It occurred to Carolyn as she sat in the courtroom that she was indeed loved.
Her brother sat to her left and Carter sat to her right. She couldn’t get Carter to face forward and stop staring down Richard who had been released on $100,000 bail from his assault and battery charge and was now here to defend his assets in the divorce. Carter was worse than Jester with those darn squirrels. But with him between her and her ex, the judge’s restraining order and Carolyn’s inner confidence that she was one badass firearm-wielding fashionista, even the memories of what Richard had done to her couldn’t cow her now. And as a bonus, if Richard was convicted of the felony charges next week at his trial back in Texas, no one was going to have to worry about him for a long time.
“And to your request, Mr. Helmsworth, to be granted half of all your ex-wife’s liquid assets—your request is…denied.”
Richard looked her way, his expression filled with rage—until he saw Carter and quickly faced forward again. Seeing Richard still made her stomach drop in instinctive fear, but she pushed back the panic. With his final bid to get his hands on Carolyn’s money thwarted, it looked like she was going to be able to open Carolyn Ashford Designs after all, and it was time to start thinking about her new life and all the amazing things in store.
Speaking of amazing things, she had two new sisters sitting just behind them, and she was working on getting to know both Rayna and Sara, discovering that having sisters was going to be a whole lot more fun than she’d anticipated.
And then there was Kyle, sitting just to her right. Carolyn might not have experienced unconditional love from her parents, but her brother had always reached a hand out to her, and she was finally in a place where she could grasp his love and hold tight.
“Congratulations, Miss Future Business Owner,” Carter whispered in her ear, and then he kissed her temple.
She turned her face up to him, taking a second just to catch her breath again at how handsome he was, how virile and moreover, how strong—inside and out. Witnessing Carter being willing to grow and begin to heal from his wounds, being willing to let go of the past and reach for the future, she found the same kind of healing was possible for her. “I love you, Carter.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d told him since the night they’d made love in the attic, but he still smiled the same way every single time. Like they had personally discovered the meaning of life and it was their little secret. “I love you, beauty.”
They watched Richard and his lawyer walk from the room, and Kyle squeezed Carolyn’s shoulder. “You did it, sis. That asshole is in your past now. He’ll never hurt you again. So are you ready to come home now?”
Rayna leaned over the bench, still having way too much fun seeing her oldest friend getting cozy with her soon-to-be sister-in-law. She slapped Carter on the shoulder. “Methinks somebody is going to stick around New York for a while, huh, Carter?”
“Actually…” Carolyn said, squeezing Carter’s thick, working-man hand, “I’ll be going back to Halston Ranch to finish the portfolio for the spring fashion show. I do my best work there. Something about my muse being inspired.”
“And her muse is named Carter Halston,” Sara chimed in from behind them. Earning a snicker from the peanut gallery.
Kyle frowned in that way that put a wrinkle between his brows. “Stay in ‘Nowhere’, Texas? That’s what you called it when you got there.” Then he glanced to his fiancée. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m sure it’s a great place to grow up.”
Rayna shrugged. “Just wait until she experiences a West Texas summer. Don’t worry, Kyle, your sister will come running back.”
Carter laughed. “Jeez, Rayna. With friends like you, who needs enemies?”
Carolyn squeezed his knee. “We’ll be staying here for the month when we come out for the fashion show. Carter promoted Jeff to ranch manager, so he should be able to travel a little more with me when he feels like it.”
“He was my dad’s right-hand man for twenty years,” Carter said. “He deserved the promotion. And I don’t mind getting off the ranch with Carolyn. I have to admit, this whole fashion thing is growing on me.”
She glanced at the dark gray suit he’d worn for court and instantly wished to have her cowboy back in his usual clothes. “God, I hope not. Have you seen the way this man fills out a pair of jeans?”
They made their way out of the courtroom, and Carolyn turned to her brother. “Hey, Kyle…” she said, just remembering, “don’t you owe my cowboy some money for taking me in?”
Kyle looked confused. “Money? He said he’d do it if I bought him a beer.”
Carolyn’s eyes widened and she looked at Carter. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended. What about ‘I can’t be with you Carolyn, your brother is paying me, I’m a professional’ and all that crap?”
Carter’s lips thinned and he smoothed a hand over his hair. “Hmm…can I suggest flattered?”
Carolyn slapped him on the rump then linked her arm through his.
Carter glared at Kyle and held up two fingers, then mouthed, “Two. I want two beers now.”
At the bottom of the long, wide steps of the courthouse, Carolyn’s driver stood with Jester. When the border collie saw her, he went up on two legs and barked, pulling at his leash as though he hadn’t seen her in days instead of just a couple of hours. The bedazzled pink bandana around his neck cast rainbow sparkles on the steps from thirty feet away.
“Woman…” Carter growled. “What have you done to my dog?”
“You said he was my dog as long as I was at the ranch.”
Carter stopped, letting the rest of the family continue on as he took Carolyn in his arms. “Good point. And what would you think about a lavender one with red rhinestones, like in a skull pattern?”
“Keep your day job, cowboy,” she teased, but her snicker was cut short by his passionate kiss.
She reveled in the strength of his arms and the strength of his love. Carter had taken a chance on her and in doing so, had given her the greatest gift she’d ever known—a belief in love itself and a surety that she would always love and be loved by this man.
Looking back at the day she first met Carter Halston, she never could have imagined that when she stepped out of the car in her Braleo heels in the middle of Nowhere, Texas, she was finally home.