Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,68
might happen—but then again, she wasn’t as trusting as Dana, was she?
The party was fun, even though things were still awkward between all of them.
* * *
“THEY’LL GET BETTER,” Colt promised her. “You and the Savages were too good of friends before this happened. Right now everyone is a little bruised and battered, especially you. I can see how badly they both feel when they’re around you.”
That was what was making things so awkward. They wore their regrets on their sleeves.
“Are you still worried about Hud?” she asked him on their way back to her house.
“He’s really beating himself up. I think he’s questioning whether he should remain marshal. He’s afraid he can’t trust his judgment.”
“That’s crazy. He’s a great marshal.”
“He let a psychopath not only live with them, but also take his children for a walk the morning of the fire.”
“He didn’t know she was a psychopath.”
“Yeah. I think that’s the point. He overlooked so much because he wanted Dana to have a good time with her cousin. You told me how excited she was about finding a cousin she’d never met.”
Hilde nodded. “They both tried to make the woman he thought was Dee Anna Justice fit into their family. Dana was at odds with her siblings for years, so I understand her need for family.”
Colt looked over at her. “What about you?”
“Me?”
“How do you feel about a large family?”
She laughed. “As an only child, I’ve always yearned for one.”
“Good,” he said with a smile. “Because I have a large family up north, and they’re all anxious to meet you.”
She looked at him. “You want me to meet your family?”
He slowed the truck, stopping on a small rise. In the distance, Lone Mountain was silhouetted against Montana’s Big Sky. Stars glittered over it. A cool breeze came in through his open window, smelling of the river and the dense pines. The summer night was perfect.
Colt cut the engine and turned toward her. “I can’t wait for my family to meet you. I’m just hoping I can introduce you as my fiancée.”
Hilde caught her breath as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black jewelry box.
“Hilde Jacobson? Will you marry me?” He opened the box, and the perfect emerald-cut diamond caught in the starlight.
For a moment she couldn’t speak. So much had happened, and yet they’d all come out of the ashes alive with their futures ahead of them.
“I know this is sudden, but we can have a long engagement if that’s what you want,” Colt added when she didn’t answer him.
She shook her head. She’d always been a woman who never acted impulsively. Until recently. She believed in taking her time on any decision she made. Especially the huge ones.
But if she’d learned anything from all this, it was that she had to follow her instincts—and her heart. “I would love to marry you, Colt Dawson. I can’t wait to be your bride.”
He let out a relieved laugh and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. As he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, Lone Mountain glowed in the starlight.
“I was so hoping you would say that,” he whispered.
Wrapped in his arms, she knew whatever the future held, they would face it together. Time and love were powerful healers. With Colt by her side, she could do anything, she thought, as her heart filled to overflowing.
* * * * *
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Chapter One
“This special news report just in—an amber alert has been issued for six-year-old Hank Forte. Hank was last seen at the county fair in Amarillo.”
Brody Bloodworth’s heart clenched as a photo of the boy appeared on screen. The little boy had blond hair, was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. He could be one of the kids on the BBL, the Bucking Bronc Lodge he had started for needy children.
But he reminded him more of his own little brother, Will, and launched him back seven