“What exactly would you do if I was foolish enough to give you my handcuffs?” He dangled them in front of her.
Jeannie stood next to her desk, head tilted, and planted her hands on her waist. “You mean you don’t know?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “I can guess.”
“Guess again, Adam Jordan.” This was the moment she’d been waiting for. “I want us to set a date for our wedding. We can work on our relationship until kingdom come. If you aren’t ready to marry me now, you never will be.”
Adam looked stunned. “If it was up to me, we would’ve been married a year ago.”
“Then why aren’t we?”
“Well…because, you never said…”
“You never asked! Am I always going to have to be the one to do the asking?” Jeannie demanded, pouting just a little. “I love you, and I want us to be married.”
“I want us to be married, too.”
“Well…you should’ve said something sooner.”
“Are you willing to set the date or not?”
“Yes,” Jeannie said without hesitation.
“Good.”
They glared at each other, then Jeannie asked, “Why are you standing over there when I’m standing over here?”
Adam shook his head. “Hell if I know. Did we or did we not just agree to set our wedding date?”
“We agreed.”
Adam pulled her into his arms, joining his hands at the small of her back. “That’s what I thought. What are you doing next weekend?”
Jeannie stared at him. “You want to set the wedding for next weekend?”
“No, I just wanted to know if you had any plans.”
She was about to let out a cry of protest, but he cut her off with a deep heartfelt kiss that robbed her of both breath and reason. When he’d finished, he looked down at her and his eyes grew serious. “Next weekend, we’ll choose a date. Okay?”
Jeannie laughed and nodded, crazy in love with the best-looking sheriff she’d ever known.
Grady had been expecting his sister to show up all afternoon and he wasn’t disappointed. Savannah sought him out in his office.
“You heard?” he asked.
She nodded. “There was a letter from Richard in today’s mail. The parole board’s denied his request, and he blames Val.”
“Interesting, seeing that the only person he has to blame is himself.” But this was a familiar scenario with Richard.
Savannah agreed with a nod, then took the chair across from Grady. “I wish I knew why Richard went so wrong. I’ve asked myself that a thousand times over the years, and I’ve never found an answer that made sense.”
Grady had wondered, too.
“His letter was so full of anger,” Savannah said, and Grady heard the hurt in her voice.
“I didn’t know you still wrote to him.”
She avoided eye contact. “I do every now and then.”
“And he writes back?” Grady knew the answer, but wanted his sister to admit the truth. Richard would write his family only when he needed something.
“He does keep in touch,” Savannah replied, “but mostly to request money or ask me to do him some favor.”
“And do you?”
“Laredo prefers that I only send Richard money on his birthday and Christmas, and frankly I agree. For the rest, I tend to ignore his requests. Did you hear from him, too?”
Grady nodded. “It isn’t only Val he blames.”
“Why you?”
“I refused to write a letter to the parole board on his behalf.”
“Neither would I,” Savannah admitted.
“Yes, but he isn’t about to bite the hand that feeds him.” Oh, no, Richard was much too smart for that.
“How’s Val?” Savannah asked. “Have you heard from her recently?”
“Travis and Nell do frequently.” Once she’d learned the truth about Richard, Val was hell on wheels, doing everything possible to make sure he served his full sentence. She’d been helpful to the people of Promise, too. Working with another attorney, she’d helped with the return of the gold coins to the federal government. But her assistance hadn’t stopped there. Because of her efforts, money had recently been raised to build a small hospital in Promise.
A golf course, a hospital. Grady wondered if he’d recognize the town in a few more years. Then again, he knew he would. Changes would come; the town was destined to grow. His own family certainly had since the birth of his second daughter. But the heart of Promise—the strength and faith that had led the original settlers to leave Bitter End and start over in a new place—that heart would never change.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2138-7
PROMISE, TEXAS
Copyright © 1999 by Debbie Macomber.
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, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Promise, Texas Page 30
