Texas Heroes: Volume 1 (52 page)

Joy flared in her eyes, then dimmed. “But Davey…”

“I’ll take care of Davey, don’t you worry. But you’re not going alone.”

“Mitch, I don’t want you in Simon’s path, either.”

He settled his hands on her shoulders, this time caressing. “Honey, I’m not doubting you that he’s dangerous, but I can take care of myself—and you and Davey. If you’re going to face this, we’re going to do it together.”

He stroked her cheek and drew her close. “And when you’re done, I have something to ask of you.”

Her lips parted, almost on a sigh. “What is it?”

“You’re right, too. I need to go back. I want to see Boone and his new wife. But I want more than that.”

“What?”

He drew in a deep breath. “I want you to go with me. I want to marry you. And whether or not I can ever adopt him legally, I want to be Davey’s dad.”

She seemed stunned now herself. “Mitch, I—”

“I don’t have a lot to offer you, Perrie, so you’d better think hard before you answer. This cabin and my truck are all I own in the world.”

“I’ve had luxury, Mitch. It’s empty without love.”

Love. His heart leapt. “I—I don’t know how good I am at love. But what I have is yours…if you want it.”

He thought he saw tears glisten, but she didn’t speak.

He rushed to bolster his argument. “I’ve always worked hard, and I can do whatever it takes to make a life for us. I’ll take good care of you both, I promise.”

Then he stopped, realizing just how much he wanted her to say yes. How afraid he was that she wouldn’t.

He dug deep. “I don’t want to be alone anymore, Perrie. You and Davey…you’ve made me want more.”

Her voice wasn’t steady when she spoke. “I don’t have much to offer, either.”

Relief flooded him. “You have the world to offer. The biggest heart that was ever packed into such a tiny frame. And a lifetime of stories to make up for our children.” Brushing his mouth across hers, he delighted in how easily her lips parted for him. He stroked his tongue over ruby satin.

“Children?” she said weakly.

“I haven’t had a family in a long time. I’ve got a lot of ground to make up.” His eyes studied hers. “I don’t know if I can be the right kind of father, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got.” He kissed her once more. “You’ve brought me alive again. I’ll spend my life making sure you never regret it.”

“Mitch, would you say…” She worried at that delectable lower lip, her lashes sweeping downward as she shook her head.

Mitch frowned. “What?”

“Never mind. I just wanted to hear…” Her voice trailed off as she toyed with a button on his shirt.

Then Perrie lifted her head, her expression resolute. “No. I was weak before. I won’t be weak now. I’ll say it first.”

Mitch wondered what she meant, but not for long. Her hands slid up his chest, then framed his face, her eyes so serious, yet so soft. So full of every dream he hadn’t allowed himself. “I love you, Mitch Gallagher.”

He couldn’t believe how it felt. How much he’d needed to hear those words, after so long alone. He grasped her hands in his own much larger ones, bringing them to his lips while he struggled to bring his voice under control.

“I—” Mitch swallowed hard, but the lump remained. “I’ve never told a woman this before, not since—” His chest felt crushed beneath the weight of his hopes.

Gripping her hands between his, he pressed them to his heart. “I love you, Perrie. I’ll protect you and honor you and do everything in my power to make you glad that you gave me your love.”

Her eyes were so tender that he was unbearably moved. “I want your babies, Mitch. I want to make a family with you. A real family, filled with love.”

For a moment, he couldn’t speak. “Davey will always be our first child, but I’d like to give you others.” Tenderly, he kissed her, trying to tell her what she meant to him. All too soon, the kiss turned hot.

She pressed her body along the length of his. “Mitch?”

He tried to listen over the sizzle of sparks shooting down his spine. “Yes?” He trailed kisses down her throat, loving the hitch in her breath. Then he sealed his mouth to hers again, tightening his fingers in her hair. He couldn’t get close enough. He wanted to crawl inside her skin.

For endless moments, they lost themselves in the kiss and the promises it sealed. Finally, he pulled away long enough to breathe.

“Mitch?” she said again, lake-blue eyes shining with something that looked almost like mischief.

“What?” He’d never get enough of looking at her. He’d dedicate his life to making her smile.

Then he learned where Davey had gotten that crafty expression as those lush lips curved, a glint in her eye. “Think we could start practicing tonight?”

Mitch laughed, and he felt like he’d been reborn. Love. Laughter. He wanted years of both.

He scooped her up in his arms, his spirits soaring. “Tonight. Forever. For as long as you like.”

Epilogue

Morning Star, Texas

B
oston—and Simon—were in her past now.

And Mitch was more than ready to be her future.

Perrie’s hand gripped his as they turned up the road leading to the place that he once called home.

“Wow, Mitch, you lived up in that house on top of the hill? Are these your cows? Mom, look, there’s a horse and another horse and a baby—”

Davey’s excited chatter eased the ice that held Mitch’s heart in its grip. Memories assaulted him from every direction.

Perrie answered. “Yes, sweetie. Boone lives there now, with his wife Maddie.”

“I wonder if he’s big like Mitch.”

I guess we’ll find out
.

And then Mitch saw a man who had to be his brother, walking down the steps of the big white two-story house that had haunted Mitch’s dreams. He stopped the car, and Perrie squeezed his hand.

“We’ll just wait here.”

Mitch yanked his gaze away from his brother’s tall form, glancing at the woman who had changed his life. “No. You’re my family now. You come with me.”

With Perrie at his side and Davey holding his hand tightly, Mitch closed the distance. His heart in his throat, he studied his brother.

The boy had grown into a man as tall as himself, the blond hair turned a darker gold. He had the look of their father, though Mitch had Sam’s coloring. And in the blue eyes, Mitch saw the same swirl of emotion that crowded his own chest.

“Welcome home, Mitch,” said a voice too deep to belong to his little brother. Boone broke away from the dark-haired beauty at his side and closed the distance between them.

Perrie watched the two big men clasp hands. Then Boone pulled Mitch into a hug that brought tears to her eyes. A few feet away, a statuesque gypsy with a mass of chestnut curls smiled and wept unashamedly as she winked at Perrie.

This must be Maddie. Perrie like her on sight.

“Why’s everybody crying, Mom?” Davey whispered.

“It’s a good kind of crying, sweetheart.”

Mitch stood at the window of Boone’s office and looked out across land he’d never expected to lay eyes on again. “A sister…” He couldn’t take it in. “Our mother and Maddie’s father, before Mom married Dad?”

“Yeah.” Boone clapped one hand to his shoulder. “You’re taking the news better than I did. I couldn’t believe Mom could ever give a child up, but she thought Dalton was dead and back in those days…”

Mitch shook his head. “It had to just about kill her.”

“I suspect it did.” Boone cleared his throat. “I don’t think Dad ever knew. But he found out later that Dalton was alive, and he never told Mom for fear she’d leave him. He gave Maddie this house because by rights, it should have been hers.”

“Think Mom would have left Dad for Dalton if she’d known?”

Boone shook his head. “I don’t think she ever would have left the two of us. And I think she honestly loved Dad.” He exhaled sharply. “But I guess we’ll never know.”

Mitch thought of Perrie, of how she’d fought for her cub like a tigress, and suddenly he was sure. “Mom would have stayed.” He looked out the window again. “She’d be here still, if I hadn’t—”

“That’s over, Mitch. You can’t blame yourself.”

But he did and probably always would. Right now, he had to set something else straight. “Boone, I…” After all he’d heard about what had happened after he was gone, he owed Boone a bigger apology than he’d ever dreamed. “I’m sorry. If I’d known what would happen to you after I left…”

“No apology needed. Dad should have handled all of it better, but Mom was everything to him. It drove him half out of his mind that their last words had been angry. He finally realized what he’d lost, but it was too late—for all of us.”

“I can’t believe he’s gone. And I never got to—”

“Me, either. He was already dead before I knew. But he left something for you.” Boone held out an envelope with Mitch’s name scrawled in his father’s bold hand.

Mitch eyed it warily.

Boone’s mouth quirked. “I know. I didn’t want to open mine, either. But it was all right.” He paused. “Want me to leave you alone?”

Mitch shook his head. He’d been alone plenty long. He tore open the envelope and read.

Son—

I expect I lost the right to call you that a long time ago. It’s the biggest regret of my life. I don’t make any excuses for what I did—there aren’t any excuses for it. I loved your mother so much that I just couldn’t get past losing her, but in doing so, I lost two fine sons. I’d give everything I own to take it all back, but it’s too late for any of that. I’m dying, and all I can hope is that you’ll be found so that you’ll finally know how sorry I am.

I hope you’ll come home one day, to the place where you should have been all these years but for an old man’s pride and stubborn blindness. I don’t know what life has done to you since that terrible night, but I hope it’s been better to you than I was.

Your mother wouldn’t be proud of me. All Jenny ever wanted in life was to make the people she loved happy, and she did that for all of us, every day of her short life. I think they broke the mold when they made her, but if there are two women out there with hearts as big as hers, I hope you and Boone find them and get back some of what you lost.

It was an accident, Mitch. You never would have hurt her on purpose. She would tell you to let it go. She loved you with every breath in her body. It was just one of those terrible trials that life hands us. Some of us handle them right, and some of us fail.

I failed you, son. If it’s any consolation, I’ve paid every day since. I wronged you, and it’s my everlasting regret that I won’t live long enough to tell you in person. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I do hope someday you’ll have a son of your own and you can do right everything that I did so very wrong.

Dad

“Mitch?”

At the sound of Perrie’s voice, Mitch turned from the window. He didn’t know how long he’d been staring off into the distance. He held out his arms and she came into them without hesitation.

“Davey’s asleep. Are you all right?”

He handed her the letter and met his brother’s gaze over her head while she read it. Boone’s eyes said that he understood. All Mitch could do was shake his head. So much loss. So much pain.