Chance McCall

by Sharon Sala

  Chance grinned. He sensed the beginnings of another monologue and held up his hand. “Why don’t we all go over to that bench under the shade tree there? It’ll give us a place to sit while I catch up with another piece of my past.”

  The four of them sat down. For one long moment, they all stared silently at one another, and then, as one might have expected, Susie was the one who rejuvenated the conversation.

  “Is this your wife?” she asked.

  Jenny grinned and watched Chance squirm.

  “No, ma’am, it’s not. At least…” he turned and gave her a look that made her heart race, “not yet. Her name is still Jenny Tyler. I’ll do what I can as soon as possible to fix that.”

  Susie nodded. “Well, fine then. I’m Susie Belton, and this is my husband, Monroe. Although it seems strange to be introducing ourselves to someone we lived next door to for almost nine years. I used to baby-sit for your momma, Leticia. You were like a grandson to us. I made cinnamon rolls at least once a week.” She looked over at him and patted him on the knee. “You always liked my cinnamon rolls.”

  A feeling of peace enveloped him. If his head didn’t remember these people, his heart did.

  “This is really wonderful, running into you folks like this,” Jenny said. “I know Chance will be even happier when he’s fully recovered and can look back on this day. Maybe if you’d give us your address…?” She looked at Chance, her eyes asking permission that he silently granted. “He’ll want to write when we get home.”

  Susie beamed. She liked this pretty, dark-haired girl. It was obvious she had a good head on her shoulders. Not like that poor, misguided woman who’d given birth to Chance.

  “We’d be proud to do just that,” Susie said. Her hands shook as she dug in her purse, trying to find a bit of paper.

  “It would mean a lot to me, Mrs. Belton,” Chance said. “You can’t know how grateful I am that we found each other today.”

  She nodded as she wrote, and then added, “I can imagine that it must be frightening not to know things about yourself. Just look at poor Charlie.” And then her voice got quiet. “But there is another way of looking at this. I’ve never heard of a more perfect opportunity to start over. If your past wasn’t what you’d wanted, think of the options. Everything is fresh and new. You don’t have any old memories hanging around in your head, telling you that you failed at this, or were incompetent at that. You can get up every morning with a whole new attitude on life.”

  Emotions flooded Chance. He sat, spellbound by the elderly little woman’s wisdom.

  “Where were you when I needed to hear this months ago, Susie Belton?” he asked.

  She leaned over, patted his chest around the region of his heart, and smiled. “I was in here, Chancey. I was in here all the time.”

  Chancey! The childish nickname made his stomach tilt. A funny little pain skipped through his head. He caught her hand and held it against his chest.

  “I will remember. One day all of this will come back to me. I’ll remember how special you were to me then, and how much this means to me now.”

  Monroe shifted in his seat and patted his tiny wife on the shoulder. He smiled at Chance and Jenny and then stood.

  “Come on, Susie Q. Time’s a wastin’, and we’ve spent enough of their day already.”

  Chance stood and started to shake the old man’s hand.

  “I always used to get a hug,” Monroe said gently.

  Chance hesitated, but it was momentary. Something about the elderly couple made this public display of affection easy.

  “It would be my pleasure, sir,” Chance said. His voice was quiet, but his grip was firm as he embraced the old man.

  Jenny’s eyes teared. There was no other way of expressing the emotion that swept over her at the sight of Chance being loved by these people. She could only imagine his joy. Even if he didn’t remember, he could feel the love.

  Monroe Belton took his wife by the hand. Despite their ages, they smiled at each other like teenagers as they walked to their car. After he’d seated her, he leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek before turning and waving good-bye.

  Jenny smiled and waved. She felt Chance grab her hand and squeeze. They stood quietly and watched the couple drive away.

  Chance was shaking. Emotion was overwhelming him.

  “Oh, Chance…that was just wonderful! Aren’t you glad…?”

  “I want to make love to you, Jennifer Ann. Very badly. Right now. For a long, long time.”

  His fingers tightened around the palm of her hand. She stared into his face. His eyes were burning with need. The high, sharp angles of his cheekbones were brushed with swatches of heat. That arrogant nose and stubborn chin became even more defined as he waited for her reaction.

  “I’ll drive,” she said, and beat him to the truck.

  Jenny sat on the side of the bed and watched as Chance knelt at her feet. He pulled off her shoes.

  She leaned forward, kissed the top of his head, and framed the sides of his face with her hands. He looked up and the breath caught in her throat. His hands slid over the bottoms of her bare feet, and then moved upward with intent.

  Chance moved with them. And then she was on her back in the middle of the bed with Chance astraddle her legs, very slowly and methodically removing every stitch of her clothing.

  The button slid out of the buttonhole. The zipper rasped harshly into the sudden silence of the curtained room. The air conditioner kicked on, and the hum blended with the rhythm of Jenny’s heart. Loud and hard.

  Chance hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of her slacks, leaned back on his boot heels, and skinned them off of her as slick as water down glass. Jenny moaned once, very quietly, and swallowed as his fingers started up the buttons on the front of her blouse.

  “Chance…” she began.

  “Sssh.” He leaned down and planted a lingering kiss on her lips, then withdrew and left her wanting more.

  A button would go sliding through its hole, the blouse would slide back and, inch by inch, more and more of Jenny was revealed. Chance burned. He couldn’t think past this overwhelming need to claim what was his. To brand, with his body, this woman who lay beneath him, and lose himself forever in the strength of her love.

  The blouse lay open, revealing a bit of elastic and lace marking another boundary through which Chance must pass. He leaned forward, slid one hand across her rib cage, and feathered his fingers across the lacy cups, letting his thumbs linger longer on the hard nubs throbbing beneath. His hands shifted, moving around and under her, arching her back, moving her up to meet his mouth as the blouse and bra fell away, leaving her bare to his lips.

  Jenny shuddered, dug her fingers in his hair and moaned as Chance completely covered the tip of one breast with his mouth. The stroke of his teeth and tongue on the super-sensitive skin produced an answering ache below her waist. Just when she thought she could bear no more, he left that breast and moved to the other, starting all over again, the continuous coil of need.

  She slid like hot oil across his body, at once soothing and burning. Chance blinked, concentrating on the last bit of lace that separated them. He slid his palms down the back of her briefs, cupped her hips, and lifted. The nylon and lace came away as his hands moved out and down.

  “Jenny! You are so much woman. I want…I need to…” He shuddered and moved like heat lightning. Too frightening. Too fast.

  Jenny gasped as he stood over her, balancing himself on the mattress as he unbuttoned his Levis, one button at a time. She watched his swollen member emerge, as denim gave before passion. And then he came back down to her, bare skin against bare skin, knees on either side of her legs, and slowly stretched until he was lying full length atop her, not moving, not taking what she was waiting for him to claim.

  Chance closed his eyes. He wrapped his fists in the dark tangle of hair caressing her shoulders, buried his face in the curve of her neck and inhaled the essence of Jenny. He was letting her feel the full mea
sure of his body.

  Jenny had never felt so safe. This man was so big and so strong. But he was telling her in the only way he knew how, that regardless of his size and strength, he was helpless in her hands. Jenny wrapped him in her arms, relishing the feel of his massive body pressing her lower and lower into the mattress.

  “Please,” she asked.

  It was what he’d been waiting for.

  He slid up, just a bit, just enough to fit. His mouth opened, carefully, competently, and took from her lips what he needed to survive.

  The pressure of his mouth drew breath from her lungs, constantly searching for unexplored territory beneath his tongue. And when he was satisfied that he had mapped it all, he withdrew and rolled gently to one side, cupped her closely to him, fitting her length to his, and slid his hand down across her breasts, feathered it across her stomach, and gently parted her legs with a whisper and a touch.

  “Chance?” Jenny was almost beyond words. But the look on his face and what he was doing with his hands made her forget what she’d been about to say.

  “For you, Jenny. For you. Let me do this for you.”

  His husky whisper rasped across the silence. She closed her eyes, gave herself up to the man with the golden touch, falling away into nothing as heat burst and spilled between her legs.

  And then she was weak and shaking and wrapped in his arms, as he buried his face in the valley between her breasts and whispered things to her that started the need all over again.

  He rolled over and across her, nudging her legs apart with a knee before he stroked his swollen manhood up and down the satin skin on the inner sides of her thighs. It was not where he wanted to be. He needed to be inside, where it was tight and hot. It was time.

  Chance stared down and lost his hold on reality as he slid into her in one, slow, endless, movement.

  Jenny groaned unceasingly and tried to move against that part of Chance that was pinning her down. He’d taken possession, but he would not consume. She was impaled and throbbing, with nowhere to go.

  “I want it to last forever,” he whispered. His lips were firm, pressing tightly against the ridge of his teeth.

  “Chance!”

  Her fingers dug into his back and then her plea was answered. He began to move. At first, the thrusts were controlled. Slow, even motions of perfect symmetry. But the pull was addictive, and the fit was tight. His body betrayed his convictions as Jenny’s legs wrapped around his waist. He slid deeper than he’d been, and couldn’t find his way back to sanity. Suddenly his need was too great, and Jenny’s sweetness too compelling. He shuddered, over and over and over.

  Finally, his heartbeat steadied along with his consciousness. He found himself lying full length atop Jenny, almost smothering her with his weight.

  “Damn, honey!” he muttered, and rolled away as quickly as he could manage, “I’m sorry. Are you all right?”

  “Nothing lasts forever,” Jenny mumbled, and stretched like a cat, one leg, one arm at a time. “That’s why we’ve got to keep doing it over and over and over…trying to get it right.”

  Chance couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d nearly killed himself and she was already reminding him about next time. He stared up at the ceiling, buried his face in his hands and smiled. It wasn’t enough. The smile grew as a chuckle slipped up his throat. And when it came out, it was a laugh. Another and another followed until Chance sat up in bed and roared with laughter.

  Jenny blushed. Just once. And then she smiled like the proverbial cat who’d just eaten the whole damned hen house.

  Chance turned around, saw the look on her face, and started laughing again. Jenny took his pillow and swung. It caught him full in the face and knocked him off of the bed.

  “Are you all right?” Jenny asked as she leaned over the bed and looked at the big man on the floor. It had been a spur of the moment action she didn’t want to regret.

  He was still laughing. “Hell no, lady. I’m not all right.”

  He took a deep breath, groaned and crawled back onto the bed. He slung the pillow to the floor, pinned her arms above her head, and growled softly before he descended. “I may never be all right again. But I’m damn sure never going to be bored.”

  And then no one laughed. Finally, long hours later, they slept.

  “The phone’s ringing!” Jenny made a run for the motel room. She fumbled with the key and then muttered a none too silent curse as the door swung inward at the same time the phone stopped ringing. “Well, damn!”

  “Jennifer Ann! You’ve been hanging around ranch hands too long. You’re beginning to sound like them…and me.” Chance grinned and kissed the top of her head as she tossed her purse onto the bed and flopped down in disgust.

  “It might have been Marcus,” she said. “I should have called him this morning before we went to see Charlie. But I didn’t think. Thanks to you, I also didn’t think after we came to and decided to get some lunch…or dinner. Whatever you call this mid-afternoon meal.”

  Chance’s eyebrows rose. “Marcus? So you two are back on speaking terms again?”

  Jenny smiled. “That’s right! I didn’t tell you. Oh, Chance…I think Marcus and I have finally come to some kind of understanding. He really loves me! Did you know that?”

  The poignancy in her voice overwhelmed him. To think that she’d grown up not knowing that. Although Chance didn’t remember, it explained what he’d sensed of her dependency and devotion to him. If he’d been the only man in her life, then it was understandable why she’d given him so much love. There was no one to claim a part of Jenny but him.

  “Yes, sweetheart,” he said, and sat down beside her. He slid his arm around her in a hug. “Even I saw that much. And I should have been the one to call him when you arrived. I knew how concerned he would be. But you sort of took me by surprise.” He grinned at her look of defiance. “Come on. We’ll call him now.”

  Jenny dialed, waited, and then blurted everything out in a rush as her call was answered.

  “Juana! Is Marcus there? Yes…I found him!” She turned and grinned at Chance, patted the bed beside her, and leaned against him as he sat down. “Yes! He’s here…with me. Right now.” She waited. “Juana went to get Marcus. She thinks he’s outside talking to Henry.”

  She frowned. “If he’s outside, then it wasn’t Marcus who called. I wonder who it was? You’ve already talked to Victoria today. Who else have you met since you arrived who might have been calling?”

  Chance frowned and shrugged. “No one.” The thought was disconcerting. There was always, in the back of his mind, the fear that some secret was yet to be uncovered that would blow his world apart. And now, with his love of Jenny so new and fresh in his heart, the fear that something would happen to ruin it made him sick.

  “Marcus!” Jenny’s face lit up. She slid her hand across Chance’s leg and held on, as if assuring herself that what she was about to say was true. “I found Chance. He’s here…and he’s okay.” She listened. “Yes. Yes…I promise. I’m okay, too. If you don’t believe me, then ask the man.” She handed Chance the phone.

  “Marcus?” He smiled. It was too good to be true. Twice in one day people seemed happy to see and hear from him. “Yes sir. I’m fine. And yes, I’ve been properly chastised for not telling anyone about this trip.”

  Jenny listened and leaned against his chest as Chance hugged her a little bit tighter.

  “Oh…and Marcus…you remember what we were talking about just before I left? Good! Then I still have your permission?” Chance grinned at the look on Jenny’s face. There was something she didn’t know and it was eating her alive. “Okay. You bet, sir. Yes, we won’t be here much longer. Not more than a day or two at best. We’ll call before we start home. Here’s Jenny.”

  He handed the phone back to her.

  “What was Chance talking about?” she asked. “But…Just…” She sighed. “Okay, fine. Yes, I love you too.” She grinned and nodded and then disconnected.

  “
What did he tell you, honey?” Chance asked.

  “He said for me to hold my horses. That I’d find out what I needed to know when it was time.”

  Chance grinned. His love for this woman was overwhelming. He wrestled her to the bed and pinned her down.

  “What do you think, Jenny?”

  She gave him a clear blue stare. “I think it’s time.”

  She was flat on her back, arms pinned above her head, her legs locked beneath his weight, unable to do more than breathe. And what he said next took that away, too.

  “I love you, Jenny.”

  Tears shot into her eyes. So sudden, so unexpected, she didn’t even have time to think. “I love you, too, Chance,” she answered softly.

  He took a long, deep breath. The muscles in his arms corded as he held himself suspended above her. A knot formed in the back of his throat.

  “I can’t face the rest of my life without you, Jenny. I can’t face the fact that you could get hurt again and I wouldn’t be there to help. I can’t face another morning without you in my arms.”

  “So what do you think we should do about this?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “I think…that maybe…just maybe…if you marry me, everything else would be all right.”

  He waited, empty and unsure.

  “I think you may be right,” Jenny said softly. And pulled him down to her kiss.

  Chance felt he would burst from joy. He wrapped her in his arms and rolled them over until Jenny was on top of him. He couldn’t remember the past, but for the first time since he’d awakened in that hospital room, lost and afraid, he felt whole.

  There was no longer a vacant spot in his soul. Jenny Tyler had filled him, completely.

  Logan Henry slammed the phone down in disgust. No answer! That meant he would have to wait and either try again, or…His eyes narrowed. A thought occurred to him. What was it Victoria had said about canceling plans? That meant that there were plans to be remade. If he couldn’t get answers one way, he’d get them another.