Dream Chaser (34 page)

He slipped off his jacket and helped her out of her coat.

“We
’ve
waited so long.”

She
wasn’t sure
who said it, but she realized it was true, and with his next kiss, a tiny cry escaped
her lips
and she wrapped her arms around him. He was all she’d ever wanted and she gave herself over completely to the intensity of her feelings
as they helped each other shed the rest of their clothes in a fever of eagerness.

He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and carried her to his bed.

Late into the night
, they made love again, this time with exquisite slowness, each relishing the scent and feel of the other, relaxing in each other’s arms.

He
must have
w
akened
first,
for his eyes seemed to be caressing her body when she looked at him, the early morning rays lighting the window coverings. Her right
arm
lay
across his chest
, warmed by his skin, by the look in his eyes
. He brushed her
lips
lightly,
while a
finger follow
ed
the curve of her breast.
“Your lingerie,” he murmured. “Those lacy little things. Your blouses and jeans never hinted at sexy underthings.” He chuckled. “Which of your clothes truly express who you are, Suzanna?”

She laughed.
If Penny only knew I went to Victoria’s Secret after the cruise. Another suggestion of Maude’s.
“Both, I guess. Are you suggesting I’m schizophrenic?”

He
kissed her
again, more deeply this time
.
“
Doesn’t matter. I want you both.
”

“Oh, Jonathan.”
She responded with passion to his overtures.

Well past lunch, Suzanna returned
home, promising to call Jonathan after her meeting with Ronnie’s mother
.

As she drove home, t
he sun created blinding brightness now that the leaves were off the trees. It wouldn’t be long before snow arrived to blanket the gardens ablaze with fall colors.
Suzanna
continued to sing along with the radio, aware of the tenderness of certain parts that had never known such passion as
she and Jonathan had shared.
T
he smile
she gave to everyone who looked her way was
more telling than wor
ds of her newfound happiness.

The next day
S
uzanna
called Kevin and told him she was going back to Willow Grove for a visit, but would be home in time for the holidays and that she would check in with Ronnie’s mother about what she could bring to their planned Christmas gathering.

She texted Penny similarly and received a cryptic message asking her if she was crazy. She chose not to reply.

She paced as she punched in the numbers on the phone. “Margaret,
I’ve thought about what
you said and I’ve decided
to go back to Willow Grove
with him.”

“Wait a minute. With him? Did Jonathan come to see you?”

Suzanna blushed. “Well, yes, he did.”

“But I called your house last night and all I got was the answering machine.”

“I wasn’t … there.”

Margaret laughed. “Say no more. You can tell me all about it later. Do you want me to take care of Sam while you’re gone?”

“
Would you? We’ve got a flight on Saturday. That gives me two days to pick up the house.”

“Is he there now? I want to meet him.”

“No, he’s at the university. Talking business.”

“Well, c
ongratulations!”
Margaret applauded. “I’ll come over tomorrow and you can show me Sam’s things and where he likes to walk.”

Chapter 17

They drove back to the ranch after a turbulent flight, during which Jonathan held her hand the entire way. Coming back with him almost felt like a honeymoon, except that people she already knew would be around, people who now would know they were sleeping together. Jonathan had said she shouldn’t worry about it, but she was sure they would talk.

After a meal Nate had put his heart into, Suzanna snuggled closer to Jonathan on the couch. “Will you be riding out to check the stock tomorrow when I go into town to see Emma?” She poked him near a rib she’d learned was ticklish.

He jerked then captured her hand before she could tickle him again. “Maybe. Or maybe we’ll just stay in bed tomorrow.” Her arms slid around his neck and his body tensed as she seemed to melt against him. He bent his head and slid one hand under her chin, lifting it upward. His lips touched hers, a feathery touch that promised more.

The next minute he’d angled her onto her back and was kissing her madly, followed by nibbles of her earlobe and then her neck before his mouth headed south as his hands slid under her sweater.

“Jonathan,” she whispered. “Stop that! Nate’s in the kitchen.”

“He won’t come out. He knows better,” he whispered in between chuckles.

“You sound like a naughty teenager,” she whispered.

“I feel like one, too. And you ain’t seen nothing yet, woman.” Five minutes later, he pulled her upright and headed for the stairs, a broad grin on his face. She giggled and followed him, feeling drunk on love.

He led her upstairs
then stopped. “I’ll be right back. I forgot the suitcases.”

She leaned down to retrieve the shoe she had dropped. To the right of the staircase was
Christine’s room, festooned with horse pictures
and barrel-
racing ribbons, and a
n old
poster
that had to be several years old
of a rock star
she couldn’t name
.
Suzanna thought of Penny. Her room had similar posters. Instead of barrel-racing ribbons, her trophies had been for swim meets and debate tournaments.

Another door stood ajar. She peeked in. It had to be Neil’s room. A pair of model airplanes hung from the ceiling, and ribbons from track events were tacked on a bulletin board near a dresser. On the wall was a picture of Neil kite boarding, the sky a brilliant blue against the foam of the waves on a green ocean.

Would Jonathan’s children ever meet hers? Would Penny be welcome here after her uppity behavior last summer? If she and Jonathan married, she would be a grandmother—to Christine’s new baby. She smiled to herself. Wouldn’t that be fun? She’d always loved babies.

She moved down the hall toward the guest bath and flicked on the light then
looked out the window at the snow drifting off the roof of the house. A horse whickered in the barn. In the light
slanting on the snow
from the
downstairs
kitchen window, she watched as one of the cats leapt off the porch and landed in the snow, holding and then shaking one paw after another as it made its way daintily toward the barn.

She
wander
ed down
to the far end of
the hall
and entered
Jonathan’s
room
.
His
oversized four-poster bed
sat
between the two windows facing the front of the house
. She saw something glint on the dresser in the light from the hallway. It was
the Chinese hair stick she had worn during their good-bye dinner months before.

She turned toward the door wh
en Jonathan came into the room
.

“
I just found this.” She held up the hair
stick. “Do you know—”

“I found it at the cabin after you left.” He took it from her and placed it on the highboy.

“
I wondered where—
”

He pulled her into his arms, his lips brushing her face as he removed the pins that held her hair off her neck. “Suzanna,” he murmured.
“I’ve wanted to make love to you in this bed ever since our first dance.”

She thrilled to the implications of his words. “No time like the present,” she said as she slid his jacket off his shoulders.

Suzanna’s first stop into town the next day
was the post office,
eager to see if Abigail would be friendly when she collected the mail
.

“Suzanna!” Abigail
cried
. “I wondered
when
you were going to show up
. Nate said you were back.
You gonna see Emma? She’s missed you
so bad. S
he hasn’t been doing so
well
, health-wise, either.”

News certainly has traveled fast.
“Oh?”

“See if you can talk her into getting that su
rgery the doctor says she needs,
for her hip.”

“I’ll see what I can do
.” Suzanna
backed up and bumped into someone. “Oh. Hello, Maris.”

The woman scowled at her.

Suzanna
headed
down the street to
the library. When she entered, she heard children’s laughter
in
the Children’s Corner. When
Emma
swiveled in her chair
to face the door
,
she
squealed with delight and reached up to hug Suzanna.

“Oh, my dear girl. I’
ve missed you so much
. Where’s Sam? My toes could use some warming
.”

“He’s at home. I flew this time.”

“How long are you gonna be here?”

“Only a week or so. I need to be home for the holidays, and the rest of the wedding planning.”

“Oh.” Disappointment dripped from the word. “If you don’t have a place to stay, you can bunk with me.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m staying at the ranch.”

Emma grinned then whispered, “I’m glad—for both of you.”
When her patrons had left and they were alone in the library, she added, “I told him to go get you. It’s about time he listened to me. It’s what his mother would have told him, rest her soul.”

Through the week
Suzanna became Emma’s primary helper at the library.
Then early winter weather conspired to prevent her from leaving. She called Kevin to say she might be delayed. Penny left her brief text messages. Kevin told Suzanna Penny was getting serious about some guy who lived in Chicago.

The snow plows were kept busy clearing the main road into town as Christmas crept closer. The piles on either side of the road prevented people from parking in their usual spots in front of The Hitching Post. But Jonathan wanted to take her on a snowshoe hike in the high hills before she left.

“The snow won’t stop us. And I want you to have a memory of what we do here in the snow since you have to go back home for Christmas.”

Maris closed the back door of the post office. “I’m here, Abby. Where’s my time card?”

“Over there on top of that desk. Sign in and you can get started. You’ve done it before. Just shove the letters into the slots,” Abby instructed. “I’ll be out front so I can take care of the customers. When I close up, I’ll come back and help so we both can get home for supper.”

Nate
entered the post office
with his arms loaded with packages
.

“Hey, Nate
.”
Abigail greeted him. You sendin
’ th
is stuff
to Christine and
Neil
?
”

He nodded. “And to pick up anything you have for us. Suzanna, too.
”

She
placed a stack of letters and two small packages on the counter and
reached for the
items
he was carrying. “Well, hand them over, and we’ll get this done.
Jonathan’ll
want
to send the
se
Express to Japan,
I s’pose.
”

“Go ahead with the Express packaging.”
Turning
around
, he
slid
the “Closed” sign
onto
the window, and shut the outer door.

“Hey! You can’t do that.” Abigail frown
ed. “This is a Federal building.
”

“It’s two minutes to five. No one else is coming in.”

Nate leaned over the counter and smirked. “So, what do you think about Suzanna coming back with Jonathan?”

“
I think it’s just fine. And
it’s as
plain as the nose on your face why she did that, ’sides him asking her to.”

“How do you figure?”

Abby grinned. “
She came back to
see if she wants to stay. Maybe even get married. If he ever gets around to popping the question. Speaking of which, when is he?”
She began to sweep up the leaves and debris that had blown in when she
’d
unlock
ed the back door
for the driver earlier that afternoon
.

“
Abby. What do you know that maybe you shouldn’t be talking about
?”
Nate
p
laced
his hat on the counter
, frowning. Jonathan had warned him not to gossip, but if Abby already knew, what was the harm in finding out?

“She wrote her friend in
Minneapolis
—t
o tell
her she’d
let her know soon, and
when she was goin’ back east.” She propped the broom against the wall and began preparing the Express boxes for his packages.
“Emma said she has to go back to help with her son’s wedding. Maybe she and Jonathan’ll get married after that’s out of the way.”

Nate
unbuttoned his coat. “
Since when does the postmistress
read
other
people’s mail?”

She pursed her lips and placed her hands on her hips. “I do not,
but it was the
re on the postcard, big as life.
I couldn’t help
what
I saw.” The broom fell
to the floor
with a clatter, causing both of them to jump.

“I guess I’ll have to r
emind
everybody
not to write any postcards and bring them here for stamps.”

“Now,
Nate
.”

“Hand me our mail, Abby.”

She did so, and he clomped out into the snowy darkness
.

Maris came around the corner and bumped into Abby. “What’s this I hear about Jonathan getting married?”

“Nothin’, Maris. It hasn’t happened. Not yet anyway. Given how slow he operates, who knows if it ever will. That man needs a fire under his backside if he’s ever gonna do that again.” She rubbed her neck. “You about done with the sorting? My back’s killing me.”

“Almost.”

“Well, let’s get it done so we can both go home. I’m beat.”

Suzanna and Jonathan
began their hike in
the
hills beyond the ranch house
.
“Will we be there soon?” she asked, aware that her stomach was rumbling.

“Bill Ames said he spotted a cougar near the tree line, before he moved his stock closer in. I doubt we’ll see any sign, but I’m glad we’ve got the rifle with us. You want me to carry it?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay. Besides, you’ve got the larger pack. The least I can do is haul the rifle.”

“Then off we go again.” He went ahead of her to break trail, making it easier for her to place her snowshoes in the tracks his had made.

That evening, while they ate dinner, she asked, “What’s the likelihood we’ll see wildlife?”

“
M
ost everything is either sleeping the winter away or looking for protection lower down.” He handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate
laced with brandy
.

“Yum.”
She sipped it.

That evening, they heard wolves howling.
Jonathan looked up from his boo
k. “They must have made a kill. L
isten to their song.” He put his arm around Suzanna.

“They won’t come after us
when we’re hiking
, will they?”

“No
. Deer are their favorite meal, and elk if they can get one. Usually one that’s injured or old. Where’s the
gun?”