"Go ahead and kiss her," Bill said. "With Billy it needs to be done."
It was an odd moment because Billy's father had just told him something about Billy he hadn't picked up on before. Whether she adhered to old adages like seal with a kiss or shake hands on the deal, Billy needed the little extra something to make it so.
Closing his arms around her, Jeremy kissed her soundly, and said, "Tomorrow I'm getting you an engagement ring." He glanced over at Bill again, and the man was smiling, which seemed to take another few years off his face. Returning to Billy, he said, "For this afternoon, there's something I've wanted to do from the first day I saw you standing in the doorway in your old leather hat and chaps and holding onto Diesel's collar. I want to ride up into the hills together. It could be months before we get to ride together again."
Billy smiled, but this time her smile was real, and she had a look on her face that definitely held promise, like she wanted more than just to ride into the hills together. She wanted time alone with him to confirm their commitment.
***
Billy could feel Mickey chomping at the bit as Jeremy launched himself onto Spud's back because already Mickey was sensing that they were priming for a run, which Jeremy affirmed when he said, "I'll race you to the top of the hill."
"You're on!" Billy clicked her tongue, and giving Mickey his head, the horse was off at a flat run, leaving Jeremy and Spud behind in a dusty haze as they headed across the wide stretch of scrub lowland toward a distant hill. But before long, Spud was running neck and neck with Mickey, which didn't surprised Billy. Whereas Mickey had speed and agility for the short runs of barrel racing, Spud had a longer stride because of his larger size and greater endurance.
As Spud gradually moved ahead of Mickey, Jeremy glanced over at Billy, and said, "See you slow pokes at the top of the hill."
Taking up the challenge, Billy gave Mickey a firm kick, and she could feel Mickey's excitement as he lengthened his strides until he'd caught up with Spud and gradually moved ahead. She couldn't help grinning, and when she looked over at Jeremy, he was grinning too. But her gain was short lived as Mickey gradually started falling back, while Spud was forging on ahead at a ground-eating pace, and when they reached the slope of the hillside, Spud lunged up a well-beaten trail in leaps and bounds, reaching the top of the hill well before Mickey.
When Billy caught up and reined in beside Jeremy, he leaned out from the saddle and curved his arm around her and kissed her soundly, and said, "I love you, honey. That's the best run I've had in years. Maybe we can find a shady place to rest and catch our breaths."
"I'm not even winded yet," Billy said.
"I know," Jeremy replied. "That's why I want to find a shady place where we can lie in the grass and I can get you breathing heavy."
"That happens every time you kiss me," Billy said, "so I'll race you to that grove of aspen in the distance." Another click of her tongue combined with kicks sent Mickey taking off again, but a few moments later Spud shot past, leaving them in the dust.
By the time Billy caught up, Jeremy had already dismounted, but as soon as she was off her horse, he grabbed her hand and said, "I'm going to do a lot more than just look at you when we're under those aspens, so get ready for some heavy breathing."
"I'm ready," Billy said, laughing. Hands clasped, they headed for the aspen grove and tumbled down onto the grass, where Jeremy pulled the length of Billy against the length of him. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he tipped her head back and covered her mouth with his and she returned the kiss with a hunger she couldn't quell, as if she couldn't get enough of him.
As the kiss deepened and Billy's breathing became ragged, she was filled with a need to consummate their love. Before she could express her desire, Jeremy broke the kiss and brushed her hair aside, and with his tongue, traced the inner recesses of her ear, making her breath catch while sending shivers racing through her until her nerves hummed like hundreds of taut wires, and when Jeremy started unsnapping her shirt, Billy made no move to stop him, but instead, tugged at the snaps on his shirt so she could feel his bare flesh against hers.
As Jeremy caressed with his hands and teased with his tongue, the ache inside Billy was so intense, she wanted him to claim her at once. Instead, he kissed the hollow of her neck, and the swell of her breasts, then pressed his mouth to hers until their breaths merged and became one. But before the kiss could deepen into white hot passion, Jeremy released her and stripped off his clothes, then hers, and when they were naked and laying together, Billy felt the urgency of Jeremy's need moving against her, sending shivers radiating from the juncture of her thighs.
About the time she thought she could stand it no longer, Jeremy said in a raspy voice, "Honey, stop me now if you're not sure."
Billy looked at him, and said, with certainty, "I am sure."
Jeremy moved on top of her, and as he joined his body with hers, they made love in a way so urgent, Billy felt as if their bodies and souls were bound together for eternity, that there was nothing that could separate them, neither time, nor space, nor whatever distance would come between them, that Jeremy would be a part of her until the day she died.
Afterwards, Jeremy kissed her on the forehead and cuddled her close until the pounding in her heart began to settle into normalcy. Then he looked at her soberly, and said in an unwavering voice, "No more talk about you leaving without me; that's not an option now. And after we get settled, wherever we end up, I want to take the horses into the mountains and spend some nights sleeping on bedrolls under the stars."
"There's no guarantee they'll locate us on a ranch somewhere," Billy said, deciding Jeremy needed a reality check. "They could put us in the middle of a city." When Jeremy didn't reply, she said, "You do understand that they pick the location and we have no say about where it is, only a choice between one or two properties they pick."
"Moretti said you could take the horses, so the Feds will have to find a place for us where they can be stabled," Jeremy replied.
"Which could be a little one-acre place on the outskirts of a city, with no place to ride except along a highway."
"Is there anything stopping us from buying our own place?"
"No, but we'd have to have jobs in order to get a mortgage, and we'll have no credit after our past is obliterated."
"I'll get a job," Jeremy said. "We're going to have a good life together. You'll see. Meanwhile, we have some catching up to do since we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Hansen in a few days, and I want to know a little about the woman I'll be spending the rest of my life with. You had or have a mother somewhere, and at least one sister, and maybe more siblings."
"My mom died in a car wreck when I was twelve and my dad never remarried, and Rachael is my only sibling," Billy said. "As for being Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Hansen, we will only be that for about two weeks before the name change. We can keep our first names, but we have to pick a new last name, so we need to think about that."
"What about taking my grandmother's maiden name, which would keep us in the Hansen family?" Jeremy said. "My great-grandmother was a Nez Perce Indian who married an Irishman, so our name would be Billy and Jeremy Sullivan. Could you live with that?"
Billy laughed. "I guess I'm destined to be Irish. First, Fitzsimmons, then Sullivan, but I'm okay with it. We have to run it past Mario though, and he'll have to get it approved, but he has his ways. When I first told him they'd have to move my animals he said there was no way the Feds would do it, which was so upsetting for me I started crying. Mario was completely rattled, like he didn't know what to do with a crying woman, and he said 'okay, okay, I'll see what I can do' and the next thing I knew, he'd arranged for stock movers to pick up the cattle and take them somewhere and hold them there until we were moved here."
"But he won't move them this time," Jeremy said.
Billy shook her head. "Mario made that clear. I'm just glad he'll let us take the horses, and he'll probably let you take your horse too, if you get approved for the progra
m."
Again, Jeremy was quiet, and Billy knew he was hung up on the words, if you get approved for the program, which he affirmed, when he said, "If I don't get approved, what's stopping you from sending me a letter and telling me where you are, and me coming there and marrying you and staying with you?"
"Mario," Billy replied. "If I broke the rules by contacting you I'd be out of the program, and we'd both be in danger because Joseph DeLuca wants me dead and his wiseguys would somehow track me down and find me and you'd be in just as much danger."
"Then we'll get married right away so the Feds will have the burden of separating a husband and wife," Jeremy said. "It's a three-day wait, so we'll get the license in Burns tomorrow, and I'll call the pastor at the church in Pine Grove to marry us on Friday."
"I know you love me, but you still need to think about your family," Billy said. "If our love destroys them it will eventually destroy itself. There are no guarantees that we'll ever be able to leave the program. Look at Mario's sister. It's a major life-changing decision, with nothing but uncertainties well into the future."
"I know exactly what I'm doing, and I have no doubts," Jeremy said, "You are the focus of my life and we will grow old together, and making love here in the aspen grove is the beginning of our new life together."
Billy nestled against him, feeling somewhat comforted that he seemed so sure about what he was doing, so setting aside her doubts for the moment, she said, "Have you thought about how you'll approach your parents and the rest of your family?"
"First of all, we will be approaching them together," Jeremy replied. "I want them to get to know you so they'll understand why I'm doing this."
Billy felt a rush of adrenaline with the thought of having to face Jeremy's parents. "I can't do that," she said. "Your parents couldn't possibly feel anything but anger and bitterness towards me because I'm taking you away from them."
"Are we in this together?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes, because you're insisting on going through with it," Billy replied, "but I just can't face your parents and your family."
"Honey, you'll be facing them as my fiancée. You'll have an engagement ring on your finger by tomorrow afternoon so my family will know exactly how I feel about you, and the extent to which I'll go to have you as my wife. But right now I want to put that aside because I'm looking at the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and she happens to be stark naked, and I'm getting horny again..."
Billy became distracted as Jeremy sent a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck and across her chest, and for the moment, what he was doing had captured her full attention, but somewhere, in the dark recesses of her mind, was the disturbing thought of facing his family.
CHAPTER 15
For the pre-admittance briefing, Billy and Jeremy sat around a conference table with Mario Moretti and several other U.S. Marshals, at the federal courthouse in Portland. They were flown to Portland from Burns on a 4-passenger U.S. Marshals plane. Jeremy called ahead to his parents to tell them that he'd be arriving at the ranch that afternoon by plane, and to have the whole family there because he was bringing his fiancée to meet them, and he had something important to tell them. The pilot of the plane made it clear that if the runway at the ranch wasn't adequate they wouldn't be landing, but Jeremy assured him that it was approved for small planes, and after running a check, the pilot was satisfied.
Mario had already turned in the request to include Jeremy in the witness protection program, which carried a lot of weight, and right after Jeremy completed the application that was required by the U.S. Department of Justice, the grilling began.
Several hours into the briefing, which included a lengthy interview with the different members of the marshals service who were gathered around the table, Billy still couldn't seem to keep her eyes off the engagement ring with the solitaire diamond that Jeremy slipped on her finger in Burns. Jeremy spotted the jewelers across the street from the courthouse, where they'd applied for the marriage license, and Mario gave them fifteen minutes to pick out a ring before heading for the small airport in Burns. Billy had never worn rings before, nor had she given much thought to the condition of her hands with their callouses and chipped fingernails, but for the first time in her life, she felt like getting a manicure.
As she was wiggling her ring finger so the diamond could catch the light, Jeremy reached over and took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze, then pulled it under the conference table to rest on his thigh, probably because he knew she was distracted by the ring because she kept stretching out her hand and looking at it. But now she was distracted by the feel of Jeremy's leg… hard, solid muscle, as hard and solid as the rest of him, which made her restless to run her hands over his body again, and make love…
"You'll be in temporary protection for around two weeks," one of the marshals was saying to Jeremy during the final rundown of what was to come. "During that time a witness protection officer will investigate your application, which will include a risk assessment and an evaluation by a psychologist. The officer will then report to the director, who will decide whether to place you in permanent protection or deny your application."
"We're getting married in three days, so will my wife be with me during those two weeks?" Jeremy asked, his hand tightening around Billy's, like he wasn't going to let her go without him.
"Yes, but a determination as to whether you'll be allowed in the program will not be made until after completion of the review," the marshal replied. "Just because you're moved with the Fullers does not mean you'll be allowed to remain with them."
"Would you separate a man from his wife?" Jeremy asked.
The officer looked at Jeremy intensely, and replied, "The program is set up to keep witnesses and family members who are at risk alive. That's all I can tell you at this point."
Billy already knew the routine. They'd be staying in a motel in an undisclosed location until the paperwork was completed, then moved to a temporary location for several weeks so they could become familiar with it, and that would become their fabricated background location when they'd be moved to their final destination, a process that took about two months.
The marshal slid one more document in front of Jeremy, and said, "The Memorandum of Understanding is the last document you have to sign. In it you agree to abide by the rules of the protection program, which means not revealing information about the program, as well as any conditions that might apply to your case. The agreement is set up to ensure your safety as well as the safety of the protection officers and everyone related to the program. Permanent protection lasts as long as the threat against you lasts. Discharge may involve a new identity being created for you and you may be relocated."
It seemed like forever before they found themselves back in the lobby of the federal building and standing with Mario, who said to Jeremy, "The vehicle's here to take us to the airport. You'll have an hour with your family, and I'll be present to monitor what's disclosed and explain the program so they have a clear understanding what this is all about."
Billy glanced at Jeremy, who had a grim look on his face. She had no idea what was going through his head, but after having spent the past two days mulling over how it would all play out, she still couldn't begin to predict how her future mother and father-in-law would react on hearing what Jeremy was about to do. All she knew was, the lump in her throat, and the flutters in her stomach, could not be quashed.
***
As the pilot circled to make the approach, Jeremy looked down at the ranch and saw his mother and father standing together, and behind them were just about everyone in the entire Hansen family, all of them looking up with their hands cupped around their eyes.
As the pilot touched down and taxied along the runway, Jeremy prepared for the barrage of questions that would come on seeing them arrive in a white aircraft with a dark blue stripe along the fuselage with the words U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE on it, and a tail fin with round U.S. government emblems on each side.
Mario was the first off the plane. Raising his hands to everyone, he said, "Back off from the plane. You'll be given an explanation during the next hour."
Jeremy's dad ignored Mario request to stand back, and instead, rushed up to Mario, and said, "I'm Jack Hansen, Jeremy Hansen's father. What's going on here?"
Mario flashed his ID badge. "Mario Moretti with the U.S. Marshals Service. We need a place where we can talk. Only immediate family members should be present."
By now Grace had rushed up to Jeremy and said, with tears of worry in her eyes, "What's happening? Are you being held for something?"
"No. Mom, everything's fine, and the rest of you can relax. We're not on our way to jail." He glanced beyond his mother and saw Adam and Marc breaking away from their families and coming toward them, followed by Tyler and Maddy. All faces showed alarm.
Jeremy wrapped his arm around Billy, drawing her against him, and said, "This my fiancée, Billy Fitzsimmons."
Grace looked at Billy, and for the moment said nothing, and Jeremy realized she was completely taken aback, first because he had a fiancée, when up till then he'd never even had a serious girlfriend, and second, because they had arrived in a government plane. Then she glanced down at Billy's hand, and spotting the diamond ring, looked at Billy and said, "Then you're the Billy who Annie and Genie have been talking about. It's nice to meet you, honey."
Jeremy put his free arm around his mother's shoulders and gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek, and said, "I know it's sudden, Mom, but when it's right, it's right. Billy and I will be married at the church in Pine Grove this coming Friday. Maybe the family could be there."
"This Friday?" Grace said, alarmed. "Is there a reason why you have to get married so fast?"
Bucking The Odds (Dancing Moon Ranch Book 9) Page 17