When I Found You (A Box Set)

by Webb, Peggy

  o0o

  He kissed her awake. His kisses were sweet and damp, falling on her cheek, her ear, her nose, her lips. When she opened her eyes she was dazzled by the sight of him bending over her naked.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  Automatically she started reaching for her robe. Morning meant another day to write, another day to prove herself.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Early.” He eased her back to the bed and tucked the covers under her chin. “Don’t get up. I wanted to let you know that I’m going to take a quick shower, then run back to the motel and get my things.”

  “Hmmm.” She snuggled under the covers. “Okay.”

  Somewhere in the back of her mind was the idea of joining him in the shower, then putting on jogging pants and racing toward the barn and saddling the horses. Oh, there was so much they could do together, so much she could show him.

  The next thing she knew the doorbell was ringing. She grabbed her robe.

  “Bolton?” she called, but all she heard was the sound of the shower. The doorbell pinged again. “Coming,” she yelled, racing down the stairs.

  Jane stood on her front porch, dressed in hot-pink sweats that clashed with her hair.

  “Jane...” Flustered, Virginia cinched her belt tighter and smoothed her hair. “What in the world?”

  “You told me to come over here for a morning jog come hell or high water. Of course, you forgot to mention that you’d be otherwise engaged.” Jane plucked an oak leaf out of Virginia’s hair. “I hope the Apache was as good in the sack as he looked like he’d be.”

  “Shhh, he might hear you.”

  “That’s his car in the driveway, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Upstairs... in the shower.”

  “Aha! This is getting better and better.” Jane punched her friend’s arm. “Good for you, old gal.”

  Virginia grabbed Jane and dragged her into the kitchen where the danger of being overheard was lessened.

  “My Lord.” Hands on hips, Jane surveyed the kitchen. “What happened in here? An orgy, I hope.”

  Virginia felt her face flush.

  “We didn’t clean up after dinner.”

  “Dinner?” Inspecting pots, pans, and plates, Jane popped a leftover graham cracker treat into her mouth. “It looks like breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to me. I hope that means you were too busy with more exciting things to eat.”

  “None of your business.”

  “Hey, I’m the one who told you to have at it. Remember?”

  As much as Virginia loved Jane, she felt a disloyalty to Bolton in letting her best friend describe what they had done as having at it.

  “It wasn’t like that, Jane.”

  Something in the quiet conviction of Virginia’s tone made Jane wary. She sat down heavily at the table.

  “Oh, my...I need something to drink.”

  Virginia got two cups from the cupboard.

  “Hot tea or coffee?”

  “I don’t care as long as it’s laced with plenty of sugar.”

  The old friends were silent as Virginia brewed coffee in the Keurig then added cream and a heaping portion of sugar to Jane’s cup. Completely at ease now, Virginia leaned back in her chair and enjoyed her morning coffee.

  “I’ve never seen you so... glowy,” Jane said.

  “I feel good. Better than good. Wonderful.”

  Jane plopped her cup in its saucer and leaned across the table to grab Virginia’s hands.

  “Now you listen to me, Virginia. Don’t you dare fantasize about this. Don’t you dare tell me you’ve fallen in love.”

  “All right. I won’t.”

  From upstairs came the sound of Bolton’s footsteps as he moved around the bedroom, dressing. A feeling as lovely as roses blooming overcame Virginia. Glancing through the open doorway and in the direction of the stairs, she gave a small secret smile.

  “Virginia...”

  “I’m not going to do anything foolish, Jane.”

  “Why am I not convinced? Is it because you’ve taken to going to bed with oak leaves in your hair? Or is it those hickeys all over your neck?”

  Virginia drew the neck of her robe higher.

  “Remember what happened with Harold,” Jane said.

  “That was six years ago.”

  “You thought he was the next best thing to sliced bread.”

  “He didn’t fool me for long.”

  “He practically had you at the altar before you discovered he was planning to pay off all his gambling debts with your money and then retire and spend the rest of your money traveling over Europe.”

  “All right. So I made a mistake. But I’m not altar bound with Bolton Gray Wolf. I have better sense than that.” A heavy silence fell over them as Jane studied her. “I don’t want to hear it, Jane.”

  “What? I didn’t say anything.”

  “Good. Don’t.”

  They heard the sound of whistling, then footsteps on the stairs. Virginia smiled as if Christmas were coming and she was being granted a private audience with Santa.

  “I guess this means the jog is off,” Jane said.

  “We’ll jog, Jane... after Bolton has gone back to Arizona.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that, Virginia.”

  Virginia barely heard her, for Bolton Gray Wolf filled the doorway, and nothing else mattered.

  Chapter Five

  “Hi, Bolton, bye, Bolton. Gotta go,” Jane said, but neither of them heard her.

  Bolton leaned in the doorway drinking in the sight of Virginia, and she sat in her chair devouring him with her eyes. The chemistry between them was so sizzling the air felt charged.

  “You look delicious,” Virginia said. “Good enough to eat.”

  “I was thinking the same thing about you.”

  Coming from any other man, the compliment would have sounded like flattery, but Virginia had learned that Bolton said what he meant and meant what he said, even when he was professing his love. There was no doubt in her mind that Bolton Gray Wolf loved her, but would he love her when he was forty and still turning heads and she was fifty-three and nothing was turning except her hair?

  “Not only thinking, but planning...” he said, stalking her with passionate intent gleaming in his eyes.

  He peeled off her robe and took her on the kitchen table, took her with such thoroughness that she was mindless with joy.

  Time and again he brought her spiraling out of control, and when she finally protested that she didn’t have an ounce of passion left, he proved her wrong. They shouted their completion at the same time, Virginia with a soft primal scream and Bolton in the beautiful musical language of his people.

  “My Apache warrior,” Virginia whispered, pulling him close. “My magnificent, glorious, beautiful, lusty Apache warrior.”

  “I would fight ten thousand battles for you, Virginia. And win every one of them.”

  “You don’t have to fight for me. I’m yours...” His eyes glowed with such triumph that she knew he’d misunderstood. “... for the rest of this week, at least.”

  For a moment it looked as if Bolton would protest. Instead she felt his passion rise, and when he took her again, it was with such fierceness that she could think of nothing but him, see nothing but him, do nothing but scream out her pleasure.

  When it was over, she rearranged her robe. Her hands shook as she reached for her coffee cup. Kneeling beside her, he caught her hands and brought them to his lips.

  “I love you, Virginia. Now and always.”

  “Don’t...” She batted her eyes against quick tears. “Don’t spoil what we have.” She cupped his face, not tenderly but urgently. “We have so little time. Every minute is precious. Please don’t spoil this week with talk of the future.”

  “It’s foolish to run from fate, Virginia. Sooner or later you’re going to have to stop and face the truth. We belong together. Our futures are inte
rtwined.”

  “We have no future, Bolton. End of discussion.”

  She jumped up and started cleaning the kitchen. Though she had a cleaning service three times a week, it gave her something to do, some reason to turn her back on the man who could seduce her with a single glance and steal her reason with a single smile.

  He was so quiet that for a while she thought he’d gone. Then she felt his hands on her shoulders and his chest pressed against her back.

  “All right, Virginia. End of discussion. At least for a while.”

  She understood that he was offering a compromise. She could either take it or face the alternative: Send him away and end it right there. She didn’t know if she was too selfish, too hungry, too cowardly, or all three. All she knew was that as long as he was in Mississippi, she had to have Bolton Gray Wolf.

  She patted his left hand. “You said something about going back to Tupelo to get your things.”

  “Yes.” He turned her around and tipped her face up. “I’ll be back, Virginia.”

  She smiled. “I never doubted for a minute that you would.”

  “Good. I don’t want you to have any doubts about me.”

  His tone was serious again, and she wasn’t about to tread into those deep waters. If she kept plunging in, she was liable to drown.

  “Shoo.” She grabbed a dish towel and playfully swatted his legs. “Scat. If you don’t leave, I’m never going to get these oak leaves washed out of my hair.”

  As soon as he was out the door, she called and canceled all appointments for the week.

  o0o

  Leaving Virginia was hard, even for the short while it took to drive back to Tupelo, get the rest of his gear, and take care of his motel bill. But Bolton had to go. There was something more important than his motel bill that needed taking care of.

  He dialed Janice’s home number, thankful it was Sunday and he wouldn’t have to say the things that needed to be said while she was at school. Her phone rang five times, and he had almost given up when she answered.

  “Bolton? How wonderful to hear from you.”

  Janice’s voice was full of expectations, and Bolton felt awash with sadness. What he had to say would hurt her, and he would never intentionally hurt a flea.

  “How are you, Janice?”

  “Great. I was outside gathering acorns and fall leaves for a little project at school. We’re going to have an autumn festival, you see...”

  When Janice got wound up about her children, the name she used to refer to her students, she could go on for hours. Bolton was not only patient with her stories, but interested in them. Janice was one of the unsung heroes who brought enthusiasm as well as skill and talent to the classroom, one of the thousands of great teachers whose only reward would be the success of the young people she taught. He admired her for what she did and loved her for the way she did it, loved her not as he loved Virginia, not in the soul-deep way of two people who were destined by fate to be together, but in the sweet, quiet way of friends who want only the best for each other.

  Janice was breathless when she finished her tale.

  “Oh, my. Just listen to me prattling on. How about you, Bolton. How is your trip?”

  It was the perfect opening. He sent a quick prayer winging upward that he could tell the truth in the kindest way possible.

  “Janice, sometimes things start out to be one thing and turn into another. That’s what has happened to me. What started out to be an assignment turned out to be a miracle.”

  There was a small strangled cry on the other end of the line. If he could have done this any other way, he would have. He would have preferred being face-to-face with Janice, being there to hold her hand and wipe her tears, for he knew they were inevitable. But he couldn’t live a lie. He couldn’t be with Virginia while Janice was back home in Arizona thinking he’d come home to her.

  There had to be an ending before he could hope for a beginning.

  “What are you saying, Bolton?”

  “Janice, you know that I think you’re a wonderful woman—kind, sweet, talented, intelligent. You’re a good friend and a good companion, and I enjoy your company. But I’ve never pretended to be in love with you.”

  “You’ve met someone else.” Her calm manner surprised and pleased him. He’d been prepared to deal with hysterics.

  “Yes, she’s...”

  “Bolton, listen to me. I don’t care if you have a fling. Sometimes people get carried away...”

  He could hear her mounting hysteria, and he wanted to stop her before she said things she’d later regret.

  “Janice...”

  “... and then when they get back home they realize that nothing has changed, that they were just sowing a few wild oats... and that’s okay with me, really it is.” She choked on a sob.

  “Janice, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

  “Bolton... excuse me, just give me a minute.” Janice struggled for control and won. “You’re neither manipulative nor unkind. You don’t have a mean bone in your body. I know you didn’t deliberately set out to find someone else.”

  “Not just someone. My fate. My destiny.”

  There was a long silence broken only by muffled sniffs and sighs.

  “Janice... are you all right?”

  “I’m all right, really I am.” She drew a deep resigned breath. “Bolton, if I thought I had a ghost of a chance to change your mind, I would. I would beg and plead and maybe even threaten, but I’m not willing to embarrass myself or you. Lord knows I’ve embarrassed myself enough already.” Her laugh was shaky, but at least she was laughing. “Your heritage may be half in one world and half in another, but in some things you’re all Apache. When you speak of fate, I know there is no use trying to change your mind.”

  “How did I ever get so lucky as to have a friend like you, Janice?”

  “Can we still be friends, Bolton?”

  “I’d like that, Janice. I’d like it very much.”

  “So would I.” There was a long pause, and he could almost see the deep breaths she took as she pulled herself together. “Bolton... who is she? Or is that a fair question?”

  “It’s fair. In fact, I think you have a right to know. It’s Virginia Haven.”

  “Virginia Haven?”

  “Yes.”

  “Isn’t she...”

  “What?” There was a long silence before Janice spoke.

  “You’ve always wanted children, Bolton, and I know I’ve read somewhere... Isn’t she too...” Janice was stumbling now over her words, too polite to come right out and say what she meant. “I think she has a grown daughter.”

  “This is not a problem for me, Janice.”

  “I see... Bolton... if things don’t work out, I’m here for you.”

  “I don’t want you to have false hopes.”

  “I’m not... I just want you to know...” There was a long pause, and then a small sniffle. Then Janice was back on the line, attempting to laugh. “You’re right, as usual. I’m being a silly goose.”

  “Will you be all right, Janice?”

  “I’m going to be fine. Just fine. You go back to your Virginia, and I’m going to get on with my life.”

  “Good girl. Take care, Janice.”

  “You too. And Bolton... I hope she knows how lucky she is.”

  “I’m the lucky one.”

  Bolton packed the rest of his gear, then turned his face west toward Pontotoc, west toward the woman he loved.

  Chapter Six

  Virginia woke up filled with a sense of urgency, as if she were being pursued. Her body was tensed for flight, but deep down she knew that no matter how fast she ran, she could never outdistance the thing that was closing in on her.

  Automatically she turned toward the pillow where Bolton lay sleeping. He would protect her, he would make everything all right. She started to call his name, and then changed her mind. He was gorgeous, spread across her bed like a resplendent god.

  She watched
the even rise and fall of his chest, the soft flutter of his lashes, the half smile that twitched across his mouth. One hand was flung palm up over his head, the other lying across his chest.

  Bolton had been with her for almost a week and it felt as if he’d been a part of her life forever. She couldn’t imagine how she’d ever gone to sleep without him by her side or how she’d ever been able to face a day without first being kissed awake by her magnificent Apache warrior.

  She rested her head on his chest, not moving, not trying to incite passion, merely listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. She lifted herself on elbows and studied him. Suddenly she was staring straight into eyes.

  “What?” he asked, smiling.

  “Just looking.” She traced his face with her fingertips. “Memorizing.”

  “You don’t have to memorize. I’ll be here for you. Always.”

  “Shhh.” She covered his mouth with her hands. “Don’t say anything to mar this day.”

  He pulled her into a fierce embrace, and then kissed all her troubled thoughts away. With the sun dappling the covers, they made slow, exquisite love. And after it was over, she propped herself on pillows against the headboard, deliberately not touching him.

  “You have to leave today,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Candace is coming home for the weekend. She’s bringing a friend.”

  “I want to get to know Candace better. I think meeting her friends is a good start.”

  “Bolton... don’t.”

  “Are you ashamed of me, Virginia?”

  “Ashamed of you? Don’t be absurd.”

  “Then why do you want me to leave?”

  “I think that’s obvious.”

  “The only thing that’s obvious to me is that you’ve made a decision about something that affects me without my knowledge and without my consent.”

  She had never seen Bolton this way. He burned white-hot, not with rage but with determination. Everything about him was steely, his eyes, the set of his face, the way he held his body.

  She shivered with excitement.

  Suddenly her pillow was jerked away and she was underneath him, her hands pinned over her head.

  “At least tell me the rules,” he said.