“Okay, here’s the deal,” she said. “Since you have managed to not only keep this place afloat under extremely daunting conditions, but to make it thrive, it occurred to me that you might be interested in taking over for me permanently.”
“You mean we’d go on running it?” Deidre asked cautiously, her expression brightening ever so slightly.
“And eventually buy it from me,” Gina said. “I’m in no rush about this. I don’t need the money for what I want to do in Wyoming, at least not right away. We could work out a price and an arrangement that would give you time to get your feet on the ground financially. That could take a while because the first thing we’d need to do is get all of the old investors paid off. But I’d say in four or five years this would be yours, if you want it. Are you interested?”
“Ohmigosh,” Deidre whispered, her gaze on Ronnie. “What do you think? Can we do it?”
He met her gaze, eyes shining, his expression serious. “Of course we can. If it’s what you want. Is it?”
She reached for his hand. “Yes. Absolutely. And you?”
A half smile tugged at his lips. “It’s the answer to a prayer.”
Gina suddenly felt completely serene. She was making the right decision. She didn’t have a single doubt about it. Not only was she making Ronnie and Deidre deliriously happy, but she was getting what she wanted, as well. Everybody would win.
The only potential blot on her happiness was Rafe’s reaction. Maybe she should have consulted him first, but this was her business, her decision. Her relief at finally having made it was astonishing. She felt as if a two-ton weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Now all she had to do was wrap up her personal affairs and wait for Rafe. It sounded so simple, but in her heart she knew there was going to be nothing simple about telling him that she intended to move a couple of thousand miles away for good.
Over the next twenty-four hours, Gina put all of her business affairs in order. She contacted each and every vendor to explain about the forthcoming changes and to assure them that their accounts would be settled and that she hoped they would continue to do business with Deidre and Ronnie. Most of them had such high praise for the two that she was certain they were going to succeed.
She also called all of the investors with a similar message, reassuring them that despite recent difficulties their investment was not only safe but would soon be extremely profitable. Satisfied that she was leaving town with her good name intact—at least as solid as it could be under the circumstances—she left her office for what she anticipated to be the last time and went back to her apartment to finish packing.
When the doorbell rang, to her total astonishment she found not just Rafe on her doorstep, but Bobby, as well.
“I tracked down a friend of yours,” Rafe said unnecessarily. “He has something he wants to say to you before we go off to talk to the D.A. about the charges he’s facing.”
Bobby didn’t look as if he were in a particularly talkative mood, but Rafe towered over him, and his grim expression never wavered.
“I’m sorry,” Bobby said finally. “This was all a huge mistake.”
“A mistake!”
He nodded. “I got some crazy idea in my head that you would turn to me if the business were in trouble.”
Gina stared at him incredulously. “Why would you do something like that?”
Bobby remained mute, until Rafe scowled at him. “Tell her, Rinaldi. All of it. She deserves to know why you turned her life upside down.”
“Because I’m in love with you,” Bobby said in a voice that was little more than a whisper. “I have been since we met. But the only time you even looked at me was when we were pulling the business together. I wanted that back again.”
She tried to make sense of it, but she couldn’t. “You had to know I would blame you, not turn to you.”
“Like I said, I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I was sitting down in the Caymans waiting for you to come down and give me hell. It would have been better than the indifference I usually felt from you. I dated all those women, paraded them under your nose, and nothing. You didn’t care.”
“Oh, Bobby,” she whispered. She couldn’t make herself regret how this was turning out for her, but she was brokenhearted over the damage he had done not only to the business, but to the rest of his life. She looked at Rafe. “What happens now?”
“We have an appointment at the D.A.’s office. A lot depends on how much of the money he still has and pays back.”
“It’s all there,” Bobby assured her. “Every penny.”
“Then they should go easy on him,” Rafe promised. He glanced at the packing boxes and her luggage. “Running again, Gina?”
“No,” she said with certainty. “Not running away. Going home. When you get back I’ll explain.”
He nodded. “I’ll be counting on it.”
As he and Bobby went out the door, Bobby turned back. “I really am sorry. I never meant for you to be left holding the bag. I really didn’t.”
“I know,” she said quietly, and to her surprise, she really did believe that.
Rafe had had a nasty moment when he’d seen the state of Gina’s apartment. Even before she’d explained, he had known that she intended to go straight back to Wyoming. What he didn’t know was what that meant for the two of them. He had some ideas of his own, decisions he’d made over the past few weeks, but he wasn’t so sure they meshed with her plans.
When he returned to her apartment, he found her dressed in some sort of velvety robe that covered her from her shoulders to her feet. Oddly enough, it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen her wear.
Despite the chaos in the apartment, she had a fire blazing on the gas logs. The lights were turned down low, and she’d opened a bottle of extremely expensive wine.
“Interesting,” he said as he looked around. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were out to seduce me.” A smile came and went. “Again.”
“What if I am?”
“I’d have to ask why.”
“Because I want you to know exactly what I’m feeling, exactly what I want,” she said at once.
“Sex?”
She grinned. “That, too.”
“What else?”
“You,” she said evenly. “I want you to come back to Wyoming with me. I know it’s a lot to ask, that your law practice is here, but you were happy there, once you got used to it, anyway, and I think you love me and—”
“Yes,” he said, interrupting her.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He grinned. “If that was a proposal, the answer is yes.”
“That easy?”
“You wanted me to be difficult?”
“Well, I did have all these very persuasive arguments I was hoping to use,” she said, moving into his arms.
He lowered his head to capture her mouth. Only after she had been thoroughly kissed, did he take a step back. “By all means,” he teased, “persuade me, but I’ve got to tell you, I’m an easy mark where you’re concerned. I have been since the beginning.”
“Not since the beginning,” she argued.
“Definitely the beginning,” he insisted. “In fact, I’ve been considering a partnership of sorts with you for some time now.”
“My experience with partnerships hasn’t been all that great,” she reminded him. “I told Tony I’d come back and work with him. I’ve known him my whole life. He would never betray me.”
“Maybe not, but this thing with you and me would be a very personal partnership,” Rafe pointed out. “No comparison.”
“Can I trust you not to run out on me?”
“Absolutely.”
“What are the terms? I want to know exactly what I’m getting into.”
“Love, honor and cherish. Now and forever. The usual.”
It sounded like a pretty decent deal. “Just one more thing. I intend to work for Tony. Eventually I’ll take over. If the place is swamped, are y
ou going to help cook?”
“Only if the chef rewards me later.”
Gina held out her hand. “It’s a deal.”
But—typical lawyer—Rafe wasn’t satisfied until they’d sealed it with a lot more than a handshake.
Epilogue
There had never been a doubt in the world about where their wedding reception was going to be held. Tony and Francesca started planning it the day Gina and Rafe shared the news that they were getting married. Now that the day had arrived, however, Tony had barred Gina from the kitchen.
“I will do this, cara mia. You are not to worry.”
“But I could help,” Gina protested uselessly. “Besides, I’m the bride. Shouldn’t I have some say over what the cake looks like, at least?”
Tony regarded her with exaggerated indignation. “Do you not think that my Francesca knows what will please you?”
“Of course, but—”
“Go,” Tony ordered. “The wedding is in an hour. You must be beautiful.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, though she didn’t think an hour was going to make much difference. The summer heat had already frizzed her hair, and it would melt her makeup the moment it was applied.
The instant she stepped outside the restaurant, she was surrounded by the Calamity Janes. “Francesca called you, didn’t she?”
“She did,” Emma said. “She said you were getting in her way.”
“I wasn’t in her way. Tony wouldn’t even let me near the kitchen.”
“This is one meal you are not going to cook yourself,” Karen insisted. “Besides, as bridesmaids it is our duty to make sure you’re dressed and at the church on time. You don’t want to make us look bad, do you?”
Cassie was amazingly quiet as she studied Gina. “Prewedding jitters?” she asked eventually.
Gina gulped and nodded. “How did you know?”
Cassie and Karen exchanged knowing looks. “Been there, done that,” they said in unison.
“Trust us, though, you are going to be deliriously happy. Rafe will see to it.”
Gina smiled at last. “He already has.”
“Well then,” Emma said briskly. “There’s nothing to worry about, is there? Let’s get this show on the road. I have my list right here. If we follow it, we’ll stay right on schedule.”
Gina chuckled. “Wait till it’s your turn,” she warned Emma. “We are going to show you no mercy.”
“I predict this fall,” Lauren said.
“Definitely before Christmas,” Karen said.
“Oh—” Emma began.
“Go suck an egg,” they all chimed in. “You’re not convincing anymore, Emma, so give it up,” Lauren added. “You and Ford are next.”
Gina looked around at her best friends and felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She loved these women, and thanks to Bobby’s treachery and Rafe’s understanding, she had them back in her life. The Calamity Janes were a gift worth treasuring. She’d never lose sight of that again.
“Oh, no, she’s about to start blubbering,” Cassie noted. “Stop that, right this second. You can’t get married with your eyes all red and puffy.”
“Rafe won’t care,” she said with a sniff.
“Maybe not, but you will when you have to look at the wedding pictures in the years to come,” Lauren added, giving her a hug. “Trust me on this. If there’s one thing I know about it’s how a bad picture can turn up years later to bite you in the butt.”
They got her to the church and into her gown with five minutes to spare. She spent those minutes with her parents.
“Thank you,” she said, hugging them fiercely.
“For what? The wedding? It was our pleasure,” her mother said. “We’ve dreamed of this day for a long time.”
“Not just that,” Gina told them, holding her father’s hand tightly. “For letting me go all those years ago and for welcoming me back now.”
“Just give us some grandbabies and you will have paid us back in full,” her mother said. Her father scowled. “Don’t rush the girl, Jane. She hasn’t even said ‘I do’ yet.”
“That’s okay,” she told her father. “I think mother and Rafe are on the same page on that one. For a man who claimed to know nothing about relationships or family, he’s adapting to the concept pretty quickly.”
“How does that mother of his feel about being a grandma?” her father asked. “I can’t imagine she’s happy about it. I’ve never seen a woman so determined to shave twenty years off her age.”
Gina grinned at the assessment. It was true. Rafe’s mother worked astonishingly hard at being youthful. Grandchildren were going to rattle her.
“She’ll adapt,” Gina’s mother said. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll get those precious grandbabies all to myself.”
There was a knock on the door just then. “I think they’re ready for us,” Cassie called out. “And Rafe is prowling around the front of the church looking impatient.”
Gina opened the door. “Then by all means, let’s not keep the man waiting.”
Rafe had worn dozens of tuxedos in his time, but he was fairly certain this one was going to choke him to death. He ran his finger under the shirt collar.
“Stop fidgeting,” his mother mouthed from the front pew.
The admonition made him grin despite himself. How many times had he heard that as a boy? A million, probably. It was good to know that some things never changed.
At last the music began, and his gaze flew to the back of the church. The procession seemed endless. First Cassie, Lauren, Karen and his own sister as the bridesmaids. Then Emma, looking softer and more feminine than he’d ever seen her, as Gina’s maid of honor. Finally Caitlyn as the flower girl, happily scattering rose petals along the aisle as she grinned at Rafe.
There was a pause in the music, and Rafe’s breath caught in his throat. Gina appeared on her father’s arm, and his throat went dry. How had he ever gotten so lucky?
Her dress was simple, but she looked like a million bucks in it. He grinned at the thought. That was exactly the price tag that had been put on Café Tuscany a few weeks ago, when the paperwork for Gina’s deal with Deidre and Ronnie was being drawn up. All three of them had stared at the bankers in disbelief. Gina had insisted that the deal be for less than half of that.
“They’ve paid the difference a thousand times over,” she had told the bankers. “It’s because of them that it’s worth so much now.”
To Rafe’s amusement she had gotten her way and the deal had been struck. Now there was nothing left to tie them to New York. They were in Winding River to stay.
“I love you,” he whispered when Gina reached his side.
“You’d better,” she whispered back, but her eyes were filled with laughter.
When the time came for the vows they had written for themselves, Rafe shocked the crowd with his first words. He could hear the gasps as he began by saying, “From the moment I met you, I knew you were a thief.”
The only person who wasn’t the least bit startled was Gina. She watched him solemnly with love in her eyes.
“You stole my heart,” he said quietly, drawing a relieved sigh from the onlookers and the beginnings of a smile from Gina. “Even when I struggled to get it back, you held on and taught me what it means to share love and friendship. You taught me about loyalty and commitment. Today I give you my heart willingly, because I know you’ll keep it safe forever.”
There were tears shining in her eyes when he finished. She brushed at them impatiently as she began her own vows. “I know the value of what you are giving me, because I know how difficult it was for you to overcome all of the doubts you had about me at the beginning. It’s a funny thing about distrust. It can destroy a relationship or it can make it stronger. I think ours is stronger because of the way it began. I will spend a lifetime proving to you that I deserve your trust and giving you everything that my heart has to share—my family, my friends, my town, and most of all, my love.”
When th
e priest pronounced them man and wife and blessed them, Gina held her face up for his kiss. Rafe covered her mouth with his own, and once again he was back at the fairgrounds on a hot, steamy afternoon, tasting her lips for the very first time, unable to stop, savoring every single second of the kiss.
The congregation erupted into laughter and applause when he finally released her. Gina grinned.
“I guess we’re destined to giving them something to talk about,” she said.
He winked. “It certainly works for me. How about you?”
“Any time. Any place.”
“Forever?”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, another slow, melting kiss that rocked him to his core.
“Definitely forever,” she said.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5327-2
TO CATCH A THIEF
Copyright © 2001 by Sherryl Woods
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