Books By Diana Palmer

by Palmer, Diana

"...yes, he phoned me a couple of days ago," the client was saying. "He used to hate Jacobsville, which makes it even stranger. We were all shocked."

  "Yes," Kemp replied. "He had a whole island, didn't he? He's already sold up there, and he's got big plans for the Colbert Ranch property. He owns several thoroughbreds, which he's having shipped here from New Providence. He plans to have one of the best racing stables in Texas, from what he says."

  "He says he's giving up the business as well and coming back here to live."

  "That's another odd thing, he mentioned going back to medical school and finishing his residency," Kemp chuckled.

  "He's good at what he used to do. He's patched me up enough over the years." The tall man with the green eyes, favoring a burned forearm and hand glanced at Callie and noted her shocked face. "Yes, Callie, I'm talking about your stepbrother. I don't guess you and Jack Steele knew a thing about this, did you?"

  She shook her head, too stunned to speak.

  "That's like Micah." The client chuckled. "He always was secretive. Well, Callie, you look none the worse for wear after your ordeal."

  She finally realized who the client was. That was Cy Parks! She knew that he and Micah were friends, but until recently she hadn't known that they shared the same profession.

  "Micah's moving here?" she asked involuntarily.

  "He is," Cy told her. "But don't tell him you heard me say so," he added with a twinkle in his green eyes. "I don't need to lose any more teeth."

  "Sure thing, Mr. Parks," she said with a smile.

  "He couldn't stop talking about how brave you were, you know," he added unexpectedly. "He was so proud of you."

  She flushed. "He never said so."

  "He doesn't, usually." He smiled. "Your father will enjoy having him home, too."

  She nodded. "He's proud of Micah. I had to tell him the truth. He'll be over the moon to think that Micah's coming home. He's missed him."

  "That cuts both ways. I'm glad to see him making an attempt to settle down," he added with a chuckle. "I can recommend it highly. I never expected so much happiness in my own life. Lisa's pregnant, you know," he added. "It's going to be a boy. We're both over the moon."

  "Babies are nice," Callie said wistfully. "Thanks for telling me about Micah, Mr. Parks."

  "Make it Cy," he told her. "I expect we'll be seeing each other again. Kemp, walk me out, I want to ask you something."

  "Sure thing."

  The men walked out onto the sidewalk and Callie stared at her computer screen with trembling fingers on the keyboard. Micah had sold his island. He was coming to live in Jacobsville. Was Lisse coming with him? Had they made up in spite of what he'd said about her? Was he going to marry the beautiful blonde and set up housekeeping here? If he was, she couldn't bear to stay in Jacobsville!

  She felt like bawling. Her emotions had been all over the place lately. Along with the sudden bouts of fatigue and an odd nausea at night, and a missing period, she was likely to cry at the drop of a hat. She remembered a girlfriend having all those same symptoms, but of course, the girlfriend had been pregnant. That wasn't possible in her case. An erotic dream did not produce conception, after all. She was going to see the doctor the next day anyway. She'd know what was wrong then, if anything was. She hoped it was nothing too terrible.

  When she got home that evening, the doctor, the office, everything went right out of her head. There was a black Porsche convertible sitting in the driveway. With her heart pounding like mad, she got out and rushed up the front steps and into the apartment house.

  She opened her own door, which was unlocked, and there was Micah, sitting at the dining-room table with Jack Steele while they shared a pot of coffee.

  "Micah!" she exclaimed, everything she felt showing helplessly on her face.

  He got to his feet, his face somber and oddly watchful. "Hello, Callie," he said quietly.

  "I thought...I mean, I didn't think..." The room was swirling around her. She felt an odd numbness in her face and everything went white.

  Micah rushed forward and caught her up in his arms before she hit the floor.

  "Her bedroom's through there," Jack told him. "She's been acting very odd, lately. Tired and goes to bed early. I'll make another pot of coffee."

  "Thanks, Dad."

  Micah carried her to her room and laid her down gently on the white coverlet of her bed. Her fingers were like ice. He brushed back her disheveled hair and his heart clenched at just the sight of her. He'd missed her until it was anguish not to hear her voice, see her face.

  She moaned and her eyes opened slowly, looking up into his. She was faintly nauseous and her throat felt tight.

  "I feel awful, Micah," she whispered. "But I'm so happy to see you!"

  "I'm happy to see you, too," he replied, but he didn't look it. He looked worried. His big hand flattened on her belly, resting there very gently. He leaned close and his lips touched her eyelids, closing them. They moved down her face, over her cheeks, to her soft lips and he kissed her with breathless tenderness. "Callie," he whispered, and his lips became hard and insistent, as if he couldn't help himself.

  She opened her mouth to him unconsciously, and her arms went around his neck, pulling him down. She forgot about Lisse, about everything. She kissed him back hungrily. All the weeks apart might never have been. She loved him so!

  After a long minute, he forced himself to lift his head. He drew in a long, hard breath. He looked down where his hand was resting on her belly. It wasn't swollen yet, but he was certain, somehow, that she was carrying his child.

  "Why...are you doing that?" she asked, watching his hand smooth over her stomach.

  "I don't know how to tell you," he replied gently. "Callie...do you remember the night Lopez's men tried to kidnap you again? Do you remember that I gave you a sedative?"

  "Yes," she said, smiling nervously.

  "And you had an...erotic dream," he continued.

  "Yes." She shifted on the cover. "I'd rather not talk about it."

  "But we have to. Callie, I..."

  "How about some coffee?" Jack Steele asked, poking his head through the doorway. "I just made a fresh pot."

  "I'd like some," Callie said with a forced smile. "I'd like something to eat, too. I'm so empty!"

  "That's what you think," Micah said under his breath. He stared down at her with twinkling eyes and a smile unlike any smile she'd ever seen on his lips before.

  "You look very strange," she commented.

  He shrugged. "Don't I always?"

  She laughed gently. "Cy Parks was in Mr. Kemp's office today," she said as he helped her to her feet. "He said you were moving here...oops! I promised not to say anything, too. Please don't get mad at him, Micah."

  "It's no big secret," he said gently. "In small towns, everybody knows what's going on. It's all right."

  "You really are coming back here?"

  Her wide eyes and fascinated expression made him tingle all over. "I am. I'm going to breed thoroughbreds. It's something I've always had an interest in. I might finish my residency as well. Jacobsville can always use another doctor."

  "I guess so. I have to go see Dr. Lou Coltrain tomorrow. I think I may have a female problem," she said absently as they started out of the bedroom.

  "Tomorrow?"

  "After lunch," she said. "Don't tell Dad," she said, holding him back by the sleeve before they left the room. "I don't want him to worry. It probably scared him when I fainted. It scared me, too," she confessed.

  He touched her hair gently. He wanted to tell her, but he didn't know how. He needed to talk to Lou Coltrain first. This had to be done very carefully, so that Callie didn't feel he was being forced into a decision he didn't want to make.

  She searched his eyes. "You look so tired, Micah," she said softly.

  "I don't sleep well since you left the island," he replied. "I've worried about you."

  "I'm doing okay," she said at once, wanting to reassure him. "I don't even have night
mares." She looked down at her hand on his sleeve. "Micah, is Lisse...I mean, will she come, too?"

  "Lisse is history. I told you that when you left. I meant it."

  "She's so beautiful," she said huskily.

  He frowned, tipping her face up to his with a hand under her chin. "You're beautiful yourself. Didn't you know?" he asked tenderly. "You have this big, open heart that always thinks of other people first.

  You have a generosity of spirit that makes me feel selfish by comparison. You glow, Callie." He smiled softly. "That's real beauty, the kind you don't buy in the cosmetic section of the department store. Lisse can't hold a candle to you." The smile faded. "No woman on earth could, right now. You're pure magic to me, Callie. You're the whole world."

  That sounded serious. She just stared at him, transfixed, while she tried to decipher what he was saying.

  "Coffee?" Jack Steele repeated, a little more loudly.

  They both jumped when they saw him there. Then they laughed and moved out of the bedroom. Jack poured coffee into mugs and Micah carried Callie hers.

  "Feeling better?" Jack asked.

  "Oh, yes," she said, the excitement she was feeling so plain on her face that Micah grinned. "Much better!"

  Micah stayed near Callie for the rest of the evening, until he had to go. She'd fixed them a meal and had barely been able to eat a bite of it. She had little appetite, but mostly she was too excited. Micah was watching her as if everything she did fascinated him. All her dreams of love seemed to be coming true. She couldn't believe the way he was looking at her. It made her tingle.

  She walked out with him after he'd said his good-nights to his father. "You could stay," she said.

  "I can't sleep on that dinky little sofa, and Dad's in a twin bed. So unless you're offering to share your nice big double bed...?" he teased as they paused by the driver's side of his car.

  She flushed. "Stop that."

  He touched her cheek with his fingertips. "There's something I wanted to ask you. I can't seem to find a way to do it."

  "What? You can ask me anything," she said softly.

  He bent and brushed his mouth over hers. "Not yet. Come here and kiss me."

  "We have neighbors..." she protested weakly.

  But he'd already lifted her clear of the ground and he was kissing her as if there was no tomorrow. She held on and kissed him back with all her might. Two young boys on skateboards went whizzing by with long, insinuating wolf whistles.

  Micah lifted his head and gave them a hard glare. "Everyone's a critic," he murmured.

  "I'm not complaining," she whispered. "Come back here..."

  He kissed her again and then, reluctantly, put her back on her feet. "Unless you want to make love on the hood of the car, we'd better put on the brakes." He looked around. More people had appeared. Incredible that there would be hordes of passersby at this hour in a small Texas town. He glared at two couples sauntering by. They grinned.

  "That's Mr. and Mrs. Harris, and behind them is Mr. Harris's son and Jill Williams's daughter. They're going steady," she explained. "They know me, but I'm not in the habit of being kissed by handsome men in Porsches. They're curious."

  He nodded over her shoulder. "And her?"

  She followed where he was looking. "That's old Mrs. Smith. She grows roses."

  "Yes.Sheseemstobepruningthem."He checked his watch. "Ten o'clock at night is an odd hour to do that, isn't it?"

  "Oh, she just doesn't want to look as if she's staring," she explained. "She thinks it would embarrass us." She added in a whisper, "I expect she thinks we're courting."

  He twirled a strand of dark hair around his fingers. "Aren't we?" he asked with a gentle smile.

  "Courting?" She sounded breathless. She couldn't help it.

  He nodded. "You're very old-fashioned, Callie. In some ways, so am I. But you'd better know up-front that I'm not playing."

  "You already said you didn't want to settle down," she said, nodding agreement.

  "That isn't what I mean."

  "Then what do you mean?"

  "Hello, Callie!" came an exuberant call from the window upstairs. It was Maria Ruiz, who was visiting her aunt who lived upstairs. She was sixteen and vivacious. "Isn't it a lovely night?"

  "Lovely."

  "Who's the dish?" the younger woman asked with an outrageous grin. "He's a real hunk. Does he belong to you, or is he up for grabs?"

  "Sorry, I'm taken," Micah told her.

  "Just my luck," she sighed. "Well, good night!"

  She closed the window and the curtain and went back inside.

  Callie laughed softly. "She's such a doll. She looks in on Dad when her aunt's working. I told you about her aunt, she doesn't speak any English."

  He bent again and kissed her lazily. "You taste like roses," he whispered against her mouth. He enfolded her against him, shivering a little as his body responded instantly to the feel of hers against it and began to swell. He groaned softly as he kissed her again.

  "Micah, you're..." She felt the hard crush of his mouth and she moaned, too. It was as if she'd felt him like this before, but in much greater intimacy. It was as if they'd been lovers. She held on tight and kissed him until she was shivering, too.

  His mouth slid across her cheek to her ear, and he was breathing as roughly as she was. "I want you," he bit off, holding her bruisingly close. "I want you so much, Callie!"

  "I'm sorry," she choked. "I can't...!"

  He took deep breaths, trying to keep himself in check. He had to stop this. It was too soon. It was much too soon.

  "It may not seem like it, but I'm not asking you to," he said. "It's just that there are things you don't know, Callie, and I don't know how to tell them to you."

  "Bad things?"

  He let out a slow breath. "Magical things," he whispered, cradling her in his arms as he thought about the baby he was certain she was carrying. His eyes closed as he held her. "The most magical sort of things. I've never felt like this in my life."

  She wanted, so much, to ask him what he was feeling. But she was too shy. Perhaps if she didn't push him, he might like her. He sounded as if he did. She smiled, snuggling close to him, completely un-intimidated with the hard desire of his body. She loved making him feel this way.

  He smoothed over her hair with a hand that wasn't quite steady. His body ached, and even that was sweet. The weeks without her had been pure hell.

  "Soon," he said enigmatically. "Very soon."

  "What?"

  He kissed her hair. "Nothing. I'd better go. Mrs. Smith is cutting the tops off the roses. Any minute now, there won't even be a bud left."

  She glanced past his shoulder. She giggled helplessly. The romantic old woman was so busy watching them that she was massacring her prize roses!

  "She wins ribbons for them, you know," she murmured.

  "She won't have any left."

  "She's having the time of her life," she whispered. "Her boyfriend married her sister. They haven't spoken in thirty years and she's never even looked at another man. She reads romance novels and watches movies and dreams. This is as close as she's likely to get to a hot romance. Even if it isn't."

  "It certainly is," he whispered wickedly. "And if I don't get out of here very soon, she's going to see more than she bargained for. And so are you."

  "Really?" she teased.

  His hand slid to the base of her spine and pushed her close to him. His eyes held a very worldly amusement at her gasp. "Really," he whispered. He bent and kissed her one last time. "Go inside."

  She forced herself to step back from him. "What about Bojo and Peter and Rodrigo and Pogo and Maddie?" she asked suddenly.

  "Bojo was being groomed to take over the group. He's good at giving orders, and he knows how we operate. I'll be a consultant."

  "But why?" she asked, entranced. "And why come back to Jacobsville to raise horses?"

  "When you're ready for those answers I'll give them to you," he said with a gentle smile. "But not
tonight. I'll be in touch. Good night."

  He was in the car and gone before she could get another word out. Several doors down, Mrs. Smith was muttering as she looked at the rosebuds lying heaped around her feet. The skateboarders went past again with another round of wolf whistles. The couples walking gave her long, wicked grins. Callie went back inside, wondering if she should give them all a bow before she went inside.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Micah was ushered back into Dr. Lou Coltrain's office through the back door, before she started seeing her patients. He shook hands with her and took the seat she indicated in her office. She sat down behind her desk, blond and attractive and amused.

  "Thanks for taking time to see me this morning," he said. He noted her wry look and chuckled. "Is my head on backward?" he asked.

  "You may wish it was," she replied with twinkling dark eyes. "I think I know why you're here. At least two people have hinted to me that Callie Kirby's having what sounds like morning sickness."

  He sighed and smiled. "Yes."

  "And you're the culprit, unless I miss my guess. Are you here to discuss alternatives?" she asked, suddenly serious.

  "I am not!" he said at once. "I want a baby as much as Callie will, when she knows about it."

  "When she knows? She doesn't suspect?" she asked, wide-eyed.

  He grimaced. "Well, it's like this. Lopez and his thugs-you know about them?" When she nodded, he sighed. "I was careless and they almost got her a second time in Nassau. She knocked her assailant out with a shovel, but she was really shaken up afterward. I gave her a sedative." His high cheekbones colored and he averted his eyes. "She got amorous and I was already upset and on the edge, and I'd abstained for so damned long. And...well..."

  "Then what?" she asked, reading between the lines with avid curiosity.

  He shifted in the chair, still avoiding eye contact. "She doesn't remember anything. She thinks it was an erotic dream."

  Her intake of breath was audible. "In all my years of medicine..." she began.

  "I haven't had that many, but it's news to me, too. The thing is, I'm sure she's pregnant, but she'll have a heart attack if you tell her she is. I have to break it to her. But first I have to find a way to convince her to marry me," he added. "So that she won't spend the rest of our lives together believing that the baby forced me into marriage. It's not like that," he said. He rubbed at a spot on his slacks so that he wouldn't have to meet Lou's intent stare. "She's everything. Everything in the world."