My Cowboy Bodyguard Bonus Scene
Amanda
No state can bring on the middle of summer as well as Texas. Heat shimmers off the asphalt from the sun high in the bright blue sky. The breeze doesn’t offer any relief. Instead, it blisters across my skin, making me fan my face with my hand.
I’m sitting on a bench outside the ice cream shop across from the town’s main square park where the flowers Leo and I helped Claudia plant are in bloom.
Our seven-year-old son, Cameron, and our four-year-old daughter, Taylor, are inside the shop with my doting husband because he couldn’t stick to the “no desserts before dinner” rule.
He has a hard time saying no and can’t stand to see either of them cry. I know that’s because of the scars from our years in the Home where we were unloved and unwanted.
The door chimes as it opens and my family walks out carrying the frozen treats. Leo silently hands me a cone and we share a look of understanding before he glances at the park.
I nod, and we head that way. I love that about our marriage. How we can communicate without words.
Cameron is happily chatting about the hours he spent at his best friend’s house this morning when Taylor begins to cry and insists that he take her with him next time.
“Okay, okay. Stop crying. Have a lick,” he says, offering her a taste of his cone.
And just like that, Taylor is happy again, her little hand held securely in her brother’s.
Leo watches them for a moment, then says, “Seeing them sometimes makes me think about when you and I were kids and how different their lives are compared to that.”
I link our hands as we walk along the path behind our kids. “I do that, too. And I think what we went through made us determined to live happy lives and to make sure our kids grow up surrounded by love.”
With all Leo’s brothers, plus his parents, our kids have a huge family that dotes on them.
“River was just telling me this morning that he’s got a new puppy he wants to show the kids.”
Leo’s brother rescued and nursed so many animals back to health, that he could fill a pasture with them.
“Yeah, he told me that too,” I say. “You didn’t want them to go over there?”
Leo shakes his head. “He’s worse than the rest of my family when it comes to spoiling the kids. Why? Did you think they should go?”
I shrug and let out a long sigh. “I was thinking that if we dropped them off to see the new puppy then maybe you and I could visit our special spot by the river.”
“Our…oh!” Leo ditches his cone in a trash can. “Kids! Let’s go.”
“Taylor wants to see the fountain,” Cameron tells him.
“She’s seen it before. And it’ll still be there tomorrow. Come on.”
He starts herding them back the way we came.
Taylor’s lower lip starts quivering. “But I want to see the fishes.”
“Uncle River probably has fish. And he has a new puppy,” Leo finishes, spreading his arms wide like ta-da!
Our daughter jumps up and down. “Can we have it?”
Like we don’t already have a handful of dogs and kittens ourselves in the small home we’ve built on the land his father owns.
“No,” Leo says quickly.
He’s probably thinking of our newest addition, a Retriever that chewed up a pair of his boots as well as the leg of his favorite jeans.
Taylor’s shoulders slump.
Leo gives me that help me out here look. “Honey?”
I lean down and scoop her into my arms, balancing her on my hip. “The puppy needs to stay with River until it’s stronger.”
“Okay,” she says and accidentally rests her cone against my t-shirt.
“We need to take the kids to your brother, and then I’ll go home and change my clothes.”
I get that I’ll help you look from my husband and hide a smile.
Later, after we drop off the kids, we head home, and I walk into the bedroom to change.
Leo comes after me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “It’s too hot to ride out to our special spot.”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely,” he says, nuzzling the side of my neck.
“I think that’s the king talking,” I say, and he laughs at our private joke.
He turns me around and kisses my forehead, then hugs me tightly. “I’m so happy to be with you I feel like my heart can’t contain it all.”
“I know. I feel the same. We survived and we’re thriving in this life we’ve built together. You’ve given me everything I never dared to dream I could have.”
“You were always my dream,” he says.
“There is still something I want,” I give him a playful smile.
“What?”
“A big family.”
Understanding lights up his eyes. He lifts me and strides across the room to the bed. “You know how the king likes to grant your wishes.”
He kisses me and tells me how much I mean to him. How he’ll always guard my body and heart. It’s nice to hear but he doesn’t need to tell me that because I know Leo will always protect and love me. With him, I’m forever safe and treasured.
***
If you loved Leo and Amanda’s story, you’ll enjoy reading Flint and Arizona’s story in My Cowboy Boss!
