Page 132 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

But she got to watch him with her and Brody’s little girls, and it filled her with so much pride she could hardly stand it.

As for Benny and Brody... Ben. She could never remember to call him Ben. Well, sometimes they butted heads. Brody was stricter than Carter. Brody also took on the heavy lifting of fatherhood, because Ben was with him more of the time. Ben didn’t call him dad, but Elizabeth knew that he was a father to Ben in every way that counted. Ben still loved Carter, of course he did, and thought of him as his dad, but... Brody was a pirate cowboy. And in that sense... Carter would never be quite as cool.

And... Well, Brody was taller.

A little tougher, just a little bit more of everything. And if that made Elizabeth feel smug... She tried not to show it. Not all the time, anyway.

She could never have imagined this when she had first come to Pyrite Falls all those years ago. But it was... It was better than anything. It really was. Better than that ideal perfection so many other people had. And if perfection had to break in order for her to have true happiness, she would go back and choose to break it every single time.

They were having their first Christmas, which was the Christmas they had a week before the actual holiday, because it let them celebrate with Ben, and they were gathered around the Christmas tree, the girls getting to open one present, while Ben opened all of his from her and Brody, the Christmas tree lit up merrily behind him.

“How are you doing, Lizzie?” Brody asked, smiling at her as they watched Ben excitedly open up the fishing pole that Brody had chosen for him a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m doing just perfect, Brody. Just perfect.”

“I told you. When I think of Christmas, I’ll always think of that Christmas we spent back at the small house. Under the tree...”

Her face got red. “Don’t talk about that right now.”

“Why? No one else knows what happened.”

But she did. She’d never forget.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was amazing how much she loved Christmas now. But... She also didn’t need to cling to it as the most magical, as the only chance for this kind of joy. With Brody, she felt this kind of joy every day. And that was worth celebrating all year long.

Wild Night Cowboy

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

SHAYNA CLARKE KNEW one thing. She couldn’t go on like this.

She looked down at the valley below, from where she stood on the viewpoint. The trees were a blanket of green, jagged bottle brushes layered one over the other in an endless patchwork. There was a line where the trees frayed and became red, charred, twisted. The evidence that remained of a wildfire three years ago.

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