Winona stared at the ripped agreement. It felt like forever since they’d entered this marriage of convenience for the sake of their baby. Now, they were having two babies, and she couldn’t imagine walking out that door and leaving Riggs behind. Never. But he’d torn up their contract and he wasn’t lording anything over her anymore. Even if he’d “won” he didn’t care anymore. Their marriage, their agreement, had to be her choice.
She could walk away now without repercussions.
But she still couldn’t leave him. This experience had changed her, for better or for worse. And he was right. She had to trust him, despite how they’d wound up here. Despite their less-than-traditional beginning. Because every little thing had changed. She’d always trusted Kimberly and her advice. But she couldn’t know it all. And this time, she was wrong. Winona knew it with every single beat of her heart.
Because she finally trusted the person she should have trusted all along. Herself.
“Thank you.” She stood and took a step toward him. “I love you, Riggs. I will always love you. You gave me everything. Even gave me back myself.”
“No, baby, you did that.” His warm hands curled around her waist. “You remembered who you are. Mary Jo’s daughter, Pink.”
She smiled at the memory, personal and intimate.
“I couldn’t have done it without you. I’m not going anywhere, husband. You are stuck with me for life.”
“I’ve never been happier to be stuck.” He bent to kiss her on the lips, a tender caress that wound its way deep inside her heart.
That same heart that she hadn’t believed had room left for anyone but her babies. She’d made a lot of mistakes in the past while she desperately searched to regain the sense of family she’d once felt. Looking for someone to love her. Someone to be her family. This time she hadn’t even been trying to find forever and she’d found the one man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life.
And even though the fried chicken smelled deliciously enticing and she was constantly hungry these days, she led him back to their bedroom.
“Lock the door.”
She didn’t want to think about anyone or anything else for the next couple of hours. She wanted to give herself to Riggs, every last piece that she’d held back out of fear. A fear that he’d change his mind about loving her. A baseless but terrible fear that once the babies were born, he’d realize that she wasn’t such a great mother and try to take them away. Gone now. She’d pushed those terrors away.
Slowly, she unbuttoned her shirt and then pulled off the tank top she wore underneath. Next her jeans. Each piece of clothing felt like another layer of skin she removed. She was tough and didn’t fold easily when trapped in a corner. But Riggs was unlike any man she’d ever met. He didn’t back away or give up easily, either. And he wouldn’t give up on her.
He licked his lips when she unclasped her bra and slipped off her panties. Then he swept her up in his arms like he’d done their very first night, touching and tasting.
He carried her to bed. A sense of desperation clawed at her heart with a wonderful intense desire. A magnetic heat and passion she sensed would never wane.
This was everything.
Afterwards, they lay sated and entwined, his head resting on her belly while she played with that wonderful head of thick hair.
“I hope they have hair like yours.” She ruffled his hair and a moment later her thoughts went to where they were so often lately. “I know I say this all the time, but I’m hungry.”
“Do you want me to go get you some fried chicken and bring it to bed like that other time?”
“You didn’t get me fried chicken, you got yourself some, and fell asleep watching me.”
He rose above her, arms braced on either side of her body, wearing a full smile and nothing else. “That’s what I let you think.”
“Sure.” She swatted him playfully on the butt. “Okay, go get your fat wife some fried chicken.”
“Don’t forget old.” He winked.
“I don’t feel old at all anymore.” She stretched like a cat under him. “I feel young and restless.”
“And knocked up.” He rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans commando. “Be right back.”
She went up on one elbow and watched him walk out the door. Her cowboy, her man.
For once, having it all wasn’t a lie.
When Riggs emerged from the bedroom, the sun had set. In the kitchen, he found two place settings by candlelight, rolls, mashed potatoes, and a plate of fried chicken in the middle of it all.
He was going to give Delores a raise. And also thank her for having such faith in him. For a moment, he wasn’t so certain he’d be able to reassure Winona. To keep her. But if she wanted a grand gesture, he hoped that torn contract would do. Maybe he’d have it framed someday.
Riggs decided it would be easier just to pick up the whole spread of food and take it with him into the bedroom. He blew out the candles, grabbed a couple of water bottles from the refrigerator, and at that moment a streak of brown outside caught his eye.
What in the…? He looked closer from the window. Spur had somehow gone loose from the stables. Riggs pulled on a nearby jacket from the coatrack. He tugged on a pair of boots in the mud room, briefly considered taking his rifle, but instead just headed outside.
And found Spur chewing on Winona’s vegetable garden. Great.
“Oh, she’s going to love you for that.” Grabbing him by the bridle, Riggs walked him back toward the stables. “How did you get out, anyway?”
It could have been Sean but he was never this careless when it came to the horses. What he saw when he came around to the stables sent a chill straight through him. Every single horse had been let out of the stables. In the distance, he saw flashes of white and brown roaming freely through the pastures.
“Shit fire!”
“Imagine how I feel,” came a voice from a dark corner of the stable.
Riggs’s head jerked in that direction. Phil Henderson walked out of the darkness, pointing a handgun.
Riggs immediately began to list his regrets. He should have realized sooner that Phil had become desperate. Never be a sore winner, one of his law professors had advised. Riggs took for granted that he was safe in this town, where they all had each other’s backs. All the men were like his brothers. Which meant he should have shared more of his concerns about Phil. He should have asked for more help.
And he should have brought that rifle with him.
Riggs held up his palms. “Put the gun down, Phil. Let’s talk.”
“I’m done talkin’! Damn you and your fancy law degree. Always thought you were better than me. Better than anyone. I should have had this land. I’m a Henderson by blood, not you and your brothers.”
He had to keep Phil talking. As Riggs tried to figure out a way out of this mess, he would commiserate. Hell, he’d even promise to sell. Anything to get that gun off him. Because even if he’d grown up with biological parents who brought home unsavory, gun-toting characters from time to time, he’d never been as terrified as in this moment. He had a wife inside waiting for him. If she walked out and found him and Phil here, she could get hurt. He prayed she’d fall asleep waiting for him.
“Yeah, I get it. It was unfair.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Cal was another one who always thought he was better than me. Do-gooder, trying to help all those foster kids over the years. Never shared a damn thing with me, though. And then he adopted you boys. If you think that makes you a Henderson, you’ll always be wrong.”
“I know it doesn’t. I’ll never be a Henderson, Phil.” Riggs slowly lowered his hands as he spied the shovel only a foot away from him.
Just a little room. A slight diversion and he’d knock him out with that shovel.
In order to talk a madman down, give him what he wants.
Truthfully, Riggs wondered why he’d tried for so long to distance himself from his biological family. From his humble beginnings which had made him the man he was today. Maybe he should have accepted all along that he wasn’t a Henderson, and that was fine. It didn’t mean he’d loved Cal and Marge any less for everything they had given him. But he was a scrapper down deep just like Winona. Cal and Marge had been decent people who would have never hurt anyone. They’d encouraged him to go to law school so he could fight with his brain and the law when his first inclination had always been to fight with his fists.
But whether or not Cal and Marge would approve, Riggs would kill this man with his bare hands if that’s what it took to protect his family.
He was a survivor.
“You finally admit it. Where’s your lovely wife, anyway? I’d love her to hear this.” He waved his gun. “I want her to know how you weaseled your way into Cal and Marge’s life, just so you could get this land.”
“She’s not here,” Riggs lied. “She had to go see her manager in Kerrville.”
“Just my luck. I wanted this to be nice and dramatic, with the terrified multimillionaire at gunpoint. She’s an entitled celebrity bitch.”
Riggs’s jaw went tight as granite, but he nodded in agreement. Snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“Regret marrying her already, huh?” Phil sneered.
“Yeah. She doesn’t want me to keep this land.” Riggs shook his head, defeated. “I think you were right all along. We should sell. I don’t know the first thing about cattle.”
And now he’d gone too far. He sensed with deep regret that the jig was up. Phil narrowed his eyes. He didn’t buy it.
“I don’t believe you.” He pointed the gun at Riggs and took a step closer. “You’re just tellin’ me what I want to hear right now.”
All Riggs had to do was reach for that shovel or allow Phil to get close enough to punch him. Right now, he seemed to enjoy keeping a reasonable distance.
“This isn’t smart,” Riggs said. “You’re not going to get what you want out of this.”
“I already have what I want. Seein’ a terrified look in your arrogant eyes. You feel helpless, don’t ya? Trapped? Now you know how I feel!” he roared. “You just had to take away the last chance I had of making a buck off this land. You should have never called those people, and left well enough alone. You have no proof I let that bull loose. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
Riggs heard the sound of a rifle being cocked and turned to see his greatest fear materialized.
“Mister, if you want to keep that gun you had better stop pointing it at my husband.” Winona stood at the front of the stables, aiming that rifle as if she knew what she was doing.
Riggs didn’t know whether she did or not, but either way he broke out in a cold sweat.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the beautiful celebrity come to save her husband.”
“Phil, put the gun down. You don’t know what she’s capable of.”
I don’t even know.
“Listen to him. My stepfather wasn’t good for much, but he did teach me how to hit a target. And I can hit a copperhead at twenty feet. Don’t make me prove it.” Winona spoke slowly, that rifle set on her shoulder as she aimed at Phil.
He’d learned a few things about the woman who was now his wife. She rarely backed down. Riggs reacted with what he now believed his only real option. It might not be the most intelligent thing to do, but he was a smart man caught in an impossible situation. He was back down to his roots in a trailer park where he would protect his brothers or die in the effort.
“Winona, get out of here!” Riggs yelled.
“I’m not leaving you.”
Of course, she wouldn’t listen to him. Why start now? She mistakenly thought she would save him from this crazy man. Riggs would have been willing to talk all night just to keep Winona away from this. But now she’d inserted herself right in the middle of danger. Enough. Riggs made an executive decision. Reaching for the shovel when Phil briefly glanced in Winona’s direction, he swung the short distance between them, and knocked the older man out cold.
Riggs watched Phil fall back, and the gun went off, the blast splitting the quiet night.
Winona didn’t make much of a sound as she slid to the floor.
No, no, no, no! Cursing, Riggs went to her. Thank God, her eyes were wide open.
“Damn that old man.” She held her left shoulder, blood oozing through her nightgown. “He shot me.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”
Riggs just said this over and over as he tore off his jacket and stanched her blood. He told himself it wasn’t bad, that it just couldn’t be. It had just been a surface hit, that’s all, but there was so much blood. His mind had trouble accepting the situation. Everything around him turned to muted shades of gray.
Panic. Sheer unbridled panic rose in him like bile. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t survive losing her. He didn’t know how long Sean had been shouting when Riggs finally heard him.
“What the hell happened here?”
Sean stood at the opening of the stable, his shotgun poised. The sound of the shot would have sent him running.
“Is that…Phil?” Sean moved to the old man’s side and poked him with his boot. He bent to check his pulse. “Out cold.”
“He had a gun on me, and Winona pulled the rifle on him. She was trying to help me.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Sean quirked an eyebrow and then bent beside Riggs. “Damn it, Winona.”
Delores showed up and he couldn’t help but wish that she could fix this. She wanted to. It was in her eyes, the look he would have paid a million dollars never to see again. Pity. Shock.
This couldn’t be happening to him again. Who would be this unlucky?
“Oh, Riggs!” she covered her mouth. “No. No.”
“Help me,” he said, and gathered Winona in his arms. “Get my keys. I’m driving her to get help. I won’t sit here and wait for anyone.”
“I’m okay,” Winona said, but she sounded weaker. “I did a stupid thing.”
“Please don’t talk,” Riggs said. “You’re losing too much blood.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t listen to you.”
“That’s okay.”
“My babies. I don’t want to lose the babies.”
I don’t want to lose you.
I can’t. I won’t.
Delores returned with his keys. “Take her to the clinic. I called Dr. Grant and alerted the phone tree.”
But Riggs didn’t want to take her to the local clinic. He wanted a first-rate hospital with cutting-edge equipment, but he also needed the bleeding to stop. Immediately. Kerrville would take too long and surely the GP in Stone Ridge could handle stitches. He could hope it would be that simple.
“You drive.” Riggs threw his keys to Delores.
He grabbed the first aid kit he kept in the truck. Meant for minor cuts and injuries while hunting or fishing, it wouldn’t do much for a bullet wound, but he had to do something. He couldn’t just helplessly watch her continue to lose blood. With Winona spread over his lap, he ripped off a piece of rolled gauze with his teeth and used it to tape the wound.
He told himself it wasn’t bad, but a gunshot wound was still a damn gunshot wound.
Winona moaned. “I’m already a bad mother. I should have thought of our children.”
“You were thinking about me.” He ripped off another piece of gauze. “Total badass. I would marry you all over again.”
“I should have shot him,” Winona said. “I swear I could have had him. He was in my scope. Must be gettin’ soft in my old age.”
“Stop talkin’ about being old before I spank you.”
She smiled and her eyes fluttered closed. “I don’t even know if you realize how cute you are.”
“Delores, can’t you drive any faster?” Riggs shouted.
“I love you,” Winona said weakly. “Don’t forget it.”
And then, because he didn’t know what else to do, Riggs put his palm on her shoulder to apply pressure.
He held her against him while he told her he loved her over and over again.