Part 14 (1/2)
He nodded, obviously uncomfortable with the subject.
”My father turned you down. But the other bank loaned money to you? Just like that?”
”No, they came and looked at my business to make sure it was a sound investment. Once they were sure of that, they gave me the money.”
”I'm sorry.” Her disappointment in her father weighed like a weight in her chest. ”It must be a lot of money,” she said, trying to comprehend.
”It's not going to be a mansion,” he said, sounding almost apologetic. ”Not as nice as this house you live in now.”
”Where?” she asked, suddenly excited and forgetting everything except what this meant.
”I couldn't afford a lot in town. Besides, your father controls most of the deeds, which I already knew. I found land outside town and I bought enough to keep horses and build a barn and plant a garden. This property's better anyway.”
Annie gripped his forearms. ”Are you going to take me there?”
”Now?”
”Yes, now! I want to see it! I want to see where we're going to live.”
He glanced behind her. ”This is dangerous.”
”They're asleep,” she a.s.sured him. ”No one will see us.”
”I don't know, Annie, I don't think it's wise.”
”Oh, please, Luke. The days are so hard to get through.” She touched his face and pleaded into his eyes. ”If I can see it, I'll have a picture in my mind to get me through the days and nights. Please?”
His hair shone in the silvery glow of the moon. He dipped his head and took her lips in a crush of damp heat. Annie clung to him. ”All right,” he said hoa.r.s.ely. ”All right.”
After a.s.sisting her to Wrangler's back, he mounted behind and urged the horse into a gallop, avoiding houses and heading straight away from Copper Creek.
”Is it far?” she asked over her shoulder.
”No. About five miles.”
They'd ridden for several minutes when he guided the horse across a shallow stream. ”This is the quickest way,” he said.
Wrangler carried them up the bank on the other side and they topped a rise and a slope of pines came into view.
”It's just over here,” he said.
The open area he indicated held a stark framework, barely visible in the darkness. ”Is that our house?”
”It will be.” Luke brought the horse to a stop and slid from his back, then reached up for her. ”The ground is uneven here, so watch your step.”
She held tightly to his arm, her attention riveted on the wooden skeleton. ”I wish it was light out, so I could really see it.”
”There's nothing much to see yet.”
”This is the door?”
”Yes.”
”Only one?”
”I'll build you a bigger house later.”
”I wasn't criticizing.” She turned and grasped his forearms. ”I told you I'd live anywhere with you, and I meant it, but I think this will be the most beautiful house ever.”
”You're easy to please,” he said with a lazy smile and touched her hair.
Annie grasped his hand for support and made her way to the opening in the framework. ”A wood floor? That's good.”
”Did you think I'd let you sleep with snakes and bugs?”
”And a fireplace.”
”Not brick, the field stones were free.”
”I love the stones. Did you do this yourself?”
”No, Gil helped me. And a couple of friends.”
”Have you told Gil...about us, I mean?”
He shook his head.
”Oh.”
”But I think he suspects something. A single man getting a house ready is pretty suspicious.”
”So,” she glanced around, wis.h.i.+ng she could see better. ”This is the...sitting room?”
”The kitchen is the other end down there-all one long room really.”
The s.p.a.ce seemed adequate. Another doorway led to a separate room. ”The bedroom?”
”Uh-huh.”
Annie released his hand and stood in the center of the wooden floor, wrapping her arms around herself. This would be her home soon. She would live here with Luke. They could be alone together, have all the time they wanted to talk and kiss and whatever else they pleased. ”No one will monitor my time or my activities here. No one will tell me what I can and cannot do in this house of ours. Oh, it's almost too good to be true.”
”It's more than that,” he said softly from beside her. ”Isn't it?”
She caught his hands. ”Of course it is! Oh, yes, Luke, so much more. I'm sorry I sounded selfish just then. I'm excited about us being together. I can't wait until we don't have to leave each other and go our separate ways at night.”
Luke caught her against him and hugged her fiercely. Her enthusiasm buoyed his spirits for another week of dawn to dusk work. She was worth every minute, every hour and every day and every aching muscle. He didn't ever want to disappoint her. She deserved so much happiness and love and he wanted to give it to her.
Every swing of the hammer, every stone and nail and peg was one step closer to them being together. He'd worked his whole life toward this goal, though he'd never recognized it until lately. School, ranching, learning his trade, those had all been steps toward winning Annie. Beneath his hands and in his arms she seemed so feminine and fragile. But so real, finally.
He enjoyed the scent of her hair, the glide of her silky dress against his thighs, the sound of her sigh against his heart. Out of all the men who could have ridden into her life and received her favor, he'd been the one she'd wanted. He would do anything for her, anything to please her, anything to see her smile, hear her laugh, win her kiss.