Authors: Jodi Thomas
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Lauren
April 10
L
AUREN
GAVE
UP
trying to keep her father in bed after Weathers called. She helped the sheriff dress in one of the jogging suits she'd bought him. It was still two sizes too big, but it fit better than Weathers's sweats.
She drove slowly to the office, with Pop complaining all the way. He wanted in on the action. If he could have, he would have packed his walker and gone out on the arrest.
When they arrived at the office, it looked more like a big city precinct than Crossroads county offices. Even Pearly's desk had been taken over, along with a few from the other offices.
Pop let her use the wheelchair from home to roll him in. Once he was behind his desk, he was back to being a sheriff in his element.
When she bumped into Weathers, he looked as if he was having a ball. His first big caseâno, two casesâand he was in the center of the wheel.
“Sorry,” he said as he tried to step away, only to bump into someone else.
“It's okay, Weathers. Make sure the sheriff doesn't overdo it.”
“I'll watch over him.” Weathers saluted as if she were a general. “This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my career. No, ever. I felt like I was right there listening to the killers confess. I was right with the kid. Worried about him. Not believing what I heard. Fighting not to make a sound.”
Lauren backed a step away, half expecting the big guy to explode with excitement. “Any idea if Tim O'Grady is around?”
“He's in the courtroom. It seems several of the facts he found about the burlap man are proving very interesting. And get this, the old hippy with the tats actually owned the property up there in the Breaks. He didn't have any relatives, but he left his land to Thatcher's mother. Isn't that a kick? Seems he was friends with her parents.”
Lauren gave her father a warning look and headed up to the courtroom on the second floor.
Tim was there, moving around a long table of notes. Putting all the pieces together in his mind.
When he saw her, he froze, then smiled. “Good morning, almost.”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I'm worried about Pop.”
“I'll watch over him while he's here. I'm part of the team. Weathers told us we'll be working all weekend sorting this mess out. The Dulapse brothers apparently were starting their own little crime spree. When they were arrested Weathers said one of them cried like a baby. Folks from the Breaks are calling in with information and complaints about them. They've got two guys on the phones just taking complaints.” Tim's words came fast and high with excitement.
“I thought no one talked to the law in the Breaks.”
Tim laughed. “Apparently they do when they find out that the brothers shot Thatcher. He was born and grew up out there. He's one of their own. One woman called to say we should turn the brothers loose at the turnoff on County Road 111. She said they'd take care of them.”
“I'm so glad it's over.” Lauren leaned against Tim, needing one of his wonderful hugs.
“Me, too,” Tim whispered as he held her tight. “I'd like to get back to writing. All at once stories are dancing in my head.”
“I kind of feel the same way. I started writing my thoughts and feelings down at the hospital. Do you think the lady living out by the canyon was right? I might just become a writer.”
Tim shook his head. “It's not that easy, L. I've studied for months. Some days it's like bleeding just to get a few pages.”
“You're right. It sounds too hard. Maybe I should just be happy being the friend of a writer.”
He nodded his agreement, totally unaware that she was mentally trying to think of a pen name.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jubilee
May 15
J
UBILEE
STOOD
ON
the porch of her big old house. She could still sometimes feel the presence of Levy in the place. She could almost see him sitting at the kitchen table having his morning coffee or standing on the corner of the porch looking out over his land as if it was the most priceless painting in the world.
For a month now she'd been remodeling the old place on a shoestring. She'd painted a few rooms and even some of the furniture. She'd added bold colors in spots and taken down most of the drapes that hung over windows never opened.
This was home now. This place was hers and she never planned to leave.
So why am I still sleeping over at Charley's place?
she asked herself.
She couldn't believe how the ranch had changed in three months. Cattle roamed the grassland and wheat as high as her knees grew in once-bare fields. Even the garden was growing. It wouldn't be long until they'd be picking their supper fresh every night.
So why am I still sleeping at Charley's place?
she asked herself again.
The way she felt about him took her breath away. In a life of never letting any man matter to her, she'd somehow found the one person she couldn't resist. He mattered.
She watched as he pulled up to the barn with one of the hands he'd hired. In the months since he'd taken over as foreman, he'd changed. He'd come into the role he was born to play. He knew what he was doing. He treated this land as though it was his. He loved it.
When he saw her, he waved and headed toward her.
She watched him coming closer. Unable to look away. When she'd been younger, she'd sometimes imagined what her perfect man would be like. He'd never been wearing boots and jeans. But here he was. Walking straight toward her.
She'd heard him say he loved her once, but she'd never said the words back and he hadn't said them again. Now and then in a few stolen minutes, they'd share a passionate kiss or he'd hold her as though he'd never let her go, but most of their days were full of life on the ranch. Thatcher had become part of their family and Lillie now held Jubilee's heart.
“You up for a ride tonight?” he asked. “Lillie's staying over at the Lees' and Thatcher reluctantly agreed to take Kristi to a dance, even. He says he can't dance, but I'm guessing Kristi will teach him what she can, since his leg is still healing.”
Charley reached the porch and pulled her into his arms suddenly as if he had to hold her even for a moment. “If you like, we could ride out to the pass. There's a chance, if the storm holds off until after midnight, that we might have a full moon.”
She smiled, remembering the story Lauren told her about a heart's wish being granted if the moon passed over the open space in the passage. “I think that would be fun.”
“Good,” he said. “I'll be working late, but I'll try to be back and have the horses saddled by nine.”
Jubilee thought about the ride all day. As always, she'd made a list of all she had to do. The bank. The store. The vet.
Charley usually added to her list. Probably afraid she'd get bored. Which wasn't likely to happen.
When she finally took a minute to balance the ranch accounts, she noticed something very wrong. The balance was almost twice the money that should be in the account. She went all the way back to the day she'd decided to put in her own savings. She'd kept a running total in her checkbook every week, but hadn't had a chance to balance her account, to make sure her numbers matched the bank's.
They didn't, now. The bank must have made a mistake. Maybe they'd accidentally logged her deposit twice?
She called the bank, and a few minutes later she sat very still in her little office area just left of the kitchen. The teller had said simply that Charley had transferred his savings into the ranch account. They didn't see any problem; after all, he was a signer on the account.
“Nothing wrong,” she managed to say to the teller. “Thank you. I was just checking.”
Tears threatened to fall. He'd told her he'd been saving to buy land. He'd even said once that every tip he made at the bar went into a jar to take to the bank. All he wanted, all he'd ever dreamed of, he'd once told her, was land.
He must have put all his saving in the Lone Heart Ranch account, just like her, on the chance of making this place go. Not for him, but for her.
By late afternoon she knew, moon or not, she'd share another kiss in the passage with Charley. She had something very important to tell him.
It was a little after nine by the time Charley walked out of the barn leading two horses.
Jubilee smiled. Knights in shining armor sometimes wore cowboy boots.
“Still up for a ride to the pass?” he asked when she met him.
He looked tired but happy. A few hours alone might be all they'd ever have, slices of time, but it would be enough.
When she moved to her horse he was there to help her up. His hand patted her bottom as he lifted her into the saddle and she looked down at him. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“You bet.” He winked.
They rode over the dark land toward the passage. Neither said a word. It was funny how they talked of other things all day, feeling as if they never had time to talk about things other than what needed to be done on the ranch. Now, when they had time alone, there didn't seem to be a need for words.
He helped her down at the entrance and took her hand. With one thin flashlight beam, he led her into the darkness. The air was cooler there and silent. The magic surrounded them as it had before.
Halfway through, he stopped. “If you could do anything or say anything in the silence of this place, what would you do?”
Moving her hands up his shirt, she felt the warmth of him just below the cotton of his shirt. “I'd kiss you.”
He leaned down and she kissed him as softly as she had that first time.
He kissed her back without holding her. When he moved to her ear, he whispered, “I've only been kissed like that once before and it was the best kiss I think I've ever had.”
“You're not sure?”
“Maybe we should try again so I can be sure.”
She kissed him again, loving the way he accepted her kiss, not as the start of something but as a gift all by itself.
Slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, he leaned her against the cool wall of the passage and whispered, “Look up.”
The moon was just beginning to peek over one side of the passage opening.
They held each other, watching it move across the open space above. When it was full, she asked, “What would you wish? Your heart's desire? Your one wish for a lifetime?”
He smiled down at her in the moonlight. “I'd wish that we'd be together, really together, forever together because I'll never love another the way I love you, Jubilee.”
She forgot all about the moon and kissed him the way she'd been wanting to kiss him every night they'd slept together.
When she finally stopped, he tugged her farther into the passage. “I want to show you something.”
“But it's late.”
“We've time.” He stepped out on the canyon side of the passage. The night was midnight blue and the remains of a campfire burned low near the edge of the canyon wall.
The firelight danced off the colors of the rocks, making the world warm with hues of the earth. “It's beautiful,” she whispered as if afraid she'd disturb the wonder of the place.
Charley stared down at her. “Yes, you are,” he answered. “I wanted to see you like this tonight. I wanted to hold you so close right here that I could feel your heart beating next to mine.”
Now his kiss came fast and complete. Full of a wild passion she'd never known to even long for.
When she finally stopped to breathe, he took her hand and slipped a ring on her finger. “Marry me, pretty lady.”
She laughed. “According to Thatcher, we already are.”
“Then we'll do it again. I want to be tied to you so that you'll never run away from loving me. I want to wake up with you every morning and go to sleep with you every night. I want to build a life with you.”
She couldn't stop kissing him. She was addicted to this wonderful, kind man.
When they finally pulled apart, they ran back through the passage stopping every few feet in the darkness to touch. Both were out of breath and hungry for more when they reached their horses and rode the wind home. Both were pulling off clothes by the time they hit the door to his house. When they tumbled into bed they were laughing with excitement.
She felt as if she'd been starving all her life and Charley was the one person who could satisfy her need. Suddenly he was touching her everywhere, kissing her everywhere, loving her like she'd never dreamed of being loved.
They'd put this moment off for so long. Waited for it. Dreamed about it so many nights only to discover that it was so much more than they thought it might be.
A heart's wish that melted her cold heart.
When they were both spent, he held her close, brushing her hair away from her face and asking her if she was all right.
“I'm perfect,” she answered.
“Good,” he whispered. “You want to do it again? Thatcher won't be home until after midnight. We may not get much time alone, but if it's like this, it'll be enough.”
“All right. We do it again.” She laughed. “Only after midnight, we're closing the bedroom door. If he needs us for the rest of the night, he's going to have to yell.”
“What have you got planned?”
By the time she could pull her thoughts together enough to answer, he'd already lit a fire inside her and she was lost in loving him again.
The second time was slow and tender. He took his time learning her body and she did the same. They kissed deeply until she begged for more.
The third time was white-hot passion rolling over them, then a sweet surrender of two souls.
As she drifted back to earth, he held on tight. “I'll never get enough of loving you, Jubilee.”
She stretched against him and whispered, “You want to go again?”
He laughed. “If we do, you'll have to bury me out by Levy because I'll be dead with a smile on my face.”
She laughed and climbed out of bed to get a drink.
When she came back, Charley was under the covers, finally. She curled up beside him and was almost asleep when she heard a car rattle over the cattle guard at the front gate.
Charley came awake.
“It's okay. It's just Thatcher getting home.”
“About time. It's almost one o'clock.” Charley sounded exactly like a father.
She giggled. “You'd better be glad he didn't make it in earlier.”
Charley squeezed her. “I am, come to think of it. When we get married, how about we move into your house? Then he'll have his own room. Preferably far down the hall.”
“I agree. By the way, when is the wedding? Since I know you've already got everything planned out.”
“Soon. How about next Sunday,” he answered. “I've already booked the place.”
They heard Thatcher come in. Then his cell rang. Kristi must have called him while her father drove home from dropping him off.
For a while they could hear Thatcher talking to her, or rather she must have done most of the talking, because all they heard was That saying things like “I agree” and “You're right about that” and “Me, too.”
Finally he said good-night to her and they heard him fall into his bed on the couch.
“You all right, That?” Charley yelled.
“I'm fine. Trying to dance is harder than killing snakes.”
Jubilee giggled. “Good night, Thatcher.”
He didn't answer and she guessed he'd already fallen asleep. She cuddled into Charley's side and let out a long sigh.
“I forgot to tell you,” she whispered. “I'm in love with you.”
“I know. It was bound to happen.” He laughed. “I'm not ever letting you go, Jubilee, so don't even think about walking out on me.”
“I feel the same way. You have to stay. We couldn't split the ranch.”
He was silent for a minute, then added, “Honey, this land is yours.”
“No, it's not. I had the deed changed today. It's ours.”
He shook his head. “I didn't want to take your land.”
“I know. I didn't want to take your dream. You transferred your savings without asking me so I transferred the deed.”
He was so still and silent, she knew he was angry. Suddenly, she laughed. “I'm not sure what you're upset about. We both got what we needed. What we wanted.”
She could feel his anger as he moved a few inches away.
Tossing the covers, she yelled, “I'm walking out, Charley!”
His hand shot out and tugged her back. “No. I can't let you go. I love you too much.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Finally she'd met a man who wouldn't let her walk away without a fight. “I'm not letting you go, either. I've spent years looking for someone like you. If you leave me, you'll have to drag half this ranch behind you.”
“Then I'd better stay.”
“And love me the rest of your life,” she added.
“And love only you for the rest of my life,” he answered.
As she leaned to kiss him, she heard a rattle coming from the other side of the thin wall. “Would you two go to sleep?” Thatcher yelled. “Since you're all loving tonight, are you now common-law married? I'm not exactly sure when that kind of thing happens.”
“We're marrying as soon as I can find a preacher,” Charley said, realizing he didn't need to yell for Thatcher to hear everything. “And you'd better shower and dress up, because you're my best man.”
“Well, finally,” Thatcher said. “I'm tired of chaperoning you two.”