Cassidy, Carla - Midnight Wishes
Page 23
sorry, Abby girl," he'd said, his pain evident in his wearied voice.
"I'm sorry for doubting you and not seeing the evil in Richard."
"No apology necessary," Abby had replied as she'd hugged him. She
hadn't asked about Luke, and Junior hadn't mentioned him.
She couldn't think about him now. Perhaps later she'd grieve his loss,
cry for what might have been, what would never be. But at the moment
she had to figure out what she was going to do.
She looked up as Belinda exited the house and walked toward her. "Here,
I thought you might need this." She held out a cup of coffee.
Abby grinned ruefully. "Thanks. I don't think I'll ever want another
cup of hot cocoa again." Her smile faded as Belinda joined her on the
bench.
"Looks pretty dismal, doesn't it?" Belinda said softly, her gaze on
the burned area.
"Yes, and I think it's the straw that has broken my back." Abby took a
deep breath. "I think maybe it's best if we sell."
"Oh, Abby, no."
"Henry Carsworth will pay a good price for the place," she continued as
if she hadn't heard Belindais protest. "It would probably be the best
thing to do."
"Abby, I know things look hopeless right now, but this isn't the time
to be making any decisions. You've had no sleep, you've been through a
trauma."
"I could sleep for days and I think I'd come to the same conclusion.
Belinda, we only have enough money left to put off the inevitable. It
takes money to make money, and we'll never have enough to make this a
real, working, productive ranch."
"I've never heard you talk this way," Belinda replied. "You've always
been so filled with hope, so full of dreams."
"It's gone. They're gone." Abby bit her bottom
lip to still the tears that pressed hotly behind her eyelids. She had
a feeling Luke had taken her dreams with him and there was little he'd
left behind. "As soon as Colette and Hank get back later today, we'll
have a family meeting and decide what we're going to do."
Belinda nodded and stood. "I'm going to make some breakfast. Want to
come in and eat?"
Abby shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm really not hungry. I just want
to sit here for a while and decompress."
"Let me know if I can do anything." Belinda gave Abby a quick hug,
then walked back to the house.
Abby watched the sun climb upward, her gaze alternating between the
glory of the new day and the ashes of her dreams.
She finally moved, deciding to sit on the porch where her gaze would be
on the land and not on the house. The land. Her father had bought
this land as a young man. It had been his dream that it would be his
legacy to the generations of Connors who would come after him.
She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there when she became aware
of being watched. She looked first in the direction of the shed, then
toward the barn.
And there he was.
He stood in the early morning shadows, in the same place where she'd
first seen him a lifetime ago. His black hat was pulled low, obscuring
his eyes from her scrutiny. "What are you doing here?" she asked, a
deep, abiding weariness seeping through her. Why hadn't he already
left town? Why the need to come here one last time?
He left the shadows next to the barn and stepped into the morning
light. Ambling toward her with the loose-hipped walk that enticed her,
he smiled. The devastating smile she'd come to love.
"Ma'am." He swept the dark hat off his head. "My name is Luke Foxwood
and I'm here because I understand you have an opening for a cowboy."
Abby stood and wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why he was
torturing her, what game he was playing with her emotions. "There are
no openings here."
"What about an opening for a lover, a husband ... a father."
His words hung in the air, shimmering with promise, but Abby refused to
be taken in by that promise. Her heart lay too heavy, her dreams
shattered into pieces. "What game are you playing, Luke? I don't have
the energy or the heart to do this."
He walked to the porch and stepped up beside her. "No games, Abby.
I've had most of the night to think. I could have gotten on a plane
several times, but I just couldn't make myself leave. I love you,
Abby." He took a step toward her, but she backed away.
"We've been through this before. We can't just think about your heart,
or mine. I've got a little boy's heart to consider."
Luke nodded. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the hickory nut
Cody had given him the night before. "Funny thing about this. It
doesn't look so big and it easily fit into my pocket. But remember
that old fairy tale about the princess and the pea? This nut poked and
prodded me all night long, only instead of hurting my leg, it made my
heart ache."
"Guilt," Abby said. "Or fear," she added, un willing to allow her own
heart any hope.
"Or love."
"Oh, please," Abby scoffed. "Yesterday your love for Cody didn't seem
so overwhelming."
"Yesterday I hadn't faced death by fire, nor the actuality of losing
you, of losing a chance to build something here."
"There's nothing left to build." Abby's voice was empty, devoid of
emotion. She recognized the hollowness, felt it echoing inside her.
"Abby." He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at
him, look into his eyes. "While that inferno was blazing around us
last night, you said something to me that made sense."
"And what was that?"
He smiled. "You told me to shut up and stop trying to take on the
responsibility for everything that had happened. I realize now I've
carded around the guilt that Greg should have carried, I felt
responsible for things that were not my fault.
"Abby" -he cupped her chin with his hand "mI love you as I've never
loved anyone before, but I was afraid of taking on the responsibility
of Cody. I was afraid of his need, afraid I'd be inadequate and
couldn't fill those needs. Then last night, when he handed me back his
good luck nut, I looked in his eyes and all I Saw was love. Not need,
just pure love." His voice cracked with emotion and in his words Abby
found her faith again, her hope.
"I realized I'd be more than a fool if I walked away from you and Cody
and the love we've found for each other."
"Oh, Luke." Abby's heart swelled and she wrapped her arms around his
neck. "I love you."
His lips claimed hers, promising love, passion and dreams to be
fulfilled. Abby pressed against him, wanting to hold him close
forever. "Marry me, Abby. Marry me and let me be the man who makes
those midnight wishes of yours come true."
"Yes, Luke." Tears of happiness trekked down her cheeks. "I want to
spend the rest of my life with you." She saw the fires in his eyes,
fires of love burning brightly, and knew this was one cowboy who would
not ride off alone into the sunset.
"Hey, are you making my mom cry?"
They both turned to see Cody, who'd just stepped out of t
he house. He
eyed Luke suspiciously.
"It's okay, Cody." Abby laughed and wiped at her tears. "I'm crying
because I'm so happy."
Luke walked over to Cody. and crouched down so they were eye-to-eye.
"It looks like I'm going to be marrying your mother," he said.
Cody's blue eyes widened. "Does this mean you really are a real
cowboy?"
"I guess it does."
Cody frowned. "But you told me you weren't a real one." '
Luke looked at the little boy thoughtfully. "Do you know the story of
Pinocchio?"
"The wooden puppet?" Cody nodded.
"Do you remember what made Pinocchio real?"
"Love," Cody answered without hesitation.
Luke nodded. "And that's what's made me real. Your mom loving me ...
and you loving me."
Cody wrapped his arms around Luke's neck and Luke returned the gesture,
hugging the little boy tight. Abby watched the two males she loved and
she knew she could face whatever the future held as long as they were
by her side. Her wishes would come true . in fact, they already
had.
Epilogue
"I still can't believe all this," Colette said as she helped straighten
the back of Abby's wedding gown. "Things are usually pretty boring
around here, but I go away on my honeymoon and come back to find that
my sister's been arrested for murder, the house has nearly burned down
and she's found the man she's going to marry."
Belinda laughed. "That will teach you to go away."
The three sisters were in Abby's bedroom. Abby stared at herself in
the mirror, still unable to believe that within minutes she would
become Mrs. Luke Foxwood.
It had been three weeks since he'd proposed to her, three weeks of
deepening love. She'd watched as the bond between Luke and Cody had
grown stronger. Three weeks of joy that she knew was merely a prelude
to a lifetime of happiness and love.
"Come on, it's time," Colette said as she checked her wristwatch. They
had decided to be married beneath the dragon tree, in the same place
where a little over a month before Colette and Hank had said their
vows.
Bulldog awaited with a ribbon-bedecked wagon that would carry Abby and
her two sisters to where the ceremony would take place beneath the tree
Bulldog beamed at her as he helped her up into the wagon. "You look
mighty pretty, Miss Abby," he said.
"Thank you, Bulldog. You look mighty handsome yourself," she replied.
"The most handsome best man I've ever seen." Bulldog smiled with
pride. His face still retained the burns he'd received when he'd
rescued them, and his eyebrows and lashes had been singed off, but to
Abby he looked like a hero.
As the wagon carded her toward her destiny, Abby took one look back at
her home. The sisters had voted to try to hang on to the ranch,
refusing to sell their heritage until there was no alternative left.
From the exterior there was no sign of the fire, although there was
still work to be done on the inside.
The charges against Abby had been dropped, and all the loose ends of
Greg's death and Rusty's betrayal had been tied up. Both Rusty and
Richard had continued to maintain that they'd had nothing to do with
the tack under Blackheart's saddle blanket or the hay bale that had
nearly killed Abby. Abby had chalked the incidents up to the hazards
and accidents of ranch life.
As the wagon drew closer to the dragon tree, all thoughts left Abby's
head. Beneath the tree, next to the preacher, stood Luke and Cody.
Clad in matching tuxedos, the sight of them made Abby s heart swell
with joy.
"come on, Mom," Cody called impatiently. "I've been waiting a long
time to get a dad. Hurry up."
Abby didn't wait for the wagon to come to a full halt. She gathered
her skirt in her arms and jumped down. With a smile on her lips and in
her heart, Abby ran toward her future.