either continue with the divorce and be miserable without the man she loved for the rest of her life or accept things for the way they were and live with the man who had stolen her heart the moment they met.
“I don’t want you to ever let me go,” she said, knowing in her soul that she had chosen the right path. “I want you to hold me forever, Sam.”
He immediately wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him. “I don’t deserve you, Bria. But I give you my word that every single minute of every day for the rest of my life, I’ll do my damnedest to prove to you how much I love you and how grateful I am that you’re my wife.”
When he lowered his head to capture her lips with his, Bria’s heart soared. There was so much love and emotion in his kiss that it left her breathless.
“I have something I need to tell you,” she said when he finally broke the kiss.
“You can tell me anything, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead. “You know everything about me now and I give you my word, there won’t be any more secrets between us.”
“I have a secret that I need to confess,” she said, glancing up at him. “It appears that you got your wish.”
Bewilderment crossed his handsome face. “Would you like to clarify that?”
“Before I left the ranch that morning, you said that you might have made me pregnant,” she said, smiling. “You got your wish.”
His confused expression quickly turned into a wide grin. “Really?”
She nodded. “I went to the doctor this morning because I wasn’t feeling quite right.”
“Are you okay? There isn’t a problem, is there?” His concern was endearing.
“No problems,” she assured him. “I’m just sleepy all the time and my emotions are a little unpredictable.”
“But you’re okay?”
“I’m wonderful,” she said, kissing his chin. “I’m going to have a baby. Our baby.”
She let out a startled squeak when he swung her up in his arms and carried her over to sit down on the couch. Settling her on his lap, he held her close.
“This is a new beginning for us, Bria. A second chance.” He gave her a smile that sent a shiver of anticipation straight up her spine. “I think we should do something to mark the occasion.”
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, loving him more with each passing second.
“I think we should do that vow-renewal thing,” he said, looking thoughtful. “Then we can throw a big party and let everyone help us celebrate.”
“I love that idea,” she agreed. “But we’ll have to start making plans well in advance in order for you to take the time off from being on the road with the rodeo company.”
“We won’t have to worry about that.” The love in his blue gaze caused a spark of hope to ignite in her chest. “I did a lot of soul-searching this past couple of weeks and found that being gone all the time isn’t what I want any more than you do. I’m coming off the road and going to manage everything from the ranch.” He smiled. “I’ll be around so much, you’ll probably start complaining about me being underfoot all the time.”
“Never. Oh, Sam, I love you so much,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.
“And I love you, sweetheart.” He kissed her until they both gasped for air. “Now let’s get down to planning this shindig. I want to make you mine.”
“I’m already yours,” she promised. “And you’re mine.”
“For the rest of our lives,” he said.
Epilogue
Sam stood with his brothers, watching Bria and some of their other guests at the vow-renewal party form a line as the band struck up a Brooks and Dunn tune about boot scootin’. He loved watching her dance, loved to watch her body move in time to the music. Hell, he just plain loved everything about her.
“Sam, I swear you’ve been wearing that same sappy grin for the past few months,” T.J. said, taking a swig from the beer bottle in his hand.
“Yeah, the way you’re acting, anyone would think you had just drawn an inside straight,” Lane added, laughing.
“I can’t help it,” Sam said, shrugging. He winked at Bria. “I’m a happy man these days.”
“You don’t miss being out on the road?” Jaron asked, sounding skeptical.
“Nope. I’ve got everything I want right here at home,” Sam assured him.
When the song ended, Bria and Mariah walked over to join the group. “Do you think we should