To Wed and Protect

by Carla Cassidy

  She looked into his dark-lashed, smoky eyes and repeated the vows that would make him her husband. As she said the words, she was struck with a sense of horror as a jolt of realization struck her. There was more than a little bit of her heart that wished this was for real…forever. There was more than just a little bit of her heart that was in love with Luke Delaney.

  As Luke said his vows, he knew the mixed emotions that had to be fluttering inside Abby. Her eyes were windows to those emotions, first darkening with a hint of anxiety, then lighting and sparking with something that pulled a ball of emotion into Luke’s chest.

  For the first time in his life, Luke felt as if he were doing something that was positively right. If he did nothing else for the rest of his life, at least he would have the knowledge that he put himself on the line to help two innocent kids. And that made him more than the loser his father had always proclaimed him to be.

  It was crazy, but as he spoke the promise to love, honor and cherish Abby, he felt the words deep in his heart, deep in his soul. The emotion in his chest grew to mammoth proportions. Although he knew the vows they spoke were only temporary, he silently vowed to do whatever he could for Abby and her children for the time he would be in their lives.

  “You may kiss your bride,” Jerrod said, bringing Luke back to the moment at hand.

  Once again he gazed deeply into Abby’s eyes as he leaned forward to deliver the kiss that would seal their bond. Although the kiss was swift and light, the feel of her sweet lips beneath his sent a wave of heat cascading through him.

  With the ceremony done, there were congratulations all around, then Luke and Abby gathered the children and left the church.

  “I’ve got a surprise for us all,” he said when they were in Abby’s car after the ceremony had been completed.

  “A surprise? What kind of a surprise?” Jason leaned over the seat.

  “Sit back and buckle up and I’ll tell you,” Luke replied. Jason did as he requested, and Luke continued, “How would you all like to go on a picnic?”

  “A picnic? Cool!” Jason replied.

  “I’ve got everything we need for a successful picnic in the trunk,” Luke said, then grinned at Abby who was looking at him in surprise. “I was busy early this morning while you were still in bed.”

  “A picnic sounds nice,” she agreed.

  “I’m going to take you to one of my most favorite places in the world,” he said softly. “It’s a perfect place for a wedding day picnic.”

  She smiled and nodded, then cast her gaze out the car window. She’d been unusually quiet since the ceremony, and he wished he could read her thoughts, wondered if she was already regretting their decision.

  She looked as pretty as he’d ever seen her. The beige dress was a perfect foil for her shiny dark hair and displayed her slender curves to perfection.

  His wife. Under the laws of the land and in the state of Arizona, he’d just bound his life with hers, promised to love and honor her in sickness and in health, until death do them part. Or until the custody issue was resolved, he reminded himself.

  He’d planned the picnic because he thought that with the tension of the last two days, a little relaxation and fun would be good for her.

  It was another beautiful day, warm but not overly hot. A faint breeze stirred the trees as Luke turned onto Delaney property. He drove past the main house and the guest cabins, following a dirt road into a pasture.

  “Look, I see horses,” Jason exclaimed. “Look, Jessica, there’s a black one and a brown one.”

  “That’s Mabel and Betty,” Luke said. “We don’t ride them anymore. They’ve been retired, but maybe later we can coax them over here to get a bit of an apple.”

  He pulled in near a grove of trees and parked the car, and they all got out. Luke popped open the trunk and began to unload the items he’d packed earlier.

  “A blanket, a basket of food, a ball, a Frisbee…” Abby smiled at him. “It would seem you’ve thought of everything.”

  “I believe in the Boy Scout motto, be prepared.”

  “Were you a Boy Scout?”

  “Nah, I got kicked out of Boy Scouts for playing with the Girl Scouts,” he teased. He was rewarded with her laughter. “Jason,” he called. “Heads up.” He threw him the ball, then tossed the Frisbee to Jessica.

  While the two children played, he and Abby spread the blanket beneath a shady tree. “Stretch out here and relax and I’ll unpack the food,” he said.

  With Abby sitting on the blanket, Luke began to unload what he’d packed for their lunch. “I hope you don’t mind that I raided your refrigerator,” he said. “We’ve got balogna and cheese sandwiches, chips, apples and cookies.”

  She tilted her head and eyed him curiously. “You must have been up before dawn.”

  He nodded. “Prewedding jitters, I guess.”

  As he pulled out a blue plastic container, she placed her hand on his arm. “Are you sorry we went through with it?” Her eyes, the beautiful green of spring, were filled with concern.

  He leaned over and touched her cheek. “Now how can I be sorry about marrying the prettiest woman in Arizona?” he teased, then realized she wanted, needed more than that. He pointed to where the children were throwing the Frisbee back and forth.

  “How can I be sorry for trying to help them? How can I be sorry for stepping up to the plate when all my life I wish somebody had done that for me?”

  Her eyes held a compassion that made a curious ache in his chest. “I wish I would have been there for you, saved you from your mean, wicked father.”

  Luke smiled, consciously shoving aside all thoughts of his past. “I survived.” He pulled a dark blue bowl covered with foil out of the basket. “And your kids are not only going to survive, they are going to thrive under your love and care.”

  Her eyes darkened. “I hope so. It’s been three days and there’s been no word from Justin. I don’t understand why he hasn’t contacted me yet.”

  “Conversation about that man is strictly off-limits today,” Luke replied. “We aren’t going to let him ruin our picnic.”

  She drew a deep breath. “You’re right.” She pointed to the blue plastic bowl. “What’s in there?”

  “It’s a surprise. You’ll see later.” He set the bowl aside and called the kids to eat.

  As they all sat on the blanket and enjoyed the food Luke had packed, their laughter ringing through the trees, Luke felt a strange sense of peace. He could see the main house in the distance, the house that had held his childhood bogeyman, and it was strange to him that the unhappiness he’d experienced there, at the moment, seemed distant and long ago.

  It was as if Jason’s boyish, braying laughter and Jessica’s sweet little giggles chased away the ghosts of his past.

  As they ate, to the delight of the children, Mabel and Betty drew closer. When Jason and Jessica had finished eating, Luke cut up a couple of apples into horse-bite-size pieces.

  “Just go stand in front of them and hold a piece of apple out in your hand and they’ll take it from you,” Luke instructed. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.” Jason led the way, Jessica hiding behind him as they approached the horses with the apples.

  “And now, dear Abby, I told you once what the best way to eat strawberries was….” He popped the top of the bowl to display ripe, red strawberries.

  Abby’s face lit with surprise. “Where did you get them?” she asked in obvious amazement.

  He grinned, pleased that she was pleased. “I raided them from the ranch yesterday when we came to pick up my clothes. Now, stretch out and let me feed them to you one luscious berry at a time.”

  “Luke,” she protested with a charming blush. “It isn’t necessary that you feed me.”

  “Ah, but it is.” He took one of her hands and gently pushed against her shoulder, guiding her down to the blanket on her back. “I promise to be a good and dutiful husband for the duration of our marriage if you’ll just indulge me this one whim.”<
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  Her eyes twinkled merrily. “And this is the only whim of yours I’ll have to indulge?”

  Heat swept through Luke as he thought of all the whims he would like them to indulge together. He stretched out on his side next to her, the bowl of strawberries between them.

  Jason and Jessica had finished feeding the horses and were playing a game of hide-and-seek as Luke fed Abby the first plump, juicy berry.

  The moment her mouth closed not only around the berry, but the tip of his finger, as well, Luke knew he was in trouble. White-hot desire swept through him.

  He fed her another strawberry, unable to speak as he worked to staunch the flow of heated blood through his body. Abby seemed to sense his sudden mood change from teasing to tormented.

  Her eyes deepened in color, and once again a blush stained her cheeks. Her lips were rosy red with berry juice, and what Luke wanted to do more than anything was kiss her long and hard.

  “Oh, boy, strawberries.” Jason’s delight tore Luke from his growing fog of desire. “Can me and Jessica have some?”

  “Sure,” Luke agreed and sat up. Abby also rose to a sitting position. He wondered if she had any idea how precariously close he’d come to losing it…how he was both grateful and disappointed that Jason had quelled the mood of the moment.

  The four of them polished off the strawberries in no time. But it wasn’t until the sun was slowly sinking in the sky that they packed up and headed back to the house.

  As they drove home, they sang old childhood songs. Jessica didn’t sing, but clapped her hands in rhythm, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

  It had been a good day. The issue of the custody battle ahead, the specter of Justin Cahill had remained at bay for the duration.

  They’d ended their time in the pasture by the four of them playing Frisbee. Abby had kicked off her high heels and taken off her panty hose, then chased after the flying disc like a wood nymph chasing a butterfly.

  She placed a hand on his arm, her eyes sparkling. “Thank you, Luke. It was an absolutely perfect day.”

  “It was nice, wasn’t it?”

  “And I know two little people who will sleep very well tonight,” she added.

  Luke nodded. He knew one good-size man who would probably sleep quite poorly. He wondered how many newlywed grooms spent their wedding night alone on a sofa.

  But this wasn’t really a marriage, and he wasn’t really a groom, he reminded himself. They had entered into this arrangement for the children. Abby wasn’t in love with him, and he certainly wasn’t in love with her.

  “I can’t believe how much the kids took to the horses,” Abby said, breaking into his thoughts.

  “Next week, we’ll take them over to the ranch and let them ride. We’ll ride in the morning, then take the afternoon to find that dog you’ve promised them.”

  Luke had never expected such mundane things like a promised horseback ride and finding the perfect dog would bring him a sense of joy. But he was actually looking forward to them. He could easily imagine Jason and Jessica’s faces the first time they were put on the back of a horse or the first time their new dog licked them.

  “Let’s sing Bingo,” Jason said from the back seat, and once again the car rang with song and laughter.

  All laughter died as they pulled into Abby’s driveway and saw a patrol car waiting there. “Oh, no, what now?” Abby said softly.

  Luke parked the car and they all got out.

  “Evening,” Sheriff Jeffrey Broder greeted them, his features set in sober lines.

  “Sheriff.” Luke nodded, then spoke to Abby. “Why don’t you go open the door and let the kids go on in the house.”

  She nodded, lines of tension that had been gone all day appearing on her lovely face.

  “What’s up?” Luke asked the sheriff softly as Abby went to unlock the front door.

  “I hate like hell to be out here,” Broder said. “But you know part of my job is serving papers for the county.”

  “So, you’re here to serve papers?”

  Broder nodded, then offered Abby a tight smile as she rejoined the two men. “Abigail Graham?”

  She nodded, trembling like a leaf precariously clinging to a tree in a stiff wind. Luke placed an arm around her shoulders.

  Jeffrey held out a large, official-looking envelope. “You are hereby served.”

  Abby took the envelope from him but didn’t open it right away.

  “On a more pleasant note, I hear congratulations are in order,” Jeffrey said. He offered a gentle smile to Abby. “Maybe your influence can keep this guy out of my jail.”

  Abby shot Luke a surprised glance.

  Luke smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not a habitual lawbreaker. There’s been a couple of times that Jeffrey allowed me the use of one of his jail cells to sleep off the effects of too much alcohol, but that was a long time ago.”

  “It has been a long time,” Jeffrey agreed. He shifted from one foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable. “Well, I guess I’ll just get out of here. Again, my congratulations on your marriage. I never thought you’d bite the bullet, Luke.”

  “Me, neither,” Luke replied and pulled Abby closer against his side. “It took one very special woman to capture me.”

  Luke held tight to Abby even after Jeffrey’s car had disappeared into the distance. Her fingers trembled as she opened the envelope and pulled out the legal papers that told them Justin Cahill was attempting to legally reclaim his parental rights to his children.

  And so, the battle had begun.

  Chapter 12

  “This is where we stand so far,” Johnna said to Luke and Abby. It was Wednesday morning, and the three of them sat at Abby’s kitchen table. “Judd has been terrific in getting us good information on Justin Cahill. Right now we know he’s staying at Rose’s Bed and Breakfast in town.”

  “Maybe we could get Rose to poison those homemade muffins she offers her guests in the mornings,” Luke said dryly.

  Abby smiled at him. “Or at least short sheet his bed,” she replied.

  Luke returned her smile, and she felt a rivulet of warmth flood through her. It frightened her just a little, how much she’d come to depend on his strength, on his sense of humor and on his neverending optimism in getting through all this.

  Johnna ignored their little asides and continued. “Judd has learned that Justin has no visible means of support. He lives in a small, one-bedroom apartment in Kansas City and he’s a loud complainer about how the judicial system screwed up his life with false murder charges.”

  “So right now Abby and I have the upper hand as far as where is the best physical place for the children to be,” Luke said.

  “That’s true,” Johnna agreed. “But that could change at any moment. All Justin has to do is tell the judge that he intends to get a bigger apartment or rent a house. Judd was able to get into his bank records and has discovered that Justin is not rolling in the dough, but he’s certainly not destitute.”

  “Who is this Judd?” Abby asked.

  “He works as a private investigator for me,” Johnna explained.

  “He’s in his mid-thirties, moved to Inferno a couple of years ago,” Luke explained further. “All anyone really knows about him is that he’s a loner, used to work for the FBI and lives like a hermit in an old house on the north side of town.”

  “Justin has retained the services of Gordon Clemens, an attorney from Tucson. He’s supposed to be a real shark.”

  Abby’s heart fell. “Can you handle him?” she asked Johnna.

  Johnna flashed her a full grin. “I eat sharks for breakfast. Now this is what’s going to happen. We’ve filed all the appropriate paperwork, and I’ve talked to a children’s services social worker to line up a home study.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” Luke asked.

  “Her name is Sonya Watkins and she’s going to come out here Saturday morning and look around the place. She’ll speak with both you and Abby and talk to the kids.” Johnna
placed the woman’s business card on the table. “Her report will hold a lot of weight with the judge. And we have a court date in two weeks.”

  “So quickly?” Abby shot a panicked gaze to Johnna.

  “The quicker, the better, Abby,” Johnna said gently. “You don’t want this hanging over your head…over the kids’ heads. We’re a small county, and unlike the rest of the country, our children’s services department isn’t overworked. And I think that’s it for now,” Johnna said, and closed the folder in front of her.

  She stood, and Luke and Abby did the same. “I think it’s obvious that Justin intends to use the court system to get what he wants and has no intention of storming this place to take his kids by force.”

  “Good luck if he tries,” Luke said grimly as the three of them walked to the front door.

  “Oh, and something else,” Johnna said. “I think it’s best if you stay away from the Honky Tonk until this is all settled,” she said to Luke. “We’ll play up the ranch and your woodworking abilities to the judge.”

  “I’d already made that decision,” Luke said. “Although I have to play there this Friday night for just a couple of hours. It’s Jim Grogin’s birthday, and I promised him months ago that I would sing a couple of his favorite tunes at his party at the bar that night.”

  Johnna frowned. “Okay, but after that, stay away from that dive. And for goodness sake, Friday night, don’t do anything stupid.” She flashed a smile at Abby. “I’ll be in touch.” And with that, she flew out the door.

  Abby turned to look at Luke and instantly realized he was angry. A pulse throbbed in his tensed jaw muscles. “Luke? What’s wrong?”

  She followed him to the sofa, where they both sat. “Nothing,” he said, his voice curt.

  She placed a hand on his thigh. “Luke, you’ve been so good the last couple of days listening to my fears, my sorrows, almost everything that is in my heart. Why won’t you share with me what has your jaw twisted into knots and your hands clenched into fists?”

  He sighed and raked a hand through his thick, dark hair. “I just get so irritated because my sister and my two brothers always seem to expect the worst from me. It irritates me that they don’t believe in me.”