The Miracle Man
Page 25
“You're supposed to put them in a basket, not on the sides of your feet,” Lane said, and grinned when the sheriff rolled his eyes and lightly cursed beneath his breath.
“Fine thanks I get for coming out on a holiday,” Dan said, handing Lane an envelope. “I found a Western Union man lost as hell on the other side of town. He was looking for your place. It was easier to bring this myself than to try and explain how to get here.”
“Thanks,” Lane said, then opened up the telegram.
HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE. STOP. KISS MY NEWEST NIECE FOR ME AND HUG MY SISTER. STOP. THANKS FOR PROVING ME RIGHT, LAWMAN. STOP. IF I CAN FIX MY WORLD THAT WELL, MAYBE I WILL COME HOME. STOP. LOVE, WYATT
“Well, I'll be damned,” Lane said. “The prodigal son might actually return one of these days.”
“Must be from Wyatt,” Dan said.
Lane nodded, then looked up at Toni in the middle of it all, and smiled. He had a lot to thank Wyatt Hatfield for. He hoped he did come back.
“You're just in time to eat,” Lane said, and gave the squashed egg on Dan’s boots another glance. “I think the egg hunt is nearly over.”
Dan grinned. “No, thanks, but that’s my cue to exit. You have a good day, now, you hear?”
Lane waved him off and then turned to see Toni coming toward him across the yard.
“Lane, you have a phone call. It’s your boss. He called me darling and praised the latest picture of Joy that he’d seen and told me you never looked better.” She made a face. “It sounds to me like it’s a good thing I did the laundry yesterday. You'll be needing clean clothes for the trip.”
Lane sighed and hugged her. “Maybe not. Here, Dan brought a telegram from Wyatt. You can share it with the clan while I get the phone.” Then he held out his hands to the baby who was wearing a miniature bunny suit, complete with long pink ears and a tiny, white powder-puff tail. “Want to come with Daddy to talk to the bad man?”
Toni laughed, and watched with a happy heart as Joy willingly went from her arms to his with a drool and a smile and pink ears flopping. Father and daughter disappeared into the house as Justin walked up.
“What did Dan want?”
Toni handed him the telegram. “It was from Wyatt. You can read it. He said to tell everyone hello.”
Justin quickly scanned the page, and handed it back with a rueful smile.
“He’s right, you know. He read Lane Monday’s intentions better than any of us. Thank God that he interfered. If it wasn’t for Lane, you wouldn’t be this happy, and I would be less of a man today.”
Toni hugged her brother, then whispered softly in his ear. “I don’t care what you look like, Justin, or how you walk. You will never be less of a man. You're just about the best brother a girl could have.”
Justin grinned to hide how moved he was by Toni’s praise.
“Well, hell yes, I'm the best. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Judy.”
Toni grinned and hit him on the arm. “You're awful,” she said. “I've got to go see what that darned man wanted with Lane. I suspect duty is about to call.”
She hurried across the yard, her long legs moving gracefully beneath the full skirt of her dress, and entered the house on the run. Lane met her at the door empty-handed.
“Where’s Joy?” Toni asked.
“Laura took her. The kids wanted to have their picture taken with the Easter bunny. Joy seems to be it.”
Toni grinned. The suit had been an inspiration. “When do you have to leave?” she asked, knowing Lane’s assistance was needed on another assignment. His duties had been lessened, but her husband’s expertise was still essential to some cases.
“Tonight.”
Lane slid his hands around her waist and then lowered them until her hips were perfectly cupped in the palms of his hands. She moaned softly in his ear when he pulled her close against the thrust of his manhood.
“When will you be back?” she gasped, wishing that they were alone.
“Day after tomorrow.”
She tried not to let her dismay show, but she hated to sleep alone and he knew it.
“I will miss you like hell,” he whispered. “Can’t you tell everyone to go home now? I want to make love to my wife.”
Toni made a face, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t think so,” she whispered, and sighed when his mouth descended.
He tasted of baby powder and soap, and she knew that the last place his mouth must have been was on their baby’s face.
“I love you, Lane,” she said when his mouth had moved from her lips to her throat.
He stilled, and his arms tightened around her waist, crushing her to him until she found it difficult to breathe, but she did not protest. Being loved this much, by this much man, was something special. She would take all that he had to give her and still want more.
“I love you, too, Antonette,” he whispered, and then he grinned. “I'll bet I'm the only man who can claim the luckiest day of his life was the day he nearly died.”
Toni smiled, and leaned back in his arms, well aware that it placed their lower bodies in perfect but painful alignment.
“I might know where there’s an empty hayloft,” she said.
Delight was rich in his voice as he swept her off of her feet and twirled her around the room while the party went on outside without them.
“Are you asking me to take you to the barn and make love to you?”
Toni pursed her lips and cocked her head thoughtfully, giving him a cool, assessing look.
“I might be...but only just this once.”
He laughed. “And just for fun?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and blew lightly in his ear.
“Darling Lane, is there any other way?”
* * * * *
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8727-3
The Miracle Man
Copyright © 1995 by Sharon Sala
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com