But first they lost themselves in each other in the cozy little cottage behind the barn he’d tried to give her as a goodbye.
And that very same night—a year to the day Brady had promised his brother he’d give Cold River a chance, but had never expected he’d stay—they started planning their own family. Their own future.
It started with their wedding. That was absolutely not a shotgun wedding, because the Kittredge brothers—his brothers, now, by marriage—really would kill him for the disrespect after all that courting.
But it wasn’t the ceremony that Brady cared about, as beautiful as it was to see Amanda in her pretty dress, her hair like honey and the gold in her gaze all for him. Or how much fun it was to dance with her at her wedding the way he’d promised her he would.
Back when he’d truly believed he wouldn’t be the groom.
The marriage was what he was truly excited about.
It started with I do, and carried on forever, one kept promise after another. His successes and hers. Their failures and sorrows. Their joys. What they learned, what they threw aside, and who they became when they were together.
As time went on, Brady often had to stop to marvel at his good fortune. His life was brighter than he ever could have imagined in the darkness of his childhood. And thanks to that little Kittredge girl he’d first made his wife, then the mother of his babies, about as close to perfect as a man could get. It was far more than he deserved.
“You’re a good man,” Amanda would tell him as the years rolled on by, her eyes shining and her voice fierce. “You deserve everything.”
The more she believed in him, the less room there was inside him for ghosts.
Eventually, if he thought about his father and all the old man had missed out on, it made him sad. For a moment.
But only a moment.
Brady and his brothers were better husbands than Amos ever had been, because they worked at it. They were better fathers, and they did their level best to be better men. And their lives were filled with the love they gave and the love they got back.
And all the complicated, beautiful, maddening, and magical gifts love gave to them, they called family.
Because life went on until the land called them home. That was the Everett tradition.
But a man didn’t have to go to his place by the river broken and bitter, mean and alone. That was a choice.
Brady chose love.
Day after day, one season into the next, he chose love.
“Love chooses you right back,” Amanda liked to tell him, honey and gold.
Year after year, behind their locked door in a house more loud with laughter than pain, she was always more than happy to prove it.
Don’t miss these other novels in the Cold River Ranch series from
USA Today Bestselling Author
CAITLIN CREWS
COLD HEART, WARM COWBOY
A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS
From St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Also by
Caitlin Crews
A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS
COLD HEART, WARM COWBOY
Praise for A True Cowboy Christmas
“Readers willing to brave the emotional turmoil like a frigid winter day will be rewarded at the very end with Christmas warmth and love.”
—Booklist
“Get yourself a cowboy for Christmas this year!”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Crews hits the mark by concentrating on personal development and internal struggles, minimizing outside drama. The story flows smoothly, is loaded with charming characters, and is full of wit. These mature, thoughtful, caring protagonists will win the heart of any romance fan.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Full of emotion, humor, and small-town charm. Caitlin Crews delivers everything I want in a cowboy!”
—Maisey Yates, New York Times bestselling author of Claim Me, Cowboy
“Caitlin Crews writes cowboys you’ll swoon over, heroines you’ll root for, and families that will grip your heart.”
—Nicole Helm, author of Cowboy SEAL Redemption
About the Author
USA Today bestselling, RITA-nominated, and critically acclaimed author Caitlin Crews has written a lot of books: from women’s fiction, chick lit, and work-for-hire young adult novels to Harlequin Presents. These days her focus is on contemporary romance, from small town to international glamour, cowboys to bikers, and beyond. She sometimes teaches creative writing classes, both online at mediabistro.com and at UCLA Extension’s prestigious Writers’ Program, where she finally utilizes the MA and PhD in English Literature she received from the University of York in York, England. She currently lives in California with her husband, who draws comics and animation storyboards, and their menagerie of ridiculous animals. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Also by Caitlin Crews
Praise for A True Cowboy Christmas
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Paperbacks, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE LAST REAL COWBOY
Copyright © 2020 by Caitlin Crews.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
eISBN: 9781250295286
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St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / February 2020