by Lisa Plumley
“Mmm.” As though he’d decided nothing of consequence, she bustled over. She flipped flapjacks on his plate. “Eat first.”
“No.” Clayton realized he was still holding the telltale ribbon. Feeling himself flush, he pocketed it. “It can’t wait.”
“Of course it can wait.” With an adorable hip wiggle, Adeline gestured for him to make room on his lap. She sat, then looped her arms around his neck. She gazed into his eyes. “Everything can wait. Except maybe…my curiosity, that is.”
“Your curiosity?”
“About what you said last night.” Her gaze turned downright impish. “About…things that could happen almost anywhere?”
At her seductive look, Clayton was a goner. That look reminded him of everything they’d shared—and a few things they hadn’t. “Damnation, Miss Wilson! You’re a minx sometimes!”
She kissed him. “I think you like that about me, Mr. Davis.”
“More than you know.” Distracted by the captivating roundness of her bottom against his lap, Clayton lowered his hand. He stroked her. They both moaned. “Let’s talk later.”
The next morning, Clayton got as far as pulling out his keepsake ribbon, reminding himself of how very crucial it was that he hightail it directly to the sheriff’s office, and giving Addy his most stern-faced, determined look…before she coyly invited him upstairs to help her “make the bed” and blew all his good intentions clear out of the water, lickety-split.
Together, they stepped into the bedroom. Before them, Adeline’s bedstead stood with its bedclothes cast hither and yon. A pillow lay on the bureau. The mattress itself was askew. Clothes—both his and hers—draped every surface and the floor.
Adeline tsked. “This room is a shambles.”
“Indeed, it is,” Clayton agreed. “I enjoyed every moment of making it look this way, too.” He smiled at her, awash in pleasant—and pleasurable—memories. “Late breakfast again today?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They sank to the bed, laughing between kisses. Filled with giddy anticipation, Clayton trailed his hand from Adeline’s ankle to her knee. He kissed her knee, then caressed higher.
“Kissing my knee?” Adeline giggled. The sound delighted him unabashedly. “I declare, Clay—if you’re already running out of places to kiss me, I simply don’t know what we’ll do.”
“Oh, I’m not running out of places to kiss you.” To prove it, Clayton gave her a gentle nip on her inner thigh. She yelped with surprise…then sighed as his next kiss turned gentler. “I have lots of places yet where I’d like to kiss you. Like here.”
Sweetly he kissed a little higher. Caught by surprise yet again, Adeline wriggled. “Clay?” Sounding breathless, she clutched his head. “Shouldn’t we undress? All my skirts are—”
“They’re no trouble at all.” He delved beneath them, flipping them aside. Then it was his turn to be surprised. Immediately transfixed, Clayton gazed at her. “You’re naked under here. No stockings, no drawers…nothing except you.”
“I had the notion you might like that,” she confessed with a playful smile. “And on a practical note, it’s a time saver!”
“I don’t think either of us is concerned about saving time.” Lowering his head, Clayton kissed her—gently and thrillingly—at the junction of her thighs. “I love kissing you this way, Addy. I’d like to go on…if you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” She sounded dazed. “I think I’d die if you didn’t!”
So for the second time in two days, Clayton found himself utterly unable to get himself to the sheriff’s office. He was a wanted man, all right—but right now, all he wanted was Addy.
With a fondness that felt entirely evident in her gaze, Adeline watched as Clayton sat at her kitchen table on their third morning together, rubbing his thumb over her pink memento hair ribbon. If she didn’t wrestle away that ribbon from him soon, she’d never get it into her scrapbook. Clay seemed downright determined to claim her keepsake for himself.
But Adeline didn’t really mind. She thought Clayton’s sentimentality was sweet. Watching a big, tough mill worker like Clayton gently handle that delicate grosgrain scrap made her go all gooey inside. So did his smile, when he turned it on her a second later. My, but he was wonderful! So irresistible.
Already they’d shared some amazing nights together. Maybe it was wrong, being together this way, but Adeline had loved it.
More plainly, she loved Clayton. She loved that he helped with her chores—at least he did, between kisses and caresses and romantic interludes. She loved that he cradled her close and let her put her head on his shoulder. She loved that he listened to her talk in the darkness before sleeping. She even loved that he worried so much about his “tarnished reputation” and wanted to shine it up properly so he could share it with her in marriage.
She didn’t love that she couldn’t tell him about Violet and her well-meant scheming. On the day Clayton had arrived, Adeline had sent a message to Violet with the intention of learning what her friend’s plan was. She still hadn’t heard back from her.
Until she did… Clayton had to stay. Simple as that.
He glanced up. “Today, I’m definitely going to town.”
“Of course,” Adeline agreed good-naturedly. She poured him more coffee, then sat across from him to drink hers. “Soon?”
Clayton gazed at the buttons she’d strategically left undone on her dress bodice. He smiled. “Fairly soon. Yes.”
“I see.” She didn’t want their idyllic togetherness to end. Yes, it had served its purpose in keeping Clayton in the dark about Violet’s sham “manhunt.” But it had also brought her and Clayton closer together…indelibly so. “Can I go with you?”
He frowned. “I want you to stay here, where you’re safe.”
Adeline pondered that for a minute. Clayton stroked his pilfered memento hair ribbon, lost in thought. The fragrance of fresh coffee drifted on the kitchen air, heady and invigorating.
“Well, I’d better let you go then. Right after breakfast.” Adeline propped her chin in her hand. Her gaze drifted lower. “Clay, I was wondering… Can I kiss you, the way you did me, yesterday?” The memory of it made her blush. “I’m intrigued by—”
His gaze met hers. He appeared riveted by the notion. His hand fisted on her poor little hair ribbon, almost mangling it.
“—by the idea of it,” she finished hurriedly, “but if that’s simply not done, then I understand. I’m sorry. I find you so fascinating, you see, and I’d like to share that with you.”
He swallowed hard. “I…would like that.”
His blunt statement pleased her. So did the general attitude of attentiveness she spied in his britches. “Good!”
“If I didn’t know better,” Clayton said with a grin, “I’d swear you’re trying to keep me from going to town today.”
Adeline almost choked on his perceptiveness. She was genuinely curious about kissing him in such an intimate fashion. But there was no denying that she also wanted to stop Clayton from going to town. Hedging, Adeline said, “Well, I…”
Then, through the open kitchen window, she heard the distinctive sound of hoofbeats in the farmhouse’s front yard. Outside, she glimpsed Sheriff Caffey, one of his deputies, two local men…and a beleaguered-looking Violet at their side.
The sheriff looked ornerier than a snake. It appeared that the time for delaying matters had past. Whether Adeline and Clayton were ready or not, the truth had come looking for them.
“I am trying to keep you from going to town,” Adeline confessed hastily. She stood, hoping to forestall the moment when the sheriff and his men interrupted. “The thing is, Clay, that no one was ever after you at all! It was just a ruse—”
“Is that Violet Benson?” Clayton peered through the window. “And Sheriff Caffey?” Grim-faced, he stood, too, obviously preparing to defend himself. Then he appeared to hear what she’d said. His expression turned comically surprised. “A ruse?”
“I told Violet
not to do it!” Adeline swore. “I told her you’d propose on your own time! I told her you were saving up.”
“You spoke with Violet about me? About us? About proposing?” His brow furrowed in a fearsome fashion. “Why, Adeline?”
She longed for him to call her Addy again. In a dither, she threw up her hands. The sheriff knocked at the door. Adeline pegged the sound as being decidedly threatening. She swallowed.
“Because everyone in town knows you haven’t proposed yet!” she blurted, unable to keep the embarrassing truth inside any longer. It had kept company with her own disappointment for far too long already. “They all think you never will propose. Ever.”
Clayton seemed astonished. “Do you think that?”
Uncomfortably Adeline wrung her hands. She lifted her gaze to Clayton’s face, pleading with him to understand. “All I’ve ever wanted was to be yours, Clayton. The rest doesn’t matter.”
He tightened his jaw. “It matters to me.”
Another knock at the door. Clayton glanced in that direction. Any sensible man would have run the other way. But Clayton—her Clayton—stood his ground. He opened his hand. A bit of something pink drifted to the table. Her keepsake ribbon.
He no longer wanted that memento of their first night together, Adeline realized in despair. Everything was ruined.
“I’ll answer the door,” Clayton said. “You stay here.”
On the verge of disagreeing, Adeline nodded. “I love you!”
But all Clayton did was walk away, headed to what he thought was certain condemnation—and days without her—without so much as a single look back. Biting back a sob, she let him go.
Clayton couldn’t believe Adeline had spoken to other people about their courtship. He couldn’t believe she’d had to defend his lack of a marriage proposal—defend him—to the entire town of Morrow Creek. Most of all, he couldn’t believe innocent Violet Benson, the preacher’s daughter, had duped him into going on the run from a nonexistent posse and a crooked sheriff who probably had no more interest in Clayton than he did in knitting mittens.
But when he opened the door on the party assembled there, he realized that’s exactly what had happened. Adeline had held up her head while the whole town gossiped about her and him and their future. Her friend had somehow stepped in to inveigle a “solution” of some kind. The sheriff and his men had doubtless been bamboozled into going along with it. Stacked against two determined womenfolk, what chance could they possibly have had?
“Morning, Sheriff Caffey.” Reaching for his hat, Clayton realized he wasn’t wearing one. Suddenly all too aware of his informal appearance, he straightened. “What can I do for you?”
The sheriff removed his hat. He peered past Clayton into the farmhouse’s interior. “I was expecting to see Miss Wilson.”
Clayton had no intention of letting the lawman near her. “That’s funny. I heard you were looking for me.”
“I was.” Appearing uncomfortable, Caffey scratched his head. He cast a sour-faced look at Violet Benson. “But it seems that was all a misunderstanding. Miss Benson thought she saw that ruthless gang, the Bedell brothers, hiding out at your place the other day. I reckon if you saw us looking for them at your cabin, you might have gotten the wrong idea.”
“I see.” That explained the gun-toting assemblage he’d seen. “Given that, plus the fact that Miss Benson specifically told me you were on the lookout for me… I guess a man could get a mite confused on that account.” Clayton cast Violet a chary look. He addressed the sheriff. “Is that all?”
“Yep.” The sheriff squinted. “I reckon that’s it.”
Violet Benson elbowed him in the ribs. Hard.
Sheriff Caffey directed a begrudging look at her. “All right, I’m still talking!” he assured Violet. To Clayton, he said, “Your reputation is clear, Davis. I promised Miss Benson—”
“And my father, Minister Benson!” Violet specified.
“—that I’d be certain to let you know that. Do we understand each other, or do I have to keep jawing at you?”
The man’s obvious disgruntlement almost made Clayton smile, despite everything. It wasn’t often Sheriff Caffey made amends.
“I think Mr. Davis understands perfectly.” Violet gave the lawman an approving nod. “Thank you kindly, Sheriff. You’ve certainly done a good deed in the eyes of the Lord today.”
Caffey seemed visibly relieved. Apparently crooked Sheriff Caffey wasn’t afraid of anything—except the Almighty. Somehow the minister’s daughter had invoked His name to sort things out.
With a gruff goodbye for Clayton, the sheriff and his men ambled off the porch. They left Violet behind, but she didn’t seem to mind. Instead she moved closer with a confiding air.
“I’m sorry about all this, Clayton.” With a concerned look, Violet gazed past his shoulder for a glimpse of Adeline. “I promise you, I only had the best of intentions! But I’m not used to meddling this way, and I’m afraid I’m not very good at it. When I told you that fib about the sheriff and his posse, I didn’t think it through. I only wanted to make you leave town for a few days—just long enough for you to start missing Adeline and want to propose to her. When I got that note from Adeline, saying you were hiding out here with her, I figured I’d done a good thing! I figured you two had probably eloped already.”
Adeline had sent a note? Startled, Clayton frowned. That explained how the sheriff had managed to find him, but… “You and Adeline cooked up this scheme together? I don’t believe it.”
“You shouldn’t believe it! It was me. All me. But I’m sorry for it, and that’s why I asked the sheriff to come out and help me set things straight this morning. I promise, I’ll never fib again!” Earnestly Violet pressed on. “You know we all love Adeline. We do! We want her to be happy. And you do seem to have taken her a mite for granted these past two years—”
That’s what all this had been about? Taking Adeline for granted? He’d never done that. But he could see how someone might think he had. He had been sweet on Adeline a long time.
“Thank you for explaining.” Roughly Clayton reached up to tip his hat to Violet. Belatedly he remembered anew that he’d left his headwear inside with Adeline—along with all his hopes and dreams. Right now, he feared that’s all he and Adeline would ever have, thanks to his mistakes. “But that won’t be a problem anymore,” he said soberly. “The truth is, Adeline and I are—”
“We’re finished,” Adeline interrupted, stepping onto the front porch with them. “I’m sorry, Violet,” she told the minister’s daughter, “but your plan didn’t work.” She gave Clayton a lonesome look. “Clayton’s already given up on me. It’s over with.” She hauled in a deep breath, then held out his hat. “I’m sorry about all this, Clayton. I was wrong to withhold the truth from you. I understand if you want to leave.”
Bravely Adeline stood with Clayton’s upturned hat in her hands, waiting for him to take it. It had required all the courage she possessed to step out onto the porch. She didn’t think she could stand it if he delayed their goodbyes. As it was, she could scarcely see him, so tear-filled were her eyes.
Obviously taken aback by her arrival, Clayton stared at her. She could not read his expression, thanks to her dratted tears. She squared her shoulders, watching miserably as her beloved Clayton merely took his hat, then…peeked into it?
Whatever he saw there pleased him. He smiled.
He reached in, then withdrew the pink keepsake ribbon she’d dropped in before coming outside. She’d wanted Clayton to have it. She hadn’t wanted to see him holding it again. Not so soon.
Adeline gulped back a breath. This was breaking her heart!
“Adeline and I—” Clayton repeated in a clear, certain, almost booming voice, “are getting engaged—provided I can convince her to say yes.” Still holding the ribbon, he dropped to one knee, right there on the porch in full view of Violet and the neighbors and the sheriff and the deputy and the posse, and he took Adeline’s hand in his. When he l
ooked up at her, his handsome face was filled with contrition and—she dared to hope—enduring love, too. “I’m sorry, Adeline. So sorry! I never knew you were waiting on me. I thought you realized…I knew I’d move heaven and earth to have you for my own, and I thought you knew that, too. Hell, I thought everyone in town could see it on my face.” Clayton reached up. He thumbed away her tears, then smiled at her. “I’m a fool for you, Addy. And I guess I’m just a plain fool, too. Because I thought I needed more savings and more money to make you happy—”
Through her haze of tears and surprise, Adeline realized something: he’d called her Addy again. He did love her. He did!
“—but now I know that I don’t need anything except the two of us, together, just the way we’ve been for the past few days.” Giving her a stirringly intimate look, Clayton squeezed her hand. He pulled it to his chest, where she could feel his heart galloping along. “That’s enough for me. I hope, with all my heart, it’s enough for you. Because I love you like crazy, Addy. When I’m apart from you, you’re all I can think about. When we’re together, I just want to stay that way. I want to have babies with you, and grow old with you, and dance with you, and laugh with you. I’m sorry for making you wait. I’m so sorry—”
“Oh, Clayton! I’m sorry, too!” With a sob of joy, Adeline clung to his hand. Never had a man looked more remorseful, more handsome…more right. More hers. “I should have told you the truth about Violet’s scheme, only I was afraid you’d leave! I was so enjoying being with you. I didn’t want our time to end.”
“It never has to end. Please, Addy—please say you’ll be mine.” Clayton twined the pink ribbon into a makeshift band. Holding it as though it was the most treasured ring in the whole territory, he offered it to her along with a hopeful smile. “I know this isn’t much, but it comes with all my love and all my heart. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Sniffling back tears, laughing at the same time, Adeline threw her arms around Clayton. She sank to the porch beside him, even as Violet—ever the romantic—sighed nearby. “Of course, I’ll marry you, Clayton! I’ll marry you, and I promise I’ll make you the best wife ever! I love you, and I’m sorry—”
