Part 15 (1/2)

”You'll want children one day,” he began.

She took a long, shuddering breath. ”I...can't have a child.”

”What?”

It hurt to say that, but they were almost friends now, and he needed to know. Just in case they became more involved. She forced herself to look up at him in the light from the windows. ”I was in an...an accident, when I was twelve,” she said. ”A bad accident. I got cut up, especially my stomach. So I can't have children.”

Something inside him mourned for her. He knew without asking that she would have wanted a family if she married. He felt an emptiness in himself at the thought, and he couldn't decide why.

”I'm sorry,” he said.

”I'm sorry, too,” she said somberly. ”I love children.” She searched his eyes. ”But you could have them, if you married someday.”

His face closed up. ”I don't want to get married.”

He said it so deliberately that she knew there was something in his past, something devastating, that he never discussed. He kept secrets, too, she knew, like she did. But her secrets had to be more life-shattering than his were.

”I'll remember that,” she promised him, and her eyes began to twinkle. ”But you're way down on my list of prospective grooms, you know. Almost at the bottom!”

His eyebrows arched. ”Well, I like that!” he exclaimed.

”I can get any man I want,” she informed him. ”I learned about it on television. There's this new perfume that causes men to parachute out of planes with bouquets of roses and big diamond rings. All I need is a dab of it behind each ear.”

”What if you catch the wrong man?”

”That won't happen. The guy in the commercial is a knockout.”

”They won't give you the guy in the commercial,” he pointed out.

”How do you know? They might run a contest and give him away as the prize,” she chuckled. ”Aren't you disappointed?”

He shook his head. ”I don't need a man with roses and diamonds.”

She laughed. ”I meant, that you aren't on the top of my list!”

He pursed his lips and moved closer. ”Honey, if I wanted to be on the top of your list,” he murmured deeply, bending, ”I wouldn't need roses to get there.” His hand went behind her head and brought her mouth close, close to his. ”I'd only need this,” he whispered as his lips crushed down over hers.

9.

GRACE MELTED into his tall body with a faint, shaky sigh. The feel of him, the taste of him, was becoming familiar. He wasn't at all threatening this way. Not anymore. She loved being close to him.

That was obvious, but it made him wary. She wasn't worldly, and he was. He could take a woman in his stride and never look back. There were plenty of women the same way. No ties, no complications. But Grace would expect marriage.

The word felt bitter. He lifted his head.

She radiated joy. Her eyes were brilliant with it. Her swollen mouth was smiling. He felt like a heel. He shouldn't have touched her. But she was appealing in her innocence, as so many experienced women weren't.

He touched her cheek with his fingertips. ”The inspector's going to have everybody doing handstands Monday, so I'm taking the afternoon off, to get my supplies at the feed store. Want to come along?”

”Yes!”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. What the h.e.l.l. He was enjoying her company. He didn't need to start worrying about the future. It could take care of itself.

He bent and kissed her again, very softly. ”Then I'll see you Monday. Goodnight.”

”Goodnight. I really had a good time.”

He smiled. ”So did I.”

She walked into the house on a cloud. Life was sweet.

EARLY MONDAY morning, she drove into town to shop for some clothes that weren't as old as she was. She had a little cash in her checking account that wasn't necessary for bills. She wanted something pretty to wear for Garon. She stopped by Barbara's to ask her advice.

Barbara directed her to the little strip mall in front of the community college, where there was a thrift shop. There were some beautiful things there, used but like new, and they didn't cost much. Grace walked out with two bags full of nice things, and with a cashmere coat with a fur collar over one arm. She felt like flying.

”Grace,” Barbara said gently, ”you know I'm happy for you. But don't walk into a relations.h.i.+p blind. That man isn't the marrying sort. And whether he knows it or not, he's not small town material, either.”

”That's what they said about his brother,” Grace pointed out, smiling, ”and look at him!”

Barbara didn't return the smile. ”Just...go slow. Okay?”

”Worrywort,” she chided, and hugged her friend. ”I'm happier than I've ever been in my life,” she whispered. ”I'm so happy!”

Barbara gnawed her lower lip as she hugged Grace back. ”Be happy, then. But if he hurts you, I'll make him sorry. I swear I will.”

”Stop that. I'm a grown woman.”

”I know,” Barbara agreed. But she didn't smile. Garon Grier was a mature, worldly man, and Grace was a card-carrying innocent. She'd suffered enough already at the hands of one man. She didn't need Garon to put nails in her coffin. But Barbara knew she couldn't stop this train wreck of a relations.h.i.+p from happening. She could only be there for Grace when the bottom fell out of her world.

GRACE HAD BOUGHT a pair of embroidered jeans and a matching long-sleeved white s.h.i.+rt and a denim jacket to go with them. She left her hair around her shoulders, because Garon liked long hair. She studied herself in the mirror and felt really good about the way she looked.

Remembering how tender he'd been with her, she was walking on clouds. She was falling in love. Surely, he must be, too. A feeling so deep and wondrous had to be shared.

He pulled up in her driveway at one o'clock sharp, and she ran outside to meet him, radiant with joy. He was driving one of the ranch pickup trucks, a black one with lots of chrome trim. His Expedition was still with Miss Turner in Austin.

He got out of the truck and didn't even try to resist the urge to open his arms for her. She made him feel young again, full of hope and optimism. She made him feel like the man he had been, before tragedy had turned his world black.

She hugged him, feeling closer to him than she ever had to anyone else. It was like a miracle, that she could enjoy letting a man touch her, hold her, kiss her. She lifted her face to tell him, but his mouth was already burrowing tenderly into her lips. She opened them for him and held on tight. It was like flying. Joy overflowed like a dammed river suddenly free.

After a minute, he had to put her away from him. He was almost shaking with the need to carry her inside to the nearest bed. He couldn't do that. It was too soon.

”Ready to go?” he asked, smiling.

”I'll just lock the door,” she replied breathlessly, her gray eyes s.h.i.+mmering with happiness.

He watched her go up the steps. Odd, she'd come down them running, but now it seemed like an effort to go back up them. She took longer than necessary to lock the door, too. He wondered why.