Page 83 of River Wild

“Stuart,” she’d pleaded at one point, gathering up a handful of his hair to pull him up to her mouth so she could kiss him. He’d given her so much pleasure, but now she wanted him inside her. “Please.”

He had gently lowered himself on her, flesh to flesh, heart to heart. When he’d entered her, she’d felt both desire and relief. He made love to her, so different from her other nightmare memory that she felt it begin to fade. Stuart’s love would heal her, already had, she thought as he made her come yet again before letting himself go. They’d been breathing hard, looking into each other’s eyes and laughing. They done it. They’d found their way to each other against the odds.

She was smiling, cuddled against him, finally in that safe place she’d longed for. She wondered if he would resign as sheriff now or stay. She thought about her book. She could finally write that last chapter.

One day Stuart would ask her about his mother. Or maybe he’d wait until the book was published and read about it then. There’d been too many secrets, but some of them would be coming to light. She would weather that storm when it hit.

When she woke the next morning, she found him beside the bed on one knee. “Marry me, Bailey. I love you. You love me. We were made for each other.”

She’d nodded, smiling at him as he put the ring back on her finger before he crawled into bed, promising to love, honor and cherish her. Then he set about showing her exactly how he planned to do all three.

CJHADCONVINCEDhimself that his mother wouldn’t be coming back to the jail. Charlotte Stafford was no fool. Once Oakley told her about her visit to her brother, her mother would know for certain he couldn’t change.

That’s why he was so surprised when he was told he had a visitor and found his mother patiently waiting in the booth behind the Plexiglass partition. He sat down, picked up the phone, and saw that he was shaking. She’d offered him a chance to start over, to erase what he’d done, to change. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d want to try until that moment.

“You came back,” he said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice any more than he could the fear of why she’d come. Would she be so cruel as to offer him a way out and then take it back? That would have been something he might have done. The thought didn’t help.

“Have you had time to think over what we talked about?” she asked.

“I’ve done nothing but,” he said honestly.

“I believe in second chances,” she said. “Holden and I...well, we’re going to be seeing each other.”

He nodded. He’d wondered about her change of heart. He should have known it was Holden McKenna’s doing. He ground his teeth for a moment, having spent his life hating the man for hurting his mother, and worse, hating her for having a weak spot for the man even after he had broken her heart.

“You’ve always been in love with him,” he managed to say now that he knew where her generosity had come from. She was telling him that if he didn’t accept this and Holden, he could rot in jail the rest of his life.

“How do you feel about that?” She studied him with eyes so much like his own.

He knew he had to be honest. If he too readily accepted this turn of events, she’d know he was lying. “I can’t say I’ve ever liked him, but then again, he broke my mother’s heart by marrying someone else.” He met her gaze. “But if you can forgive him—”

“Forgiveness is a two-way street. I hurt him deeply too. I’m hoping our love, which has lasted all these years despite our...past, is strong enough to put all of that behind us.”

“Are you talking marriage?” he asked, having trouble even saying the words. “Where would you live? What would happen to the Stafford Ranch?”

He saw her expression and realized that he’d said too much.

“We aren’t to that point. We haven’t discussed any of this.”

His greatest fear was that the Stafford Ranch would be gobbled up by the McKenna Ranch, and Holden would take everything. CJ had dreamed of the day when he would run the ranch. That dream popped like a bubble. If the ranch was gone, what was there for him if he got off and was released? What was the point?

“What are you offering me?” he asked, unable to keep his anger or his frustration out of his voice.

“Your brothers, Brand and Ryder, have been running the ranch,” she said. “You would work with them, the three of you. I wouldn’t take the ranch away from my children.”

Work with Brand and Ryder? She had to be kidding. He’d run that ranch when they were still in diapers. “I see.” He did see. He wouldn’t go to prison, because his life would be a prison of its own.

He smiled. He knew exactly what he wanted to say.I do believe in second chances. But I’m going to have to pass. I’ve hired a lawyer. He’s probably not as good as one you could hire for me. Also, I wouldn’t have your clout behind me. But I think I’m going to take my chances.

Fortunately, he was too smart to say any of that. “Whatever you’re offering me, Mother, I’d like to take it. I want a future.” He was already thinking of the things he’d do if he was free. Going back to work the ranch wasn’t one of them. “Thank you.”

His mother smiled.

He couldn’t tell if she was convinced, because the two of them were a lot alike. But he knew that she couldn’t stand the thought of him spending years in prison. Also, how would it look for her and the family—especially if she really might get back together with Holden McKenna?

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, then put the phone back and rose.

He tried to look contrite, not too relieved but with just enough gratitude, before she walked out. He was gambling on her buying it because she wanted to so badly. He’d always been a gambler, he thought as he replaced his phone, smiling.

Not even his sister could change their mother’s mind, he told himself. Oakley had always been a thorn in his side. He’d deal with her when the time came. He was getting out of here, he told himself as the guard took him back to his cell. His future suddenly looked bright.Look out Powder Crossing, CJ Stafford is coming home.

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