It was controlled chaos in the campaign office of one Sheriff Bren Connelly. The final moments had kicked down and at any second a winner would be declared.
“Well, if we don’t pull this off, it won’t be for lack of trying,” said Jerry, the man sweating even though it was a cool June evening.
“If we don’t pull this off, I’m never hiring you again,” Bren said, resplendent in his black sheriff’s uniform. Around him were a number of his deputies, and even though it really shouldn’t surprise her, Lauren was touched by the support. They had no way of knowing if Bren would win. Everyone had known it would be a tight race, and it had been. Right now the polls showed Bren leading by a narrow 5 percent margin, but that could change.
She glanced at the clock.
“Relax, honey, I’ve got this.”
She glanced up at the man she loved and knew he did have this. Whatever the outcome was, they would be okay.
“I just wish it were over already,” she admitted.
“It will be soon,” said her brother, coming up to stand alongside her. He’d recently returned from yet another one of his business trips. The last one for a while, he’d promised. She hoped so, because she’d set up a surprise. She’d be moving out of the apartment soon and in with Bren. She didn’t want Jax rambling around in his big old home all by himself, so she’d suggested he hire a housekeeper/cook, a woman named Naomi Jones who came highly recommended. He would grumble when she told him about the interview she’d set up, but he had no choice. She wanted her brother to be happy, and it just so happened that Naomi was gorgeous. Bren said she was trying to matchmake. Kyle wasn’t so couth. He’d called her a pimp. She’d threatened to wash his mouth out with soap.
A hand slipped into her own.
“Whatever happens,” he said for her ears only.
“Whatever happens.”
It’d become their slogan in recent weeks. She looked up and smiled. He clutched her hand so hard the brand-new two-carat diamond ring that still felt strange on her finger must have left a dent in his own palm. She knew then that he wasn’t as blasé as he might seem.
Whatever happened.
They’d done everything they could to help him win. Jerry had been a miracle worker. When they’d announced to the world that they were a couple, Jerry had immediately gone to work. He’d enlisted the aid of a PR strategist, a woman named Emily who’d worked her butt off to take care of damage control. As it turned out, there was no damage. The citizens of Via Del Caballo were a lot more laid-back about their age difference than they’d given them credit for. Sure, there’d been a few snickers here and there, but nobody had really cared and Emily had made sure that the citizens of Via Del Caballo all knew that she was about to graduate in the fall with a bachelor of science in nursing.
“Here it is!”
It was Kyle who’d called the words, her son peering intently up at the television screen in the one-room office that used to be a deli.
“And in a tight race for the seat of Via Del Caballo sheriff, incumbent Bren Connelly earned 62 percent of the votes, narrowly beating out challenger Hank Cresta.”
People screamed. Bren was immediately clapped on the back by one of his deputies. Someone pulled her into their arms. Natalie, she realized. The whole Reynolds clan had shown up and offered support. Lauren thought it seemed like a dream.
He’d won.
He’d really won.
Someone started chanting, “Four more years. Four more years.” Soon the whole room was shouting the words. Bren pulled her into his arms.
“Well,” he asked, “what do you say? You want to do this again in four years?”
She slipped her hands around his waist, holding him tight. “I’m willing to do it for as long as you like.”
His eyes glinted and she knew his mind had gone down a road she hadn’t intended. She laughed. He did, too, and then he was kissing her and the crowd went crazy for a whole other reason when Kyle cried out, “Mo-om!”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S VALENTINE BRIDE by Patricia Johns.
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