Toby wasn’t sure why that would cause her to burst into tears, but she did. Smothering him with kisses, she told him just how happy she was that he was alive. He wasn’t so sure about that. Once Heather left for good, his life wouldn’t be worth much to anyone—except to a sensitive little boy who needed him to be both his mother and father. And the parents who would likely expect Toby to move home so they could treat him like an invalid for the rest of his life.
Heather tucked a strand of hair behind one ear and stepped back to stare at him earnestly. Having an epiphany on the long, perilous ride to town, she was ready to bare her soul.
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to reconsider that proposal you made earlier today.”
The jump in Toby’s heart rate registered on the monitor next to his bed.
“You think you could do a better job, I suppose,” he said. His voice, though weak, reflected an amusement that his eyes did not share.
Giving him a lopsided smile, Heather knelt beside his bed in a classic proposal position. “I love you.”
As much as Toby needed to stop her from making a fool of them both, those words filled him with such a sense of joy that he wanted more than anything else in this world to believe his ears.
“Ssshhh…” he whispered. “You don’t have to—”
“Don’t shush me. God and I had a nice, long talk on the way to getting you here, and we decided that you need me. Not just Dylan, big boy, but you. It seems I need you, too. I’m willing to work at marriage on whatever terms you think fair. If you’ll just give me a chance, I think I can make you learn to love me.”
Toby choked on the fist that was stuck in his throat. “Learn—to love you?” he stammered. For a woman who said she wanted romance in a marriage proposal, she certainly made hers sound more like a business proposition than a matter of the heart. A man who believed in proving himself not by words but by actions, he couldn’t fathom that she didn’t know how out-of-his-mind crazy in love with her he was.
Was it possible she truly believed he proposed to her simply because she was good with Dylan? Was she really so thick that she believed he would make a lifetime commitment based on anything other than his feelings for her? Didn’t she know that the kind of earth-moving passion they shared was something so special that poets couldn’t find words to describe it adequately?
He was such an idiot! When she rejected his proposal out of hand, he had reacted like some hot-headed kid, rushing off without getting to the heart of the matter. Attempting to assuage his wounded pride by getting behind the wheel of a monstrous tractor and running it into the ground wasn’t the smartest move he’d ever made, either. Luckily for him, Heather was made of sterner stuff. If not for her cool head, he could well have died within walking distance of his house.
He berated himself for not staying to work things out when she first called his motives into question. Now it was much too late for mending fences or limbs.
“My arm—” he began.
“What about it?”
That she looked so genuinely surprised he would mention it made Toby ache for opportunities lost.
“I can’t expect you to marry half a man.”
“Tobias Danforth!” Heather exclaimed. “I can’t believe you think I’m so shallow that I care more about how you look than what’s inside you.”
She, too, had heard the hospital buzz that his arm might be amputated, but refused to believe it until she heard it straight from the doctor’s mouth. Even then, Toby’s parents, who she called immediately after admitting him, assured her that they wanted a specialist to look at their son before any such drastic measure be taken. Having booked a private jet, Harold and Miranda were due to arrive any moment to lend their support and help their son and grandson any way they could. Heather envied Toby their limitless love—and longed to share it with him.
“Whether you have one arm or three makes no difference to me. I love you. Not your arm or your pocketbook or your family name or some stupid, strong-and-silent cowboy stereotype that you’d let ruin your life if it weren’t for me. Understand this—nothing is going to change my feelings for you. Nothing. I love you, and I love your son. It’s that simple. Let’s not make it any more difficult than that.”
“I love you, too.”
Seeing the tears spill down her cheeks at the admission, Toby rebuked himself for not saying those words long ago. They had the power to make him feel whole.
Even though he wasn’t.
No matter what he wanted for himself, Toby could not in good conscience let such a young, vibrant woman throw her life away without giving serious consideration to what it would be like to be married to a man who would need help simply getting dressed every morning. On more than one occasion, Heather had told him his disposition was less than sweet on his good days. He imagined he would be a bear to live with as he learned to function without an appendage. It wouldn’t be right to hold her to a declaration of love made under the duress of such a terrible accident. He didn’t want her to make a commitment to him out of a sense of pity.
Again Toby tried to explain. “I love you and I’d ask you to marry me again, but my arm—”
“Is full of pins, and you won’t be doing any manual labor for a while. But don’t worry. A little mending and a lot therapy and you should regain full use of it in time for the fall stock show.”
The doctor who stepped into the room was young and cocky. The fact that he happened to be wearing cowboy boots and was the bearer of tremendous news excused his high-flying bedside manner. Toby closed his eyes and exhaled the accumulated fear from his lungs as the surgeon continued with his prognosis.
“You also have a bad concussion, which must explain why I thought I heard you talking about marriage when I walked in the room. The Toby Danforth I know vowed he would never get married again, and made me promise to knock some sense into his head if he ever so much as mentioned it.”
Toby’s smile lit up the entire hospital wing. “That won’t be necessary. I knocked some sense into my own head the hard way.”
He turned his attention away from the doctor and focused his entire being on Heather. “Like I was saying, I love you. And I want to marry you. For all the right reasons.”
The glow on Heather’s face erased all doubts Toby might have had. She wasn’t the kind of woman who needed roses and exotic settings and romantic music in the background to accept a man’s heartfelt proposal. She just needed to hear the right words. He thanked God that he had found them in time to turn his life around. A future brimming with promise need not be overshadowed by the mistakes of the past.
“I’d be honored to be your wife.”
There was no false fluttering of eyelashes or Southern belle pretense in Heather’s words. Just joyful acceptance. And a shimmer of passion glowing in her eyes.
Doc Cameron cleared his throat. Truth be told, he was jealous as could be. And a little uncomfortable being present at such a private moment. “I’d shake your hand if it weren’t busted all to hell. What d’ya say I leave you two lovebirds alone to set a date?”
“If it were up to me, I’d have the minister who arrived to give me last rites marry us before he leaves the building. Barring that, you can expect an invitation any day,” Toby informed him.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” the doctor said. With that, he took his leave, promising to return momentarily with Dylan.
Toby felt his heart swell as he looked at his lovely wife-to-be. Moved by her courage and beauty, he couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you’re not the one with the concussion?”
“As positive as I am that I intend to take advantage of you all wrapped up tight in your blanket, helpless to resist my advances.”
“Good thing I didn’t crush that part of my anatomy,” Toby whispered, glancing down at the prominent protrusion beneath his hospital covers.
Heather simultaneously blushed, laughed and agreed with him as he proceeded to let her know he was already well on the road to recuperation.
Despite his weakened state, Toby managed to free his good arm from under the covers. He wrapped that arm around her waist and dragged her close. Leaning over his bed, Heather kissed him tenderly, as if afraid of hurting him further. Toby would have none of it. He parted her lips with his tongue and intensified that kiss. When Heather made a move to draw away, he nuzzled the swell of her breasts straining against the buttons of her shirt and refused to let her go. She could scarcely breathe for the tightness surrounding her heart. Her knees grew so weak that she had to support herself by leaning a hand against his thigh.
“I do believe there’s just enough room in this narrow little bed for two people if they were of a mind to consummate their upcoming wedding vows,” Toby told her with glint in his eyes.
“Behave yourself,” Heather warned as Dylan skipped into the room, clutching the hand of a cute high school candy striper who dropped him off at the door.
She had to restrain the boy from climbing up on the bed and accidentally injuring his father in his haste to give him a hug. He stood next to the bed as proud as could be and asked, “I did good, huh, Dad?”
Toby’s eyes widened. The expression on his face said it all. He looked to Heather for confirmation that he wasn’t imagining things. Running a hand through Dylan’s unruly hair, she nodded her head.
“Your son saved your life. He was the one who came and got me. He told me you were hurt and led me to your side.”
“He told you?” Toby repeated in disbelief. Was it possible God was so generous that He would grant a man more than one miracle a day?
“And, according to the nurses, he’s been bragging to everyone in the hospital about what a big hero he is.”
It took a moment for her words to sink into Toby’s fractured skull. When they finally did, he almost jumped out of bed, forgetting that he wasn’t up to a doing a jig just yet. Heather accommodated him by lifting Dylan up and setting him on the edge of the bed so they could share a group hug. That joyful embrace marked the beginning of their life as a family together.
A life that gave voice to all of their dreams.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5741-6
COWBOY CRESCENDO
Copyright © 2004 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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Cowboy Crescendo (Dynasties: The Danforths Book 7) Page 13
