It had taken him a half hour to leave. He’d armed Travis with two more bottles, Jessica’s written instructions and another page of his own notes. He’d made sure there were plenty of diapers and clean outfits, and Travis had promised to spend the evening reading the baby book.
Still Sebastian had to force himself to climb in the truck and drive away. He’d never much liked cell phones, but he wished he had one now. All the way over to Matty’s, he envisioned disaster. Travis might mean well, but he didn’t have enough experience to be put in charge of Elizabeth.
But there was no alternative. Sebastian had to put Matty first this time, and he needed to talk to her with no distractions. What he had to say would be difficult enough without having to take care of Elizabeth while he was saying it.
He hated being wrong, but he’d been wrong. After Travis had finished saying his piece, Sebastian had sat in the rocker feeding Elizabeth and thinking about how he could make it up to Matty for hurting her.
His plan to marry Jessica had been stupid, and insisting on it had shoved a knife through Matty’s heart. He still longed for the assurance that he’d see Elizabeth every day as she grew up, but that wasn’t realistic. The price, denying his love for Matty and trying to make a life with Jessica, was too high. Everyone would suffer, including Elizabeth.
So he was going to see Matty, and he only hoped he wasn’t too late.
Her truck was in the drive, and his heart pounded in anticipation as he rang the doorbell. He rehearsed what he would say, what he would do. He pictured her inside, brokenhearted and blue, all because of him. But on the second ring, as Sadie barked on the other side of the door, he knew Matty wasn’t home.
Damn. She was with Gwen—he’d bet money on it. No doubt she was crying her little heart out on Gwen’s sympathetic shoulder, and he didn’t blame her for that. He didn’t relish saying his piece in front of Gwen. Yet he didn’t want to go home without seeing Matty, either. He headed for town.
In his concentration, he almost missed the violet truck parked outside the Buckskin as he sped past. Then he nearly caused an accident when he swerved the Bronco in a sharp U-turn and barreled back to the night spot.
So the girls had stopped in for a beer, he thought. Understandable. He pictured them huddled at a back table, Gwen handing tissues to Matty. He was lower than a snake’s belly to make her cry like that. Once he was inside the bar he’d wait for a slow dance, get her out on the floor and tell her how sorry he was, how he’d spend a lifetime making it up to her.
He parked the truck and walked toward the building. Yeah, a slow dance would be perfect. As he pushed through the swinging door, he pictured the scene. He’d kiss the tears away, and promise her the world. He’d—
Do nothing of the kind.
First of all, Matty was not in some dark corner. She was cavorting in the middle of a stomping, clapping circle of cowboys and cowgirls with…Cyrus! Worse yet, she was wearing a skirt! Or some people might call it that. Sebastian called it indecent exposure, especially when Cyrus twirled her. And her hair was all curly and bouncing around, and her lips were bright red. She looked—Sebastian groaned—sexy as hell.
And worst of all, she was smiling. Smiling at that wet-behind-the-ears cowpoke who wasn’t fit to wipe her boots.
Instinct took over as he pushed through the crowd and grabbed hold of Matty’s arm. Cyrus put up some resistance when Sebastian hauled Matty away, but the look in Sebastian’s eyes must have scared him some, because he backed off.
Matty was a different story. She kicked him so hard in his kneecap that he wondered if she broke it. The band stopped playing and everybody stared.
“How dare you?” she cried, trying to pull away from him.
“Would you come outside for a minute?” he asked hopefully.
“No, I will not! You can say what you have to say right here!”
He winced. Nothing in the world was harder for him than airing his dirty laundry in public. He’d hoped not to have the whole damn valley know his business this time around. But Matty was madder than he’d ever seen her. She looked like she was getting ready to kick him again, and this time she might aim for something besides his kneecap.
“You turn me loose, Sebastian Daniels,” she hissed, “or I’ll do some real damage.”
He swallowed and tried to forget the throbbing in his knee. It looked like he had a choice. He could either bare his soul for the entire crowd gathered in the dance hall, or he could forget about winning Matty.
It was no contest. “I love you, Matty,” he said, thinking that might mellow her some and convince her to come outside with him for the rest of his speech.
It didn’t work. She twisted more vigorously in her attempt to get away from him. “So what? I love you, too, but you aren’t planning to do anything about it, so why waste your breath telling me?”
He’d have to do the whole number right now, in front of the world. “Because I think we should get married.”
She stilled for a moment, and some of the rage left her blue eyes. But then it came roaring back and she struggled against him with new energy. “Oh, I get it. Jessica called, didn’t she? Well, I don’t care to be second choice, cowboy. So take your marriage proposal and put it where the sun don’t shine!”
“Jessica didn’t call. I just figured out that…” Oh, boy. Talk about public humiliation. The heat of a flush crept up from his shirt collar as the room went dead silent. He felt all those eyes trained right on him.
But his future with Matty was at stake. “I figured out that I was wrong about…everything. I’ve loved you for years, Matty, without realizing it, and we’ve wasted too much time already. So I’d appreciate it if you’d—”
She nearly knocked the breath from him when she launched herself into his arms. Staggering backward, he managed to keep them both upright as he looked into eyes bright with love and damp with tears. And slowly their audience faded as he became totally mesmerized by Matty’s beloved face.
“For years?” she whispered in a voice choked with emotion.
“And years,” he murmured. “Will you marry me, Matty Lang?” And he waited, heart pounding, for the most important words of his life.
She gazed up at him and blinked back the tears. “Yes, Sebastian Daniels, I will.” Then the tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks as he kissed her.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6116-1
THE COLORADO KID
Copyright © 2000 by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
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The Colorado Kid Page 18
