Page 9 of The Christmas Cowboy

“Not beyond being reachable and standing up with me at the wedding. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

“Liam? I hope you don’t regret this.”

“I won’t.” He hoped. But he was keeping any doubts to himself.

Chapter Four

The next weekVal talked to Liam a number of times, including in person when he came to the ranch. She talked to Letty daily, but she tried her best not to talk to Riley. Of course, that didn’t work. On Wednesday he asked her to take a ride with him and though she knew he planned to talk to her about marrying Liam, and was worried about what he’d say, she couldn’t turn him down. Riley had always been there for her, and she felt she owed it to him to listen to what he had to say. Besides, she couldn’t avoid him forever.

They’d gone some distance before Riley said anything about the wedding. “Val, you need to be sure you want to marry Liam. If you’re just doing it because you’re pregnant and afraid to tell Dad, that’s not really a good reason to get married. Especially when Liam isn’t even the father.”

“I know that.” They stopped and dismounted, leading the horses behind them as they walked.

“I can help you with Dad. He’ll be upset but he’ll get over it.”

“Are we talking about the same father? You know he won’t.”

Riley didn’t disagree. “I’ll be there for you. So will Mom.”

“Please. You know Mom does whatever he wants her to do.”

“She wouldn’t let him kick you out.”

“Maybe not, but she couldn’t stop him from making my life a misery.”

“I still don’t think you should be forced into a marriage you don’t want.”

“I’m not being forced into anything. I want to marry Liam.”

He gave her an assessing look. “You sound like you have feelings for him.”

“I do.”

“So that part was true? You’ve had feelings for each other for a while now?”

“Riley, you know I love you, but this is really none of your business. I’m a grown woman and marrying Liam is what I’ve—we’ve—decided to do.”

“I think there’s a lot more to this than you’re letting on,” her brother said shrewdly. “But I’ll back off. If you need me, though, you know I’ll be here.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. Liam’s coming over later to talk to me about our plans.”

Of course there was more to it, Val thought after they returned and took care of the horses. Regardless of what she’d told Riley she knew she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. But aside from having to deal with her father, if she didn’t marry Liam, she might never get the chance to convince him that she was the woman for him, no matter how their marriage started out.

She just hoped she wasn’t cursing them to begin with by having another man’s child.

*

As it alwaysdid, Val’s heart beat faster when she saw Liam. He’d called her earlier and asked if they could meet. She’d known him since she was a tiny girl. She’d seen him in all sorts of situations. She’d seen him happy; she’d seen him sad. She’d seen him angry; she’d seen him calm. In fact, Liam was laidback the majority of the time. But not always.

She’d seen him with his animals and knew he had a deep love for all the animals in his care. But of course, his horses were special to him.

While her family raised paints, Liam raised quarter horses. Ranch horses as well as rodeo horses, his quarter horses were becoming well-known and sought after. But his family had run more cattle than horses until Liam started his breeding operation. It wasn’t new but it wasn’t long established either. She knew he was working his butt off to make it successful.

And she could help. She knew horses. She had been around them from birth. She was three years old when her father put her up on her first horse. According to Riley their mother had been furious. He said it was the only time he’d ever seen her stand up to their father. Somehow, though, their father had sweet-talked their mom into allowing Val to ride with him and it wasn’t long until she was riding on her own. With him close by, of course.

Val had waited for Liam in the barn, not wanting to announce his presence to her parents. He smiled when he saw her. “Hey. Can we go somewhere to talk?”

“Sure.” She led him outside and down the path to the closest pasture. It was twilight but she had her phone, so they’d be able to see on the way back.

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