Authors: Marin Thomas
“I'm sure they will,” Kit said to assure him.
“See you guys in the morning.”
As Buck waved them off, the three of them went up the stairs. Ross opened the door to the empty apartment and set down the suitcases. “This has a living/dining area and kitchenette, a bedroom with a queen and a twin bed, a bathroom and a small study. Housekeeping made this place ready for occupancy after Buck moved downstairs, so you should be perfectly comfortable.”
“Hey, Mom.” Andy put down the case he was holding and ran through the apartment to the study. “This is great!” He came hurrying back. “Where's your apartment?”
“Right across the hall. It looks exactly like yours. While we were building the cabins, Buck did some remodeling up here in the spring to update everything.”
“It's lovely,” Kit murmured, looking around. She lowered her case to the carpeted floor. “How lucky can Andy and I be?”
He flashed them a smile. “I'm glad you like it.”
“Thanks for letting us stay up here.”
“You're welcome.” Ross couldn't resist giving Andy a hug. “Now it's cozy.”
“I always felt lonely at my grandfather's. My bedroom was on another floor from my mom's, and he wouldn't let me keep a light on.”
“Oh, honey.” Kit threw her arms around her son. “I felt lonely, too, more than you'll ever know.”
“But those days are over, right?” Ross high-fived him.
“Right.”
He glanced at Kit. “Let's program each other's phone numbers right now.”
“Good idea.”
Once that was done, he said, “I know you're tired, so I'll say good-night. Sleep well.”
“Thanks to you, we will.”
After he left, Kit put on her pajamas and opened the case with their toiletries so Andy could brush his teeth. “Could I sleep with you tonight?”
“You mean in the big bed?”
“Yes.”
“I'd love it.” Unlike other children, he had never been allowed to creep in their bedroom. For the first year after her parents had died, many was the night Kit had slept with her grandmother. “Come on. We'll read the second chapter of
Call of the Wild.
”
After he said his prayers and dived under the covers, she opened another suitcase to retrieve the book. The lamp at the bedside table shed enough light for her to read. A few pages into it, he said in a sleepy voice, “Judge Miller was kind to Buck...just like Ross is to me.” A lone tear trickled out of his eye before he fell sound asleep.
Moved beyond words, she got out of bed. After putting on her terry cloth robe, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and shut the door. Without conscious thought she opened the door to the apartment and slipped across the hall. She could see light under his door and heard coughing before she knocked. In a second it opened to reveal the dark-haired cowboy who'd walked into her life last week and refused to go away.
In the semidark he stood there wearing only the bottom half of a pair of navy sweats. The dusting of black hair on his well-defined chest added to his male potency. She tried to smother the quiet gasp that escaped at the sight of him.
Lost for words she studied the cleft in his chin. Gazing at the lines of his hard mouth and handsome features, she couldn't quite catch her breath.
“Forgive me. I shouldn't have bothered you this late, but when I was reading to Andy just now, he said something before he fell asleep I felt you should hear.”
“Come in,” he urged.
“I can't. He might wake up and wonder where I am. I was reading to him from Jack London's book. As his eyes fluttered closed, he said something so sweet and dear, I wanted you to know. You'll appreciate it because you read that book, too.”
When she told him, Ross lifted his right hand and traced her features with his fingers. At his touch, little trickles of delight flowed through her body. “He's an easy boy to love.”
“He's never known real kindness like yours, the kind that transforms lives. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't understand how great it is to be a good man, to
want
to be a good man like you. He's in awe of you, Ross. So am I. That's what I came to say.”
“Kit...”
Suddenly she was in his arms. His head descended until his mouth covered hers.
She moaned for the sheer ecstasy his hands and lips created. Never in her life had she known hunger like this. At nineteen she'd been in love with love and flattered by Winn's attention, but it hadn't felt anything like this. Not even close.
Ross crushed her against him until there was no space between them. The fire he was whipping up inside her was so hot and intense, she was losing control.
Kit had started this by knocking on his apartment door. Now she had to be the one to end it
before she couldn't.
She slid her hands up his chest to ease herself away, but his reaction was to deepen their kiss. Much as she wanted to go on enjoying this mindless ecstasy, she didn't dare. Somehow she found the strength to tear her mouth from his and pull away.
“Don't leave me,” he begged. “I'm in love for the first time in my life. There's no mistaking it for anything else. I want you, Kit. You have no idea how much.” His dark brown eyes were glazed over.
“Forgive me for starting this tonight.”
He ran his hands up and down her arms. “It's because you want me just as badly.”
“You're right.” Her voice shook. “But this isn't the time or the place, not when there's so much at stake. I'm afraid to get involved again.”
“I understand that, so we'll take this slowly.”
“No. That's unfair to you because I can't make any promises. I just can't!” she cried from her soul before wrenching herself from his grasp.
Kit heard him call her name, but she'd already shut and locked her apartment door. Unfortunately it wouldn't keep her in. She would have to exercise the greatest self-control of her life to go to bed and stay there.
While she stood there clutching the back of one of the chairs, her cell phone rang. She reached for it. “Ross?”
“Willy just phoned me. Charles is downstairs in the foyer demanding to talk to you. What would you like to do?”
She took a deep breath. “I'm going to have to talk to him, but we need to be private.”
“I'll go down and bring him to your room. Is Andy still asleep?”
“Yes. The door's shut to the bedroom.”
“Then there shouldn't be a problem if Charles doesn't raise his voice. Are you ready?”
A calm had settled over her. This confrontation had been coming on for years. “More than ready.”
“Good girl.”
After she hung up, she walked across the apartment and turned on the overhead light. Then she opened the front door and waited in the hall for him. She heard a cough.
Pretty soon she saw two figures coming toward her. Charles was almost as tall as Ross. But where the black-haired retired marine was hard and lean dressed in a sport shirt and jeans, her father-in-law with his thinning ash-colored hair looked soft and overfed in his suit, despite Florence's regimen.
The only surprise was the suffering she saw on his face when the light fell across him. His gray eyes stared at her for the longest time. “Where's Andrew?”
“Asleep in the bedroom.”
Ross eyed her over the older man's shoulder. “I'll be across the hall.”
“Call off your bodyguard, Kit. You don't need him.”
“If you haven't understood by now, Charles, let me explain I have no use for another man in my life. After living with you and Winn, I don't need any man. Come in and say what you have to say. I'm exhausted and want to go to bed.”
Chapter Ten
Ross stared at the closed door.
I don't need any man. I have no use for another man.
Was that said for her father-in-law's sake? Or had she just sent Ross a message? If so, it had chilled his blood because it had sounded so final. Irrevocable.
His mind replayed what had gone on in here before Charles had arrived. When he'd told Kit he was in love for the first time in his life, she'd said nothing back. Though she'd admitted she wanted him, she couldn't make any promises.
Fragmented, he went back inside his apartment, but he left the door ajar so he'd be aware when the other man left. In an agony of thought, he went into his kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. After draining it, he heard a sound coming from the corridor. When he reached his door, Ross saw the back of Charles as he stormed down the hall toward the stairs.
His first impulse was to rush over there, but her words had left their sting. While he waited for her to come to him, he phoned the front desk. Willy told him Mr. Wentworth just left in a car with another man. Willy had locked the front door behind him.
Ross thanked him and hung up. In another hour of waiting she still hadn't come. There was no phone call.
She's afraid of involvement, Livingston.
He couldn't blame her for that. Not after ten years of being trapped by two men.
Ross got it.
The papers he'd printed off to give her stared up at him from the coffee table. No way would he be giving them to her now. She'd see them as another man attempting to run her life, telling her what she ought to do, as if she didn't have the brains to figure out life for herself.
Before he did anything else, he left a message for Sam Donovan. “Mrs. Wentworth won't be filing a suit. Stop all work on her case and send me the bill.” She'd told Ross she didn't want to sue for the money, but he hadn't listened to her. He'd gone ahead and phoned Sam.
Two more days to get through before she left for Texas. What a hell of a time for the kids to be back in school!
If it was all right with Kit tomorrow, he'd take Andy with him to repair some fencing and do a few chores. Let him see what it was like doing regular work on the ranch. They'd pack a lunch. Kit could take a well-earned rest and enjoy the day by herself or with Alex or Tracy.
On Friday they could do a float trip or take a balloon ride. Whatever sounded fun to Andy. Beyond that he wouldn't allow himself to think.
He got ready for bed once more. There was too much silence and too many hours left to try to kill it without help. TV had its uses.
* * *
W
HEN
HE
WENT
down to breakfast early the next morning, there were still a few empty tables. He spotted Kit immediately. She was wearing a new blouse with jeans he hadn't seen before. Andy sat with her and Jenny while they ate. Everything seemed so normal with Kit, last night's nocturnal activities with Charles Wentworth might never have happened.
If it killed him, Ross would pretend normalcy, too. He gazed at them. “Good morning.”
Andy smiled at him. “Hey, Ross.”
“How did you sleep?”
“Great!”
Ross had no idea if Andy knew his grandfather had come to the ranch house last night or not.
“Hi, Uncle Ross.”
He sat down between the two kids. The waitress came over and poured him a cup of coffee, but he didn't order. The thought of food made him nauseous. “I like your new outfit for school. Are you excited?”
She nodded. “Nana's taking me and Johnny. Andy and Kit are going to drive into Jackson with us.”
That took care of part of the morning.
He drank some of the steaming liquid to fill the growing pit in his stomach before he flicked a glance to Kit. She was just finishing the last of her omelet. “When you get back, I'll be at the south pasture. Give me a ring, and I'll take you on an afternoon float trip.”
“Could we, Mom?”
“I'd love it.”
“Then I'll see all of you later.”
“See ya,” Andy responded.
He couldn't deal with this any longer and got to his feet. On his way out of the dining room he ran into Alex in the foyer. “Big day for Jenny.”
“For me, too. I brought the van around to the front. Oh, Ross, I want her to like her new school.”
“Of course she will. I understand Kit and Andy are driving in with you.”
“Yes. I'm going to do a little shopping, and she said she'd like to do some, too.”
“Have fun then and stop worrying. We all got through our first day of school, right?”
She laughed. “I needed to hear you say that. Tell that to Buck. He's more of a nervous wreck than I am.”
Alex didn't know the half of it. Seeing black, Ross bolted off down the back hallway for the rear door.
Eight hours later Ross was in the office on the phone with Mac Dawson when another call came in. His adrenaline surged when he saw who it was. After getting off fast with the oil man, he clicked on.
“Kit?” It was late. Tracy had already brought the kids home from school over an hour ago.
“Hi. Sorry that the day got away from us and ruined the plans for that float trip. I hope it didn't put you out too much.”
How about my shattered dreams?
“Not at all.”
“Would it be possible for you to pick up me and Andy in town? If not, we can take a taxi back to the ranch.”
He let out the breath he'd been holding. “Where are you?”
“At Pinky G's Pizzeria on Broadway Street having an early dinner.”
Somehow he had to go on playing the cordial host until he drove her to the airport on Saturday morning. “I'll be there within a half hour.”
“Thank you. We'll be outside watching for you.”
Totally gutted, he strode swiftly out of the ranch house and started up the truck. He accelerated faster than he should have, passing other cars to reach the highway. When he drove into town, he spotted them in front of the restaurant. She was so attractive it took him a second to realize she wasn't holding any packages. That surprised him.
Ross slowed down and leaned across the seat to open the door for them. “Heyâ” He smiled at Andy who slid in first. After Kit had shut the door he took off, heading for the main artery leading out of town. “Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah. Thanks for picking us up.”
“I was glad to. What did you do?”
“All kinds of stuff.” Which told him nothing.
“After the kids got home from school, they wondered where you were.”
“How was their first day?” Kit asked.
“I couldn't tell. They're swimming right now.”
“That's what I want to do.” Andy looked at him. “What did you do today?”
“I had a meeting with my partners, and we made the decision to start the drilling for the well on Monday.”
“That's wonderful news,” she exclaimed.
Right now he couldn't appreciate it. Before long they were back at the ranch. Ross was coughing more than usual and needed his inhaler. He got out and walked upstairs with them.
“That doesn't sound good,” Kit said in alarm.
“I'll be all right.” Sometimes sleep deprivation made his condition worse. Last night was the worst he'd ever lived through since coming to the ranch.
Andy looked anxious, too. “Are you sure?”
“I just need my medicine. If you'll excuse me, I'll see you two downstairs later for a game of Ping-Pong.”
“I'm not very good at it.”
“Neither am I, but we'll still have fun.”
“Yeah.”
Ross entered his apartment and shut the door. Once he'd used his inhaler, he intended to lie down. Sleep was what he needed to find forgetfulness. But before the medicine kicked in, he heard a knock on the door.
“Andy?”
“No. It's Kit. He's gone down to the pool. May I come in, or is it a bad time?”
Those were the words he'd been waiting for last night after Charles had left, but they'd never come. He walked through the apartment and unlocked the door, still coughing. “Are you sure you want to?”
“Yes,” she said with enough emotion that he knew she meant it.
He opened the door wider so she could enter. “You're not well.”
“It'll pass in a minute.”
“Does it help to lie down?”
“Not really, but I often do because the medication makes me sleepy.”
“Then, please, do it.”
“What's so important?”
“Our lives.” Her voice shook. She followed him into the bedroom and sat down on a chair while he lay back against some pillows. “Last night Charles came with terms of surrender. He can't bear to lose Andy. There's a house near the mansion he'll buy for me. He'll give me an allowance and won't force Andy to attend that school.”
Ross jackknifed into a sitting position. He didn't know Genghis had it in him. His thoughts reeled. “What did you tell him?”
“That he was ten years too late, that Andy and I had other plans. I told him that after Andy and I were settled, he and the family could visit us when they wanted. He got angry and left.
“Andy had been listening from his bedroom the whole time. He came out and we had a talk that lasted a long time. My son told me a lot of things. Above all, Andy has grown to love you and can't understand why I can't live in Jackson and work so we can all be friends.
“He loves it here. I believe it because I love it here, too. Neither of us has ever been to Galveston. It has no appeal for either of us except it's Nila's home and she was willing to help me relocate.”
By this time Ross had gotten to his feet. “Does Nila know any of this?”
“Not yet, but she knows what a huge decision we have to make. As I told Andy, she's a mom as well and wants us to be happy. And so do I,” she said as a tear slipped down her cheek.
“This morning I told Alex we had several things to do in town and wanted to be dropped off at the Teton Book Shop. I looked it up in the directory thinking I could find out if there was a job opening for a salesperson. I told Alex I'd call you to come and get us so she wouldn't wait.”
Ross couldn't believe what he was hearing.
“After leaving the shop, I contacted a Realtor who showed us quite a few rental properties, and we discussed some business opportunities.”
“And?” The medicine had started working, but her news had created a new breathing problem for him.
“We've seen one rental house we really like, and the manager at Carter's department store told me they were thinking of making their books area more reader friendly. He liked my ideas for the coffee bar and told me to come back next week and we'd talk about it.”
Ross was afraid to trust what he was hearing. “What's really turned things around for you? Aren't you terrified I'll influence Andy and create another crisis for you? Last night I heard you tell Charles you don't need any man.”
“I don't, but you're not any man.” She moved closer. “You're my guardian angel. I love you so much that the thought of losing the love you say you have for me right now fills me with unbearable anguish.” She lifted her eyes to him. “You're everything a woman could desire in a man. I don't even know where to start telling you all the things you mean to me. It scares me I won't be able to live up to you.”
His hands cradled her face. “You want to know scared? I'm still learning how to be a rancher like Carson. I don't have a lot to offer yet, but it's the life I love. After I left you and Andy in the cabin that first afternoon, I knew you were the woman I wanted. I knew it in the way you know the sun's going to go down behind the Grand Teton every evening.
“You're the most beautiful woman inside and out I ever met. You talk about
me
being some kind of angel...when I saw the courage you had to run away from a horrific situation in order to free your son, when I felt and witnessed your great love for him, that was it. I had to have you for my own and hoped that one day you could love me half as much as you love him.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, darlingâ” Kit kissed every inch of his striking features. “I'm so in love with you it hurts.”
“Enough to marry me?”
“If you're sure. I come with so much baggage and don't want to be a disappointment to you.”
“Oh, Kitâhow can I explain what you mean to me? There aren't enough words.”
“I feel the same way.”
The tight bands squeezing his lungs relaxed, and he began kissing her in earnest. He needed this. She was life to him. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed. Following her down, they began to communicate what they'd been forced to hold back. Instead of being in a frenzy of need, Ross kissed her slowly, deliberately.
“Oh, sweetheartâ” He sighed later against her neck as his lips roved over her scented skin. “I've been single for so long, waiting and wondering if I'd ever find fulfillment like my buddies. To be holding the woman of my dreams in my arms at last and know you're mine foreverâ” Instead of more words, he finished saying them with his mouth.
“This is heaven,” she whispered much later. “With the right man I knew it could be found on earth. But I had to come to the ranch to discover my soul mate. On the campout, Andy wanted to know if I would marry you if you asked me.”
“What did you answer him?”
“That you and I barely knew each other, but that didn't stop him. According to Johnny, Carson got married within five weeks. As for Buck, it only took ten days.”
Deep, free-floating laughter rumbled out of Ross. “I want to marry you today, this very instant. I'm sure Buck told Alex the same thing. Unlike Tracy, she didn't have a big family to invite.”
“But
you
have one, darling. If we wait six weeks, it will give you time to put in that well while I get settled in a job. Then we'll invite both our dysfunctional families out here for our wedding. Maybe they'll see we're truly happy and wish us well, if only for Andy's sake. What do you think?”