An Officer and Her Gentleman Read online

  He stopped spinning and set Avery’s feet back on the ground, kissing her nose. She was absolutely beautiful in the afternoon light, sunshine glinting off her golden hair, her blue eyes sparkling with delight. Her happiness, new and precious and hard-earned, was contagious. This joyful Avery was the most magnificent thing he’d ever seen.

  He pulled her close so she could see his face.

  “But with that much financial backing, I’ll need more help, you know?”

  “Of course. You’ll have to hire more trainers and have people to help you find dogs at the shelter, and—”

  “And, I want you,” he said.

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I want you to join me. I’m going to promote Hannah to manager, and I want you to be my new assistant.”

  Avery’s face lit up when she got what he was saying.

  “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “But I have no training. I’m a nurse, not a dog trainer.”

  “But you have what it takes to make a great one. You’re a natural with Fogs and you’ll be amazing once you’re certified. Besides,” Isaac said, grabbing her hand to lead her back to Tommy and Macy, “we have plenty to fund your classes now, don’t we?”

  “I would say so,” she answered, giggling.

  “I’ve had you with me for almost a month now, and it has been, without contest, the best almost-month of my life. I’m not about to let you go now, Avery.”

  He stopped to kiss her long and hard, right there in the middle of the park. When they caught their breaths, Avery gave him a big smile, her face flushed from sunshine and the sensation of his lips on hers.

  “Well, that’s good news,” she said, “Because I wasn’t lying when I told you I’m not planning on going anywhere. And pretty soon, I’m going to need a new job.”

  “You’ve got one,” Isaac said, pulling her close. “As long as you want.”

  “How about forever?” she asked, the question holding far more weight than what her words had indicated.

  “Forever isn’t long enough,” he answered.

  “Are you happy, Isaac Meyer?”

  “The happiest,” he said. “Because of you.”

  Epilogue

  July Fourth, one year later

  Morning light slipped in through the blinds of Isaac and Avery’s bedroom window, spreading golden rays across her blond hair.

  He watched her sleep, humbled by the simple rise and fall of her chest as she inhaled and exhaled in perfect rhythm, wondering again where he’d gone so right—how he’d become the lucky man who got to wake up next to such a beautiful, amazing woman each morning.

  Isaac leaned over to kiss her forehead, glad when her lips curved to smile at him. Slipping out of bed, he tucked the sheets around her shoulders and roused the dogs from where they slept, tangled together on the window seat.

  The three of them went downstairs and Isaac opened the back door to let Foggy and Jane out, turning on the coffeepot. As it sputtered to life, starting up the strong brew he preferred, he walked into the dining room where he kept a small desk for business when he wasn’t at the training facility. Grinning, he pulled out the office chair and sat, reaching into the bottom drawer, all the way to the very back.

  He stopped when his fingers touched cool velvet, and pulled out a small box, lifting the lid. It still took his breath away every time he looked at this symbol of his love for her.

  The past year of his life had been wonderful beyond words. Avery had passed her dog training certification exam with flying colors, and she and Foggy were an incredible team. Watching the two of them work together to help other veterans and dogs form partnerships brought him more happiness, more fulfillment, than anything he’d ever witnessed before in all the years he’d owned the facility. And to him, she was a greater partner than he ever could have hoped for.

  Of course they had their tough days; of course things weren’t perfect, but that didn’t matter. What mattered, he had come to understand, was that they were together through the ups and downs. She was there for him, truly understood him when the ache of missing Stephen was too much to bear. And he did his very best to be a source of strength for her when she had nightmares and the—thankfully rare, now—panic attacks that still scared her so badly.

  Each time he glimpsed the simple, elegant ring, he grew more and more excited about this day—a day he’d anticipated for so long now.

  And today—the big day—was no different. He couldn’t wait any longer; it was time.

  Grabbing a piece of string and snapping shut the lid, Isaac headed back to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for himself, leaving it black, then one for Avery, stirring in the ample amount of cream and sugar that his girl liked so much.

  He set the cups on the kitchen counter and opened the back door, letting the dogs back in.

  “All right, Foggy. You ready for your big job?”

  The dog sat and raised his paw, giving Isaac a high five.

  “Okay, then,” he said. “Good deal. Let’s get you all set.”

  He knelt down, pulled the ring out of his pocket and made a loop through its band with the piece of string, then tied it to Foggy’s collar.

  “This is it, boy,” he said. “Have you got my back?”

  Foggy barked.

  “Shhh! We don’t want to wake Mom just yet, okay?”

  Back in the kitchen, he picked up the coffees, padding back upstairs as quietly as he could with two rambunctious dogs in tow.

  When he reached the landing, Isaac took a deep breath, not because he had doubts, but because he could hardly contain the joy that threatened to burst out from under his skin.

  That is, if she said yes.

  He had to remind himself that there were two possible outcomes, though only one was worth dwelling on.

  * * *

  Avery woke to kisses, lots and lots of wet kisses.

  “Foggy!” she chided. “I wasn’t having a nightmare, boy.”

  She laughed and opened her eyes.

  “What has gotten into you?” She tried to push the dog away, but he wasn’t having it. Foggy jumped up onto the bed and lay down, paws on her chest.

  “Morning,” Isaac said, coming into the room, holding two cups of coffee. He kissed her forehead and put Avery’s cup on her nightstand, then walked back to his side of the bed and slid under the covers.

  “I think Foggy’s trying to tell you something.”

  Isaac had a funny look on his face—overwhelmed, but happy—as if he anticipated something good, like a little boy on Christmas.

  Avery didn’t give it a second thought. He always looked like that since she’d moved in, a fact that made her smile every time she thought of it.

  She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock on her bedside table, groaning when she saw the hour.

  “You guys are up way too early.”

  Isaac just grinned and took a sip of his coffee. He set the cup down and snuggled in closer.

  “Foggy,” he said, “roll over.”

  “What are you goofs up to?”

  Foggy obeyed and flipped over to show off his tummy, making Avery laugh.

  “I see you’ve learned a new trick, boy. Is that what you guys have been doing so early this morning?”

  She gave his tummy an obligatory scratch, then rubbed under his chin. Something cold and metallic tapped against her fingers.

  “What’s this, Foggy?” she asked, tugging it out from the folds of his fur, gasping when it finally
dawned on her what she held in her hand. Her pulse drummed at her temples, blocking out all sound.

  “Oh, my gosh,” she cried, a hand flying to her mouth as tears brimmed at the edges of her lids. “Isaac. It’s just beautiful.”

  She gripped the ring and, with shaking hands, untied the string that attached it to Foggy’s collar. Pulling in a breath, her eyes surveyed her surroundings, soaking in everything so she could remember it every day for the rest of her life.

  A life she would spend with Isaac, a man she’d grown to love more than she ever thought possible.

  He lifted the ring from her palm and got out of the bed, moving to kneel at her side.

  “Avery Abbott. Will you marry me?”

  She nodded, unable to say anything for a moment as tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, finally, it came—the word that would seal them together forever.

  A word she’d said many times over the past year.

  To new friends, to a job as a trainer that she absolutely adored, to events and places and things she’d never dreamed she would be able to experience.

  And now to the man she loved more than anything else in the world.

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, Isaac. I absolutely will marry you.”

  He slid the ring on her finger, then jumped up from the floor and right into the bed, covering her in kisses, wrapping his arms around her as she laughed, and cried, and laughed some more.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S DOUBLE TROUBLE by Judy Duarte.

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  The Cowboy's Double Trouble

  by Judy Duarte

  Chapter One

  A snarl, a hiss and a cat’s frantic “meeee-owww” shattered the silence in the barn.

  Braden Rayburn turned away from the stall of the broodmare that was ready to foal and spotted six-year-old Alberto climbing up the wooden ladder to the hayloft while juggling a squirming orange tabby in his arms. The boy had found the small stray earlier this morning, but clearly, the cat wasn’t up for an adventure.

  “No!” Braden called out, hoping to stop an accident ready to happen before any blood could be spilled. “Alberto! Put it down.”

  The small boy turned at the sound of his name and froze on the third rung, but he continued to hold the cat. He undoubtedly understood the word no, but that was it.

  Alberto—or “Beto,” as his twin sister called him—didn’t speak English. And Braden’s Spanish was limited to a few words, mostly isolated nouns.

  “Put the...” Braden blew out a ragged sigh and tried to remember how to say cat in Spanish. “Put the gato down. It’s going to scratch the living daylights out of you.” From the tone of his voice, his frustration was coming through loud and clear.

  Fortunately, Beto seemed to finally understand and climbed down. Still he held the poor critter that didn’t appear to be the least bit relieved by their descent, so a bite or a scratch was imminent.

  “Let the gato go.” Braden used his hands in his own form of sign language and motioned as he added, “Down.”

  Reluctantly, the boy released the cat. But the frown on his face indicated he wasn’t happy about doing so.

  “Where’s your sister?” Braden asked. Then, attempting to bridge the language barrier, he added, “Bela? Dónde?”

  The boy pointed to the corner of the barn, where his twin sat, holding a black cat, undoubtedly the tabby’s littermate.

  What was wrong with people who dropped off their unwanted animals near a ranch, assuming the owner would be grateful to take in another critter to feed?

  Having grown up on this horse ranch near Brighton Valley, Braden was all too familiar with what ranchers like him and his late grandpa had to put up with.

  Ironically, he thought about the twins and how they’d ended up with him, and he slowly shook his head. Not that he couldn’t afford them or didn’t care about their emotional well-being, but he was completely out of his league when it came to dealing with young children, especially when there was a serious communication problem. But then again, the twins had been raised in Mexico, so the language barrier was to be expected.

  He glanced at the boy and girl, who were now sitting together with the stray cats and jabbering a mile a minute, although Braden had no idea what they were saying. He wished he did, though. And that he could talk to them, explain how sorry he was that their parents had died.

  Three months ago, Braden hadn’t known they’d been living in a Mexican orphanage—or that they’d even existed. But once he and his half siblings had found them, the older Rayburns had decided to bring them back to the States and provide them with a home.

  Now, two weeks later, here they were in Texas. They’d been staying in Houston with Jason, Braden’s older half brother. But Jason and his wife were now on a business trip in Europe, while sister Carly was on a cruise with her new husband’s family. So the only one left to look after them was Braden.

  He’d like to reassure them that they were with family now, but he was limited to pointing, miming and, when his memory of high school flashcards came through for him, uttering a Spanish word or two.

  Yet in spite of the struggle to communicate and more than a twenty-year age difference, the kids running around his barn and chasing a couple of cats had something in common with him and his half siblings.

  They all had the same father.

  Wasn’t that just like their old man to have a second family in another country? Charles Rayburn may have been a successful businessman with a net worth of nearly a billion dollars, but he’d been a real failure when it came to making any kind of lasting commitment to a woman.

  When Jason headed to the airport with his wife, he left Braden in charge of the six-year-olds. And then he’d driven off like the guy who’d dropped off the two stray cats.

  Okay, so it wasn’t the same thing. Beto and Bela were family. And there was no way Braden would want them to be taken in by strangers, although that’s what they were. And if the twins didn’t pick up English quickly, they’d never really get to know each other.


  Still, even though Braden had agreed to keep the kids until Jason returned, he’d panicked at the thought of being left in charge of his newfound little brother and sister. What if he failed them—like his... Well, his father hadn’t exactly deserted him. He’d come through with the child support and money for braces, swim lessons or summer camp. But Charles Rayburn had been so caught up with his business ventures that he’d never attended a school play, a football game or even a graduation.

  To make matters worse, Braden had never been close with the two half siblings he’d known about for practically all of his twenty-eight years. So he’d always felt like the odd man out, especially since his dad hadn’t even married his mom.

  And now there were two more Rayburns to get to know, and Braden didn’t have any idea where he should start.

  Heck, even if he and the kids spoke the same language, having Beto and Bela with him for the next three weeks was going to be a real challenge.

  But he had a plan. Once Jason and his new bride returned from that business trip, Braden was going to suggest that the twins live permanently with them. After all, kids their age would be better off with a married couple. And the fact that Juliana would be having a baby soon made it all the better.

  And if that didn’t work out, his half sister, Carly, had just gotten married, too, and would return about the same time Jason did. She was also pregnant, so there was another opportunity for the twins to join a real family.

  In the meantime, the poor kids were stuck with him. Only trouble was, he needed to focus on running the ranch he’d just inherited from his grandpa Miller. Unlike his wealthy and womanizing father, Braden took his family responsibilities seriously.

  But how in the hell was he going to get any work done while they were here? Babysitting was turning out to be a full-time job—and one he hadn’t been prepared for. He’d been raised on the Bar M as an only child, so he didn’t have any experience with kids. He’d do his best to do right by them, of course. But these two, as cute as they were, would be much happier with someone else—preferably someone who could communicate with them.