by Marin Thomas
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.
* * *
WHEN 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. “Hey—” 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.
“Th
is 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, darling—” 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, Kit—how 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, sweetheart—” 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 forever—” 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?”
“I’d rather invite them for a visit next year when we’ve built a house and some of my plans to make the ranch operate in the black for a change come to fruition. But all of it can be negotiated because we’re equal partners, Kit. I want you to know that.”
“I do. I trust you with my life.”
“Enough to live upstairs with me until our house is built? I don’t want you to move to a rental.”
“I don’t want to either. I’ll pay rent here.”
Ross knew not to fight her. He’d learned his lesson. “Fine. Now let’s stop talking. Right now there’s only one thing I want to do.”
He crushed her mouth quiet as desire took over, blotting out the world.
Suddenly they heard Andy’s voice calling from the hallway. “Mom?”
Ross moved off her fast and got to his feet so she could sit up, but she was much slower to respond. “Come on in, sport.”
When Andy walked in the bedroom, his eyes lit up.
“Hi, honey. I thought you were going to swim.”
“We did until Buck closed the pool and sent me up here.”
They’d been up here a long time. When she darted Ross a guilty look, he just laughed.
“I need to freshen up.”
He grabbed her around the waist so she couldn’t get away. “Before we go anywhere or do anything, there’s something your mom and I want to tell you.”
“I already know.”
“What do you think you know?” Kit exclaimed.
“Johnny said the reason you and Ross never came down was because you’re going to get married.”
Both Ross and Kit roared with laughter. “One thing you’re going to learn, sweetheart. That kid is psychic, and there are no secrets in this house.” Then he sobered and put his hands on his shoulders. He stared at Andy. “I love you, son. It would be an honor to be your new dad.”
“I love you so much,” he cried and grabbed Ross around the waist.
Ross was moved almost without words. “If it’s all right with you, we’re thinking about getting married in about six weeks. Maybe by then your grandfather won’t be so upset, and he and your grandmother will come.” If Kit could forgive them, Ross certainly could.
No words came out of Andy. Only hugs and tears of pure joy.
* * *
KIT AND ANDY had just entered the dining room for breakfast the next morning when everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
Ross’s partners and their families had assembled at one of the big tables. There were waffles and French toast and bacon and eggs. A real feast. The kids had made a banner fastened to the log wall that said, “Congratulations Kit and Ross,” done in their own printing. No doubt Andy’s work was in there somewhere.
Her throat swelled with emotion until she couldn’t swallow. Ross squeezed her hip. “What a homecoming,” he whispered.
The ranch did feel like home.
She wiped her eyes and sat down by Johnny. “I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to us. Not just because of today, but because of every day since we first arrived. I’m overwhelmed with all the things you’ve done for us.”
“We’ve enjoyed you, too,” Carson murmured.
She stared at the three men. “You know the saying about if you want something done, ask a marine? It has taken on a whole new meaning for me since your letter came inviting us to the ranch. Just know we think the world of all of you and will be forever grateful.”
“We’re glad you’re going to marry Ross.” This from Johnny.
He always made her smile. “I feel the same and love that banner you made for us. It’s fantastic! But aren’t you guys supposed to be at school?”<
br />
“Yup. But we didn’t want to go today because daddy said this is a red-letter day, and he made an e-excepshun.”
“Nana says we’re going to celebrate.” Jenny looked at Andy. “Do you want to go to Funorama?”
“What’s that?”
“This real fun place with rides and stuff, and you get to eat pizza.”
“Sure! That sounds cool.”
Kit smiled at Jenny. “Do you like school, Jenny?”
“I love it.”
“How about you, Johnny?”
“It’s pretty fun.”
“What’s your favorite subject?”
“Recess.”
More laughter broke out while everyone ate. Toward the end of the meal, Buck tapped his water glass with a fork. “It appears our experiment to honor our fallen soldiers has been a huge success, so we’re planning to invite more widows and their children next summer. You children are going to be a big part of it, and we’re always going to need your help.”
He winked at Ross. “There’s only one problem. We don’t have any more single men to marry off.”
“Yes, we do,” Johnny interjected. “Willy!”
Chapter Eleven
Six Weeks Later
Ross was still in the shower. Kit waited feverishly for him to come to bed. When she saw his tall physique in the semidarkness of the master bedroom, it was a surreal moment with the silhouette of the Grand Teton framing him. She reached for her new husband, hungry to belong to him forever.
“My love,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t think our wedding night would ever come.”
“I know. I love you,” she cried as they began giving and receiving pleasure she hadn’t thought possible. They clung to each other throughout the night, living to make each other happy.
Kit was shocked how late it was when she awakened the next morning tangled up with him, their bed covers askew. She couldn’t describe this kind of fulfillment. You had to experience it.