The Cowboy's Reluctant Bride

By Katherine Garbera

Monty Davison is a man on a mission: he’s determined to track down his fiancée, Risa Grant. Why did she leave Vegas so suddenly and without telling him? Okay, perhaps their engagement was a little hasty—in between deployments to Afghanistan and wearied and changed by the horrors of war, he grabbed at the chances of real life and happiness that she seemed to offer, by proposing after only one week of knowing her. But he was sure she shared his feelings of hope and excitement. What was so scary about loving him that made her want to bolt?

Risa Grant has found sanctuary in Marietta, Montana, and the chance to heal. She’s opened a florist’s business and is settling down to life in the pretty, friendly western town, attempting to put the trauma of past behind her. Only she can’t erase the memory of Monty, the big, handsome, protective Marine who asked her to be his wife. She left without saying goodbye, without getting the chance to tell him what had happened, and now so much water has passed under their bridge that she doesn’t know if she ever can.

When Monty finally finds Risa outside Marietta one chilly April evening, stranded and needing help, his protective instinct kicks in: she’s still as feminine, vulnerable and pretty as ever, and as ex-military he’s trained to come to the rescue. But a knight in shining armor seems to be the last thing that Risa wants right now, so where does that leave him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tule Publishing
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781940296340

Katherine Garbera

Katherine Garbera is the USA Today Bestselling author of 127 novels. Brought up in a loving home where creativity was encouraged, she never considered writing as a career though she loved making up stories for her sisters and swim teammates. She married young and started her family and only when it was time for her to return to a career, she didn’t love did she start to think about writing as a way to stay home with her daughter. She began writing and submitting her manuscripts to publishers in 1993 and in 1996 made her first sale to Harlequin Books. The Bachelor Next Door was deeply emotional and sensual and led to Katherine being named as a Woman to Watch by Harlequin Books and later selected by Cosmo magazine as a Woman Who Does Everything. The book was translated into over 33 languages. To date, Katherine has published more than 100 novels including The Pirate, a Cosmopolitan Magazine selection as a Red Hot Read, His Royal Prize, a USA Today Bestseller and her Christmas novel Once Upon A Texas Christmas was chosen as a Christmas Must Read from Barnes&Noble. Library Journal said of her release Red Hot Texan: VERDICT Garbera’s new series launch, a delectable spin-off of her “Dangerous Delaneys” stories, hits all the right notes: a cozy, hometown setting, a sweet romance with genuine yet flawed characters, and a mildly sensuous atmosphere. A solid choice for Jodi Thomas fans. Reviewed by Kara Kohn, Sep 01, 2020. Her books deal with relationships in a realistic manner, dealing with problems that we all face including body image, self-doubt and falling for the wrong person. All of her books are passionate, emotional reads. Katherine is a Florida girl at heart and loves the sunshine and pedicures. She makes her home in Kent in the UK with her husband and is visited frequently by her snarky adult children. Her hobbies include art journaling, bookbinding, cooking, walking and shopping.

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Author

Dedication

This one is dedicated to my husband, Rob Elser, for sharing my life and filling it with love.

Acknowledgements

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Thanks to the best Facebook friends in the world who really helped me out when I realized that deployments had recently changed for soldiers. Also, I want to thank Jane Porter for giving me a chance to be a part of Tule and letting me write stories I love.

Chapter One

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The lights on the Vegas Strip sparkled, lending a magical quality to the entire evening. After spending the last seven months in Miramar and getting ready to return to Now Zad, Helmond, Afghanistan, Monty Davison was glad to be in this desert oasis.

It was odd to not have sand covering him. Not to have to worry about putting everything he owned in a Ziploc bag to keep it in working order.

But it was sweet to have Risa Grant next to him.

She was pretty. Funny. And, above all, she was unsullied by all the death and killing that had become his normal during three long tours in the Middle East. He was going back for a fourth tour. Soon he’d serve his last seven months there.

What are you thinking about? she asked as he drew to a stop outside the Bellagio Hotel. The fountains were doing their timed dance to music, and it felt like the right place and time.

You, he admitted. She was his salvation. His reason for going on, and he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers. Not now. Not when he knew that he needed her in his future.

Before Now Zad he’d been happy to keep his relationships light. But day after day of defusing land mines—seeing the atrocities being done against humanity—had taken a toll, and Risa had reminded him of the good in the world.

Commitment-free had been his motto before her. He didn’t have the best track record when it came to women. His mom had left him and his dad when Monty had been eight. His first girlfriend had dumped him for the homecoming king in high school, and after that Monty had said screw it.

He’d lost friends while on deployment, and this time blowing off steam in Vegas had convinced him that he wasn’t going to waste his life when, through a twist of fate, he’d missed out on being injured mid-way through his last tour over in Afghanistan. He knew how lucky he was.

He didn’t want to stay commitment-free. He couldn’t. He was going to seize this chance at real life and happiness. And he was going to ask Risa to be his wife.

What about me?

How meeting you has changed my life, he said. She had. He only had these two weeks of R and R before he had to return to the desert and serve out his last deployment.

You’ve changed my life too. I never realized how much I could enjoy being with just one person, she said.

Enjoy? Is it just about the sex? he asked her. He would be disappointed if it were. But given the fact that, until Risa, it had been enough for him, he wondered if that was all he could expect.

No. It’s you. How you seem so alive and unafraid of everything, she said. I think I’ve done more adventurous things in the week that I’ve known you, than I had in the previous twenty-five years of my life.

Feel ready for one more adventure? he asked.

She clutched his hands and smiled up at him. There was innocence about Risa and he had to admit that was a big part of why he wanted her to be his wife. He hoped that she’d be able to soothe that weary and disenchanted part of his own soul. He took a deep breath.

Damn. He was scared now. Asking a woman to marry him. Asking Risa to be his wife was terrifying. Why hadn’t he realized that it would be?

He got down on one knee as he noticed Tony and Mac, two of the guys from his squad who were here in Vegas with him.

Risa Grant, will you marry me? he asked.

She put her hand over her mouth and looked down at him, not saying a word. The minutes ticked by in slow motion, much the same as they had when he’d been in the middle of a firefight against insurgents. A cold sweat broke out all over his body. He saw Risa’s lips moving, but couldn’t understand what she was saying.

She tugged him to his feet and threw herself in his arms. He guessed she’d said yes. That had to be a yes, right?

So, yes?

A hundred times, yes! Marriage to you is going to be a great adventure, she said, laughing out loud, and then kissing him with all the passionate sweetness that he associated only with her.

The people around them on the street applauded and he heard a loud cry from his friends.

Oorah, Marine! Tony and Mac shouted.

Oorah! he shouted back. He hugged Risa close, shook the hands of his friends and realized that he wished Lane was here. But his friend said he couldn’t come this close to home and not go to Montana.

He took the ring out of his pocket. He’d won big the night before, with Risa on his arm. His little good luck charm. And he’d gone straight to Tiffany’s this morning to buy her the kind of ring that would show her how much she meant to him.

Love. She hadn’t said the word, and neither had he. He wondered if he even knew what love was. But he cared for her, and each night when he held her in his arms he’d been more and more certain that his future was lying next to her.

***

The call came mid-shift while she was working on a wedding bouquet. She almost didn’t take it because she was crunched for time. She’d been late to work because of traffic and a late-night chat with Monty. It had been almost two months since they’d gotten engaged and he’d left to go back to Afghanistan. She missed him. Funny that she could miss a man she’d only had in her life for a week. The bride for the first ceremony today had seen one too many episodes of Bridezilla.

It’s Risa.

Risa Grant?

Yes, she put down the trimmers she’d been using and leaned against the workbench. Who is this?

Police Constable Liam Coalfield. Your parents have been involved in an accident. The rest of what he said was almost lost in his accent, but the facts came through. Her parents had been in a head-on car crash with a bigger vehicle and both were dead. Their dream Scottish Highland vacation had ended abruptly.

She couldn’t make any sense of it.

She dropped the phone and sank to her knees as tears started to pour down her face. She tried to stem the flow, wiped her face on her hands, but all she could feel was this great sense of loss.

Risa? Are you okay? Laney asked, coming over to her.

My parents...

Laney wrapped one arm around Risa as she picked up her dropped cell phone and started talking to the person on the other end. Risa had questions, but mostly she just wanted to scream. Laney disconnected the call after jotting down some information on some paper.

I’m so sorry, honey. What can I do?

I need to call Monty. I need to talk to him, she said.

Okay. We’ve got this covered; go do what you need to. Just let me know if you need anything, Laney said.

Risa stepped out the back of the workroom and into the hot Vegas sun. Her eyes burned but she didn’t mind. She dialed Monty’s number but it went to voicemail.

It’s me. Risa. I need to talk to you.

She hung up and then called the number that Laney had written down and found out more details about her parents’ accident, and then realized she had to make arrangements for them. She started to shake but knew she had to keep doing this. Had to make sure they were brought back and taken care of.

She kept crying while she talked to the airline to arrange for her parents’ bodies to be flown back to Florida, where her parents had lived, and picked up by the funeral home. She needed to make arrangements for herself to go to Florida, but couldn’t until she’d talked to Monty.

Her cell phone rang and she looked down at the screen to see Monty’s smiling face. Thank God.

Hey, baby.

Well, hello, a stranger said.

Hello, this is Risa Grant. Where is Monty?

He’s...he’s not available right now.

Why not? Is he okay? she asked. She didn’t think she’d be able to bear it if something had happened to him.

He’s fine. Just a little accident.

Who is this? she asked. The last accident Monty had been involved in had cost his friend, Lane, his limbs. What was going on?

This is Tony. We met in Vegas, he said.

She remembered Tony. Dark-haired, Italian-looking guy who’d gotten married to Della. The bride who’d wanted only purple blooms in her bouquet. Why was she remembering inane details now? He’d been one of the guys who’d helped them celebrate being engaged. God, that seemed like a lifetime ago.

Is Monty okay? she asked, panic tightening her throat and making it hard to breathe.

He will be. He tore up some stitches he had from his recent injury and that caused a few complications. He was worried because he saw you had called him.

I did. Does he need me? she asked. She felt a sense of panic. That trapped feeling of not knowing what to do. Is he being sent anywhere for medical treatment where I could meet him?

You won’t be able to see him on base.

Will he be okay?

Yes, Tony said. Your Marine is as tough as they come.

Will you ask him to call me?

I will. It’s going to be a while. The doctors won’t be able to release him for a few days at least.

What was she going to do? She didn’t want to send a message through his friend that her parents had died. That didn’t seem fair. But, also, he’d want to know. She was confused. She didn’t want to do anything to make the situation worse for Monty.

I have to go out of town for a few days. Have him call me as soon as he’s able, she said at last.

I will do that. Any message you want me to pass along to him? Tony asked.

Just tell him that I miss him.

She hung up the phone more confused about life and