Jane slept for a solid day, awakening in the comfortable guest bed at the Roughwater Ranch only long enough to eat and check on Ben, who was happily taking turns playing with Liam, Chad, Helen and Uncle Gus. The day passed with endless rounds of police interviews and doctor’s checks for her and Ben.
As the day wore on, she felt ripples of horror when she considered Bette, who was now in custody. She knew Bette was just another victim, and maybe she and Bette were not so different deep down. Bette could not trust herself to pursue a normal, healthy relationship. She hoped the woman could get some help.
And what about Jane’s own self-doubt? Not hours before, she had thought Mitch betrayed her. The euphoria of knowing she was finally free mingled with a weighty melancholy. Her horrific experience with Wade would always cast that shadow on her judgment, preventing her from committing herself to a good man, an excellent man, like Mitch.
She tried to force herself to celebrate. She could go anywhere, start over and work toward building her floral business, raise Ben, take that Disneyland trip. She’d shared all these plans with Nana Jo, who’d cried along with her. Tomorrow, she thought. I’ll leave tomorrow. There would be one final night here at the ranch. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gus had planned a quiet cookout.
She gathered Ben from his playtime and gave him another bath, as if she could wash away what had happened. She could only hope that Ben was young enough that other memories, the good memories she intended to make with him, would fill his heart to overflowing. With mixed emotions, she rocked Ben for the last time in the chair Mitch had provided.
Catty Cat followed them out to the campfire as the sun wilted into the horizon and darkness took its place. Lanterns strung across the patio danced spots of gold into the night sky, and the smell of grilling meats and a pot of chili in the kitchen perfumed the air.
Helen and Liam greeted her with smiles. Uncle Gus pressed a lemonade into her hand and a boxed juice for Ben. “Look who got invited to the cookout, Ben,” Uncle Gus said.
Chad led Sugar up to the edge of the patio. The foal flicked her mane and whinnied, sending Ben into wide-eyed peals of delight.
“Would you like to pet her?” Uncle Gus said.
Ben nodded so hard he almost fell over. Uncle Gus and Chad led them onto the grass. Jane’s vision went blurry as she watched her precious son, her gift from God, her solace and her joy.
“He doing okay?” Mitch said. He’d come close, thumbs hooked on his belt loops. Her stomach fluttered.
“Yes, he’s okay,” she said. “Thanks to you and your family.”
“You did great before we got there,” he said. They lapsed into silence, strolling to the fence. It felt so right to be there with him, and so painful to consider that she’d leave the next day.
She pushed her hair behind her ears. “I’m sorry...that I didn’t stay, that I didn’t trust you.”
He shook his head. “No need to say that.”
“Yes, there is. Mitch, I didn’t trust you, because I don’t know how to trust. I think maybe I never will.”
He turned her then, gently, and circled her wrists with his thumbs. “You just gotta have someone trustworthy around so you can practice on ’em.”
She yearned for—no, craved—the chance to learn with Mitch, but she could not ask it of him. It was best for her to move on, and him, too. The sky grew suddenly darker, and Jane struggled to find even a single star.
Mitch was quiet, but she could sense that he was wrestling with what to say next. She was determined to be kind to him, to make their parting as easy as possible. “I think I’ll go join Ben.”
“Wait. I want to say something.”
She stopped, trying to read his emotions, but the combination of lamplight and his stoic expression stymied her.
He rubbed a hand over his freshly shaven chin. “Do you know what my favorite time of year here at the ranch is?”
“Uh, no,” she said, wondering why he felt the need to share such a topic.
He swallowed so hard she could hear the gulp. It ticked her pulse up a notch.
“Spring.”
She nodded. “All the green grass and blue skies. I’m sure it’s glorious.”
“That’s not why it’s my favorite.”
“Why, then?”
“Because the calves come, and they are new and full of wonder and...you make me feel like that.”
“Mitch,” she gasped. “I...I’m not sure what to say.”
“Just listen,” he said. “’Cause I’ve been practicing this in my mind so many times Liam is accusing me of having conversations with myself.”
She put her fingers over her trembling lips and watched him suck in a deep breath. “When I’m with you, the world feels new and fresh and it makes me want to tear down the walls I’ve built up to keep the past out and start something new.”
When he stopped speaking, she put her hand gently on his arm. “Mitch, I will treasure what you’ve said my whole life, but I’ve already told you, because of my past with Wade...” She forced herself to say it. “With your brother...”
“Wade has no ties on you anymore, and none on me, either. Remember what you said? Nothing can separate you from the love of God. I finally get what that means, because nothing, not the past or the pain or the troubles ahead or behind, is gonna make me love you any less. Only more—it’s just gonna be more, every day, every year.”
Every day, every year. What was he saying? What could she be hearing?
“I love you,” he said, “and I love Ben, and that’s the bare honest truth of it.”
She thought it was the bravest thing she’d heard anyone say, ever, and it left her speechless.
“I think we could be a great family. Don’t you?” He gazed at her, head slightly cocked, moonlight catching the planes of his face.
Out came the fear that held her captive. “I’m not sure how to be a wife to a good man.”
He smiled shyly and took her hand, kissing the knuckles. “The same way I learned how to ride horses. The same way you learned how to be a spectacular mother to Ben—one step at a time, one day at a time.”
“What if I fail?” she whispered.
“Do you trust me?” His eyes shone like black lightning. “Do you believe that I love you and I will take care of you and Ben every day for the rest of my life?”
Did she? Could she? He’d risked stepping through her walls and his, for her, for Ben. “Yes,” she managed. “Yes, I do trust you.”
Emotion rippled across his face. “And do you love me, Jane? Can you love me in spite of who I am and what my brother did to you?”
That one required no thought at all. She leaned forward and brushed her lips ever so gently against his, feeling his sigh. Love kicked up in her spirit, the love she’d been suppressing, caging, denying, bursting forth like a calf eager for the glorious feel of sunshine.
“I love you, Mitch. I...” He stepped close then and stopped her with a kiss.
“That’s all I need to know, all I’ll ever need to know.” He lifted her off the ground.
“But wait... Mitch...how will we explain it to Ben? You’re his uncle...but...”
“I’ll be his uncle, his daddy, his coach and mentor or whatever he needs me to be. I’ll raise him to know he’s loved, no matter what he calls me, even if it’s Moo Moo.”
She cried then, too overcome to manage a word.
“And I’ll build a house for the three of us here in Driftwood.” His arms tightened around her as he put her down. “Unless... I mean...unless there are too many bad memories here.”
She trailed her fingers along his face, skimming his cheeks, staring at him until the outline of the scar was no longer distinct from the other precious contours of his face. “Here,” she whispered, letting the past fly away like the curls of smoke rising from the firepit. “Right here in Driftwood.”
He laughed and pulled her close again, burying his face in her curls. She giggled and allowed him to whirl her around. Finally, at long last, she let herself accept that her life was about to begin anew, full of promise and the sweet taste of second chances. Tipping her face to the sky, she watched the moon rise over Roughwater Ranch, starting off on its path toward the ocean.
If you enjoyed this story, look for these other books by Dana Mentink from Love Inspired Suspense.
Cowboy Christmas Guardian
Treacherous Trails
Cowboy Bodyguard
Lost Christmas Memories
Keep reading for an excerpt from Hidden Twin by Jodie Bailey.
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