Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) (24 page)

“I wish I was as strong as you are,” Katie whispered, her hand coming
to rest on his cheek. “And you’re right. We live and we learn. That’s all I’m
tryin’ to do as well.”

“I love you,” Dalton told her with conviction. “I don’t care what you
do for a living. I fell in love with you. Not your job. I’d be lyin’ if I said
I was okay with you going back to that life, but if it’s a deal breaker, we’ll
learn to live with it. I only want to make you happy.”

“I don’t want to do it. I never want to go back to that, but I’ll do
what is necessary to survive. It’s what I’ve trained myself to do. I’m in it to
survive.”

“You don’t have to do it anymore. You don’t have to survive on your
own. I’m here. I want to be here.” Propping his head up on his hand and staring
down at her, he cupped her face with his other hand. “Marry me, Katie.”

Her eyes never left his, and she didn’t jump out of the bed as he had
thought she would. The next words that came out of her mouth surprised him.

“Tell me you love me, Dalton.”

“I love you, Katie,” he replied without hesitation.

“I come as a package deal,” she explained, nodding toward the bedroom
door.

“I know. I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she whispered.

“Positive.” Dalton leaned down and pressed his lips to hers softly
before pulling back. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Lexi. I
want us to raise our baby together. I want to spend every night with you in my
bed. And most important, I want to grow old with you, Katie. You’re my
everything. I’ve known that since the day I met you.”

Katie’s eyes dropped to his mouth briefly before sliding back up. Dalton
held his breath, waiting for her to answer.

“Ask me again.”

For a brief second, he was confused, but then it dawned on him what she
was referring to.

“Will you marry me, Katie Renee Clarren? Be my wife, the mother of my
children. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”

“Yes,” she said confidently, her soft fingers coming up to brush over
his cheek. “I’ll marry you.”

Dalton was pretty sure he was going to cry. His heart had possibly
exploded from the sheer, overwhelming relief he felt.

“Under one condition,” Katie added.

Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat, Dalton nodded,
waiting for her to continue.

“We don’t tell anyone for a little while. I want to let Tessa have her
day. She deserves it.”

“Agreed,” he replied, exhaling sharply. “But will you and Lexi move in
with me? I don’t want to spend a minute away from you.”

Katie didn’t answer him right away, and Dalton’s fear began to ratchet
up again.

“Yes, we’ll move in. It might take a few weeks. We’ll have to work with
Lexi, make sure she’s on board.”

“Understand.”

Katie lifted her other hand, cupping his face in both of her hands, and
Dalton could tell she had something she wanted to say. She’d already agreed to
move in and to marry him, so he couldn’t imagine what was left, but he wanted
to hear it. Whatever it was.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked when she didn’t start talking for long
moments.

“I owe you an apology, Dalton.”

Dalton’s heartbeat accelerated. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was
going.

“I get scared easily. And I think that’s what happened with you. I fell
in love with you so quickly, and I hadn’t let you in. Didn’t share my secrets.
When I broke things off, I swear it was to protect you. You’re the best man
I’ve ever met. And honestly, I’ve dreamed of this. Dreamed that things would
work out. I was the one who was wrong. You never gave me any reason not to
trust you, but I turned my back. Out of fear.”

“I’m here now, Katie. And I’m never going anywhere. Do you understand
that?” Dalton watched as the tears formed in her eyes.

“I do,” she answered. “I really do. I promise you, I’ll never hurt you
like that again.”

“I don’t need an apology, Katie. Really. I just want you in my life.
That’s all I need.”

“Well, I’m here,” she answered, a smile fixing on her lips. “We’re
here. Forever if you’ll have us.”

Dalton returned her smile. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Two weeks
later

Dalton felt the excitement seeping into his blood. Strange how this
moment was landing right up there with the top ten most memorable moments of
his life.

“What do you think, Lex?” Katie asked when Dalton pushed open the door
and the little girl stepped inside.

“Yay!” Lexi squealed, clapping her hands together with glee.

“You really like it?” Dalton asked, relieved.

“It’s awesome,” Lexi said, running over to the bed and jumping on it.

“You did good,” Katie told him as she peered over her shoulder at him.

Dalton moved up to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist as he
watched Lexi check out her new bedroom.

For the past two weeks, Dalton had worked with Katie and Lexi to put
together the design. He had hired a local guy to come in and paint the mural on
the wall, had another resident of Devil’s Bend make the bed especially for
Lexi. And together, he and Katie had set it all up.

Three walls had been painted light green; one had a huge mural of
horses running in a pasture. The curtains were dark so that the sun could be
blocked out if needed, but when left open, the sun lit up the room, making it
look every bit as cheerful as Dalton had hoped.

Even with Lexi’s help, he had been worried that the little girl might
change her mind. But Sarah, Katie’s roommate who Dalton had been introduced to
when he’d first started this process, had assured Dalton that she wasn’t going
to give him an argument. According to Sarah, Lexi was just as excited about
their lives meshing as he was, which had made him feel marginally better.

But now, seeing Lexi’s radiant smile as she admired her new bedroom put
him completely at ease.

“I’ve got another surprise for you, Momma,” Dalton whispered to Katie,
taking her hand. “We’ll be right back, Lex. Okay?”

“Okay.” Lexi didn’t seem to be at all worried that they were stepping
out, so Dalton tugged Katie’s arm, pulling her back into the hallway and
leading her down to the next room. He must’ve been thinking ahead when he’d
built the house because he’d included three upstairs bedrooms in his plan, the
master the only bedroom on the main floor, and in the coming months, they were
all three going to occupied.

Sarah was going to move in with them for a few months, mainly to ensure
that Lexi’s routine wasn’t disrupted too much, but also to save her a little
money while she finished her degree. And Dalton felt significantly better
knowing that Sarah would be there when his tour kicked off in July. They’d set
up a shorter version than the last one, which would include Cooper and
Cheyenne, with Brett as an opener at all the shows. He fully intended to be
home when the baby was born, so they had managed to keep the tour in the South
and limited it to fifteen major venues. That was something else that had been
finalized in the last couple of weeks.

“Close your eyes,” Dalton instructed Katie, letting her move in front
of him, coming to stand by the closed bedroom door.

“They’re closed,” she informed him.

Dalton gripped the knob, turned it, and pushed the door open, urging
Katie to move two steps forward.

“Open ’em,” he told her.

“Oh, Dalton. It’s…” She turned to face him, cupping his face in her
palms. Dalton leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers.

“You like it?”

“It’s lovely,” she answered.

Dalton allowed her to pull away and watched as she moved around the
room, her fingers sliding over the dresser, the changing table, and then the
crib.

They hadn’t picked out a name yet, but they had learned at Katie’s last
appointment that they were having a boy. He still remembered that day so
vividly.

“Hear that?” the doctor asked, smiling at them both.

“Yeah,” Katie whispered.

“That’s his heartbeat.”

Dalton knew his eyes looked like saucers as he stared back at the
doctor. Not only was he hearing their baby’s heartbeat, but the doctor just
said…

“Did you just say boy?” Katie asked, her voice wobbling slightly.

“I did,” the doctor confirmed, using an arrow on the screen to point to
a particular area that looked like nothing more than a blur of black and white
to Dalton. “There’s no doubt about it. It’s a boy.”

There was no doubt about it, the doctor had said, which was why Dalton
had gotten to work having the nursery set up. He had actually cheated, going
through magazines with Katie, letting her pick out the bedding and the
furniture without letting on that he was going to make the purchase.

With Sarah’s help distracting Katie, he’d had it all set up and
completed in one day.

When Katie walked back over to him, there were tears glistening in her
soft gray eyes, and Dalton felt an answering emotion bubble up in his chest. “I
love you, darlin’,” he whispered.

“Have I mentioned how much I like it when you call me that?” she
replied.

Dalton smirked. “I kinda figured it out.”

“Did ya now?” Katie replied with a laugh.

“I did. Come on, let’s go check on Lexi.”

Dalton led Katie back to Lexi’s room. Lexi was sitting on her bed
watching television. Dalton glanced over to see the opening credits for
Frozen
coming across the screen. Lexi spared them a quick look, but her attention
immediately reverted to the television.

“Hey, Lex, we’re gonna be downstairs, okay?”

Lexi nodded.

Once they were back downstairs, Dalton went for the recliner, pulling
Katie down beside him.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked her when she remained quiet.

“I’m still just a little in shock.”

“I’m gonna take that as a good thing.”

Katie linked her fingers with his. “The best possible way.”

“We’ve got Coop’s weddin’ coming up in a week,” Dalton informed her.
“I’ll give them three days after that, since they’re foregoing a honeymoon
right now. But after that, I’m gonna make the announcement.”

“I’m surprised you can wait that long,” Katie teased.

“I am, too. Trust me. It ain’t easy.” Dalton cupped Katie’s jaw with
his hand, turning her head to the side so he could see her face completely.
“You still good with this?”

She nodded, more tears glistening in her eyes. “This is more than I
ever anticipated. I’ve spent my entire life watching as my dreams vanished
right before my eyes. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m really
awake. I hate to say this, but it feels too good to be true at times.”

Dalton kissed the tip of her nose and smiled. “I know, darlin’. I’ve
felt the same way. But just think, while those old dreams disappeared, new ones
were left in their place. Now it’s time we start realizing those dreams. No
more livin’ in the past.”

Katie nodded, glancing around the room.

Dalton looked up, following her gaze. For two weeks, Dalton hadn’t been
the only one working. Katie had managed to turn his sparsely furnished house
into a home. There were pictures decorating the walls, flowers in vases, rugs
and accessories scattered about. She had made it her mission to bring their
lives together in one place, and he couldn’t be happier.

Then again, if he only had Katie, Lexi, and the baby in his life, he
could live without all the other stuff. Because in the end, they were all that
mattered. They were the beating heart that kept him going.

The rest … well, the rest of those things were just accessories.

When Dalton walked in the door of The Rusty Nail, he was accosted by
the familiar scents that he would always associate with his favorite place:
cigarette smoke, a combination of perfume and cologne, all varieties, plus the
distinct aroma of beer. The place was busy for a Wednesday night, just as he
had anticipated. Not wall-to-wall bodies like would be there on the weekend,
but there was a crowd, and tonight, like most nights, he didn’t mind.

“Hey! There he is!” a voice sounded from behind the bar.

Dalton met the sturdy gaze of Jack as he stood waiting for Dalton to
approach.

“Dalton!” Tessa squealed as she came toward him, squeezing past a
couple of cowboys chatting near the bar.

“Hey, lady,” he greeted when she threw her arms around him.

“Are they home?” she asked.

Dalton’s lips tilted up into the same wide grin he’d been sporting for
the last three days. “Yes, ma’am. Safe and sound.”

“So why are you here?” Cooper asked as he joined them.

“To celebrate. What else?”

“To celebrate?” Cooper asked incredulously.

“Fine. She kicked me out,” Dalton said, laughing. “I think I was
hovering just a little too much.”

“Well, regardless of why you’re here, I’ve got just the thing to
celebrate this special occasion,” Eric stated as his head disappeared down
below the bar.

When he stood back up, he had a wooden box in hand. Lifting the lid, he
spun it around so Dalton could see its contents.

Cigars.

Just what the moment warranted. Not that Dalton smoked cigars, nor did
he have any plans to start now, but he wasn’t going to tell Eric that.

Cooper came over and slapped Dalton on the back. “Congrats, man. That
baby boy is beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Dalton said, his grin still plastered on his face.

Since the moment his little boy had been born, Dalton wasn’t sure he’d
stopped smiling. Katie’s labor hadn’t been easy, but there hadn’t been any
complications, and after eleven hours and twenty-one minutes, they’d been
holding their son in their arms.

Tanner Jacob Calhoun.

“So why aren’t you at home with momma and baby?” Tessa asked Dalton.
She looked over her shoulder and nodded her head at Eric briefly before turning
back to face him.

“I’m givin’ Katie a break. She’s exhausted.”

“It’s just the beginning, my friend,” Brett added.

“And you know this how?” Cooper asked the newest member of their group.
Ever since Dalton’s last tour with Cheyenne and Cooper that had ended just two
weeks ago, Brett Basson had become a regular fixture in Devil’s Bend. And by regular,
Dalton meant the guy was there every single day. He had worked out an agreement
with Jack and was renting Jack’s house, the one Tessa had been living in before
she’d moved in with Cooper.

“I’ve got nieces and nephews, man,” Brett retorted, his eyes sliding
over to Jack briefly before dropping to the beer bottle he held in his hand.

Dalton studied the two men briefly. He wasn’t inclined to believe that
something was going on between those two yet, but he got the feeling that
things were heading that way. If they thought no one had noticed the attraction
they had for one another, then the light was clearly off in that closet they
were hiding in. Because even Dalton saw it. And he wasn’t one to notice shit
like that generally.

Eric walked around the bar, six beer bottles dangling between his
fingers. Everyone reached for one, including Jack, who had waltzed out from
behind the bar to join them, as well.

“A toast,” Eric announced.

Everyone lifted their bottles, but no one said anything. They were all
glancing around.

“Someone’s gotta make the toast,” Eric announced, laughing.

“Usually when you announce a toast, it means you’ve got this,” Cooper
informed the bartender.

“Oh, shit. Sorry. I’ve got nothin’,” Eric stated with a grin.

“I got this,” Dalton said, meeting the gazes of each of his friends
before he continued. “To dreams. Whether you’re chasin’ them, lettin’ go of
them, or creatin’ new ones, never give up.”

“Hear, hear,” Cooper stated, tapping his beer bottle to Dalton’s.
Everyone else followed suit, clanking their bottles and tipping them back.

Dalton watched his friends, grateful. “All right, y’all. I’ve gotta
head back. My wife’s gonna need my help.” Handing off his beer to Jack, Dalton
hugged Cooper, clapping the guy on the back. When he stood back up, Tessa
approached, throwing her arms around his neck. He leaned down to her ear and
whispered, “I doubt I was the only one who noticed you didn’t drink any of that
beer.”

Tessa released her grip on him, and when he met her gaze, he saw her
smile. “There’s a time and place for every announcement. Katie gave me my day;
I’m gonna give her hers.”

Dalton nodded his understanding and then tipped his hat at his friends.
“Check y’all later.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dalton was walking into his house. The first
person to greet him was Lexi, the second was Cowboy, one of the puppies that
Lexi had recently adopted as her own.

“Dalton!” Lexi squealed, running toward him. Dalton braced himself and
leaned over, wrapping his arms around her when she hugged him around the waist.
“You’re home. Sissy’s in the livin’ room.”

“Is the baby awake?” Dalton asked when Lexi released him.

“Yep,” she said, nodding her head emphatically. “Come on, Cowboy,” Lexi
said to the dog. “Let’s go play in my room.”

Dalton watched as Lexi hopped up the stairs, the little black and brown
mutt following close on her heels. When she disappeared at the top, he made his
way to the living room to see his wife sitting in the recliner, their
three-day-old son nestled in her arms.

“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted, leaning down and kissing her upturned mouth
before pressing his lips to Tanner’s tiny little forehead. “How’s he doin’?”

“Great,” she whispered. “He just finished eating.”

Dalton squatted down beside the chair, gently rubbing his hand over
Tanner’s downy-soft head. He watched the baby sleep before meeting Katie’s
gaze. “Have I mentioned just how much I love you?”

“Maybe once or twice,” she said with a sheepish grin. “But I don’t mind
hearin’ it again.”

Dalton smirked. God, he loved this woman.

He’d gone from being single and on the road to having a family in a
matter of months. Funny how he had originally thought that a music career was
what he was destined to do after his dreams of going into the FBI had vanished.
But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was his dream
all along.

“I love you, darlin’,” Dalton whispered to his wife, sliding his thumb
along her smooth cheek.

Katie leaned into his touch and whispered right back. “I love you, too,
baby.”