My Cowboy Sweetheart Bonus Scene
Stormy
The ranch is finally peaceful after the noises of the day. Today is Valentine’s Day and it started with the kids running and playing outside right before it was time to leave for school, then tracking muddy footprints through the house thanks to a surprise rain.
After I got them cleaned up, my sister came by to take them to school since we take turns carpooling. But as my oldest son walked out the door, he tossed a ball inside that our dog chased. His paws slid on the floor, and he crashed into a table, breaking a vase and the mug of coffee I hadn’t had time to finish.
I don’t mind the noise or the mess. It’s sweet chaos. It’s part of having a life that’s better than anything I could have dreamed of.
Now it’s early evening, and the kids are cuddled up on the sofa with their grandparents while watching their favorite animated movie.
I wrap a sweater around me and step out onto the porch, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. I hear cattle and horses. I hear the voices of our ranch hands. Then I hear the best sound of all.
Kannen’s voice.
He motions me forward. “Come with me.”
“Did you lie to me?” I ask as I walk toward his outstretched hand.
His hand closes around mine. Strong. Dependable. Like he is.
“With a straight face and a smile,” he answers.
He’d told me he was working late and I hadn’t questioned it. Life on a ranch doesn’t always go by a schedule. We could plan a night out and then something happens. It could be a problem with the livestock or fixing machinery or an issue with the feed. Being a cowboy’s wife is unpredictable, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“Chilly?” he asks.
I shake my head, then point to the sky. “Look how bright the stars are.”
He looks up, then smiles at me, and my heart flutters the way it has since long before we married. It’s been a little over eight years and he’s still the same handsome, sexy cowboy he was then. He still treats me like I’m the only woman in the world.
He listens when I speak like every word I say is a nugget of gold. And when I want something, he makes it happen.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we walk past our backyard.
“Be patient.”
“That’s not my strong suit,” I say.
“You think I don’t know that?” he teases. “Last night when you were moaning my name and demanding I take you, I knew you still hadn’t learned patience.”
I laugh, though I feel heat flooding my cheeks. This man drives me wild with need with every touch.
“Close your eyes,” he says.
When I don’t comply because I’m too busy looking at him, he steps behind me and puts his hand over my eyes.
His mouth grazes my ear. “I thought you liked it when I tell you what to do,” he says.
“You know I do.”
He kisses the side of my neck. “Then keep walking.”
His arm comes around my waist, and he guides me forward with his body brushing mine. It’s clear how our closeness affects him physically.
“Mmm…I feel that. Is that my Valentine’s gift you packed?”
“No, I always carry that for you, and you can unwrap it later tonight. But for now…okay, stop walking.” He lowers his hand.
An old horse-drawn wagon waits by a fence surrounding one of the pastures. Battery operated lanterns are attached to the sides of the wagon and the faux flames flicker.
Kannen leaps onto the back of the wagon in one move, then leans over to pull me up. A quilt covers the bed of the wagon and rose petals cover the quilt.
“They’re not real,” he says, scooping up a handful of petals and brushing them aside. “Sit here.” He pulls a small gift bag closer after I settle. “Open it,” he urges.
I open the bag and remove a jewelry box. “Is it another engagement ring?”
Beginning right after he graduated from high school, Kannen would buy an engagement ring every time he saw one he thought I might like. That’s how long this man has loved me and he waited for years, never giving up.
“Just open it,” he urges.
I flip open the box. Nestled inside is a gold bracelet with butterflies made of diamonds. “Kannen! Where…how?” This looks expensive.
“I took some of those other engagement rings and had the jewelry store design this using those diamonds.”
He runs his thumb across my trembling lip. “I know how much you love seeing the butterflies in the summer.”
“I do love butterflies. I love how their transformation from cocoon to freedom mirrors my life.” Because of Kannen, I learned that love could transform a heart that was bruised and scarred. I learned how to live the kind of life I wanted thanks to his love.
He fastens the bracelet around my wrist then cups my face between his hands. “Today might be a day people use to celebrate love, but I celebrate our love every day of my life.”
And he does. It’s in the way he treats me. The way he protects me. The way he never lets me forget that I’m his everything. There are times when I look back to the days before we married and recall how lonely and afraid I was.
My heart desperately yearned for what I have now, but after what I’d experienced, I didn’t think it would happen to me. I’m glad I was wrong.
“I love you to the stars and all the way back home to the ranch,” I tell him, saying the phrase we always say.
“I know. I’m lucky you took a chance on me.” He pulls me into his lap and runs his fingers along my jaw. “And I’m grateful for the life we’ve built.”
I lean toward him for a kiss and he kisses me thoroughly, hungrily. His desire for me has never waned.
When we pull apart, he runs his fingers through my hair and murmurs, “Since my parents are with the kids, we should stay out past our bedtime.” He grins and toys with the buttons on my shirt. “And spend the night here under the stars.”
“My naughty cowboy,” I pretend to scold him.
“You wouldn’t have it any other way,” he says. “You like all my naughty bits.”
“So very much,” I say as he pulls me close and kisses me again.
Though the romance of tonight is a sweet gesture, and I love the bracelet, I don’t need special gifts to celebrate our love. Being with my cowboy sweetheart under the stars of a Texas sky is all I’ll ever want.
