Page 11 of The Christmas Cowboy

“He won’t. He knows I’ll kill him if he does.”

“All right. But I still don’t know what to do about a preacher.”

“I thought about that actually. There’s a little church near Livingston and I talked to the minister there. He can marry us Friday at four. I told him I needed to check with you, but I was fairly sure you’d agree.”

“My father won’t be happy but at least it will be at a church. That was sweet of you to think of a church.”

He took her hand. “So, everything’s ready. You like to hike, don’t you? There are a lot of hikes near the cabin. I don’t think there’s a lot of snow yet. Unless you shouldn’t hike.”

“Why couldn’t I hike?”

“Well, you know. You’re pregnant.”

She laughed. “I’ve been riding so I don’t see why hiking would hurt the baby. We ride horses when they’re pregnant.”

“True, but you’re not a horse.”

She laughed again. “Thank you, Liam. Good to know you don’t think of me as a horse.”

“Very funny. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know but I couldn’t resist.”

They smiled at each other. “I guess we should get back,” she said.

They parted ways at the barn. “We can get the marriage license in Livingston, like you suggested. We’ll just go early and stop there before the wedding,” Liam said.

“I think that’s best. There’s less of a chance someone we know will see us and wonder what we’re doing.”

“Not to mention, I know the county clerk here and she will definitely tell everyone she sees that we got a marriage license.”

“It just occurred to me, do we need to get the license before the day of the wedding?”

“No. I checked and we can get it that day and the county clerk’s office is open until late afternoon. I thought about going earlier but I figured the less time there is for someone to see us and talk about it the better.”

“You have a point.”

“So we’re good for Friday in Livingston around three?” Liam asked. “That should give us time to get the license and then get to the church.”

“I’ll be there.” She wondered if he was going to kiss her again, but instead he simply smiled at her and left.

She told herself she wasn’t disappointed. Yet.

Chapter Five

Liam, Connor, andRiley arrived early at the tiny church outside Livingston. Now they were waiting on Val and Letty to arrive. When he’d met with Val in Livingston earlier that day to get the license she had been having a bout of morning sickness. He’d worried they’d have to postpone, but she’d managed to get through it. Luckily, all she’d had to do was sign and she didn’t leave until she was certain her morning sickness had passed.

Val was going to be his bride. His wife. He admitted the thought kind of freaked him out. But the marriage should work out. They both had horses in their blood. They knew each other, had for years, even if they’d never had a serious or long conversation until Logan’s wedding. And he hadn’t been lying when he told Val he’d thought about her but hadn’t done anything, mostly because of Riley.

He remembered the first time that the fact she was all grown up and beautiful had hit him in the face. She’d been about twenty-one. It had been summer and hot as Hades. He saw a woman come into Grey’s and hadn’t recognized her at first. She wore short shorts and a T-shirt, her long blond hair was down around her shoulders, and her legs looked a mile long. She stood at the bar with her back to him. Damn, she had curves like a racetrack.

Then she turned around, saw him, and waved. And he’d realized that seriously hot chick was Val Fletcher. He thanked God his friend hadn’t been there because he might have said something about the hot chick and Riley would have killed him.

But back to the present. The major problem he saw was if one of them fell in love with someone else. He sure as hell wouldn’t. Not with Val or anyone else. He’d been there and done that and wasn’t opening himself up again. He’d thought about it with Cici but all that did was convince him he wasn’t cut out for love. But Val was young. And he didn’t think she was cynical even though her baby daddy had renounced her and the child. He thought she was still pretty idealistic. She could be a problem.

No sense worrying about it now. Where the hell was Val?

As if he’d asked him, Connor said, “Maybe Val changed her mind.”

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