Gray, Ginna
Page 27
Finally, everything was sorted out. After promising to come into the Bureau office the next day and make a formal statement, Sam and Lauren left and joined Augustas and Walter and the rest of their group, who were waiting outside in the hallway.
"How'd it go, son?" his father asked the instant they emerged.
"Good. Especially considering that I just blew away my boss and I've been hiding a federal witness without official sanction for over four months."
Lauren watched Sam shift from one foot to the other, and she knew something was bothering him. Sometime during the session with Agent Weiss and the other lawmen, he had retreated back behind his stone-mask expression. She'd also noticed that he wouldn't look directly at her.
The joy she had begun to feel earlier had seeped away. Replacing it was a growing knot of uneasiness.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," Sam said. Without waiting for anyone to agree, he headed for the stairs and loped down them at a fast clip, as though he couldn't stand still another moment.
Lauren and Augustus exchanged a puzzled look and followed more slowly with the others. When they stepped outside, Sam was waiting, impatiently pacing back and forth at the top of the courthouse steps.
He swung around, and Lauren's heart contracted when she saw his grim expression. "We have to talk."
"All right," she replied calmly, but inside she was shaking. His expression and tone told her that she wasn't going to like what he had to say. She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking and waited. The others stood by quietly, looking back and forth between them.
Sam paced away rubbing the back of his neck, then swung back. "Look, things have changed for you. It looks like Carlos is going to cash in. If that happens, you won't have to start your life over. Not in witness protection or with me."
Each word he spoke struck her like a fist. The awful knot just beneath Lauren's breastbone tightened painfully.
Her chin came up a notch. "What are you trying to tell me, Sam?"
"Look, I know I coerced you into this marriage. Now that the danger to you is gone, if you decide you want out I won't hold you to it. Hell, I'm not even sure the Navajo ceremony would be binding for a non-Native American. If you want to test it, you can probably have it set aside."
"What?" Augustus thundered. "What is this nonsense?"
"Stay out of this, Dad," Sam ordered, but his gaze never left Lauren's.
"I see," she said quietly. Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe.
Hurt coursed through her, but she fought against it. Not an hour ago this man had told her he loved her, had kissed her passionately and held her as though he'd never let her go. She refused to believe all that was a lie.
Knowing she was about to take the biggest chance of her life, she walked up to Sam and put her arms around his neck. He stiffened and watched her uncertainly.
Doing her best to ignore his less-man-encouraging response, she smiled up at him. "In that case, we'd better go back inside and have the judge marry us again. Because, like it or not, you're stuck with me. You see, I love you, Sam."
His dark eyes blazed. "Lauren...you've been through a lot. If you're not absolutely sure—"
"I'm sure. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
He stared down at her, his fierce warrior's face taut with emotion. Then he threw his head back and laughed, a rich, full-body sound that did strange things to her insides. "Oh, I like it, babe," he said when he recovered his voice. "I like it a lot. But are you sure this is what you want? Really sure? Because if you stay, there's no turning back. This is for life."
She smiled slowly. "I'm counting on it."
He cupped her face with his hand and gazed at her tenderly. "I love you, Lauren," he murmured, and there on the courthouse steps, as his family looked on, hooting and cheering, he kissed her.
When at last their lips parted, Lauren's head was spinning and she sagged against him. She looked up and wrinkled her nose at him. "What about you? Are you sure about this? I'll probably make you a terrible wife, you know. Other than music, I have no skills, no training, no experience. I can barely cook enough to stave off hunger, as you've already discovered, and my other domestic skills are still rudimentary. The only jobs I could get would be in music, and those are scarce. I'll just be a millstone around your neck."
Sam laughed again and hugged her close. "Trust me, babe, you're no helpless powder puff. You just proved that by whipping Todd's sorry ass. You also kept your head when you witnessed a murder. You survived a plane crash and a trek through the wilderness in the dead of winter, took charge when I got shot and saved my life. Not exactly the acts of a helpless female. You're a strong, competent woman, sweetheart, and I haven't a doubt in the world that you can do whatever you set your mind to."
He ran his hands over her back and hips, and a slow, sensual smile curved his lips. "Believe me, babe, being married to you won't be a hardship.
"Although, before you make up your mind, I should warn you. I intend to quit the Bureau and go home to the ranch. So if you have any objections..."
"Why on earth would I object? Oh, Sam, I think that's wonderful."
The relief she saw in his eyes told her how much her answer had meant to him, and her heart contracted with love.
Sam bent and planted a hard kiss on her mouth. When he straightened, he kept one arm hooked around her waist and turned back toward the courthouse doors. Smiling, he looked deep into her eyes. "C'mon, sweetheart, let's go find that judge."
A native Texan, Ginna Gray lived in Houston all her life until 1993, when she and her husband, Brad, built their "dream home" and moved to the mountains of Colorado. Writing was a natural career choice for Ginna, given that spinning colorful yarns was commonplace in her large Irish-American family. She sold her first novel in 1983 and has been working full-time as a writer ever since.
The mother of two grown daughters, Ginna also enjoys other creative activities, such as oil painting, sewing, sketching, knitting and needlepoint.