Harry flattened his palms on the kitchen table and leaned over Jake. “I want the same thing Maggie and everyone else who loves you wants,” he told Jake gruffly. “I want you to wake up. I want you to grieve. Openly, this time. I want you to do whatever you have to do to get your life back on track.”
Jake gave Harry a black look. “And then?”
“And then it’s up to you,” Harry said simply. He paused, making sure he had Jake’s full attention. “You can go after Maggie, and prove to her that you love her, or you can spend the rest of your life wishing you had done the same. The choice, Jake, is up to you.”
“YOU ABOUT READY?” Billy asked Maggie, early Saturday morning.
“Yeah.” Maggie knelt to tie her running shoes. “How far are we going to run?”
“I’d like to get in at least six miles.”
Maggie groaned. Her brother, the football player turned coach, had always been able to run her into the ground. “Billy, I can’t do six miles.”
Billy, who planned to shower and shave after their early morning run, thoughtfully ran his hand along his bewhiskered jaw. “Well, what is comfortable for you?” he asked.
“Two, maybe.” Maybe. She doubted even then she would be able to keep up with Billy.
Billy grinned and slipped his coach’s whistle around his neck. Hands on his hips, he looked her up and down. “I can see I’ve got my work cut out, whipping you into shape, sis.”
“Very funny. And don’t you dare even think about blowing that whistle at me,” Maggie warned as his doorbell rang.
They looked at each other. Maggie knew they felt exactly the same urge to slip out the back way and let whoever it was wait. But, since it was football season, and Billy’d had a slightly injured player in the game the evening before, a contest his team had won hands down, they couldn’t do that. “I’ll get it,” Billy said. “And then we’ll head out for the track.”
Maggie nodded, and went to the sink to fill their water bottles. She heard the muted murmur of deep male voices; whatever was going on sounded very serious indeed. Then, Billy’s voice, loud and distinct, summoning her. “Sis, can you come here a minute?”
Maggie set the water bottles down and strode out into the terra-cotta entry way. Catching sight of their unexpected guest, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her breath stalled in her lungs at the sight of him. “Jake—”
“I know. I should have called,” he said.
“My inclination was simply to throw him out,” Billy explained grimly.
“That would be mine, too,” Deke and Frank said, joining them. Both were also in their jogging clothes. “Particularly if this is who we think it is, the guy who hurt you.”
“It is,” Maggie said quietly, her eyes still holding Jake’s. So hungry for the sight of him was she, after only six days, that she could not take her eyes from him, nor he from her. It was clear he had showered and shaved with care that morning. He was wearing a dark blue Western shirt, black jeans and a black silk gambler’s vest. He had a bouquet of yellow roses, what appeared to be Billy’s morning paper and black Stetson in hand.
“I was hoping to get here after you’d already read the paper,” Jake began, ignoring her brothers and concentrating completely on her. “I thought it might make getting started a little easier.”
Considering the way their affair had ended, Maggie didn’t for the life of her see how.
“But in any case, I want you to look at this, too.” He handed her a manila envelope.
Maggie opened the clasp, withdrew the papers inside. “Engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements,” she read out loud. “Policy and procedure.” She looked at Jake, not sure what this meant. “Why are you giving these to me?” she asked thickly. She’d thought she was finished with him, and he her. She’d thought they’d never see each other again.
“Because you’re going to need them, if you want all of these dreams of yours to come true,” he said firmly.
She didn’t know whether to be glad or sad. She only knew everything that had ever mattered to her hinged on the next few moments of her life. She swallowed hard. “Is this a game, Jake?” she asked finally. If so, her brothers were going to be very mad. As was she, gosh darn it.
“No, Maggie. No more games. No more playing around, for either of us. I know what I want,” he told her firmly, taking her by the shoulders.
The heat and gentleness of his touch sent tremors sizzling through her.
“The question is,” he continued, “do you?”
Yes, Maggie thought, with all my heart and soul.
His eyes still holding hers, Jake dropped his hands and inclined his head toward the newspaper in her hand. “Open it up to the life-style section,” he prodded.
Realizing Jake looked different somehow…better…in some mysterious way, Maggie swallowed around the sudden dryness of her throat and, against her better judgment—hadn’t he hurt enough already?—wordlessly did as he asked.
“What’s on there?” Deke asked, looking over her shoulder, along with Billy and Frank.
“It’s a full-page ad,” Maggie replied, shocked and struggling to take it all in. For in large block letters, the newspaper print said simply, “Maggie, I love you. Not just for today or tomorrow, but for the rest of my life. So there’s only one thing to do. You’ve got to marry me. Jake.”
JAKE WAITED, watching Maggie’s face. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking. He could only pray it wasn’t too late as she turned to her brothers and said quietly, “Why don’t you-all go jogging without me this morning?”
Deke, Frank and Billy exchanged glances of mingled hope—that everything might work out for their sister after all, she guessed—and concern.
“I don’t know about this,” Deke said finally, still looking as if he wanted to deck Jake.
“Please,” Maggie said, folding her arms in front of her and looking even cooler and more composed. “Jake and I have a lot to discuss,” she continued crisply, “and these are the kinds of things that need to be said in private.”
“All right,” Deke finally consented reluctantly. “But we’ll be at the high school track if you need us.”
“Yeah,” Billy said, scrawling a phone number on the notepad. “And don’t hesitate to call my office— they’ll find me.” He turned to Jake and gave him a warning glare. His brothers followed suit. “You be good to her.”
“Don’t worry,” Jake assured them, “I will be.”
“Really, guys, I’ll be fine,” Maggie emphasized flatly.
Finally convinced of it, her brothers left.
Jake breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing she would tell him as soon as she’d decided, he lounged against the front hall bannister and waited for her decision.
She fingered the proposal in the newspaper. She gave no clue as to what she was feeling on her face. “This is a pretty flamboyant gesture.” One that would, no doubt, cause them no end of infamy in this state.
Jake drew a breath and nodded agreeably.
Clad in a T-shirt and running shorts, her blond hair drawn up in a high, bouncy ponytail, Maggie looked much as she had at the ranch. Recalling how he’d taken her presence for granted then, Jake felt a stab of pain. He promised himself if he ever got another chance with her, he would never take her for granted again.
His dark eyes lasered in on her upturned face as he replied laconically, “I figured it’d have to be a pretty flamboyant gesture to get your attention and persuade you to forgive me, after everything I put you through.”
Maggie folded the paper and put it aside. Leaning against the opposite wall, she folded her arms in front of her, and continued to regard him warily. “Do you mean it, Jake?” she asked in the soft, serious voice he had come to love. “Do you really want to marry me?” she pressed emotionally, moisture glimmering in her wide blue eyes. “Or are you just going through the motions because you’ve been roped into it, because I wouldn’t be with you again any other way?”
About this, Ja
ke had absolutely no doubt. “I mean it,” he said gruffly. “I want you to marry me.”
To his dismay, she still remained unconvinced. “What happened to change your mind?” Maggie demanded, and he knew from the look on her face that his answer had better be good.
“I realized the moment you left the Rollicking M Ranch that without you, life on the ranch was just life on the ranch. I want you back, Maggie. I want you to be mine. I want to have babies with you and take all the risks I’ve been afraid to take.”
The words Maggie had been longing to hear filled her heart with joy. Tears of happiness misting her eyes, she went toward him, arms outstretched. He wrapped her in his arms. She clung tightly.
“Oh, Jake,” she whispered, relief and wonder flowing through her in waves. Her devastation at leaving him had been so great, she had almost given up hoping this would happen. To find it had, brought a bliss almost more than she could bear. Contented moments passed as they simply held each other.
Finally, Jake whispered in a rusty-sounding voice, “I’m sorry, Maggie. So sorry I hurt you. Sorry I was such a fool.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Aware she was as much at fault as he was, Maggie clung to him as he lovingly stroked her hair. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard,” she confessed softly.
Jake drew back to look into her face. “No, you were right to do that,” he said seriously as he gently caressed her face. “If you hadn’t…well, who knows how long it would have taken me to snap out of it?”
“But you have, haven’t you?” This was what was different about him, she realized with a belated sense of relief. The edgy mantle of grief he’d worn was gone.
He nodded. “I realized, after a lot of thought, that maybe you and Harry were right. Maybe all this time I hadn’t let myself grieve. Maybe my delayed grieving, more than fear, was the reason that I couldn’t get involved with anyone else. I couldn’t give my heart to you as completely as I wanted to because I hadn’t really shut the door on my marriage to Louellen.”
“But now you have?” Maggie asked.
“Yes.” Jake looked at her with quiet confidence. “I finally feel that part of my life is over. Louellen would want me to go on, every bit as much as you do, Maggie.” He paused to pull a small velvet box from his pocket. “So, if it isn’t too late, if you’ll still have me, I want you to stop looking for someone else to embody all the qualities on your wish list and marry me and have my—our—children.”
Maggie grinned appreciatively at the diamond-andsapphire engagement ring she found inside the box. She couldn’t believe it, but all her dreams were coming true. “Not to worry, Jake. My days of husband hunting are over because I love you and only you.” She removed the ring and slid it on the ring finger of her left hand. It was a perfect fit. Just as Jake was the perfect man for her. “And as for my list—”
“Yes?” Jake lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly.
Maggie ran her fingers through his dark windswept hair and looked deep into his eyes. “I won’t be needing that anymore, ‘cause I’ve found what I was looking for in you.”
“Sure?” Jake teased.
Maggie nodded, confirming, “You’re the quintessential cowboy.”
“And even if I’m not,” Jake drew her nearer and kissed her slowly, thoroughly. “It is definitely something to work on.”
Knowing how insatiable he could be in that regard, Maggie grinned and teased, “In bed and out?”
“Maggie honey,” Jake drawled, sweeping a hand down her spine, “you read my mind.”
They kissed some more, until Jake finally drew back long enough to ask, “When can we tie the knot?”
Maggie’s lips curved in sweet anticipation. For her, it literally could not be soon enough. “How about yesterday?” she said, laughing.
Jake cheerfully considered her suggestion. “Sounds good to me,” he drawled, and they kissed again.
“I can’t wait to tell my brothers,” Maggie said a long contented time later, as he held her close and she drew lazy patterns on his chest. “Hallie and Clarissa, too.”
Jake clasped her hand and held it over the strong, steady beat of his heart. “Hallie is still trying to reach you, by the way,” he remarked amiably.
Maggie sighed, frustrated. “It’s been one of those weeks where all we do is play telephone tag. I’ll try her again in a little bit.”
Jake paused. “Think she’ll be surprised you’re going to marry a cowboy?”
“She’ll be ecstatic,” Maggie confirmed. “So will Clarissa. They’ll be even more amazed when I tell them Sabrina—that fortune-teller I told you about— saw you in her crystal ball.”
Jake entwined their hands. “I’ve never been one to believe in anyone’s ability to foresee the future—” he started to say skeptically.
“Me, either,” Maggie agreed. “But if Sabrina is even half right, then my friend Clarissa and cousin Hallie are both really in for it, too.” Maggie grinned as she stood on tiptoe, wreathed her arms about his shoulders, and gave Jake another long, lingering kiss. “I only hope they’re as happy as we are, Jake,” she murmured finally.
He hugged her close, letting her know with the tender protectiveness of his touch that they had their whole lives ahead of them, and this time, nothing would force them apart.
Smiling, Jake bent and kissed her again. “Me, too.”
eISBN 978-14592-6749-7
ONE HOT COWBOY
Copyright© 1997 by Cathy Gillen Thacker.
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