At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(78)

He froze for a moment thinking of the baby. “He’s fine,” she whispered.

“He?”

She kissed him, teasing him with her tongue as she gently rode him. He cupped her breasts, tweaking the hard tips of her nipples as she rocked her head back.

He watched her come, satisfaction softening her pretty features as she opened her mouth and let out a joyful cry. He couldn’t help the smile that curled his lips. Pleasuring her elevated his own desire. She kept riding him, taking him with her, until he reached the crest and she collapsed on his heaving chest.

He buried his fingers again in her hair, drawing her into him with his other arm as they lay skin to skin. “That’s not bad for a first memory.”

She smiled as she tried to catch her breath.

“I want to make memories in this house with you and our children,” he said as he brushed her hair back and looked into those wonderful brown eyes.

“How many children are we talking?” she said, lifting a brow.

He grinned. “As many as we want. I want this baby to have brothers and sisters, something I never had,” he said, gently placing his hand over her protruding abdomen. “We can always adopt too.”

She smiled and nodded. “This is going to be such a wonderful place to raise them.” Then he kissed her, and they spooned together as a breeze stirred the pines and the sun traveled across Montana’s big sky.



CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT


THE NEXT FEW days were a whirlwind of activity as they moved out of their apartments and into the house on The Crooked Tree ranch. Alexis hardly had time to worry about what was happening legally with the sheriff’s department or Garwood himself.

Her life had changed in an instant. With each load, she would put away her things in the huge closet and bathroom and marvel that this amazing home was theirs.

Culhane laughed and said that him having his own closet was a joke. “All I need is a place for my lucky boots.” They were like two kids in a candy store as they moved into the house. They’d never had this much room and really didn’t know what to do with it. Alexis knew it would fill up in time.

With each day she could feel her body changing. The day she felt the baby move, she called Culhane in from the stable.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in alarm.

She shook her head, crying with joy, as she took his hand and placed it on her stomach. She watched his face as he felt their son move. The joy and wonder she saw there thrilled her more than he could ever know. Soon they would be a family. She told herself that all the bad times were behind them.

While she had made a point of not paying attention to the news, she’d seen Culhane on the phone with Deputy Al Shaw numerous times. She’d overheard enough to know that the undersheriff, Larry Owens, had stepped in as acting sheriff for the time being. Owens, an older man who’d been with the department for years, had stayed in the shadows as if waiting to retire during Garwood’s reign.

It sounded like Al was going to apply for the undersheriff position since Owens would be retiring when a new sheriff was hired.

Alexis was happy for him. Al was a good guy and would help whoever they hired for interim sheriff until the election.

It was no surprise to anyone but Garwood that everyone turned against him—including his rich and powerful friends. He was denied bail for his own safety, the judge had said. His trial was scheduled for next year.

Often when Culhane’s phone rang, it would be Al with news. Alexis had been expecting Jana to call, and she was sure that Culhane had been as well. When his phone rang one evening, she’d thought this was finally it. Jana would need money to start over. Of course, she would lean on Culhane.

Had he asked her what he should do, she realized she would tell him to help her. Maybe it was the season. Or maybe it was all the blessings she and Culhane had, but she wanted the two of them to be generous—even though Jana would have been anything but with Culhane.

They were settling in to their new home, their new life and putting the past behind them. Even the boxes from their apartments had been unpacked.

That’s why later that afternoon when she came downstairs, she was surprised to see Culhane standing before a huge pile of boxes.

“I thought you didn’t have anything more to move,” she said in surprise.

“My father’s attorney dropped them by. They’re Christmas decorations,” he said with a wave of his arms. “My mom’s. I guess my father saved them thinking...” He looked at her. “As I told you, my mother loved Christmas, and she had a lot of decorations. If you want, we can just haul the boxes away and not even open them.”

“Are you serious? Not open them?” She scoffed as she moved to one of the boxes. “These are from your childhood. Of course we’ll keep them.” She held out her hand. “I’m going to need a knife to cut this tape.”

He dug out his pocketknife and handed it to her. As she cut open the first box, she felt her eyes light up. “Oh my, these are beautiful,” she said as she brought out two large deer adorned with ornate wreaths around their necks. “Wouldn’t these look wonderful over there?” She opened another box with delight to find elegant wreaths for the doors and a whole family of geese for the mantel.

“And these lights! We can string them over there.” She pointed to a spot by the window overlooking the creek before she saw his face.