Book Read Free

Heartbeat

Page 26

by Joan Johnston


  Jack was thinking, and he didn’t like his choices. He wasn’t going to stand by and watch Maggie die. He had to come up with some way to break this stalemate, and fast. Some way that didn’t give him the wrong result.

  “Mommy?”

  Jack lunged the instant Victoria and Maggie looked at Brian. He braced his left hand to shove Maggie’s wrist away from danger and brought his right hand, with the gun in it, down hard on Victoria’s wrist.

  The syringe clattered to the floor.

  Victoria stared at him with stunned eyes. Before she could move, he kicked the syringe into the corner.

  “It’s over, Victoria.” He waited for her to make some false move, but she faced defeat with quiet dignity.

  Jack met Maggie’s gaze where she sat on the bed, her arms surrounding Brian protectively. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  At that moment, the cop who’d been guarding the front door showed up and took in the situation at a glance.

  “Cuff her,” Jack said. “And get her out of here.”

  Once Victoria was gone, Jack turned his attention back to Maggie. “Is Brian okay?”

  She nodded and said, “We’re both okay.”

  But Jack could see she was trembling. He crossed and sat down beside Maggie, enfolding her and her son in his embrace. “I meant what I said, Maggie. I love you.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder, swallowed hard, and said, “I love you, too.”

  Jack hugged them both tighter, unable to speak past the painful lump in his throat.

  Chapter 21

  Jack hadn’t seen Maggie for almost a week. It had taken that long to process all the paperwork. He had been surprised this morning to read in the San Antonio Express that Porter Cobb had retired from the firm of Wainwright & Cobb and would be spending his time at a ranch in West Texas near the hospital where his sister had been committed. Jack wondered how Cobb’s departure affected Maggie’s position at the firm. It was one more thing to discuss with her when he finally saw her.

  “All right, son, what’s the problem?”

  Jack glanced up from his desk at Ranger headquarters and met Harley Buckelew’s shrewd gaze. “Problem?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me. I want to know why you’re still hanging around here when I know there’s a young lady in San Antonio who must be wondering where you are.”

  “I haven’t quite finished the paperwork—”

  Harley scooped up the papers in front of Jack and said, “I can take care of this. Cit.”

  His bluff called, Jack stared at Harley, his heart pounding. “I told her I loved her,” he said.

  Harley smiled. “Well. It’s about damn time you found yourself a good woman and settled down.”

  “She’s an alcoholic, Harley.”

  Harley frowned. “Still drinking?”

  “No. She’s been sober for nearly ten years.”

  Harley snorted. “A man doesn’t get guarantees with any woman, Jack. But it sounds to me like maybe she’s got her problem licked. So why haven’t you proposed to the lady?”

  “I’ve been busy—”

  Harley dropped the papers back on the desk and pointed a finger out the door. “Git, boy! And don’t come back until you’re ready to invite me to a wedding.”

  Jack grinned, grabbed his Resistol from the hatrack by the door, and left the building with a bounce in his step. He made record time getting from Austin to San Antonio. He stopped by his house to pick up a present for Maggie, made a phone call to confirm she’d left work for the day, then headed for 200 Patterson. But Maggie wasn’t there.

  Where are you, Maggie?

  Because he was in the neighborhood, Jack took a chance and drove to Roman Hollander’s home in Alamo Heights. Sure enough, Maggie’s coupe was parked in the brick driveway. He pulled up behind her car and sat there for a minute, trying to decide whether what he had to say could wait until some other time.

  But now that he’d made up his mind, Jack didn’t want to wait. He wanted to claim Maggie for his own, and he wanted to hear her say she’d be willing to spend the rest of her life with him. He rang the Hollanders’ doorbell, but when he got no response, went around to the back gate.

  “Hey! Anybody home?”

  “Jack!” Maggie cried. She came running to open the wooden gate. She had taken off her suit jacket and unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse. She looked more carefree than he’d ever imagined she could.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked with a smile that told him he was welcome.

  Jack realized he should have held out his arms. He had a feeling Maggie would have run right into them. But he hadn’t and she didn’t, so they stood staring at each other saying nothing.

  Jack felt a tug on his pants and looked down to find Amy with a handful of his jeans. “Hey, there, squirt,” he said, bending down on one knee beside her. “You look good as new.”

  Amy grinned, an enchanting three-year-old smile guaranteed to steal one’s heart. Jack gave his up without a struggle. “You look pretty as a princess,” he said to the little girl.

  She turned in a circle, holding her dress out to the sides and said, “Pretty as a princess.”

  When Jack looked up, he found Roman and Lisa Hollander standing arm in arm nearby. He stood and said, “Amy looks great. How is she?”

  “Sassy as ever,” Roman said, scooping Amy up in one arm.

  “It’s good to see you, Jack,” Lisa said. “Will you join us for supper?”

  Jack looked at Maggie and said, “I need to talk with Maggie first.”

  “Sure,” Roman said. “We’ll go get the fire started.”

  Jack couldn’t resist touching Maggie. He adjusted the collar of her blouse and said, “Busy day?”

  She gave him a fleeting smile. “I got named managing partner of the firm.”

  “Congratulations.” Jack hadn’t considered that. Maybe now she’d be too busy for him . . . for them. “That’ll probably keep you pretty busy—”

  “Not too busy for us, Jack,” she interrupted.

  He met her gaze and saw both hope and fear. He realized she was waiting for him to reaffirm his feelings, the ones he’d spoken of a week past. It was harder than he’d thought to say the words because a gigantic lump had lodged in his throat. He forced them out anyway. “I love you, Maggie.”

  The smile came slowly, but when her lips were finally fully curved, she looked radiant.

  “I don’t want to live any more of my life without you, Maggie,” he said.

  “I feel the same way.”

  He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Good. I’ve got something for you.”

  Jack felt anxious all of a sudden. From the look on Maggie’s face she was expecting him to give her some traditional sign of commitment, like a ring. But Jack had known exactly what he wanted to give Maggie for a long time, and it wasn’t made of cold metal or glittering stone.

  He reached inside his buttoned-up Levi’s jacket and pulled out a bundle of calico fur. “Here,” he said.

  “What on earth?”

  He saw the confusion on her face, and then the delight as she realized what he’d given her.

  “It’s a kitten! Oh, Jack. It’s a kitten!” Tears sprang to her eyes as she rubbed the kitten’s fur against her cheek. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted a cat!”

  Jack smiled. The four fake cats had sort of given it away.

  “She’s adorable,” Maggie said. “Where did you find her?”

  “My mom’s cat had a litter. Tinkerbell was hiding them in the garage.”

  Maggie laughed. “You call a cat that leaps onto people from a tree Tinkerbell?”

  “I didn’t name her,” Jack said. “By the way, there are five more where that one came from,” he said, stroking the kitten’s nose. “I wasn’t sure what color you’d like.”

  “Oh, Jack, she’s perfect.”

  “What are you going to name her?” he said.

  Sh
e looked up at him, and Jack watched her face as she realized the significance of the gift. The significance of naming the kitten. The significance of keeping it. She would have to start living again. No more hiding from life. She would have to open the door and let him in, along with the cat.

  Give us a chance, Jack prayed.

  The kitten began purring, and Maggie laughed, a throaty, pleased sound. She looked up at him, her heart in her eyes, and Jack felt his insides tumble. He reached for her and drew her protectively into his embrace. She held the kitten close with one hand, while she curled the other around his neck and drew his face down for her kiss.

  “I love you, Jack,” she said. “So very much.”

  The warmth of her kiss seeped inside him and filled the empty spaces. Jack took Maggie’s face between his hands and looked into her eyes as he said, “Will you marry me, Maggie?”

  “I made so many mistakes the first time, I’m not sure how I’ll do the second time around,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “We’ll work it all out,” he said. “I don’t need someone perfect. I need you. Say yes, Maggie.”

  The kitten meowed.

  Maggie laughed and said, “Yes, Jack.”

  “I want kids, Maggie. A houseful of them.”

  She took a shuddering breath and let it out. “That’s such a big step, Jack.”

  “I’ll be there with you, Maggie. We’ll make it together.”

  He saw the moment she began to believe in happily ever after. The look on her face was peaceful, accepting, happy. “All right, Jack,” she said with a wobbly smile.

  He pulled her close and kissed her hard.

  “Maybe the Hollanders wouldn’t mind if we excused ourselves,” Maggie suggested when she came up for air. “After all, we have a hungry kitten here who needs her mother.”

  “I like the way your mind works, counselor.”

  Maggie smiled. “I’m going to remind you of that, Jack, the first time we have an argument.”

  Jack kissed her again. They would argue. And they would disagree. And they would have problems. All couples did. Life was never perfect. There was no perfect. But he would love her anyway. As she would love him. After all, they belonged together. Two imperfect halves that made one absolutely ideal whole.

  He tugged his hat down and said, “Come on, Maggie. Let’s go home.”

  Author’s Note

  Dear Readers,

  If you enjoyed Heartbeat and I Promise, you might like to try some of my Hawk’s Way contemporary novels, including Hawk’s Way: The Virgin Groom, which is in bookstores now.

  My novella entitled “A Hawk’s Way Christmas” will be in a hardcover gift collection with bestselling author Diana Palmer titled Lone Star Christmas. It should be available in bookstores by mid—October, in plenty of time to make a delightful holiday stocking stuffer.

  My next historical romance novel, a sequel to Captive and After the Kiss called The Bodyguard, tells the story of an English duke tricked into marriage by a spirited Scottish lass. It’s a March release and will be available in bookstores in mid—February 1998.

  I love hearing from you. If you would like to be on my mailing list, please send a postcard to me at P.O. Box 8531, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33084. If you send a letter with comments or questions and would like a reply, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

  Happy trails,

  September 1997

  About the Author

  JOAN JOHNSTON is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 54 novels and novellas, with more than 10 million copies of her books in print. Joan lives in Colorado. You can learn more about her at www.joanjohnston.com or reach her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/joanjohnstonauthor.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

  Romances by Joan Johnston

  THE MEN OF BITTER CREEK

  I PROMISE

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  AVON BOOKS

  An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, New York 10022-5299

  Copyright © 1997 by Joan Mertens Johnston, Inc.

  ISBN 978-0-380-78241-3

  www.avonromance.com

  EPUB Edition JULY 2014 ISBN 9780062380142

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Avon Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. and in Other Countries, Marca Registrada, Hecho en U.S.A.

  HarperCollins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

  10 9

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  http://www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

  Unit D, 63 Apollo Drive

  Rosedale 0632

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  http://www.harpercollins.com

 

 

 


‹ Prev