Cowboy Take Me Away Part 73

Cord elbowed Colby. "Knock it off, you two."

Carson sighed. "Some things never change."

"Thank G.o.d for that." Carolyn held her arms open. "Well, kids, come here and give me hugs. Then tell me everything I missed in the past week."

They gathered around, pus.h.i.+ng each other out of the way to be the first in line.

Then they all started talking at once.

She turned her head and looked at Carson.

He gifted her with that dimpled grin and mouthed I love you.

That's when her topsy-turvy world righted itself.

This chaos was her life and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Epilogue.

Ten years later...

"See that silver-haired fox over there?" Carson said to Cal. "She's comin' home with me tonight."

"You sure? That guy in the three-piece suit in the corner is eyeballin' her. Looks like he's gonna make a move soon." Cal chuckled. "Of course, he'd have to get up and outta that wheelchair first."

"Don't care if he's in a wheelchair. He puts a hand on her and I'll beat his wrinkled a.s.s."

Cal snorted. "Good thing you're carryin' around a cane, old man. Your brawlin' days have been over for a long d.a.m.n time."

"p.i.s.s off. That woman has been mine for sixty years. I ain't ever gonna be too old to fight for her."

Carolyn threw her head back and laughed at something Kyler said. She was holding someone's baby but there were so many kids around that he couldn't keep track of which ones belonged to whom.

"She is still something, all right," Carson said to Cal, never taking his eyes off his wife.

"Yep. Think she's got a sister?"

"I've heard that little whip of a thing is mouthy. Think you can handle her?"

"Been doin' my level best to handle that spitfire for the past fifty-three years," Cal said dryly. "Give me another ten years or so and I might have it figured out."

Carson grinned. "Been a h.e.l.luva ride, bein' married to the West sisters."

"Got that right." Cal lifted his bottle for a toast. "Best thing I ever did was drag your a.s.s to the dancehall that night."

He raised his bottle and touched it to his brother's. "Amen. And if I never said thank you..."

"You did. So how long is this party supposed to last?"

"h.e.l.l if I know. That's the good thing about bein' old; no one expects us to stay for the whole thing. They think we're goin' home early and goin' to bed." Which was partially true. He'd be taking his wife home to bed, but they sure wouldn't be sleeping.

Cal snorted and didn't say a word, but he knew what was on his brother's mind, probably because the same thing was on his. "The blonde tornado is givin' me the stink eye so I'd better see what's up."

Carson's gaze remained on Carolyn until she sensed him staring at her.

After pa.s.sing the baby to Vi, she started toward him.

The background noise and the groups of people faded away and all he saw was her.

Carolyn moved slower now. She looked a little different. After her accident a decade ago, her hair follicles had sustained damage and her hair had never grown back the right way. He'd expected her vanity would force her into wearing a wig. But she refused and kept her hair in a military crew-cut style. Those once blonde tresses were completely silver. Now she was the very definition of a hot, s.e.xy and hip grandma.

She stopped in front of him.

"You're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. How's about we run off together?"

"Does that line usually work for you, cowboy?"

He traced the edge of her jaw. "It did once. Got me what I wanted and it lasted for six glorious decades. So I wanna make sure you're onboard for the next six decades with me."

"Hmm. Well, I might have to think about it... There are pros and cons."

"Such as?"

"The cons? You are still too handsome for your own good. And you'd prefer to answer all challenges with your fists.You still sneak the occasional cigarette. You cuss like a sailor. You drive like an idiot." Carolyn placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. "The pros? You've got a full head of hair and your own teeth. You make me laugh. You set my blood on fire. You are still the best man I've ever known. So, I'll keep you around for a little while longer."

"Whew. I was worried there for a second you might want to upgrade this model for a newer one."

"The training period for a new model is far too long. Besides, they've replaced all your worn out parts."

In the last decade he'd had his other hip replaced and both knees. Most days he felt pretty good. He missed riding. He probably always would.

Carson leaned forward and kissed her. "How's my bride?"

"Been sixty years since I was a blus.h.i.+ng bride."

"I can still getcha to blush though."

"That you can, wild man McKay." Carolyn fussed with the b.u.t.tons on his s.h.i.+rt.

"Something on your mind?"

She looked up at him, worry in her eyes. "Liesl baked the anniversary cake. She used my Aunt Hulda's recipe for the traditional German chocolate b.u.t.ter cake we had at our wedding. She's hounding me to taste it to see if it's authentic. And I don't know what to say."

Another strange effect of Carolyn's accident; she'd lost all sense of taste. She could tell the difference between hot and cold; differentiate textures, but nothing else. After the six-month recovery period, when she attempted to return to daily cooking for them, she'd realized she couldn't cook at all. She had some sort of disconnect in her visual language skills which resulted in difficulty reading and she couldn't follow the most basic recipe.

So at age seventy-five he'd finally learned to cook. The only good thing about that? Since she couldn't taste, she couldn't tell the meals he prepared tasted like s.h.i.+t.

They ate out a lot.

And because cooking had been such a big part of what'd defined her, they'd kept her loss of skills to themselves. Carson told anyone who asked that after fifty years of kitchen duty she'd officially hung up her oven mitts and retired.

He curled his hand around her face. "Liesl is not lookin' for the truth, sugar. She's lookin' for validation from her Gran-gran because she respects the h.e.l.l out of you. So tell her whatever she did surpa.s.sed the original recipe and you don't remember it ever tastin' that good."

"You always know just what to say, silver-tongued devil that you are," she murmured.

"How much longer do we have to stay?"

"Another hour or so. They're doing the whole cake-cutting thing and first dance thing, which is weird because we didn't have either of those things at our wedding. I doubt they're expecting us to stick around after that."

"Good. I have plans for us." He brushed an openmouthed kiss at the base of her neck. "Nekkid plans that include you, me, our hot tub and a bottle of bubbly."

She laughed. "You really believe that hot tub is the fountain of youth, don't you?"

"Yep. Makes me feel twenty years younger."

"Lord, crazy man, I love you. You really will be chasing me around when you're a hundred and five, won't you?"

Carson smiled. "Count on it."

Check out Lorelei James's Author's Notes and FAQs for behind-the-scenes information on the Rough Riders series as well as details on when other characters from this world will get their stories. Explore the McKay-West family trees, a timeline for the series and more at www.loreleijames.com.

About the Author.

Lorelei James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary erotic western romances set in the modern day Wild West and also contemporary erotic romances. Lorelei's books have been nominated for and won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award as well as the CAPA Award. Lorelei lives in western South Dakota with her family...and a whole closet full of cowgirl boots.

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Look for these t.i.tles by Lorelei James.

Now Available:.

Rough Riders.

Long Hard Ride Rode Hard, Put Up Wet.

Cowgirl Up and Ride.

Tied Up, Tied Down Rough, Raw, and Ready.

Branded As Trouble.

Shoulda Been A Cowboy All Jacked Up.

Raising Kane Slow Ride.

Cowgirls Don't Cry.

Chasin' Eight Cowboy Casanova Kissin' Tell.

Gone Country Redneck Romeo Cowboy Take Me Away.

Wild West Boys Mistress Christmas Miss Firecracker.

Anthologies Wild Ride: Strong, Silent Type.

Three's Company: Wicked Garden Two to Tango: Ballroom Blitz.

Dirty Deeds.

The last McKay standing is knocked to his knees...

Redneck Romeo.

2013 Lorelei James.

Rough Riders, Book 15.

Three years ago, Dalton McKay looked across the altar and saw the woman he knew he'd love for the rest of his life...only it wasn't his bride. That's when he took the McKays' love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation to new heights-fleeing the ceremony and Wyoming.

Now a family issue has brought Dalton back to Sundance, giving him a chance to prove to everyone-especially the woman he thought he lost-that he's a changed man.

Aurora "Rory" Wetzler has fallen for cowboy hottie Dalton's smooth-talkin' ways too many times. So he's determined to convince her he's playing for keeps this go around? Fine. She'll call that bluff-she can't ignore their intense chemistry or resist smokin' hot s.e.x, but she's not willing to gamble her heart again.