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His dark eyes, warm with love, gazed up at her. He stroked his hand over her long hair as he murmured, “And I just couldn’t resist rolling you in them.”
Blushing, she grinned. “Isn’t that something you’re supposed to do in hay?”
He looked up, considering this, then made a face. “I suppose you’re right, but since there’s no hay around, I had to improvise with something else that was readily at hand.” He winked. “Besides, doesn’t matter where we are . . . I can’t resist you.”
Which, Jo admitted silently as she leaned down and kissed him, was the honest truth.
Two years had passed since she’d stood in this same field and watched Brooks emerge from the tree line bordering his property, leaving the racetrack and his feud with Spencer Harris behind to join her at Lone Oaks Crossing. She’d been overjoyed at his return and all too eager to join her life with his. It had only taken a few dates and many, many stolen kisses during each workday on the farm before Brooks had finally proposed and a mere fraction of a second before she’d accepted.
Three months later, Lone Oaks Crossing hosted its first double wedding as she and Brooks had happily celebrated the same wedding day as Earl and Frankie. The celebration couldn’t have been more perfect. Cheyenne had served as maid of honor for both Jo and Frankie at a small ceremony witnessed by their closest friends. There’d been cake—and kisses—for days, and Jo had never been happier.
And Brooks . . . well—she grinned as she kissed him more deeply—he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. She snuggled closer to him, a tender pleasure blooming right where the slight swell of her soft belly pressed against his lean hips, her lips curving in a smile as she thought of the secret she’d only just discovered this morning. She’d tell him tonight.
Excitement bubbled up within her, sending a delicious shiver through her. Their little family was growing. Would they have a boy or a girl? A daughter with her blue eyes and stubborn chin? Or a handsome son with his dashing features and gentleman’s soul?
“Mmm.” His sensual mouth moved gently against hers. “You think they’ll miss us if we sneak off for a little while?”
“I doubt i—”
“Yes! I’d notice!” Two turquoise boots shuffled across the carpet of fall leaves and stopped inches from them. Cheyenne glared down at them, her hands on her hips—but her lips twitched and there was a humorous glint in her eyes. “We just finished raking these things up and here y’all go mussing ’em up. It’ll take forever to get them back in a decent pile again.”
Brooks’s broad chest vibrated against hers as he chuckled. “Nah. We’ll have ’em up in a jiff. Besides, you better be extra special nice to us, or we won’t take you for your first driving lesson.”
Cheyenne’s demeanor changed instantly. “Whatever you say, parental units.” Smiling, she held up her hands and backed away, then spun on her heel and strolled toward the back deck of the main house. “Wallow around in the dirty leaves all you want. Just call me to help finish raking them back up when you’re done.”
Jo stared after her, her mouth falling open. “It’s amazing what a sixteen-year-old will agree to do at the prospect of earning a driver’s license.”
“She’s a go-getter,” Brooks said. “Just like her mom.”
“Mom,” Jo repeated softly, still staring after Cheyenne, her heart fit to burst with the joy growing inside her. “I’m her mom . . .”
And in eight months, she’d be a mom to a brand-new baby created by the love she and Brooks shared.
One week after their wedding, they’d asked if Cheyenne wanted to be an official part of their family, and when she’d eagerly accepted, Jo and Brooks had initiated adoption proceedings and embraced her as their new daughter.
Brooks had consolidated his business and property with Earl’s and rebranded Original Sin as an extension of Lone Oaks Crossing. Though she, Brooks, and Cheyenne lived next door, they spent most of their time at the farm with Earl and Frankie, working with the new horses that continued to arrive for boarding or rehabilitation, and supervising the foster children from Dream House that they invited to intern in the stables. Lee and Nancy had rejoined them at Lone Oaks Crossing as well. Lee, eager to begin a new career as a trainer, had begun interning with Jo, and Nancy had partnered with Earl and Cheyenne to oversee the daily operations of the stable.
She and Brooks had a beautiful home, a beautiful daughter, and a beautiful life that would only get better.
“You’re a great dad,” she said softly, tracing his lower lip with her finger.
“And you’re a great mom,” Brooks said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He continued staring up at her, his dark gaze roving over her face. “Man, you’re beautiful—inside and out. The most gorgeous woman I’ve ever known.” He brushed his lips along her cheekbone, temple, and forehead. “You know, Earl told me once that what I had on the other side of those Oaks was a dream and that I should hold on to it tight.” Cradling her face in his hands, he smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks and whispered, “He was wrong. My dream was right here—on the other side of that tree line. And I never plan on letting you go.”
She smoothed his hair from his brow and glided her fingertips over the stubble lining his jaw. “Good. Because I’m never letting you go either.”
He smiled. “What do you say we let our daughter hang out with Frankie and Earl a little while and stay here a bit longer? Just you and me?”
“I’d say,” she whispered as she kissed him, “there’s no place I’d rather be.”
