Brenda Harlen - The Maverick's Midnight Proposal

“Well, I could use some coffee,” Danny announced. “You want a cup?”

“Sure.” Luke warily eyed the programmable machine that could brew individual cups or full carafes. “If you can figure out how to use that thing.”

“It’s not as complicated as it looks. The harder task might be finding the coffee.”

But it turned out that Bella kept the coffee pods conveniently located in the cupboard directly above the coffee maker. When the coffee was brewed, they took their mugs to the table where Danny told his brother about his reunion with Annie and finally meeting Janie—his daughter.

“And the surprises keep coming,” Luke murmured.

“How do you think I felt?” Danny asked. “When I first discovered that Annie had a child, I assumed her husband—ex-husband now—was the father.”

“A reasonable assumption,” he agreed.

“When we left... I never even considered the possibility that Annie could be pregnant,” Danny admitted.

“You were eighteen,” Luke reminded him. “Most guys that age are only thinking about sex—not the potential repercussions of it.”

“And then I ran away, and I missed the first eleven years of my daughter’s life.”

Luke stared into his mug. “You didn’t run away,” he denied. “I ran away—and you and Bailey came with me.” And the fact that Danny had missed those eleven years with his daughter was one more thing Luke was responsible for. One more wrong he could never make right.

“But now you’re home,” Danny said, sounding genuinely pleased. As if he’d already forgiven Luke for everything he’d done.

But Danny didn’t know the half of it.

Chapter Three

“This isn’t my home,” Luke said, regretting that it was true. “Not anymore.”

“Then why are you here?”

He lifted his cup to his lips as he considered his brother’s question. It was the same question he’d asked himself countless times since he’d tossed his duffel bag into his truck and turned it in the direction of Rust Creek Falls.

He still wasn’t sure he knew the answer, so he responded with a simple if incomplete truth. “I got a call from Hudson’s PI.”

“Good to know the guy’s finally earned some of the big bucks our brother-in-law is paying him.”

“It looks like Hudson has a few bucks to spare,” Luke noted, turning his head to encompass the whole room.

“That he does,” Danny agreed. “Although it was actually Jamie’s wife who started the search last year. Fallon tracked down Dana in Oregon, but she hit a lot of dead ends after that and Hudson offered to take the lead.”

It was obvious to both of them that Bella’s husband had a lot more resources to throw at the task—and more success as a result.

“Over the years, I’d given a lot of thought to reaching out to our siblings, but I’m not sure I ever would have found the courage to come back if Bradford hadn’t made contact.”

“We’ve all been carrying a lot of baggage for a lot of years,” Danny noted. “Maybe it’s time to let it go and make a fresh start.”

It sounded like a good idea to Luke, but he wasn’t sure it was possible. “Was it that easy for you?” he asked.

“It wasn’t easy at all,” his brother said. “But it was necessary.”

Luke swallowed another mouthful of coffee.

“So how long are you planning to stay?” Danny asked.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” he admitted.

“There’s no specific date that you’re expected back in Wyoming?”

He shook his head. “My boss told me to take as much time as I needed.”

“Then you can stay for my wedding.”

He recalled Bella mentioning plans for a Christmas Eve wedding. “December 24 is still two-and-a-half weeks away.”

“Two-and-a-half weeks isn’t a lot of time after so many years,” his brother pointed out.

But if he was there for Danny’s Christmas Eve wedding, Luke suspected that Bella would insist he stay for Christmas and he wasn’t accustomed to celebrating the holidays. In fact, he hadn’t celebrated anything in a very long time.

Sensing his hesitation, Danny said, “It would mean a lot to me to have you there.”

“Bella and Hudson might not want me hanging around that long,” he warned.

“In this house, Bella and Hudson won’t even know you’re here,” Danny said.

“I’ll think about it,” he decided.

“Or maybe there’s another reason you don’t want to stay,” his brother allowed. “Maybe it’s not just cattle and chores waiting for you back in Wyoming.”

Luke looked at him blankly.

“Maybe there’s a special lady anxiously awaiting your return?” Danny suggested.

He immediately shook his head. “No, there’s no one in Wyoming.”

But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, an image of the pretty blonde from the doughnut shop popped into his mind. Eva. As pretty and sweet and tempting as the biblical figure for which she was named.

“No one in Wyoming,” Danny echoed curiously. “Does that mean there’s someone waiting for you somewhere else?”

Luke shook his head again, attempting to shake the image loose. “No,” he denied. “There’s no one at all.”

“That’s too bad.”

“I like being on my own, with no one to depend on me but me.”

“And no one to rely on but you, too,” Danny pointed out as he pushed away from the table and went to the refrigerator.

“It works for me,” he insisted.

“I thought it worked for me, too, but I was only kidding myself.” He pulled out the tray of snacks Bella had prepared and set it in the middle of the table. “I missed a lot of years with Annie and Janie, but I’m determined to make up for that now.”

“I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that you’re a father—to an eleven-year-old.”

“It’s been an adjustment for everyone,” Danny admitted. “And as much as I want to hate Hank—Annie’s ex—because he got to be there when Janie was born, to hold her as a baby, soothe her when she was crying, witness her first steps and take her to school on her first day, I can’t. The truth is, I’m grateful that he was there for them, because I wasn’t.”

“You didn’t know,” Luke reminded him.

His brother nodded, though he didn’t seem reassured by the fact. “Anyway, I can’t wait for you to meet her,” he said, the pride in his voice unmistakable. “She’s smart and funny and absolutely beautiful.”

“She must look like her mom, then,” Luke teased.

“That she does,” Danny agreed. “But the shape of her eyes and the stubborn tilt of her chin are just like our mom.”

Luke reached for a cube of cheese.

“Mom and Dad’s first grandchild.”

His brother nodded. “When I found out that Janie was my daughter, when I got over the shock, I couldn’t help but think of Mom and Dad—how they would have responded to the news that they were grandparents.”

“They would have been thrilled,” he said and popped the cheese into his mouth.

“Yeah,” Danny said. “But only after Dad kicked my ass into next week for getting Annie pregnant.”

“He would have done exactly that,” Bella said from the doorway.

Both Luke and Danny turned. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

“You were preoccupied with your journey down memory lane—without me,” she said, sounding just a little piqued.

“It’s a long road,” Danny pointed out. “And we only just got started.”

“I don’t really mind.” She settled into the empty chair between them. “I’m just so glad that you’re both finally home again.”

Luke felt something inside twist painfully. “Rust Creek Falls isn’t my home, Bella. Not anymore.”

She tipped her chin up and met his gaze squarely. “Of course it is,” she insisted. “And after you’ve spent some time here, you’ll realize it’s true.”