Love and Redemption Bonus Scene
Holden
ONE YEAR LATER
The baby’s breath comes soft and steady against my chest, warm as a coal banked for the night. His tiny fist curls into the fabric of my flannel like he’s staking a claim. My son. Mine and Lila’s. I’ll never get over saying those words.
The cabin smells like woodsmoke and milk, like Lila’s lavender lotion and the leather polish I used on the rocking chair earlier.
She’s asleep upstairs, worn out but glowing in a way that makes my chest ache. She gave me a second chance at life. And this little one—our son, Laramie—made sure I’ll never waste it.
A creak on the porch pulls my gaze up. The door swings open without a knock, because Wyatt has never needed permission to walk into my life. He’s older now, hair more silver than salt, but those blue eyes still cut right through me. He pauses in the doorway, the way he always does, like he’s checking whether he belongs.
“Come in, Dad,” I murmur, careful not to wake the baby.
His mouth twitches, but then he steps in, closing the cold out behind him. His boots stay on the mat like he knows Lila won’t forgive him if he tracks snow into her kitchen.
“Well, look at you,” Wyatt says, voice rougher than gravel. “You finally figured out how to hold something gentle.”
I glance down at the bundle in my arms. The kid stirs, sighs, then settles again. I rock him gently, my throat tight. “Didn’t figure it out. He taught me.”
Wyatt comes closer, his hand hovering like he’s not sure he’s allowed to touch. “May I?”
I pass the baby over, slower than I’ve ever done anything in my life. My palms feel empty the second Wyatt’s arms take the weight, but then something else fills me. Watching the man who raised me—who saved me—cradle my son like he’s the most sacred thing on earth … it breaks me wide open.
Wyatt stares down at him, lips pressed tight. His eyes shine, though he won’t let a tear fall. “Well, I’ll be darned,” he whispers. “A redemption I can hold.”
I clear my throat, but it doesn’t help the burn. “Wanted you to be the first, besides us, to hold him.”
He nods, rocking slow, just like he used to when I came to him broken and bleeding all those years ago. Only now he rocks my son, safe and new, born into a world I never thought I could give.
After a long moment, Wyatt lifts his gaze to mine. “You’re a good man, Holden. Better than you believe. Don’t forget it.”
I swallow hard. “You made me one.”
The old cowboy huffs, eyes shining again. “No, son. You did that yourself.”
The fire snaps in the hearth, the baby sighs in his arms, and for the first time in my life I feel whole. Not just a man who clawed his way back from darkness—but a father, a husband, and a son who finally has a family worth every fight.
Felicity & Fierce
One woman matched with him on Mountain Mates Dating Site…
Another brought from the Old Country by his parents to be his bride…
What’s a rugged Basque shepherd and Sierra Nevada mountain man to do?
This isn’t a why choose romance.
Let the drama begin…
Izzie & Wolfe
Izzie used to be the center of my world …
The honey-haired, deliciously curvy art conservator captured my heart while I guarded her as a private military contractor in Afghanistan.
She was the rock that grounded me through the chaos, the reason behind every sacrifice, worth every ounce of pain.
But when years of overseas work and separation culminate in divorce papers, is it too late for a second chance?
And when danger threatens my estranged wife, will she turn to me for protection?
Bijou & Rutger
As a former Army Ranger sniper, finding work stateside that makes the best use of my skillset proves challenging.
When the opportunity of a lifetime comes my way, I should be eager to cash in.
It comes with a six-figure bounty and the chance to seek revenge on my almost-brother-in-law—great incentives.
But it also means crossing paths with the woman who not only got away but hacked out my heart in the process—my former fiancée, the hauntingly beautiful nightclub singer, Bijou Lefevre.