*Nico was nearly down the hill and away from the parked cars. She could see the lights on at the ranch house, which she knew was more than a mile away. Bowen and Langston had set up some solar lights to mark the ranch road to Plum Hill, so she could make it back to the house. But then what?
And she was running again.
Just like she had before.
Only she liked the promise of the life she was running from this time. She loved Bodhi and didn’t want to take another breath without him. But she couldn’t bear to think about his rejection when he found out who she was.
So you rejected him before he could reject you.
Her inner voice had more than a bite of snark, which pulled her up short. When did she become such a coward? When she’d understood the extent of her family’s culpability, she hadn’t run. She’d stood for justice. When her life was hard or painful, she’d dug in. She’d fought for what she wanted.
Even driving away with nothing more than a few favorite clothing pieces that didn’t necessarily belong together in a small weekender bag had been an act of courage. She’d wanted to find herself. She’d wanted to build a new life.
So why run away?
Why not fight for what she wanted?
She was a damn good lawyer. Top of her class out of one of the most fabled law schools in the country. If she couldn’t make a case for herself with the most important judge in the world, then she’d wasted years of education.
If Bodhi rejected her, at least she’d be facing him. At least she’d go down fighting. And if he didn’t, they could face the future together. Her career was uncertain. His health might be uncertain. But her love was not.
She turned around and marched back up the hill. She kept her eyes on the haze of lights in the distance. She was so focused that the sound of someone running sent her curling into herself and freezing into place.
Bodhi, at a full run, skidded to a stop like a cartoon character.
“Did you mean it? You love me?” he demanded.
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem?” he demanded. “Why won’t you marry me? I know it’s been a week, but I live my life fast and intense and I know what I want. We can wait a few months if you want or longer. As long as I’m with you, I’m good. You were right about me. I was in love with the idea of being in love. That first night with you skipping stones and star watching was the most intimate thing I’d done with a woman, with anyone, ever, and I craved the connection with you. I want it. I need it. What can I do to change your mind?”
She gulped in a deep breath, her mind reeling.
“I’m Samara Nicoletta Reese Steel Wentworth,” she admitted in a rush and forced herself to not flinch as her attention burned over him, looking for a reaction.
He stared, clearly waiting for more. His energy crackled like bottled lightning. “And?”
“Wentworth,” she repeated. “Majority investors in one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and currently one of the most reviled families internationally. Several branches of Wentworths are under state and federal investigations as is the Wentworth Company and Trust.”
He blinked, his face tense with thought. She saw the name click.
“Opioids?”
She nodded, ducked her head, miserable and humiliated.
She was supposed to be fighting. When had she ever looked down or away when she was in a boardroom or a courtroom?
“I worked with a team of lawyers my whole career, representing my family. I helped them fend off the lawsuits and prepared them for their depositions, and I also worked to take apart the opposing counsel’s cases during multiple lawsuits.”
“Isn’t that the job of a lawyer?”
She still couldn’t breathe, so she nodded.
“What happened? What brought you to me? The nightmares…” His hands covered hers, and that boosted her courage.
He was so smart. He cut to the chase.
“I didn’t have the relationship with my family like you have. I was a tool. I focused on the cases. Not on the people. My family never thought about people the way you do. The way you care about them…the kids at the rodeo when you’re teaching them skills and the way you saw that Ashni was unhappy and wanted to help her and Beck and the way you worry about your granddad. I never had any of that, and then one day—” Nico gulped.
“I got a massive class action case dismissed, and I was on the steps of the courthouse with the team. I didn’t make any comments to the press. I wanted to stay in the background. The nepotism accusations really burned me because I had worked hard. I knew my family had unbelievable pull, but I studied and worked harder than anyone in my law classes and then on the legal team.
“That day a woman approached me. She was crying and screaming that we’d killed her son and so many others and that we didn’t care. That we were bloodless. She said that. Bloodless. And then she pulled out a gun right in front of me. I thought she was going to kill me, and I froze. I couldn’t move.”
“Baby.” Bodhi held her. His warmth and steady beat of his heart centered her.
“I thought I was going to die, and realized I’d never lived. I’d never loved anyone the way she loved her child, and no one had ever loved me like that. The moment is so crystalized. She had loved her child just as so many others had loved their children and spouses and friends. The cases and the class action lawsuits became people who had been deceived and trapped in addiction with no services to help them get out and no true warnings to families. I thought maybe I should die as atonement. But she shot herself instead.” Nico shivered. But with Bodhi holding her, the scene had faded just a little. “Right in front of me. Parts of her went—”
Bodhi swore and pulled her even tighter, and she felt like she was thawing out.
“You make me feel safe,” she whispered.
“You are safe with me, always,” Bodhi said.
She couldn’t yet relax. She wanted to tell him everything. “I quit the legal team and cooperated with the FBI investigations to the extent that I could, although I couldn’t violate attorney-client privilege. I wanted to help. I wanted to make amends. I wanted the company to, if not acknowledge how addicting the drug was, set up a fund to help people safely rehab. It’s been my life for the past year, researching and being deposed and helping build a foundation that will eventually be national and help states attain more beds for drug treatment.
“Then I was free. My family won’t speak to me anymore, and I don’t yet feel it’s a great loss.”
“But you did what you thought was right?” Bodhi looked into her face, his expression intense and searching and so beloved. How had she found him in the crazy of her life? They were worlds apart.
She nodded. “It doesn’t feel like enough. I tried to talk to my family—my parents and my uncle, my cousins, but no one would listen. They called me Judas, and I am to them, but I want to be able to look in the mirror.”
“And now you are free and clear of your family, career and past.”
“Starting to feel that way,” she admitted. “But I’m not sure free is the word I would use,” she admitted. “My heart got tangled up one night in a bar with a cowboy.”
“Not cutting you or your heart free,” Bodhi said.
“So…” She tried to calm her heart and her breathing so she could think. “What does this mean for us?”
“As long as there’s an us, anything goes,” he said. His earnest gaze searched hers. “Would you be willing to head back to the party with me, make an honest man of me?”
“Really?” she questioned. “Even knowing who I am?”
“Because of who you are.”
He sounded so certain. “You’re sure?”
“Never more sure of anything,” he said, and not a doubt colored his voice. “I want to finish the tour. I’d be in Marietta for another week. It’s about five more weeks of travel, then a month and a half break and then the finals. After that, we can do what we want. Go where we want.”
“Will you take the genetic test?” she asked, tracing the lines on his palm. “I shouldn’t have pushed so hard,” she admitted. “I will support you either way,” she said. “Your choice, but I like to know what I’m facing, to best prepare.”
“Funny, not funny story,” he said, pulling her close to him as they walked back up Plum Hill toward the party. “I’ve been called a bastard by more than a few people in my life,” he said, “but apparently I literally am one. I don’t need the test because my father was not biologically my father. And I strongly suspect I have a half sister who looks to become a full sister-in-law. Who knew?”
“Bodhi.” Her mind reeled. He loved her. He wanted to stay together. He wasn’t sick. And his cockiness that she loved layered with his sweetness were back in full force along with his infectious promise of fun. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I know.” He kissed her knuckles and walked them back to the inner circle where his cousins and their fiancées chatted. “But this next part makes total sense.”
“Second time’s the charm,” he told his family and he dropped down to his knee in front of Nico.
“You got balls, Ballantyne,” someone shouted from the back of the crowd, and the twitters of laughs mixed with the shushes to respect the reverent moment.
“Nico, from the moment I met you, you got me. You understood my humor, my determination, my crazy, and my heart. I want to be your best friend and your partner, your lover and the man you can rely on in happy times and in struggles.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Absolutely yes.”
“I was getting to the asking part.” He smiled up at her, and Nico heard outbreaks of laughter behind her. “And you’re supposed to say ‘yes and,’ according to the rules of improv.”
She laughed. Those rules.
“Who would have thought a podcast could have such power?”
“No more long drives without me,” Bodhi said.
“Sounds like there were going to be long drives for the next few weeks from what you were saying earlier, but maybe we’ll stick to music. Or news.”
“Or maybe cooking or circus clown classes. It doesn’t matter as long as we do it together.”
“Then yes, Bodhi, I would love to marry you and have as many adventures as we choose.”
Bodhi pulled a ring from his pocket and slid it on her finger.
“Wow,” she breathed, looking at the round-cut, large solitaire sapphire mounted in a platinum setting and offset by diamonds. “It’s beautiful.”
“Bowen and Beck went for more traditional rocks. I went for one the color of my eyes so that you’ll always feel me with you.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said, brushing her fingers along his cheek. He was real. Healthy. Hers to love and care for. “Wow,” she breathed, finally looking at Bodhi and all of her new family. So many riches of love and history, and she could share in it all. Blend hers and Bodhi’s story with all of the Ballantynes’. “Best detour I ever made.”
“Best game I ever played and best prize I ever won,” he murmured against her lips.
There were various cheers and claps and congratulations, and then Ben Ballantyne whistled again loud and clear.
“Showtime,” he shouted.
Bodhi, Beck, and Bowen all looked at each other.
“Girls,” Ben said to his daughters. Bodhi’s mom pulled a bottle of whiskey out of a bag at her feet, and Beck’s mom pulled out a tray and arranged shot glasses.
“A toast,” Bodhi said, sounding confused. “How did you know we’d have something to celebrate?”
“There’s always something to celebrate,” Ben said, standing.
Bodhi’s mom began to pour more than two fingers.
“It’s going to become one of those types of parties,” Nico said. She hugged Lang. “We’re going to be sisters,” she said. “I always wanted a sister.”
“Me too,” Lang admitted. “And I always wanted a brother, and it looks like I scored one of those too. Did Bodhi tell you about his dad, his bio dad?”
“A little.”
Lang huffed. “I’m going to need a spa day and a vacation after today, but the secret’s out. He’s my half-brother, although his mom didn’t spell it all out yet. I think there’s going to be more than one heart-to-heart at the Bash tonight. Might take all night.”
“I have a lot of time,” Nico said, linking hands with Bodhi.
Nico looked over at Langston’s dad, who sat on the hay bale with a shot glass full of water. Servers had come out of the smaller equipment barn with trays of shots or whiskeys or apple juice and were quickly passing them out to the guests. Where did all this come from? Neither she nor Lang had worked on it. She hadn’t seen any boxes of whiskey shot glasses with the Three Trees brand and the year arrive during all the setup she’d done for the past few days.
Even the band had stopped playing.
“Thank you all for coming,” Ben Ballantyne announced, holding his shot glass aloft. “Marietta has always been my home, and it’s clear changes are afoot.”
“Oh no,” Bodhi whispered beside her, and Nico saw that Beck and Bowen looked equally tense.
“We’ve had some happy news today, and I’m deeply touched,” he said. “But what I really want to know is—” he looked hard at each of his grandsons “—do any of you want to play a game?”
Dead silence. Unease slithered through the crowd, a buzz of confusion, and Nico could feel Bodhi’s tension ratchet up.
“Granddad?” Bowen spoke for all of them.
“Not a bride game, although I do admit that has a flare that caught even me initially by surprise.” He nodded toward Bodhi. “You know I love irony. However, I prefer more long-term commitments. Games with intention.”
He looked at his three grandsons and their fiancées standing in front of him in a semicircle, and Nico felt like she was once again on a stage with the audience behind her. The moms flanked their father.
“I like games,” Bodhi’s mom said.
“We’ve always played them,” Beck’s mom said.
“And every Ballantyne worth his salt plays to win from the cradle,” Bowen’s mom said. “Wouldn’t you agree, Dad?”
“Definitely.” He looked at his grandsons, his gaze measured but calculated. He smiled, but for the first time, he looked crafty, and a frisson of nerves shivered through Nico. Her fingers tightened on Bodhi’s.
He squeezed back, comforting her, but his expression was serious, watchful, and his body coiled.
“I know this was your idea, Bodhi, and you’ve always been wicked smart, but I’m not sure you played it out to its natural conclusion.”
“Sir.” He didn’t deny anything.
“Most of the town is here.”
“As it is every year,” Bodhi responded.
“That means I got at least one judge. County clerk. And a preacher at my whim.”
Beck inhaled sharply.
“Did you look up the marriage laws of Montana before you kicked off this week’s fun game, Bodhi?”
“No, sir.”
“I did,” Beck said. “When Ashni told me our news—ouch.” She must have stepped on his toe. “I want to tell everyone,” Beck objected.
“Not here. Not now. Not like this.”
“Sorry, it just popped out. I can’t believe I didn’t burst with the news days ago.”
“What did your Google search tell you, Beck?” Bodhi’s mom demanded icily.
“No wait time.”
“So,” Ben Ballantyne asked, “who’s up to play a game I’m calling the Ballantyne Bash Bride Game?” Ben and his three daughters shot the whiskey and clinked the glasses back down on the tray hard.
“Winner takes all.”
*
Bodhi felt the bang of the four glasses all the way to his toes, and his heart thundered in response. Their granddad was calling them all out in the most public arena there was.
Not cool.
But neither was his game idea even though he’d had good intentions.
And Bodhi didn’t want to back down. But his decisions going forward weren’t only his to make.
He looked at Nico, not Bowen or Beck because this decision had nothing to do with his cousins.
“What’s the prize?” Bodhi asked, sounding far cooler than he felt.
“Full vested partnership in the ranch, no buy-in.”
A ripple ran through the crowd. As an offer, it was in the millions.
“What if we all got married tonight?” Bowen asked quietly.
“I can divide three ways. Or two.”
“What do you think?” Bodhi asked Nico. “I know I mentioned we could wait for a while and I could court you, but would you be willing to wed tonight?”
“Yes, and it’s good I bought a new dress,” she said, and Bodhi nearly blinked at the way her eyes sparked. “Let’s do it.” She tossed back her whiskey. “And since we’re all here, sisters,” she said to Langston and Ashni, “why not make it a triple?”
She stepped up, taking Bodhi with her. “Bring on the judge.”
“You’re crazy,” Bodhi mouthed. “And I’m crazy in love with you.”
He knocked back his whiskey but held on to his shot glass. “We may want another at the end of the night.”
Nico looked at Langston and Bowen, who conferred, her pale hair gleaming in the light. “Have you two decided?”
“We’re all in.” Langston tossed back her whiskey shot and stepped up holding Bowen’s hand. He tipped his glass back and shot Bodhi a WTF look.
“Us too.” Ashni handed Beck her shot. “You’ll need to drink for two now. You look like you need it.”
“Ash, are you sure? I know you said we could marry at the courthouse, but…”
“I mean it, Beck. You are all I want and need. Tonight is just for us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely.”
Ben Ballantyne looked at all of them.
“So all of you are getting married tonight?”
“Yes sir,” Bodhi, Bowen, and Beck all answered.
He looked at his daughters. “Looks like you all are getting a daughter tonight and even had a hand in planning the wedding. And this makes the next part less awkward.” Ben Ballantyne looked toward the entrance of the ranch. Several cars were heading toward Plum Hill.
“Right on time,” he said.
“What?”
Bodhi wasn’t sure who spoke. They were all confused, but since he was getting Nico and Granddad seemed more than content and was taking charge like he always did, Bowen didn’t care about anything else at the moment.
While they waited for the cars, the judge appeared along with the county clerk and a preacher. The clerk had paperwork, and they spent the next few minutes filling out forms. Beck was suggesting that he and Ashni FaceTime her parents. Ashni agreed, but before the call was placed, three Hummer limos lumbered toward the cabin and passengers began to disgorge. Ashni’s parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, including her cousin Reeva and new husband John back from their honeymoon. Everyone embraced her, all talking at once.
Bodhi’s heart soared. “Do you want to FaceTime your folks?” he asked Nico.
“They probably wouldn’t answer.”
“Let’s try. Give them the chance.”
“If they did answer, they’d just tell me to get a prenup.”
“I didn’t think of that,” he said. “Can we write up a quick one?”
“A lot of money and property is already in trusts and other methods to protect it legally even if I marry,” she said.
“So it’s a lot of money?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Can we just keep it where it is? It’s yours. I can take care of my wife.”
“I can take of myself,” Nico said, “and I don’t want to think of ends when we are having a beautiful and unexpected beginning.”
“Still, Ms. Improv. Say yes and…” Bodhi typed something on his phone and texted it to her. “I’m not sure if that’s totally legal, but I got a lot of witnesses showing that what’s yours is yours.”
“You are mine, Bodhi Ballantyne. You’re all I want.”
“I want you to know that I’m so in love with you, and that I can and will take care of my wife and my family.”
“I know,” she said. “You should know that I too will take care of you and our family with my last breath.”
The band started playing ‘Yours’ by Russell Dickerson. The preacher spoke a few words about marriage and then Bodhi watched his cousin marry Lang. Then it was his turn. He hadn’t had a chance to write up any vows, but he spoke from the heart and Nico did too, and when he kissed her, he knew that home was no longer just Three Tree Ranch. Now home was a woman, his wife, Nico Steel Ballantyne.