by Anna Jeffrey
Closing down the egg business had been costly. She had gotten a pittance from the sale of the hens and had applied every penny of it against the balance she owed on her house. The sad part was that the lump-sum payment had made only a small dent. Little by little, she was getting rid of the egg-processing equipment on eBay. Her mortgage money had gone to buy the equipment, so as she sold those items, that money, too, was being applied to the balance against her house.
All in all, she didn’t miss the chickens. Losing the egg business had been painful at first, but she should have gotten out of it before Dalton Parker ever put in an appearance. In reality, he had done her a favor. If he hadn’t forced the issue, she might never have faced the losing proposition in which she was engaged or had the nerve to shut it down.
She hadn’t forgotten Dalton by any means, but she was ready to move on. He had done something for her she hadn’t expected. He had made her feel like a woman again. She had even told Shari and various matchmakers who frequented the beauty salon that she was open to new male acquaintances, something she hadn’t done in years. In her limited experience in the battle of the sexes, she had found that one way to wash a man out of her hair was to find another one.
Shari had nagged her unmercifully for an explanation of what had happened between her and Dalton, but Joanna wasn’t sure herself. She knew only that though she had spent a scant amount of time with him, she knew him. She didn’t know where it had come from—perhaps from her long friendship with Clova and listening to her talk about him, perhaps from the gossip that floated around Hatlow like air, perhaps from her own intuition. And knowing him, she felt his pain and she loved him. But that didn’t mean she would spend the future pining for him.
She didn’t want to talk to Shari, or anyone, about him. The feelings were too private. What she had shared with him might have been brief, but it would go with her to her grave.
The front door chimed and she looked up. With the morning sunlight shining against the front door, she could see only silhouettes of customers entering. Now she saw the outline of a male figure that seemed familiar.
But it couldn’t be.
Nope, not possible.
Seconds later, Dalton Parker was standing in her doorway, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb.
Blood began to swish inside her ears, but she forced herself to keep her composure. “Wh-what are you doing here? I thought you’d left.”
“Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Uh—”
“I’ve got about a hundred things to say.”
It would take at least a hundred, Joanna thought, her heart pounding. He looked beautiful, wearing jeans and boots and a red T-shirt. He had a long round tube tucked under his arm.
“This is my office. I guess you can say what you need to.”
He brought the tube from under his arm, his tanned biceps working as he flipped the cap off the end and pulled out a long, rolled document. “I brought you something.”
She sat in deafening silence while he unrolled the document and let it hang in front of him. It was a poster that looked to be eighteen by twenty-four inches, an excellent photograph of a shirtless, finely honed male torso lying on its side, covered by fuzzy yellow baby chicks. Chicks all over it as if they were attached—standing on the shoulder, standing on the ribs, two babies nestled in a big hand. She recognized the torso immediately. The American eagle tattoo on the left shoulder gave away the identity. She gave him the squint-eye. “That’s you. And those are baby chickens.”
“Mom told me you got rid of your chickens. This is fifty to start over with. She said you started with fifty. I figured I’d help you start over.”
Her jaw dropped.
“I’ll get you more. As many as you want.”
She felt her eyes widen, but she closed her mouth. “Dalton, listen—”
“I’ll help you build a new place for them. Mom wants to give you that ten acres where she’s had her garden. She said you were worried about water. There’s water there.” He proceeded to roll the document back into a tight roll and slip in back into the tube.
“I brought you something else.” His hand shoved into his jeans pocket and came out holding a tiny navy blue velvet box.
Her heart began to flutter and skip beats. He gripped her chair arms and turned her to face him, then sank to one knee, opened the box and thrust it to her. Speechless, she blinked at an incredible ring—a center stone of at least four carats set off by baguettes on either side. She looked up at him and, overwhelmed by emotion, broke into tears.
A wary expression came onto his face. “Are you crying because you’re glad? Or mad?”
Shaking her head, she sniffled. “You nearly destroyed me, Dalton. This last month has been—”
“I know. I did it wrong. I had to sort it out in my head, Joanna. I guess I had to get away from here to do it. I know it’s a piss-poor excuse, but—”
“Dalton, listen…”
“Do you want me to grovel? I’m groveling.”
She sniffed. “You owe me groveling, big time.”
“I know. I’m a shit-heel. But I’m honest, Joanna. You know I’m honest. And I’ll kill every rattlesnake that comes near you. I’ll look out for you from now on, Joanna. And I’ll be loyal.”
She looked at him, blinking, her eyelashes wet with tears. She was sure her mascara was running down her face.
He pried the ring from its slot in the box and picked up her left hand, but it was trembling so badly he had to capture her finger to slip the ring onto it. “My God,” he said, looking up at her with rounded eyes. “It fits. That’s an omen.”
As was typical of him, in a matter of seconds, he had taken control of the situation and refused to allow her to say no. A laugh burst through her tears.
“Oh, Joanna, don’t give up on me.” He leaned toward her and cupped her jaw with his big palm. As his lips covered her face with kisses, his opposite hand clasped her arm, dragging her out of her chair until she knelt on the floor with him. His arms wrapped all the way around her. “Don’t give up on me,” he said again, and they kissed and kissed. Finally his mouth pulled away from hers and he was grinning like a monkey. “I know you’ve figured it out by now. I’m back. For good. I need a place to stay.”
“Clova won’t let you stay at the ranch?”
She’d had only a couple of conversations with Clova since disposing of the chicken business. She hadn’t been able to make herself even ask about Dalton.
“That ranch house isn’t really home to me. I’m looking for a place with a good bed.”
Her heart was so full, she thought it might explode. Another spate of tears spilled from her eyes as she hugged him with all her might. “I don’t know. I might never get over hating you.”
“I don’t blame you. But I still need a place to stay. I still need a home. Will you take me in for the time being, Joanna? Will you go with me? Just ’til you get over hating me?”
“Go with you where?”
“Into the future. Wherever it goes. I figure we can build a house toward the back of the Lazy P, along the rim of the canyon. I can put a little studio separate from the house where I can work and I can help Mom and Lane take care of things. There’s a well back there with good water and we could watch the sun set over the canyon for the rest of our lives.”
He was insane. Outrageous. Complicated. Challenging. But he was also exciting and smart and interesting, and she believed in him as she had believed in no other man. There was nothing he couldn’t do.
They got to their feet together. Nothing, but nothing, could make her let go of him. She would never let go of him again for as long as she lived. She picked up her purse, smiling through her tears. “I’d follow a man anywhere who promises to save me from snakes.”
Applause broke out in the retail store. Joanna hadn’t even been aware that everyone in the beauty shop had come out and witnessed Dalton Parker’s sweet return.
They left Joanna’s Salon & Supplie
s together. Her heart would scarcely contain the utter joy she felt. There were many blanks that needed filling in, but they had the rest of their lives to do it.
Jay Huddleston’s words the night of Shari’s birthday party came back to her: He always did what he wanted to. It was one of the things that made him different from the rest of us.
She knew this much. Dalton Parker had always been and still was a man who battled life every day to follow his own path. He didn’t need a woman in his life. He could go on without Joanna Walsh. But he had come back for her. Not because he had to have her, but because he wanted her. And that was the essence of who he was. It was enough.
Her immediate problem now was how to tell him she really didn’t want any more chickens.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
