Delivery to the Farmhouse (Havenwood Cowboys Romance #4)

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelv e

W hen the day’s shift ended, I went home and got cleaned up—my heart fluttering in anticipation the whole time. I had to redo my mascara twice because I slipped and smeared a black streak across my cheek the first time, and the second I dropped the wand in the sink.

Colton picked me up in a jacked-up pickup the color of cherries in the summertime. I hurried out of my door since there wasn’t an easy way to invite him inside—not with the stairs dropping right off of the back door.

Sunlight was fading, leaving a golden hue on the hills in the distance. I locked my door behind me and turned to face him once more only to find him watching me intently.

I paused, gripping the keys in my fist. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, tucking his fingers into his belt loops. “Except looking as good as you do should be illegal.”

“Better than the mud look?”

He tilted his head to one side and turned on his heel. “I don’t know. I don’t think anything compares to the sight of you all sticky with mud. ”

“You definitely look better this way.” I fell into step beside him around the drive and to where he’d parked on the street.

In place of the tank top from earlier, he wore a button-up short-sleeved shirt with jeans. His hair was wet and winked in his eyes, and the smell of woodsy body products wafted toward me with the evening’s soft breeze, stirring that pesky thought train from earlier right back onto its track once more.

The thoughts didn’t go away during the entire drive to Main Street. Granted, that drive only took a matter of minutes, but still. Minutes were sixty seconds each. And to have those seconds all crammed with thoughts of how much I wanted to kiss Colton Holden?

That was a lot of screen time for something that shouldn’t have any at all.

We went to dinner at The Elkhorn, and I loved how easily conversation came between us. We talked about dancing, books we both liked, and the intricacies of fixing a tractor engine, of all things. Not my typical topic of interest, but Colton made it sound so fascinating, I didn’t even mind.

By the time dinner was over and our plates were cleared, I wasn’t ready to go home.

“You up for my family tonight?” he asked, smiling at the waitress as she cleared our plates.

“Yeah,” I said, but the easy feeling I’d had with him thus far began to choke.

My uncertainty built the entire drive from the center of Bridgewater to the construction site. We bumbled up the uneven dirt road, past the collection of townhouses to where the dirt spread wide open. The house sat at the top of the climb, and Colton shifted into park beside a dark blue pickup.

“Here we are,” he said. His grin sparked like crossed wires. The light in his eyes was so reassuring, it settled my unease.

Belle, Debra, and Luke were already there, climbing down from the other pickup and striding up the brief incline from where Luke’s truck was parked to the house. Debra’s hands covered her mouth.

“Is this the first time she’s seen it?” I asked, reaching for the door handle.

“Yeah,” Colton said, climbing out and coming over to offer me a hand as I slid down.

Bex and Dawson arrived minutes later. She wore a short and flowy, hot pink sundress. After helping the kids out of the back of the van, Dawson held Bex’s hand and helped her meander across the uneven ground.

It was no surprise—her belly made her look like she might tip over.

Another car pulled up. The driver looked young and vaguely familiar.

“Kyler came?” Colton muttered. “I thought he had classes.”

Debra lowered her hands and called out to him, remarking the same thing. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t miss your birthday, Mom.” With long strides, Kyler stalked across the dirt and bent to kiss her cheek.

Sophia, Paisley, and Kody flocked to Kyler, lifting their hands and clapping in excitement to see their uncle. He laughed and scooped Sophia into his arms, making her blonde curls bounce. The littlest of the three kids patted her hands against Kyler’s cheeks, giggling as he made puffing noises with every impact.

Bryce and Allie approached in Bryce’s pickup which just might have a higher lift kit on it than Colton’s—if that were possible. Allie slid out of the passenger side with a gift bag in hand. She wore trendy cutoffs, a brown shirt covered in flowers, and bracelets jangled on her wrists.

She waved at me. I waved back. Bryce joined her side, nodding, and then the two of them made their way toward Debra.

Allie offered the gift bag to her future mother-in-law. “Happy Birthday, Debra.”

“None of that,” Debra said, scolding Allie. “You’re marrying my son. You call me Mom.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Allie said with a pleased smile.

Bryce stepped in and put an arm proudly around his fiancé.

From what I heard, these two had an interesting start. Allie had talked him into fake-dating her in order to get closer to Belle before her wedding. Things had backfired a bit—I mean, what else did she expect when she was trying to deceive everyone?—but she apologized and patched things up with everyone.

And look at them now. Bryce and Allie were head-over-heels in love. It’d be almost disgusting to witness if they weren’t so cute together.

Belle shuffled to my side. “Natalie,” she said, pulling me into a hug. “So good to see you here.”

Her hug was warm and welcoming, and her greeting transferred everyone’s attention to me.

I shifted, feeling smaller with the impact of so many gazes. Colton placed a hand on the small of my back, and comfort oozed straight into my stomach.

That gesture meant everything in this moment. He wordlessly let me know he was with me. He wanted me here. And he had my back.

Belle quirked a brow, but I shook my head, hoping she didn’t say anything about the fact that Colton had, after all, asked me out. And I was here as his DATE.

I wasn’t sure why it mattered all that much other than my prideful refusal to accept him before. Debra Holden had always been kind to me. It was a fish-out-of-water kind of thing. This was an intimate family gathering, and even though I liked Colton, I’d only just admitted as much to myself.

Was this too much too soon?

Maybe we should have just gotten ice cream or something. Kept it simple from the start .

If Belle asked what this was between us, I wasn’t sure what I would say. Or worse—what would Colton say?

Something funny, probably.

To my relief, none of the women mentioned anything about the speculations that had floated around during Bex’s baby shower.

“When are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Debra asked. Just when I worried she would turn her attention to me after all, she asked a secondary question. “Whose house is this?”

Several people spoke at once, but Dawson’s voice was the loudest.

“Didn’t anyone tell you? It’s yours!”

Debra shook her head and her hands emphatically. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

“No. No. No. Bryce and Allie need a place to settle,” she said with a wilted voice. “This isn’t for me.”

“Oh, but it is,” Bryce said, taking his hat off and using it to gesture to the house. “We’ve been working on it all winter long.”

Debra poked him in the chest. “I knew you were up to something, but I don’t need this. I have a house.”

“Not good enough. You need more space,” Bryce said.

Debra fluttered her lips and waved him off. “Space for what?”

“Grandkids?” Bex suggested with her hands on her belly.

Kody, Paisley, and Sophia shouted their agreement—while Sophia patted Kyler’s cheeks again—and the group laughed.

It made me wonder how big her house was now.

Debra waved them off again. “Nonsense. We can all stay at my house now. There’s plenty of room.”

This time, Dawson chimed in. “Mom, your laundry room is a closet in the hall.”

She lifted her chin, blinking away the moisture in her eyes. “It’s served me just fine.”

“Will you stop it?” Luke said, placing a hand on his mom’s shoulders and turning her to face the house. “Just look inside the house before you decide whether you want to keep it or not. If you don’t like it, you can sell it and use the money for something else.”

“Like buying Bryce and Allie a house.”

“Mom,” Bryce said. “Allie and I already have a house.”

“When did that happen?” Debra planted her hands on her hips, and though she was shorter than her son, she stared him down.

“I’d like the answer to that myself,” Allie said, lifting her brows.

Bryce looked caught. He scraped a hand behind his neck, his cheeks turning pink. “You weren’t supposed to know about it yet. Not until after the wedding.”

“When are you getting married?” I asked.

“Two more months,” Allie said with one of her too-composed smiles. She’d always been a bit of a prissy type, needing to look and act completely put together.

It gave the impression that she felt like she was better than everyone else, but I’d been friends with Allie long enough, I knew that wasn’t the case.

“That doesn’t work for me,” Bryce grumbled.

This statement caused an uproar. Debra rounded on her second eldest with a loud, “WHAT?”

Allie folded her arms. “I’d like an explanation, too.”

Dipping his face toward Allie, Bryce’s expression brewed up trouble. “I’m saying, two months is too long. I’m giving you one month, Allie Vreeland. Because I’m tired of calling you that. It’s time you become a Holden.”

“What’s so great about being a Holden?” she teased.

Dawson and Kyler stepped in around her, as did Bryce, and they each began firing off their finer qualities:

“We’re handsome.”

“Smart. ”

“Funny.”

“Dawson’s a mean cook.”

“You can’t deny, we got the looks.”

“Plus, we’re tougher than a two-dollar steak.”

That made everyone laugh.

Belle elbowed her way in between Dawson and Bryce. “You know it wasn’t a legitimate question, right?” she said. “You don’t need to convince me that your family is amazing.”

“What about Natalie, though?” Kyler said, jutting his chin toward me from the center of the huddle around Allie. He still held Sophia in his arms. “She might need some convincing.”

“You leave that part up to me,” Colton said, crossing his hands onto the opposite arms and showcasing his impressive biceps in the process.

The guys catcalled, and I was pretty sure the bottom dropped out of my stomach.

Bryce lifted his voice, redirecting the conversation. “Mom, let us show you inside.”

Debra frowned, and I could understand how she felt. She was solo, outnumbered by her children who all had different ideas of what was best for her than she did.

I was still reeling from Colton’s statement about convincing me, and I needed to move on from that particular conversation. Stepping away from him, I placed my hand on Debra’s shoulder.

“I’m feeling a little out of place here myself,” I said, keeping my tone conversational and a quiet kind of private. “But let’s go in together, and you won’t feel so alone.”

The mood around the Holdens softened. Debra beamed at me and patted her hand against my cheek.

“Colton, I like this one.”

The others laughed. I smiled and dipped my chin while warmth spread in my chest. If I wasn’t careful, these people were going to melt me entirely.

Bryce pulled a set of keys from his pocket. A little red bow was tied to the key ring. He handed them to his mother.

“Happy Birthday, Mom. Will you do the honors? ”

Debra glared at him and then, after a streak of uncertainty passed across her features, her hand found mine. She gripped my hand tightly, her fingers trembling.

I realized then how nervous she was about this.

But why? What would make her feel so uneasy about accepting a gift from her children?

“You with me, girl?” Debra muttered under her breath.

“I’m right here.” I squeezed her hand.

Together, she and I walked up the porch steps. Debra placed the key into the lock, turned it, and opened the door.

I couldn’t explain why, but I held my breath as I stepped with her over the threshold. Walking through that door alongside Debra Holden felt monumental somehow—like for the first time in a long time I was heading in the right direction.

It made no sense. This wasn’t my house. This wasn’t my family.

But I pictured a red line being marked on a map like those scenes in Indiana Jones when he traveled from place to place. I was moving forward. I was leaving my mark.

The house was staged to perfection. It was like an interior decorator had been hired.

There were built-in shelves on either side of the fireplace that climbed all the way to the tall ceiling. Simple potted plants, single-framed pictures, and plain figurines were positioned on each shelf, which were clearly more decorative than functional.

A beautiful leather couch, positioned atop a soft rug, faced the fireplace. Beyond that, the kitchen was an open concept, connected to the dining and living room and making the space feel bigger than it actually was.

Debra stepped inside and gasped. One by one, the others shuffled in, straying toward the setup of couches or staring out the wall-length windows looking into the backyard.

“Allie picked most of this out,” Bryce said .

“Bex and Belle helped. We just went by some of the things we knew you liked,” Allie said.

“It’s stunning,” Debra said with her hand clasped to her chest.

The Holdens walked her through room after room, admiring the living room and the bedrooms. I tagged along, my feet sinking into the plush carpet.

The kitchen was decadent, with granite countertops and light-colored cabinets. Debra trailed her fingers along the granite and stopped in her tracks.

I thought it was maybe because of the view of the mountains outside her back window, but she pulled me closer to the dining table, gripping my hand in hers.

“Oh. Oh! This is my table. What is that doing in here? And how did you even get it here without me knowing?”

“The pedicures may have been more than just a birthday gift,” Belle muttered, grinning at Allie and Bex, who, I assumed, had been with them when they’d gotten these pedicures. I also assumed the pedis had been a means of distraction so the guys could bring Debra’s table over.

“We thought you’d like it,” Dawson said. “We thought?—”

Debra broke down then. Her hand tightened around mine, and the tears began to flow, trailing down her cheeks.

Her sons gathered around her, a flock of masculine hotness and concern. I shuffled back, giving them space for their group hug. Colton broke away first, returning to my side while the other men hugged their mom.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what had made her so emotional.

“Mom always loved her dining table,” he said. “She always said…”

“This is the center of the home,” Debra said, rubbing her hand on the table’s surface. “Do you know how many meals you boys ate at this table? How many late-night conversations? Celebrations, birthday parties, simple meals that got us together if for nothing else than to just eat? And you brought this here?”

“You don’t like it?” Bex asked with her hands resting on her belly.

More tears fell. Debra wiped them away and looked at her daughter-in-law. “Are you kidding? This is my favorite part of this house. That you thought to bring my table here. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll keep it,” Luke said.

“Say you love us,” Dawson said.

“Say anything you want,” Kyler said.

This was such a tender moment, yet I didn’t feel like I was imposing on something precious and private. There was something about being with the Holdens that always had this open, welcoming vibe to it.

Luke and Bryce didn’t seem to care that we had any kind of past. Their attention was on their mother, their wives—or soon-to-be-wife in Bryce’s case. And Colton put his arm around me and rubbed my arm, letting me know I was welcome with him, too.

It seemed as though everyone held their breath until Debra smiled and threw up her hands.

“If you insist,” she said. “Thank you, my boys. This is the most thoughtful thing you could have ever done.”

What minimal tension was there seeped away like air leaking from a punctured tire. One by one, she made her way around the room, hugging and laughing and smiling and more hugging.

Then she made it to me. I squirmed inside, and even though I tried pulling away, she threw her arms around me.

The warm, motherly embrace poured right through me like hot chocolate on a cold day.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I didn’t have anything to do with this,” I said. “I’m just here because… ”

Debra pulled back and looked me right in the eyes. “Nonsense. You gave me the courage I needed today. I’m glad you’re here.”

My breath caught in my throat. I was touched. She was sweet and kind, and I lifted my gaze to meet Colton’s. He smiled at me, giving me a little nod as though he was also saying thank you for helping his mother to feel comfortable.

Warmth seeped into my chest, filling me with something I didn’t know how to handle.