Page 33 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

Now it was all down to Jeanette. Her back was ramrod straight as she stood in front of the judge, and Laura couldn’t help but think that she was precisely in her element. Her friend was a kickass lawyer, and if it wasn’t her life that Jeanette was fighting for, Laura would highly enjoy watching her. “Allowing him to sow seeds of doubt over her current marriage when he is clearly only looking out for his own self-interest is insulting. My client asked for a divorce from Mr. Longbottom because of an infidelity; he did not honor their marriage vows, and he suffered the consequences. Everything he has done since then has been in an effort to force his control over someone who no longer wants anything to do with him. When he couldn’t force her to stay married to him, he tried to take custody of their child. When that didn’t work, he put a stranglehold on her trust fund. And when she challenged that, he took every means he could find to discredit her. He is no longer her husband and by rights, he should have no place in her life. Or on her trust fund.”

Laura wanted to clap as she finished, but she settled for leaning into Daryl’s side. He had an arm slung across the back of her chair, and she could feel Clark’s glare for much of the hearing. Daryl shifted against her, and she felt the whisper of his breath against her ear before he said, “She was fantastic.”

She nodded. “Let’s hope the judge agrees.”

Judge Morrison looked to Clark’s lawyer, who stood up with a grim look on his face. Laura suddenly realized that it didn’t matter what this man had to say: there was no way that the judge was going to side with Clark. There was no way any sane, rational individual would look at this situation and think that her cheating, lying ex should have any say in her life ever again.Please,she prayed,please just let me go. “Your Honor, my client has only ever been concerned for Laura’s well-being,” the lawyer began, but his tone came off so falsely compassionate that Daryl’s four-year-old nephew would have been able to tell that he was insincere. For all the glitz of the men’s designer suits and shiny leather shoes, they both looked so wholly smarmy. Like a couple of villains in a movie. Who would honestly fall for it? “My client has a very real concern that Laura has allowed her judgment to be clouded by a man who has put on a show of being kind to her in order to get his hands on the substantial funds of her trust. Mr. Longbottom makes no qualms about wanting to work toward reconciliation, but his main concern has been the safety of the woman he still considers to be his wife and their daughter.”

He rambled on for a few minutes longer until he finally, blessedly finished his closing statement. Laura glanced at the judge, and she nearly laughed aloud at the scowl that he was trying—and failing—to conceal. “I think I’ve heard enough,” Judge Morrison said with a heavy sigh. “There’s no point in taking this any further. I see no reason that Mr. Longbottom should remain attached to this woman in any way.” He zeroed in on Clark. “She has moved on, Mr. Longbottom. I believe that it is high time that you do the same. The petition to have Mr. Longbottom removed as a trustee to Mrs. Rivers’s trust fund—with Mr. Rivers added in his place—is approved.” He banged his gavel down. “Mrs. Carlton, I will expect to see an updated trust fund agreement within the week.”

Jeanette smiled. “I’ll have it filed before the close of business tomorrow,” she promised.

Clark stood. Laura could almost see the steam coming from his ears. “Now, wait just a goddamned minute—”

Judge Morrison rapped his gavel again, cutting off his words. “Take it outside, Mr. Longbottom, or prepare to be charged with contempt of court.” Clark’s lawyer grabbed his arm and started whispering furiously in his ear. Clark looked absolutely irate, but he didn’t say anything further. The judge nodded in satisfaction. “Court is adjourned.”

Laura barely noticed the exchange—she was too busy processing what the judge had said—what the ruling had been. She popped out of her chair with a squeal and threw herself into a laughing Daryl’s arms. He spun her around, and then they pulled Jeanette into a hug. “You did it!” Laura said. “You were amazing!”

Jeanette beamed. “Wewere amazing,” she said. “You deserve to finally have everything that you’ve always wanted.”

Laura grinned. “Yes, I do.” Her eyes shifted, almost unconsciously, to Daryl, whose mouth was split into a proud smile. Emboldened by the moment, she released Jeanette and stepped into Daryl, bringing that smiling mouth to hers.

The kiss was short, but sweet, and it drew a sound of derision that was all too familiar. She pulled away from Daryl and turned to look at Clark. His lawyer was trying to push him out of the courtroom, but he was standing, resolute, and staring her down, as if his gaze could set her ablaze. “Well, I hope that you can keep this one satisfied, Laura,” Clark sneered, and she let out a little moaning gasp. After all of this time, she hadn’t expected that anything Clark had to say could hurt her, but his implying that it was somehow her fault that he cheated was like a punch to the solar plexus. A savage triumph overcame his face, and she was struck with shock to think that she had once been attracted to him. Had once loved him and wanted to spend a lifetime with him. Clark’s sharp eyes flicked to Daryl. “She’s frigid, my friend,” he said in a mock sympathetic tone. “Sure, she starts off hot and wild, but after a year or two—”

“You shut your mouth,friend,” Daryl all but growled and tightened his grip on Laura. “Or I’ll shut it for you.”

Clark’s smirk only deepened. “Laura,” he tutted. “You’ve found yourself another watchdog. How typical.”

Daryl nearly shoved her behind him, but she dug in her heels, put her hands on his chest. “Let’s just go,” she said softly. “We need to pick up Lily from your sister’s.” Laura wanted her little girl back in her arms. And if this devolved into a physical fight, Clark would just find a way to use it against them. “Please, Daryl,” she said. “Let’s get the baby and go home.”

Daryl looked down at her and nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed and glanced back at Clark. “Let’s go home, Laura Jo.”

He took her hand, and they skated out into the middle aisle of the courtroom, careful to stay as far from Clark as they could. She pressed her eyes closed for a moment, willing her ex to just let it go, but she knew him well enough to know that he would take his parting shot. “Check out Little Miss Independent,” he said, the sneer clear in his voice. “What happened to all your big dreams of being your own woman, huh? All that stuff you spouted in divorce court—it was all bullshit, then? Because for a woman who wants to be independent, you sure as hell found a new husband as fast as you could. Good luck with the new man in your life,Laura Jo,” Clark called after them. His use of Daryl’s name for her made her stomach roll sickeningly.

Laura knew it wasn’t true, knew she hadn’t given up her independence because the marriage was just temporary…and yet she couldn’t stop the words from stinging. Daryl’s fingers slid between hers as they walked, and she looked up at him. Steel blue eyes bore into hers, and he picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. The gesture made her smile, even as her stomach rolled again. She wanted Daryl more than she’d ever wanted anyone else in her life, but she couldn’t keep him. She couldn’t be keptbyhim. Even if Clark was only trying to mess with her head, a measure of it held true. She had been relying on Daryl too much, but she couldn’t continue to do that going forward.

Now that they’d gotten Daryl onto the trust, the next step would be about finding a graceful exit out of this marriage. Right? That’s what they had planned all along, and she had no desire to change that plan now. Right? “You’ll need to come by my office to sign the paperwork that makes the changeover official,” Jeanette told them. “But then, you’ll be free to withdraw whatever you need from the trust.”

They left the courthouse and walked the short distance to Jeanette’s office. The paperwork was easily signed, and in less than twenty-four hours, it would be possible for them to withdraw enough money from the trust fund to renovate the rest of her house and pay off the ranch’s debts.

Daryl reached out and squeezed her hand. She glanced at him, and while he still had a smile on his face, there was a guarded look in his eyes as he picked up on her uncertain mood. “Should we get some dinner?” he asked. “To celebrate?” He looked between her and Jeanette. “My treat?”

The lawyer shook her head. “Tempting as a free meal is,” she said, “I’ll leave it to y’all.” She put her arms around Laura and squeezed. “Breakfast later in the week,” she murmured in her ear. “But let’s stay out of a courtroom for a while, yeah?”

Laura chuckled weakly.I can’t make any promises, she thought. Though, with any hope, she and Daryl could go through an annulment without any of this rigmarole. “I’ll do my best,” she said, though to her, the words rang hollow. She hoped Jeanette couldn’t hear it as easily.

As they left the office and swung by Georgina’s to get Lily, Daryl hustled to get his truck from the community parking lot. “We can walk to the diner,” Laura pointed out.

Daryl winked at her. “We aren’t going to the diner. We’re all dressed a mite too nice for just going to the diner.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Be back in a second.” Then, he was jogging down the sidewalk. Laura touched her cheek where his lips had been and held onto Lily all the tighter. She had gotten exactly what she wanted, but she felt like the world was spiraling away from her.

She heard the familiar rumble of Daryl’s truck as it pulled up. She quickly settled Lily into her car seat, and then they were off. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Daryl said playfully, but after a few minutes of driving, the smile dropped off his face.

“What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, but his jaw tightened. “I feel like I’ve forgotten something,” he admitted.

“Something important?”

---