“You aren’t the only one who has a parent they aren’t particularly happy with,” she admitted. “I have two that could improve in a lot of areas.”
Nate listened to her explain about her parents having more interest in someone’s net worth than the person. “I didn’t want you having to go through the third degree about your bank account when it’s none of their business,” she finished.
Grinning, he whispered a number in her ear. “Do you think that would impress them?”
Her eyes were wide when she nodded. “Is that...”
“What I was worth a couple of years ago.” He laughed. “My investment banker says I have a lot more now.”
“I knew you spent a lot of time on the internet, but I had no idea you were watching the stock market,” she said, shaking her head.
“Hell, I don’t pay attention to the market,” he said, laughing. “That stuff will make you crazy in a hurry.”
“Then what were you researching if not stocks to invest in?” she asked, clearly confused.
“I wanted to learn all I could about pregnancy and what you were going through.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “I was looking to see how I could make the next few months easier for you.” He placed his hand on her stomach. “And I wanted to find out what was going on with our little girl.”
When he felt the light movement within, his heart stalled. “Wow! She’s moving, isn’t she?”
Jessie nodded. “She’s really active and I think she might be training to be a gymnast.”
Nate knew he had to be grinning like a damned fool. “Thank you, Jessie.”
“For what?” she asked, looking puzzled.
“You’ve given me everything I didn’t even know I wanted,” he said, kissing her with all the love he’d never dreamed would be his.
When he stared into her pretty violet eyes, he could see his haven—his safe place to land when life got to be more than he could handle on his own. And he fully intended to be the same for her.
“I love you, darlin’,” he said, never wanting her to doubt it. “You and the baby are my world.”
“And you’re ours, cowboy,” she said, pressing her soft, perfect lips to his. “Now and always.”
Epilogue
On Christmas Eve as Nate waited by the fireplace in the Twin Oaks ranch house with Sam and the preacher from the church in Beaver Dam, he checked his watch. Within the next ten minutes or so, Jessie would be his wife and he was getting impatient. It seemed as though he had already spent a lifetime waiting for her. He couldn’t wait to get started on the rest of his life with her.
“You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?” Sam asked when Nate checked his watch again.
“No, I’d like to seal the deal before she changes her mind,” Nate answered.
His brother laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d be impatient to settle down.”
“Yeah, it shocked the hell out of me, too,” Nate said, grinning.
When the organist he had hired to play for the wedding broke into the first few notes of “Here Comes the Bride,” Nate straightened his shoulders and looked toward the double doorway leading from the foyer into the family room. As he watched his sister-in-law Bria start to walk toward them, he held his breath and waited for Jessie and her father to step into view.
When he and Jessie went down to Houston right after Thanksgiving to tell the Farrells they were about to gain a soon-to-be retired rodeo cowboy for a son-in-law over Christmas and become the grandparents of a granddaughter in the spring, they had been anything but happy. But when Nate took Andrew Farrell aside and assured him that he loved Jessie, told him there wouldn’t be a prenuptial agreement and had the man call Nate’s investment banker to verify that Nate had more than enough to pay cash for any of the overpriced properties their real estate agency represented, they couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. Nate didn’t give a damn what they thought of him or how welcoming they were. All he wanted from them was a change in the way they treated Jessie, even if it did hinge on his, and now their daughter’s, net worth. He loved her more than enough to make up for their shallow affections and that was something that would never come with a price tag attached.
The moment Jessie and her dad came into view and he saw her beautiful face, Nate’s heart beat double time. She was absolutely gorgeous in her long white wedding gown and he knew for certain he would remember the moment for the rest of his days. He still had a hard time believing that in just a few minutes she would be his forever.