Dream's End (13 page)

“When I got to you yesterday, after the fall,” he said huskily, “I held you, listening for a heartbeat that I prayed to hear; begging you not to die. And you reached up to hold my head closer and you said, ‘Jim?”' He drew a shaky breath. “And I wanted to ride over a cliff.”

“I…I remember,” she murmured. “I remember thinking that Jim was the only man who'd care whether I lived or died. I really didn't think it would matter to you.”

“If you'd died, I wouldn't have survived you by five minutes,” he said matter-of-factly, drawing back to look down into her soft, quiet eyes. “Eleanor, I'm in love with you,” he said softly.

The sweetness of those words changed her, brightened her, made her suddenly beautiful. “Oh, Curry…” she whispered.

“We'll talk later,” he breathed, bending to her mouth. “Right now, I'm so hungry I can hardly bear it. Come here, honey….”

He brought her up in his arms and kissed her, long and slow and thoroughly, coaxing her slender young hands to unbutton his shirt, to touch him as he caressed her. Fires burned slowly between them until the room seemed to go around in a burst of flame.

“Oh, God, we've got to stop this,” he whispered shakenly, putting her from him. He stood up, looking down at his handiwork with eyes full of love as she fastened buttons and blushed under the possessive gaze. “Why don't you marry me?”

“Isn't it a high price to pay?” she teased.

“I want more than your body, little innocent,” he told her, and his eyes darkened lovingly. “I want those sons we talked about once. And picnics by the
river. Long nights when we can sit together and talk about the good old days. I want everything with you. A lifetime of memories to store day by day.”

“Can we have a church wedding, with all the trimmings?” she asked.

“And a white gown…if we hurry,” he added wickedly.

She blushed. “I'll get Bessie to start on it tomorrow.”

He leaned down and brushed her mouth with his. “Today,” he corrected. “If I remember my ‘Cinderella's' correctly, the prince didn't waste any time getting her to the altar when the glass slipper fit.”

He kissed her once, hard, and pulled her up. “Let's go break the news to your fairy godmother,” he said with a loving smile. “Think she'll approve?”

Eleanor tossed her hair and laughed as she hadn't in weeks. “She'll have to. She loves you almost as much as I do.”

He threw an arm around her shoulder
and led her to the door. “When we break the news we'll go down to the river,” he murmured wickedly, “and I'll let you finish what you started last night.”

“Only this time,” she said grinning, “I won't have a concussion.”

He drew her closer beside him. “That's what I'm counting on,” he teased gently.

She felt the soft pressure of his mouth at her temple as they started down the stairs.

“Going somewhere?” Bessie asked them as they started down.

“On a picnic,” Eleanor said dreamily. “We're getting married!”

“Good for you!” Bessie said with a beaming smile. “Now that you've made the announcement, don't you think there's something you'd better do?”

They stared at her, then at each other.

“Well, Norie, you can't go picnicking like that!” The housekeeper frowned. “What would the neighbors say?”

Eleanor looked down at the pale green gown and sighed. “That,” she sighed, “is one black mark in my fairy godmother's book.”

And she ran back up the stairs to change, her heart moving to a waltz. The fantasy had become real.