Breakfast with a Cowboy (8 page)

Jennifer would probably be smiling. If she went
through with it, she would have done something impulsive, following her heart
instead of her head.

A gust of wind chose that moment to take her hair in
the air and then across her eyes. When she pushed it aside, she saw a lone wolf
sitting up on the mountain side.
 
Days
ago, she might have been scared, but now she stood looking at him.
 
He was beautiful. This whole place was
beautiful. Had Jennifer not requested she take the train journey in her place,
she wouldn’t have met Quinn, or ever seen this part of the world.

The wolf raised his head and howled.
 
Two wolf pups ran over and Josie guessed it
was mother and her babies.

If only she’d brought her camera or phone with her.

“Josie.”

She jumped. She hadn’t expected to hear Quinn’s voice.

She turned around. “Look, isn’t it a wonderful
sight?” she asked pointing at the wolf and pups.

He smiled and brought her hand up to kiss it.

“How did you find me here?” she asked
.
“
Instinct.
It’s where I come to think,” he said.

“Would there be any problem with me scattering
Jennifer’s ashes here?”

“None whatsoever.
Are
you sure?”

Josie nodded. “I know in my heart this is the place
she wants to spend eternity.”

Chapter
Ten

Quinn paced up and down. He’d never proposed before.
Hell, he didn’t even have a ring. Didn’t have any words worked out. But one
thing he did have a hell of a lot of, was love for this woman. He’d never been
a guy who believed in love at first sight, but if he was honest, he’d felt that
the minute he’d seen Josie on the train.

Once she’d made up her mind about her sister’s ashes,
he knew that meant she’d be back, that she felt something for the place where
he lived and that he wouldn’t be asking her to give up anything back in St.
Louis. This was no quick romance and a foolish mistake she’d regret somewhere
down the road.

He peeked into the kitchen. She was talking to
someone on her cell phone. He was breaking out in a sweat, knowing he had to do
it soon, because she had to go back to home in the morning. Maybe he should
phone his dad, his brothers and ask for any tips they had.

Shit, no, he wanted Josie to be the first person to
know he wanted her to be his wife. He stepped into the kitchen just as she was
finishing her call. He looked around. Not much of a place for a guy to ask you
to marry him, but if he didn’t do it now, he’d lose the courage.

“Josie.”

“Something wrong?”

Fuck, did he have a deer caught in the headlights
kind of look on his face?

He shook his head. On impulse to do this the right
way, he went down on one knee. He remembered his mom telling him his dad had gotten
down on his knees and proposed to her in some fancy restaurant in Helena. Did
guys still do this? He didn’t care, because this cowboy was still old-fashioned
about certain things.

Beckoning her over, he wondered if she knew what he
was about to do, or if he’d simply dropped something on the kitchen floor.
Damn, what if she said no and he was stuck down here like an idiot?

Think
positive.

He grabbed both her hands and looked up at her. “Josie,
I know we haven’t known one another that long. I’m not usually an impulsive
sort of guy, but…oh, for crying out loud…will you marry me?”

Getting down on her knees, she took his face between
his hands and kissed him. “Yes, I will. But you have to understand I won’t be a
stay at home wife, because I’ve just this minute gone into business in town.”

He sighed in relief. She was going to be his
wife…but wait a minute, business in town? Not that he had any problems with a
wife who worked outside the home.

“Business?”

She nodded. “You won’t have to go to Kalispell or
Missoula for your books anymore. I’m opening a book shop in Timber Creek. I
spotted an empty store while we were in town. I begin renting it the first of next
month.”

They stood and he pulled her in close. “So you really
like this place?” he asked.

“I love this place, but most of all I love a certain
cowboy.”

“Now I’ll have a wife to keep me warm in bed and a
whole bunch of great books to read while I’m in it. Of course, we’ll be doing a
whole lot of other things under the covers, too.”

“And I’d like to spread my sister’s ashes before I
go home and pack up to move to Timber Creek.”

“You want me to come with you? I mean I’ll
understand if you want to do it on your own.”

“You’re going to be her brother-in-law, so I think
she’d want you there.”

****

Josie let go of Quinn’s hand as they got to the top
of the ridge overlooking the mountain where she’d seen the wolf and her pups.
She took off the lid of the urn, handed it to him, and then let the wind take
Jennifer’s ashes into the air.

They travelled away from them going over the top of
the ridge and higher into the air. There was a wolf’s howl as her sister’s
remains flew into the sky.

Quinn put his arms around her and she rested her
head on his shoulder.

“I think she’s happy now.”

“I think she is, too,” said Quinn.

“Well, I better get packed and ready to leave,
because I have a wedding to organize and a store to open.”

They walked back down the ridge.

“And by the time you get back here I’ll have a ring
for you…I promise.”

“Have we thought about a honeymoon?” asked Josie.

“Cross country train ride sounds good to me.”

“Only if I can have breakfast
with a cowboy.”

The
End

www.vanessadevereaux.com

Other
Books by Vanessa
Devereaux
:

www.evernightpublishing.com/vanessa-devereaux

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www.evernightpublishing.com