Page 98 of Soldier Cowboy
“Not the engagement, no, that wasn’t real. But you can’t deny this…” Threading her fingers through his own, he held up their entwined hands. “This is real.”
“What do we do? How do we make this work?”
“We could go slow for a change.”
“Hm. It’s an idea.”
“We covered a lot of territory in these two weeks. We met and within a few hours we took a road trip together, were engaged within twenty-four hours, survived Sean surprising us with his rifle, a highly publicized wedding, and an attempted kidnapping. Maybe we can slow down and chill for a while.”
“Take some time, get to know each other?”
“Might be a good idea. No more faking a thing. What do you think?”
“I love you, Colton, and I’m in no hurry to go home. But how are we going to do this?”
“Would you marry me? For real this time? Whatever else happens, we can figure it out.”
“I’ll marry you whenever you want. Tonight, tomorrow, or next year.”
“It can’t be soon enough for me.”
She held out her finger and he slipped on the ring. “Now it’s real.”
“You realize this is going to require a great deal of explanation. First, we lied about being engaged. Now, we are. Is anyone actually going to believe us?”
“I don’t care if anyone else believes me, just so long as you do.” He hauled her up into his arms, heading toward his bed across the hall.
“What about the cake? It smellssogood.”
“Tell me the truth. Do you love me because I’m such a great cook?”
“No, but it’s a nice perk.”
She laughed when he threw her on the bed and joined her, rolling her into his arms.
“If you’re good,reallygood, we can have cake as a midnight snack.”
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
In continuing with the brothers’ tradition, Jennifer and Colton decided to get married at Trinity Church.
“Are you ready?” Joe ducked his head between the partitions of the door leading to the entrance to the chapel. “It’s now or never.”
“Now, please.” She slipped her arm through her father’s extended one.
“Let’s do this,” he said in his usual commander-style voice, his posture straight as an arrow.
It didn’t bother her anymore.
The best thing about her ordeal, besides meeting the love of her life, was the way it had eventually brought both her father and brother together again. After hearing of the attempted kidnapping, they’d both scheduled flights to Texas, so they could see with their own eyes she was no worse for the dire situation.
She’d count those days as some of the best of her life, quietly watching Colton and Joe, their backs to her, boots on the rail of the fence as they spent hours talking about…everything, she guessed. She didn’t pry, though Colton would have told her if she’d asked. It was only fair that these two men who’d shared a war together would have a quiet understanding between them.
Hundreds of photos of her two favorite people in the world were taken in a matter of days. And they’d become good friends over the past year. Colton was actually the facilitator of a reconciliation between father and son. It could not have gone any better if she’d planned it. So much had happened in the past year, much of it unexpected.
TheTruth Saladpodcast never managed to regain the popularity it had once enjoyed. But she no longer viewed this as a loss. These days the podcast centered on wild horses, gourmet bison cooking, and a mix of special interests. She had acquired a few dedicated sponsors which were just enough to keep her going. This was just fine for Jennifer, who enjoyed her anonymity. Listeners understood the show was now recorded “somewhere in Hill Country” and all other information was, as both her father, brother and Colton liked to say, “above their pay grade” and “on a need to know basis.”
