by Jodi Thomas
“Good to know. I don’t know when I’ll be back to Austin, but I’ll look you up.” Duncan slid the door open. “Coming in?”
“No. I think I’ll stay out here awhile.”
When the door opened and closed, he expected to be alone. Em’s voice startled him. “Mind if I join you?”
He tried his best to smile. “Anytime, pretty lady,” he said, realizing how much he meant the compliment. Somehow she’d become the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. Maybe she always had been; he just hadn’t seen her.
“Duck says you’re not planning to stay with us all the way.” She sounded angry, or maybe hurt.
“That’s right. It’s better to make a clean break.”
She lifted her chin. “That the way you want it?”
“It’s the way it has to be, Em.”
She nodded, a jerky nod he thought looked adorable. He wanted to touch her so badly the ache went all the way to his heart, but he wouldn’t reach for her.
She moved to his side of the window so no one from inside the car could see them. “I want something,” she whispered.
“Name it.” Lewt didn’t care what it was; if it was in his power to get it for her, he would.
“I want to touch you. I want to remember not just how you touched me, but I want to know you better.”
She lifted her hands and began at his face, like a blind person feeling her way.
He closed his eyes, trying to memorize the sensations running through him.
She kissed his eyes and dug her fingers into his hair, then moved her hands over his shirt. When he didn’t move, or say a word, she unbuttoned the shirt and pushed her hands inside, letting her fingers spread out over his chest.
“You’re right. You are hairy, but it’s softer than I thought it would be.”
He smiled. “We shouldn’t be doing this here.”
“I know,” she giggled. “I’m not afraid of you, not at all. You’ve told me not to be, over and over, and you’ve shown me what loving is like, but I had to let you know. I’m not afraid of you.”
She kissed him then.
He didn’t pull her near. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to let go if he did. He just stood there taking her sweet good-bye. A gift of passion. A gift of longing he’d carry with him the rest of his life.
The whistle blew and the lights of Austin came into view. Em pulled away, and he buttoned his shirt before he went back inside.
The group collected their luggage and stood on the platform as Duncan went to get tickets for the north train. Lewt helped the cooks with their stolen goods. He thought of leaving, but he wanted to watch Em for a few more minutes.
Duncan returned with the news that they’d missed the train. Sumner had wired his father that all were safe, and Travis had sent a carriage and word that if they missed the train he’d be expecting them.
“Come with us to my father’s house for a drink,” Duncan said as they loaded up. “I’d like him to meet you.”
Lewt had heard about the famous Texas Ranger Travis McMurray for years. “I’d be honored.”
Duncan went inside to hurry the women along. Lewt smiled. In the past week he felt like he’d been near death a half dozen times. He’d fallen in love with a woman far too good for the likes of him, and now, most unbelievable of all, he’d been invited to the home of Travis McMurray. He might still have the dust of the gutter on his shoes, but he was definitely moving up in the world.
An hour later Lewt was standing in the study of one of the most powerful men in Austin. Duncan was relating the story of how Lewt played cards for Em, then risked his life to get her out. They’d all had a few drinks.
Travis didn’t say much. He just watched and smiled now and then at his oldest son. He might be a powerful lawyer, statesman, and judge, but he was first a father.
When the stories slowed, Travis suggested the men join Emily and his wife for a late supper.
Lewt wished he could disappear into the shadows. They were all nice, all friendly, but he knew he didn’t belong in a place like this. Wyatt and Sumner had been smart to duck out when they arrived. They were probably where he should be, at the saloon having a steak and telling stories. Lewt didn’t seem to be able to even add to the conversation.
When they stepped into a small dining room, Em crossed the floor, ignored Lewt completely, and kissed her uncle on the cheek. “Uncle, are you still sworn in as a judge?”
“Yes,” he said. “After what you’ve been through, Emily, are you thinking about making out a will?”
“No.” She looked nervous suddenly, but she lifted her chin. “I want you to make this man marry me.”
To Lewt’s shock, she pointed at him.
Travis laughed, and Duncan choked on his drink.
“Does this man want to marry you, Emily?”
“Yes, he told me he did.”
Lewt couldn’t get words out. He couldn’t breathe. Even after two weeks she was still bossing him around and probably trying to get him killed.
Em continued, “He told me the first day I met him that he wanted to marry one of Duncan’s cousins, and it didn’t matter much which one as long as she was rich.”
Lewt closed his eyes. Travis McMurray, one of the toughest rangers ever to ride, would shoot him right in front of everyone and clean up the blood before he sat down to supper.
When he opened his eyes, Travis and Duncan were standing within strangling distance of him. “Did you say that, Lewt?” Duncan asked.
He saw no point in denying it. What were the chances they’d believe anything he said? “I did, but . . .” He couldn’t think of a bluff.
“He said he wanted a wife and a home and a family. I can be the first part, buy the second part, and we can work on the third part.”
“Do you want to marry Emily?” Travis’s voice had lowered to deadly calm. “I know you’re a gambler, son, but you might want to think about taking this bet.”
“I do, but not because she’s rich or a McMurray. If she has any sense she won’t want to marry me.”
“I’m confused.” Duncan looked from Emily to Lewt. “Do you two want to marry or not?”
“I’m not . . .”
Em stepped between her uncle and Lewt. “I want him, Uncle Travis. Can I have him or not?”
Travis scratched his head and looked to his wife for advice, but she was laughing too hard to help. “Both of you follow me,” he said as he headed back to his study. “Not you, Duncan,” he added, as if he had eyes in the back of his head and knew his son was following.
He shoved Lewt and Emily into the front parlor and told them to talk while he drew up the papers. If they both agreed, when he got back he’d marry them. Then he looked at Emily and said simply, “If he doesn’t agree, Em, you can’t have him and that’s final. I know your papa gives you and the girls everything you want, but I draw the line at this.”
Lewt heard the door slam, and suddenly the room was silent. He looked into her Texas sky-blue eyes and said, “You don’t have to do this, Em. Just because I saved your life or I touched you doesn’t mean you have to marry me.”
She moved to him, close enough to touch. “I touched you too, so we’re even. I figured something out while you were trying to walk away from me. I’ve been afraid of men all my life because of one bad man who hurt my mother when I couldn’t do anything to help. I let one bad man color all men, even though I’ve been surrounded by good men for years. Then I met you. A good man, not because you saved my life, or put up with me when you knew I was afraid, or listened even when I didn’t make sense. You’re one good man because you love me just the way I am.”
“What makes you think I love you?” They were words he thought he’d never say.
“I know you do because you always let me come to you.”
Lewt smiled. “And that show you just put on in front of your relatives? What was that for?”
She moved a few inches closer. “That was to let you know I’m coming right to you, rig
ht now, and if you don’t want me, you’d better start running.”
He couldn’t help himself; he kissed her. He’d meant it to be one kiss, but turning down anything when Em was offering was impossible. She was a headstrong, bossy, beautiful woman, and if she wanted his love, he figured he’d been saving it up for a long time.
When Travis opened the door, they were deep into the best kiss Lewt had ever dreamed of.
“I guess that answers my question,” Travis said. “I’ll get the pens and the witnesses.”
Two hours and a wedding later Lewt let her in the side door of the small hotel and up the back stairs to his room. She stood straight and tall, but he knew she was nervous.
“Ever been married before?” he asked.
“No,” she answered, looking around at his things.
“Me either.” He watched her, still not believing she was his wife. “Have any idea what we’re supposed to do?”
“No,” she lied.
“Me either.” He set her bag down on the table by his few books and papers. “Want to play some cards?”
She finally looked up at him. “Really?”
“Really.” He pulled a deck from the desk.
“I don’t have any money.” She giggled, knowing that he was trying to make this easy on her.
“Last time I played for you, I used my clothes.”
She started to relax. “You mean you bet your shirt against mine, your boots against mine, and so on.”
He nodded. “Last one standing with any clothes on wins.”
“All right.” She surprised him.
He dealt the first hand. She asked for two cards, then folded, losing her boot.
On the second and third hand, she lost her other boot and her belt.
“Are you sure you know how to play this game, darling ?” Lewt saw her concentrating on the cards, but she didn’t win.
She folded the next hand, giving up her blouse.
The next round she lost her trousers, then her socks.
By the next hand, when she pulled off her camisole, Lewt couldn’t take his eyes off her long enough to see if he’d won the round.
When the seventh hand was played, she stood and pulled the string on her underwear, and he thought he’d have to give up breathing, for there seemed to be no air in the room. The most beautiful woman in the world stood before him, and she was smiling.
Without a word, she walked across the room and crawled into bed, then turned to him and said, “Blow out the lamp, dear, and come to bed.”
Lewt blew the lamp out and undressed in the dark. Half of him wanted to run for the bed and the other half wanted to run for the door. This woman, his wife, was giving him a heart attack. His chest was pounding and his hands couldn’t seem to remember how to undo his trousers.
“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered. “I promise not to hurt you.”
Suddenly, he smiled and walked slowly to the other side of the bed. “I never saw anyone lose seven straight hands,” he whispered as he slid under the covers. “You even folded on the three aces I dealt you.”
“Did I?” She giggled as her hand brushed timidly across his chest.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to undress in front of me.”
“No, that wasn’t my plan, but you didn’t seem to mind.” She reached for his hand and pulled it to her.
“What was your plan?”
She laughed. “I just didn’t want to see those hairy legs, so the only choice was to go first.”
He laughed, finally relaxing. “I’d think as much as you love animals, you’d like my legs.”
“I’d just as soon never see them.” She tickled her fingers across his chest.
“Fair enough.” He pulled her close, loving the way she felt with no clothes between them. “I’ll watch you undress every night. I’ll even help, and then I’ll turn off the light and undress in the dark.”
He kissed her then for a long while as his hands moved over her body. When he pulled away from her mouth, he moved to her ear and whispered, “I love you, Emily McMurray Paterson. Live with me, sleep with me, all the days of our life.”
She cuddled against him, learning his body as he already knew hers. “And what will we tell our children and grandchildren when they ask how we met?”
He leaned down and kissed the tip of her breast, knowing it would take her breath away. “We’ll tell them that I won you in a poker game.”
She was laughing when he kissed her again, and they both knew it was time for the talking to stop and the loving to begin.
EPILOGUE
FOUR DAYS LATER, MR. AND MRS. LEWTON PATERSON picked up horses Duncan had sent down from Whispering Mountain. They rode across the countryside alone. They camped under the stars wrapped in each other’s arms and talked for hours about nothing and everything.
Lewt found he knew nothing of loving, but he was always gentle. Each night she came to him willing and ready, and he learned more of her and how to please.
When they’d finished making love, she’d lie next to him and sigh as he moved his hands over her body for a long while, as if he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her. Then he’d hold her hand in his and she’d go to sleep on his chest.
“I love you,” she’d whisper just before she drifted off.
She’d feel his hand move over her one more time, then settle on her hip. “I love you too, darling,” he’d whisper. “Forever.”
A week later, when they finally reached the ranch, everyone around turned out to the party. The two cooks proved to be a wonder. They even made a wedding cake four layers high.
Lewt danced with his bride until they were both exhausted. While he poured her a punch he thought had been spiked, he said, “Everyone is smiling at us.”
“Maybe they’ve never seen me so happy,” she whispered.
“Maybe they don’t know I’m a gambler who stole your heart.”
“Oh, they all know you were a gambler. They also know you risked your life for me and you stood by Duncan when he was in trouble.” She kissed his cheek, and they heard several people laugh. “They don’t care what you were, Lewt, they only care about what you are.”
“And what am I?” he said, thinking that he had no job and no hint of one.
“Don’t you know, Lewt Paterson, you’re a good man.” She smiled. “You’re the man I love.”
He kissed her full on the mouth and didn’t care if folks laughed. “No, darling, I’m the luckiest man alive.”
They danced another dance and talked with people who’d grown up with Emily, but Lewt’s thoughts were on getting her back to the cabin where they were staying and watching her undress before he turned off the light.
When he looked into her beautiful blue eyes, he knew she was thinking the same thing.
He’d gambled with his life and won her heart.
Keep reading for a special preview
of the third novel in Jodi Thomas’s
heartwarming HARMONY series
THE COMFORTS OF HOME
Coming Fall 2011 from Berkley!
Truman Farm on Lone Oak Road
THE APPLE ORCHARD ALWAYS FASCINATED REAGAN Truman in the winter months. Her uncle Jeremiah told her once that his father had started it back before the First World War. Now, a hundred years later, half of the apple jelly in town and most of the apple pies came from Truman apples. But it wasn’t the fruit, or the trees that drew Reagan. The shadows pulled her near like long fingers. In the summer all grew green and beautiful, but when the weather turned cold and the bare branches crossed over one another like a framed wonderland in blacks and grays she had to come close.
Some people might love the spring, some the summer or even the fall, but for Reagan her heart beat strongest in winter. She loved the raging storms and the silent snow. She loved her land as though she had been born to it.
The orchard bordered Lone Oak Road on one side and the Matheson Ranch on the other. Late Wednesday afternoon she walked a
nd enjoyed her time alone. Somehow, Reagan felt she belonged here in this unfinished world with its beginnings and endings mixing together without forming a complete canopy. Her whole life seemed like that. Starts and stops forming like ribs around a body lean of meat.
Smiling, she remembered how her uncle always said she needed to grow roots. At sixteen she’d had nothing, been nothing but a runaway with no place to run to. Now, at twenty Reagan felt like her very blood pumped through this land . . . her land. She’d poured her sweat in it along with her love. She’d even risk her life fighting a prairie fire to save this farm. It was as much a part of her as she was of it. She felt like her adopted uncle did: She’d never sell, never.
After a deep breath, she turned, knowing it was time to get back to the house. Uncle Jeremiah was probably already in the kitchen. He liked to watch her cook, though he’d grown so thin she wasn’t sure he ever ate more than a few bites. His mind was still sharp, but his body was failing him. Reagan did all she could, taking over the running of the farm, and the maintenance of his established orchard and her new one. Hank Matheson, the rancher next door, often told her she was doing too much. But how much was too much to give an old man who’d taken her in as his own when no one else in the world wanted her?
She’d hired a couple who were both nurses and moved them in upstairs. Foster took care of Uncle Jeremiah, doing all the things her uncle wouldn’t allow her to help with and Cindi, Foster’s wife, monitored the old man’s medicines. To Reagan’s surprise, her uncle didn’t seem to mind having them around. After a few days, he even stopped telling Foster that being a nurse wasn’t a good job for a man.
As she walked toward the little golf cart–sized truck she used on the trails between the fruit trees, Reagan was mentally planning dinner when her cell phone rang.
She slid behind the wheel and flipped the phone open.
“Hi, Rea,��� came Noah’s familiar voice. “You asleep yet?”
She laughed. “It’s not even dark, Preacher, what time zone are you in and how much have you been drinking?”
