My Southern Bride (The Texas Two-Step Series, Book 4) (20 page)

He rose and paced in front of her desk. "You said it yourself. I'm a confirmed bachelor, set in my ways. So you think I'd want some woman bossing me around? You think that's what I deserve?"

"No. No. That's not what I meant." She leaned forward. "Carolyn is a really good person. Really good, deep inside. She never had to reinvent her life or herself, because she was already the kind of human being everyone aspires to be. That's what you deserve. Someone willing to put your needs first."

"And you didn't?"

She didn't answer.

"When push came to shove during the storm, you put
my
needs and the needs of my animals above your own. That's the kind of woman I believe I deserve—and you're her."

Her face puckered up, and he thought she was going to cry. Instead, she threw herself across the desk and wrapped her arms around him.

He tugged her closer as he leaned in to capture the kiss he'd longed for. And it was everything he'd dreamed of, and more.

When they came up for air, they stood in a close embrace.

She traced his jawline with her fingertips. "I thought my heart was going to shatter when I left the ranch. I don't remember ever hurting so much."

"I wanted to ask you to stay, but the helicopter arrived, and it never seemed like the time was right. I never wanted you to go."

Their lips met again, and Monty Joe thought he'd died and gone right to the pearly gates.

"I might have known," said a woman from behind them.

They broke apart, to find Carolyn standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Carolyn." Lori bit her upper lip. "I told him you had a lot in common. I told him what a good person you are."

"That was kind of you." Carolyn sighed. "But it wasn't very nice of
me
to ask you to do it. I knew you liked him and I suspected he felt the same way." She faced Monty Joe. "I didn't want it to be too late for me to have a chance with you. I see now how wrong I was."

"Since meeting Lori I've learned that timing is everything." Monty Joe circled his arm back around Lori. "If she'll have me, I plan to spend a lifetime proving that I'm the right man for her."

Epilogue

Six months later

Monty Joe stood at the altar, watching, breathless, as Lori came down the aisle toward him. With the way she was sobbing, you'd think she was heading to the gallows instead of to marital bliss.

Bobby Gray flanked Monty Joe as best man. Beyond him stood Davis and Will, with the minister at the head of the altar. On the other side were Thistle, one of Lori's younger sisters, along with an exceedingly pregnant and about-to-pop Charlie, and Lori's matron of honor, Kelli.

The church was filled to the rafters with guests and bright-yellow bows. On the pew opposite Monty Joe sat Lori's mother, Elizabeth Palmer, while her husband escorted Lori down the aisle.

Clark appeared somewhat panicked over his daughter's tears, but Elizabeth nodded to him to keep going.

These were the happiest of tears.

Even though she was crying, Lori looked radiant in a country-styled wedding gown topped with a pert white hat and veil. On her feet she wore high-heeled cowboy boots. She made a beautiful southern bride, exactly what Will had ordered up for Monty Joe.

He couldn't be more thrilled and proud that Lori had agreed to become his wife. After the honeymoon, she was moving in with him at the ranch. She would remain with the literacy organization. At Carolyn's insistence, a regional office had been opened nearby. Lori would be able to help both children and adults in the area, while planning fundraisers for the entire organization.

Monty Joe was anxious to begin their life together as man and wife. On weekends they'd taken turns meeting either at the ranch or in Dallas, but not even once had he experienced the kind of loneliness that had been his constant companion before he'd met Lori. And every day their love for each other had grown.

Even now, as he watched Lori approach, she stole his heart away.

He glanced back at his sister. Charlie had been right. The risk for love had been worth it.

"Mehh, mehh," complained Newton, the ring bearer. The critter wore a pillow on his back like a saddle, and the wedding rings were tied to it. Kelli held his leash, keeping him firmly beside her, much to the animal's dissatisfaction. He kept trying to eat the flowers adorning his leash, but Kelli was onto him and held most of it out at an angle.

Monty Joe had doubted Lori when she'd brought up the idea of having Newton as their ring bearer, but she'd pulled it off and then some. Monty Joe was relieved, especially since her first suggestion had been that Newton should serve as Monty Joe's best man. Brat.

At last Lori reached his side, and they joined hands. Monty Joe fought back tears of his own as they stared into each other's eyes.

The minister said, "Dearly beloved," and sometime soon after that, Lori said, "I do," and Monty Joe slid the ring onto Lori's finger. The ceremony had passed in an instant, and it seemed like only seconds before they were pronounced husband and wife, and he got to kiss his bride.

At the brush of their lips, satisfaction and happiness settled deeply inside him. He whispered in her ear, "I'll work every day to be the kind of man you deserve."

"I'm holding you to it," she said between tears of happiness. "Even though you already are, and more."

Monty Joe lifted Lori's hand joined with his in victory.

That's when Charlie cried out, "My water broke!"

* * *

Six hours later

Lori smiled gratefully at four of her five sisters. The decorations they'd set up for the wedding barbeque at the Nelson Ranch were incredibly beautiful. Perfect in every way. White tents, twinkle lights and a dance floor had been erected in the pasture. Even Monty Joe's horses and barn had been bedecked with flowers, lights and bows.

The band struck up the song "Devoted to You" as the signal for the bride to dance with the groom.

Lori couldn't imagine a more idyllic wedding. The ceremony, followed by the birth of Monty Joe's first niece, and now the reception at the ranch. They were surrounded by people they loved and who loved them.

Her gaze met Monty Joe's as he pulled her into his arms. Happiness settled deep in her heart. Not only had she met the man of her dreams, but he felt the same way about her.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you, Lori. More than I can show you in a whole lifetime."

Joy filled her to the brim, spilling over into the widest smile she'd ever had as they danced for the first time as a married couple.

Having made the needed changes in her life and herself, she now realized her daydreams of what her life could be like hadn't lived up to her new reality. Life was amazingly sweet, and it would only grow better with Monty Joe by her side. "You make me complete, Monty Joe. I don't know if it's possible to love you any more than I do right now, but I'm game to give it a try if you are."

"Count me in," he said, and lowered her into a dip. The huge smile he shot her sent tendrils of flame through her veins. "Now, about those boots you're wearing—if those heels trip you up, I'm warning you..."

"You're warning me?" She gazed into the beaming eyes of the gentlest, most generous man she'd ever known. The man who'd helped her discover the kind of woman she could be and had become. "If I trip—"

He raised her from the dip to stand facing him. "I'll break your fall, then kiss you breathless."

"Oh, yeah?" She eyed the fancy cowboy boots he was wearing, and observed Newton, sans leash, grinning devilishly from behind Monty Joe. "What about you?"

"What
about
me?"

"If you fall, and you probably will, I'll be here to love you forever and ever."

"I'll depend on it."

Newton delivered the expected butt-butt, almost knocking Monty Joe from his feet. He teetered, then pulled Lori into his arms once more.

"See? What did I tell you?" she asked.

"You're right here loving me as you said you'd be." He made a show of dusting off his trousers. "How did you teach Newton to butt me on command? Apple slices?"

She laughed. "It's a trick he learned all on his own."

"I've got a few tricks of my own, too." Monty Joe's hands tenderly cupped her face as he delivered a mind-blowing kiss full of promise for days filled with happiness, laughter and love.

The End

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