Jane's Long March Home

by Susan Lute

  He almost swallowed his tongue. “Jane?”

  “Maxi.”

  Chase released his breath. Gus and Maxine Connor. He hadn’t seen that one coming. “Good luck to you.” And, he meant it.

  “Maybe you’re of a mind to settle down too. Young man like yourself should have a wife and family by now.” With a wink, Gus sauntered out and not long after, his handyman’s old pickup rattle by on the way to Maxine’s.

  Thinking about Gus’ less than subtle hint, he closed down his computer, turned out lights, and went upstairs to his room.

  Maybe a good night’s sleep would clear his thinking. But, when he climbed into bed, he missed having Jane next to him. Holding her. Getting familiar with the softness of her skin. Discovering what intimacies made the blue of her eyes burn hot like the flame of an acetylene torch.

  Frustrated on more than one level, he groaned, flipped off the too warm covers, flopped onto his back, and started counting sheep.

  Exhausted from a restless night, the next morning, he went to check on the kids. Zach and Abby were gone. Their meager clothes, everything. It was like they’d never occupied the spare room.

  *

  “There’s no sign of them.” Jane met Chase by his truck, drank in the pacing, worried man, praying the churning in her stomach would subside.

  She should have known this was going to happen. Should have anticipated Zach and Abby’s desperation last night.

  They were gone. She wasn’t going to be able to keep bad things from happening to them.

  When she’d told Chase about the kids overhearing his telephone conversation, he’d sworn with a viciousness that warmed her heart. She was heading to search the barn next.

  But first, unable to stop herself, she leaned into him, stepping closer still when his hands grabbed her around the waist. “We’ll find them.”

  “Of course we will,” he agreed gruffly as though he found it harder than she did to accept help. “Why in Sam Hill did they run? I told them I would work on a way to keep them.”

  Jane stared into his troubled eyes, swallowing hard. “It had nothing to do with you. Trust is hard for people like Zach...and me.”

  “You’re something special, you know that?”

  He lowered his head until his lips brushed hers, but it wasn’t enough. Despite her earlier decision to keep things casual between them, Jane turned the press of their lips into something more demanding. Framing his face with her hands, she proceeded to kiss his socks off.

  Quick enough, reason surfaced. She cleared the voracious need from her throat. “With Abby still in a cast, they can’t have gotten too far on foot.”

  To keep from grabbing the delicious man again, she stuffed her hands in her jean pockets and stepped back. Her only excuse for this unmitigated hunger was she’d missed being in his bed last night.

  “I’d better contact search and rescue; let Beth know they’re on the move.”

  “I’ll take the bike out and check the roads.”

  He cupped her cheek with one hand. “Thanks. I know how difficult this is for you.”

  She swallowed hard at the gentle understanding in his touch. Turning quickly on her heels, she went into the barn. Anxious to get on the bike and ride, she pulled the Harley off its kick stand, pushing it toward the front of the building and freedom.

  She was as bad as the kids. She knew exactly what they were feeling. The urge to start the engine, hop on and keep riding until she met the setting sun was overwhelming. A rustle up in the hayloft caught her scattered attention. Voices raised in angry whispers floated down to her.

  She parked the bike, berating herself for being so taken up with her own anxiety, she hadn’t checked up there. “Zach? Abby?”

  Footsteps shuffled to the ladder. Zach’s head and shoulders appeared in the opening. When he saw her, he came down, jumping from the last step.

  “Where’s Abby?”

  The boy kicked at the straw. “Up there. She won’t come down.”

  Grabbing his shoulder, she checked him out head to toe. Thank God he was okay. She snagged his gaze. “You took all your things with you. Were you leaving?”

  He nodded. “Before she went chasing after George, Goldie threatened to take Abby away and not tell me where she was. It’s my job to take care of my sister. I promised Pop I would. I can’t let Goldie have her again.”

  She briefly closed her eyes. She’d thought she had it bad growing up without a family. How would it feel to be yanked from your sibling? It would feel like she’d felt when she lost Linus.

  She drew in a deep breath. “You didn’t go far.”

  “Abby wanted to say good-bye to the kittens. And then...I didn’t know where to go.”

  “All right. Go tell Mr. Russell. He’s worried sick.”

  Zach’s chin dropped to his chest. “He’ll want to get rid of us, won’t he?”

  “No, Zach. He won’t. He’s in the house calling for help to look for the two of you.”

  After the teen left the barn, she climbed into the hayloft. Unable to see Abby at first, she could hear the kittens and followed the soft mewing. The little girl was tucked behind a bale, holding one of the little marmalade cats snugly under her chin.

  “Abby?” She sat on the floor next to the little girl, shaking off the horror of almost losing her. “What are you doing up here?”

  “I don’t want to go back to Goldie. She’s not nice to Zach.” With a choked cry, Abby threw herself and the kitten into Jane’s arms.

  Swallowing a lump of relief, she smoothed the child’s fine hair. “It'll be alright.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “Me, too. You scared the crap out of us, leaving like that. How was I, or Mr. Chase, to know something bad didn’t happen to you and Zach?”

  Round sorrowful eyes flooded over. Abby smeared the trail of tears running down her cheeks with the back of her fist. “But, you’re a Marine, like my pop. You can't be scared.”

  She shook her head at the child's reasoning. There was a time she'd thought the same thing. “Soldiers are afraid sometimes, too.”

  Behind her came the soft scraping sound of Chase and Zach climbing into the loft. They sat next to her on the straw covered floor. Chase picked up two of the kittens and gave one to Zach.

  “Why?”

  “Well, it’s hard to explain, but even though we try very, very hard to be good, there are times when it’s not enough, and we make a mistake.”

  She looked over Abby’s head at Chase. What she saw shining in his cinnamon eyes ruffled her edges. Still she met the look head on. She’d been sent to the ranch to make sense of her troubled past. She wasn’t going to be afraid any longer.

  She tightened her arms around the child in her lap. “I made a mistake, but I understand now, and it's time to move on.”

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  “I have to, baby.”

  “You're going to protect us from the bad men. That’s what my pop told Zach and me.” Abby sniffled, entirely too grown up for her tender age.

  If she let herself, Jane could drown in the darkening eyes devouring her. “That's exactly right.”

  “Can I write to you sometimes?”

  Resting her chin on the top of Abby’s head, she finally broke free of Chase’s consuming gaze. “Yes, and I’ll write back.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  The familiar feeling of being buried alive hovered at the edge of her vision.

  She was back in Madrid losing the life she’d known. But, she concentrated on how right it felt to be holding Abby. How her engines turned over when the Doc gave her that look, like he was now. The sharp, clean smell of stacked hay anchored her, along with the soft purring that came from the kitten Abby held.

  Pushing the cloying feeling away, she took a steadying breath. Abby cuddled closer. Beside her, Zach shifted restlessly, burying his face in his kitten’s fur.

  Jane didn’t hide from the memory that had her in its
crushing, debilitating grip when she’d first arrived on Chase’s doorstep, so desperate for his help. She let herself see things as they were, finally accepting she couldn’t have done anything different.

  Maybe, she hadn’t been discerning enough, was a little too trusting, too - not blind - but, involved in trying to give Linus a better life. With a little girl and a baby kitten settled comfortably on her lap, Jane suddenly realized she liked that about herself; wouldn’t change it after all.

  Profound relief washed over her. She'd won the battle.

  The only regret she had was leaving behind this man in whose care she would place the children. It made her heart ache, but she couldn’t risk the loving, stable life he would give them by taking him into the soldier’s life she was heading back to.

  Their gazes melded, Chase witnessed the moment his long legged, tough Marine emerged from the dust and smoke of her personal battle. Her victory swelled in his chest. A triumphant grin spread across her beautiful face. In the next instant, he recognized the decision that sprang into her baby blues.

  They would see about that. No way in hell was he going to make it easy for her to walk away, but this was her moment, and he couldn’t be prouder.

  Right then he knew nothing in his life was ever going to be the same. He’d been hit hard; fallen completely in love with an honor bound, courageous woman, who’d fought a desperate battle with the enemy and won.

  Gunnery Sergeant Jane Donovan was no longer the wounded Marine his Uncle had deposited into his care. She was magnificent. For the first time in his life, he wanted to take a woman - this woman - into his heart and keep her there forever.

  *

  The next day, Chase swiveled in his chair, staring out his office window. It was time to take his own advice and stop hiding out. With Zach and Abby to consider, he’d decided, no matter what happened with Jane, to stay on the ranch. Life here was - he laughed - okay, not simpler, but certainly more rewarding.

  If Jane could defeat her demons, he could do something about his own. With the power of that thought urging him on, he’d made several calls. One to his brother. Others to his agent and publisher. Last he’d left a message for Beth.

  He watched his lady go toward the barn, the children following happily behind her. She’d announced at breakfast, they were going to give the Harley a wash, and Zach and Abby’s glum expressions had perked up.

  She was different today. The anger she’d brought with her when she’d first arrived was gone. The Marine didn’t need him anymore. The irony of that had him shifting restlessly in his chair. Now, he was the one who needed her.

  Last night, long after her nightly reading, she’d come to his room and they’d made slow, passionate love. Not the desperate kind, but as two lovers did, who for that moment, wanted to be nowhere else.

  He’d felt the strength of her desire in the slender arms that held him. Heard the quick catch in her breath as he’d deliberately touched her. And watched, breathless, as she’d come apart in his arms.

  They hadn’t talked about her leaving. He wasn’t quite ready for that, and anyway, it would come soon enough.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t cut out to be a Marine groupie. He wanted more from her, but first he had to fight for Zach and Abby. She would understand and respect that.

  The phone rang. Pivoting his chair around, he checked the caller ID before picking up on the second ring. “What did you find out?”

  “Goldie Malone’s not going to relinquish Zach and Abby. She wants them back. Pronto,” Beth said.

  “I want to fight for them.”

  “You’re only going to get one shot at this, Chase. If Zach and Abby are willing to testify, and we can prove Goldie abandoned them, there’s a slim chance the judge will consider their wishes.” He heard the rustle of papers. “There are no other relatives. That will work in your favor; at least give you legal custody until the dust settles.”

  “So what’s the next step?”

  “I’ll put a file together on Goldie. And one on you. I know a judge in Bend who’ll take the case ASAP.”

  Chase wasn’t surprised by the hard edge in his friend’s voice. Or by how quickly she could make it all happen. Beth must have decided Zach and Abby were telling the truth. If there was one thing she couldn’t abide, it was parents who didn’t take proper care of their children.

  When he hung up the phone, his mission shifted. It didn't take long to find Jane in the barn, alone, hunkered down, tinkering with the motorcycle. In her usual intense way, she used the wrench as expertly as she did everything else. At some point, she’d left a streak of grease across one cheek. It made her look more beautiful, capturing him as nothing else could.

  “Where’s Zach and Abby?”

  She wiped her hands on a rag she grabbed off the seat of the bike and stood. “Gus took them to see Maxine’s new foal.”

  “I just got off the phone with Beth.”

  “And?”

  “Their mother wants them back. We have to go to court.” The vanilla scent she favored mixing with engine oil would always remind Chase of the stunning woman. “Beth wants Zach and Abby to tell the judge their side of the story.”

  Jane scowled at him. “And, try to have her declared unfit?”

  “Beth says this isn’t the first time she’s abandoned them. She called in a favor. We have an appointment to see the judge on Monday to sue for custodial guardianship.”

  “It’s hard to prove a mother unfit.” Jane’s voice lost all emotion.

  “I know. But we have to try, don’t we?” In this one thing, he was positive they agreed. They must do what was necessary to keep the kids safe.

  He was relieved when she nodded. This was his last chance to show the Marine what she was leaving behind. If she insisted on going, letting her would be one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

  “I need your help.”

  He grabbed her up, one arm around her shoulders, the other under her knees, eliciting a squawk that had a tremor of need rushing through him.

  Her smug grin almost sent him over the edge. “What do you have in mind, Doctor Russell?”

  He grinned wickedly back, his mind conjuring all kinds of explicit adventures. Long strides carried them across the ranch yard, into the house and up to his bedroom.

  Jane was pulling off her top before her feet hit the floor. Chase quickly got to work on her bra. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

  He was rewarded with an embarrassed blush; enjoyed keeping the woman off balanced.

  “You’re just after one thing.” Her voice was a sexy rasp.

  He laughed. It wasn’t the thing she thought it was. “You can bet on it. How long do you think Zach and Abby will be gone?”

  “Sounded like Maxine was planning to give them lunch.”

  “I want you,” he growled.

  “Not as much as I want you,” she countered, her eyes going dark with a passion he planned to get on board with. “Now!”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a smirking salute, then tumbled her into the bed.

  *

  “Guess what?” Abby was nearly bursting with excitement.

  Chase glanced over at Jane, who hovered at the kitchen counter, wearing that devil-didn’t-care expression he’d love to spend time wiping off her face. Her snug tee shirt was tucked into sinfully tight jeans, sun-kissed hair finger combed back into place as if he hadn’t just spent an hour and considerable effort mussing the golden strands, while he explored every inch of her.

  He hadn’t told her yet how he wanted her to help. That would have to come later, when they were alone again, and if he could keep his mind in the game, instead of letting the charge be led by his profound need of the woman.

  He turned to the little girl tugging impatiently on his pant leg. “What, honey?”

  “Now, Abigail,” Maxine scolded.

  ”Maxi and I are getting married,” Gus put an arm around the older woman’s shoulders. Maxine smiled shyly.


  “They’re getting married!” Abby shouted at the same time, a grin splitting her gamine face.

  The room erupted. Abby clapped her hands in delight. Zach stood back, his attempt at looking uninterested a total flop. Even Jane lost her nonchalance, a smile lifting the corners of the lips that still bore the ravages of their recent lovemaking.

  Tearing his gaze away, Chase clapped Gus on the back. “So you went and did it.” He turned to Maxine. “Are you sure you want to get stuck with this old codger?”

  Maxine’s smile broadened, making Chase’s heart ache. He wished he could make a certain Marine look that contented.

  “I expect so.”

  Jane came to stand next to him. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Maxine’s misty gaze rested on Gus. “I don’t know what Fergus sees in an old twig like me after being married to Donna, but the big dope says he loves me. I guess he must.”

  Was that what he needed to tell Jane? He’d do it in a heartbeat if he thought it would make a difference.

  Maxine’s brows drew together, her tone resuming the briskness Chase had come to expect from her as she glanced at Zach and Abby. “Can I have a word?”

  Gus dropped a chaste kiss on Maxine’s cheek. “Miss Jane and I will do something about dinner. Who wants to help make spaghetti?”

  “I do! I do!” Abby tromped over to the counter.

  Chase led the way to his office, not missing that Jane’s eyes followed him. It gave him a small amount of satisfaction. Anticipation for the time when they would be alone again almost stole everything from his mind.

  Closing the door behind Maxine, he offered her the chair across from his desk. “What’s this about?”

  “The children told me what you’re trying to do. That’s a noble thing you’re doing, taking them away from that horrible woman and giving them a home here.”

  Maxine had warmed considerably since he’d had that first run-in with her at the hospital. “We’re going to see the judge tomorrow.”

  “They deserve a decent place to live and people who love them. I want to help.”