Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,108

let her go. Her heart felt as if it might explode.

Finally, she pulled back to look at him. Nick Ross stood before her, his handsome face twisted with anguish. He didn’t move, didn’t even seem to breathe.

There was no holding back the tears. “Jon.” The name came out on a breath.

“It’s Nick,” he said and smiled. “Think you can get used to that?”

She let the tears fall, even though she was now laughing and smiling. “Nick,” she said. “Nick Ross.” His warm, brown gaze met hers as she buried her face into his shoulder. It felt as if she’d come home. Finally.

“I was afraid to just come to your door. I know I look so different... I was worried, and then I saw this boat for sale and the name on the back. I knew it was a sign. So, I bought it.” His laugh was musical. She wanted to hear it for the rest of her life. “I realized it wasn’t just the boat and the name. It was my future.”

She pulled back to gaze into those eyes again. “You came back to me.”

“As soon as I was able. I couldn’t stay away. But Katie, I’m never going to be the man you married,” Nick said. “I don’t know that man.”

“But you are that man, and you’re Jon. I fell in love with you both.”

He laughed softly. “Any chance you could fall in love with Nick?”

She leaned into him, breathing in his scent. She should have known the moment she saw the name on the boat and the man who walked toward her. She hadn’t realized that she’d said the words until he responded.

“That’s how I feel. I should have known that I had a wife and daughters when I woke up in the hospital all those years ago. I can’t tell you how much guilt I’ve felt since learning that I was Daniel Jackson. How could I have not known?”

“You had a terrible concussion. You didn’t even know who you were.”

“I don’t know my daughters. Hell, I barely know you. But I want to get to know you. I want to get to know them. Can you see me for the man I am now? I can’t bear the thought that you might always still be looking for Danny.”

She shook her head. Her days of looking for Danny were gone. “I fell in love with Jon. Even if the DNA hadn’t matched, I would still love you,” she said, wiping at her tears of joy. “So, you really bought that boat?”

“How could I not? When I saw the name, I knew that was my future. I want to restore classic wooden boats. Apparently there’s money in it.” His voice softened. “I feel as if I spent half my life looking for you and not realizing it. Now that I’ve found you, I’m never going to let you go, Katie.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her. It was like a Fourth of July fireworks show. All the chemistry she’d felt between them seemed to explode around them. She melted into his arms, telling herself that dreams do come true. Her husband had come home.

As he drew back from the kiss, he asked, “What will we tell Mia and Danielle?”

“Hopefully, we’ll know when the time comes. All that matters is that you’re here. That you’re back where you belong.”

He grinned. “It’s nice to be home.”

The summer sun lolled overhead as they walked over hand in hand to look at their new boat. The girls were going to love it. And love Nick, too.

No more looking back for either of them. They had the future and rest of their lives together. Kate thought of their daughters, who would have their father to walk them down the aisle at their weddings. She thought of their grandchildren playing on Galveston Beach as she and Danny had when they were young. She thought of all the memories they would make together.

She smiled at her husband as he took her hand again, and they walked up to the house. They were just getting started.

* * *

Look for the next novel in the

Buckhorn, Montana series by

New York Times

bestselling author

B.J. Daniels.

Available March 2021

wherever HQN Books are sold.

Everyone says the hotel Casey Crenshaw inherited is haunted. She wants to sell it as quickly as possible, but Finn Faraday is throwing a wrench in her plans. He’s determined to figure out what happened at the hotel years ago, but Finn and Casey will soon discover that digging into