“They are happy. Antonio got word this morning Big Jim Berkley’s appeal won’t happen, and he’s pleading guilty to a laundry list of additional charges, including the murder of Senator Wellsley. Serena is finally safe.”
Nica wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I missed out on everything. Who knew Serena wasn’t even Serena? I’m stuck at school while everybody else gets to have all the fun.”
“Listen, shrimp, I wouldn’t call being in witness protection and then having to be on the run, being hunted by your own family, having fun.”
“Well, not that part, obviously. I meant the falling in love part. Momma said watching Antonio and Serena dance around each other for the last year has been like watching a soap opera. Add in the feds, car crashes, death threats, a long-lost mother reappearing, and it sounds more like a movie of the week, but whatever.”
“It all worked out in the end. I wouldn’t be surprised if Antonio doesn’t pop the question soon. Nothing would make Momma happier. She’d get another new daughter-in-law and keep her working at Boudreau Realty.”
“Wow, you’re such a romantic, Brody. Not. I’m going to head over and grab a piece of cake. Want anything?”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “Nope. I’m good.”
Staring up at him, she whispered, “Yes, you are. Don’t ever forget it. Love ya!”
He watched her practically skip over to the dessert table, where a huge engagement cake provided by Jill Monroe, Tessa’s best friend, sat in the middle. Even he had to admit it was a work of art in cake form. Jill had some serious chops when it came to baking, and it tasted even better than it looked.
A trill of laughter drew his gaze, and his lips quirked up when he spotted Jamie, Beth’s little girl. Beth and Jamie came back for Tessa’s engagement party, having gone home to North Carolina not long ago. The lower half of Jamie’s face was covered with frosting, and Beth chuckled while using a napkin to clean it off her wiggling daughter. Beth’s blonde hair was pulled up, leaving her cheekbones and neckline exposed, and she looked beautiful in a soft lavender one-shoulder dress. She was beautiful. An earth goddess with a heart-stopping smile.
Too bad she was off limits.
Thank you for reading Antonio, Book #2 in the Texas Boudreau Brotherhood series. I hope you enjoyed Antonio and Serena’s story. Want to find out more about Brody Boudreau and the excitement and adventure he’s about to plunge headfirst into? Keep reading for an excerpt from his book, Brody, Book #3 in the Texas Boudreau Brotherhood. Available at all major e-book and print vendors.
Brody (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood series) © Kathy Ivan
After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, any thoughts of actual sleep disappeared. Brody headed to the kitchen, and reached for the coffee pot, pouring a cup. Strong and black, just the way he liked it. Standing in the open back doorway, he stared out at the sweeping panorama of the Boudreau ranch. He loved the old place, felt the connection deep in his soul, and if circumstances were different, he’d probably choose to live here permanently. Work with the horses and the cattle and been happy. But he was compelled, some might even call it obsessed, to work with fire. Saving people, saving buildings, it was a calling he couldn’t ignore.
Finishing his coffee, he spotted his father walking toward the barn, his stride purposeful, his ever-present cowboy hat pulled low over his brow. The sight evoked a memory from early days, when he’d first come to live at the Big House. While Douglas owned and ran a large and extremely successful construction company, he was as much a part of the working ranch as the dirt beneath his boots. He’d lost count of the times he’d seen the man working alongside the ranch hands, setting posts and mending fences, doing his fair share to keep their homestead running.
Douglas Boudreau held a special place in Brody’s heart, had from the day he’d met him. Bigger than life, tall and strong, to a small eight-year-old boy the mountain of a man engendered an imposing and intimidating sight, yet he’d learned quickly Douglas Boudreau was one of the gentlest men Brody ever met. With a heart as big as Texas, Douglas and Ms. Patti welcomed him into their home and into their hearts, with an ease he found remarkable to this day. He couldn’t put into words the special place in his heart these two remarkable people held, helping him bridge the painful gap of heartbreak and loss at a tender age. Some days he could feel Ms. Patti’s loving arms wrapped around him while he’d mourned, sharing his grief, his young mind unable to accept the devastating loss and changes, the yawning despair threatening to swallow him whole.
Shaking his head, he rinsed his cup, put it in the dishwasher, and headed out to the barn. Maybe a little strenuous exercise might help clear his head, make sense of the jumbled thoughts rolling around inside his brain.
While he’d tried in vain to sleep, all he’d thought about, fantasized about, was Beth Stewart. Beautiful, headstrong, and independent, she’d moved halfway across the country to make a clean break with painful memories and a messy divorce. She was making a new life for her and her daughter in a new town under strained and stressful circumstances. Though she’d been welcomed as part of the Boudreau family, he didn’t feel anything close to familial about the feisty woman who kept him fantasizing about a future which could never be.
When Brody walked into the barn, Douglas sat atop a wooden stool hold a bridle, studying it with the same intensity he did everything else. The worn leather looked tiny within his father’s big, work-roughened hands. His dad looked up when Brody walked in, his face a study of lines and angles, tanned
