy I am about her.
Early today, I found Vale to talk with him. Surprisingly, he forgave me. I wasn’t sure he would, but the moment he heard that I’m in love with Lauren, he let it go. He did make me promise that I wouldn’t marry her without him present.
“You guys have been at this for five hours,” Cord points out from where he’s leaning against the sink. He’s been here for the whole project though he hasn’t contributed too much in the tech department either. “Maybe it’s time to consider—”
I glare at him. Don’t care what he’s about to say. It’s crushing me not to talk to her. I have to find a way to convince her that I care, show her how much she means to me. It finally hit me that I should catch her attention in a different way, something I would never think to do.
“It has to be done today, and it has to be perfect,” I insist. It’s been two days without Lauren by my side, and there’s only so much a cowboy can take.
I’ve considered every option, including the one where I ride up to the community center on my horse, throw her onto it, and gallop back to the ranch with her.
In that particular idea, I always end up tying her to the bed to show her she’s not getting away.
Which leads to us doing all sorts of dirty shit.
“Keep your spurs on, Romeo, I’ll figure this out,” Flint says.
There’s a knock on the door. Cord leaves to go answer it while I fuss at Flint that the button needs to be a deeper shade of red. Lauren likes the color red, so it’s everywhere on the website.
“Boss,” Cord calls.
I turn to growl at him, fully prepared to cuss him out if he once again suggests that this isn’t a good idea. It’s not like he and Flint were coming up with anything brilliant to get her attention. Except standing there in my kitchen doorway is Lauren.
She looks beautiful today in her red dress with the white hearts on it. Her hair is swept up and away from her neck. I want to put my lips there and taste her skin. The few tendrils that are loose frame her face and when she reaches to push one away, I see her fingers shake.
I cast a glance toward Cord. He claps Flint on the back. “Come on, we have shirts to find.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask when they’ve left, and we’re alone.
She glances down then squares her shoulders and looks back up at me. “I saw the website. Can’t believe you’re auctioning me.”
I try to gauge her expression, whether she’s happy or not. I can’t tell, and I want so badly to touch her. I shove my hands in my pockets instead. None of the buttons on the website work because I’d never give her up. But the site did catch her attention. “I figured turnabout was fair play.”
She blows out a breath. “I messed up. I ran instead of talking about my fears with you, and when you did show up, I was stubborn. It took a long talk with Aunt Elaine to make me realize I didn’t treat you right. Or handle the situation the right way.”
My heart is swelling in my chest. She still hasn’t said she loves me too. It shouldn’t drive me so crazy, wanting to hear those words from her lips. But I’m a desperate man in the middle of a sandstorm craving water. “What are you saying?”
“What I’m saying is I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make excuses here.
You don’t deserve that. What I’m trying to say and probably all wrong is that my whole life, I was just a responsibility other people got stuck with.
Then my aunt showed me she chose me. I’m not someone she just got stuck with, and it changed my perspective on everything.
I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain.
I was just really scared.” Her chin wobbles on the last word.
I cross the kitchen in two strides and pull her into my arms. I thumb away a tear, my heart breaking at her pain.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay to be scared. Love lays us bare in the most terrifying ways.
But when you’re scared, I need you to come to me.
I need you to let me hold you through those fears and be there for you. ”
“I know that now,” she sniffs.
“Come here, I want to show you something,” I say, and press a gentle kiss to her forehead.
We walk hand-in-hand across the farm, the feeling of her skin against mine so right. This is how I want the rest of our lives to be—just like this, with the sun setting and painting the sky in golden hues as the wind whispers through the trees and the breeze ruffles her hair.
I take Lauren down to the special spot, the same one where Ridge first told me that he might have found Vale.
Lauren’s smile is soft and radiant. “I didn’t realize you have a grove of magnolia trees.”
Emotion clogs my throat, and I have to swallow it down to be able to speak clearly. “They didn’t come with the land. I planted these.”
Her eyes go wide. “All of them?”
“I planted every single one of them,” I explain. Even when I couldn’t tell her how much I loved her, I was preparing this place. Making it a refuge and home that she could fall in love with.
I tug her toward the end of the grove. She spots the bench and gasps. “This is just like the one that the fire destroyed.”
“I can’t promise you that in our life there won’t be fires and tragedy. But I can promise you I’m the man that’s going to help you rebuild every single time.”
“Bronco.” She calls my name in a watery voice, eyes filled with tears.
I gesture for her to sit on the bench.
She does and lets out the happiest little sigh and sniffs. “You’re so good to me. Thank you for believing in me even when my ideas were crazy. It means the world that you care so much.”
I drop to one knee and pull the ring that I’ve been carrying for months out of my pocket.
I open it to reveal a beautiful square-cut emerald.
It was a vintage find in an antique store, and the day I saw it I knew that it was perfect for Lauren.
I thought that if a cowboy were ever lucky enough to propose to her, he should have a ring as unique and as beautiful as she is.
Looking into her eyes, I tell her, “I wasn’t lying with the website.
I’m not just bidding on your heart. I want forever with you.
I’ve always wanted you since the moment I got that first care package from you.
You touched my cold heart and made me feel alive.
Would you do me the honor of being my wife, Lauren Ackerman? ”
She smiles up at me. “Yes, yes, yes.”
I slide the ring on her finger then I’m kissing her, and everything is right in the world. My body lights up as she presses against me, eager to get as close as possible.
I only stop kissing her when the sound of applause gets too loud. When I sent Cord and Flint away, they gathered all of our friends and family. They’ve been on standby for two days, waiting for the moment when I could propose to Lauren.
Everyone is here. Elaine, Vale, residents from the retirement community, and the cowboys from the farm. They’re all here to witness this special moment between us.
Lauren chuckles when she sees them. “I like that our family was here for this moment.”
I give her a soft grin, thinking of a boy who finally found his family and his home, right here beside this beautiful woman.