He lifted his head, his eyes opening at her breathless sigh of wonder.
The love for him showing in her face rocked him to his core as nothing else had ever done—not the leaving, nor the men he'd killed, nor the times he'd almost died, himself. Her love was beyond imagining.
"Why?" he asked hoarsely. "You still love me."
He half expected her to deny it, but instead, she looked down at the floor, collecting her thoughts. "I will always love you," she said. "There will never be anyone else for me."
"Lina—"
"Please. Don't say it. Riding out of my life five years ago was a most…eloquent refusal."
He shook his head, as if to deny her words, then drew one of her hands up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I never meant to hurt you. I didn't know you were pregnant."
"Would it have mattered?" She lifted her head, her eyes boring into his, demanding honesty.
"I don't know. I don't know what I'd have done. I want to think I'd have stayed—done the right thing. I was young, too," he reminded her. "And—stupid."
The corners of her mouth quirked at that. "And arrogant."
He smiled wearily. "I still am, it seems."
She put her palm to his cheek, loving him with her eyes. "An arrogant man would not have gone out in search of hair ribbons for his daughter."
Miguel looked away. "I would give her my own eyes, if I could."
"You love her. I knew you would. She's waited so long—" she broke off, her voice cracking.
"Christ, Lina. Yes, I love her." He stopped short at the sound of his own admission, but it was out. He might as well say it all. More softly, he said, "I love you, too."
"Miguel—"
"Is it too late? Am I too late?" He turned away from her, uncertain at what he almost suggested with his words. What he realized now, he wanted above everything.
Her arms came around him from behind, and she laid her head against his back. "It's never too late, if you believe something can happen. I have always believed in you."
He closed his eyes tightly, drawing in a slow, deep breath. "I didn't know, Lina."
"You were young, as you said." There was forgiveness in her tone, and it was almost more than Miguel could bear.
After a moment, he turned in her arms, and enfolded her against the length of his body. He smoothed her hair back, letting the silken texture ripple through his fingertips. "Arrogant, too—as you said," he teased.
She raised her head slowly to meet his gaze. The answers to all his questions lay in her beautiful dark eyes.
"What will you do…this time?"
He smiled. "Do you still want me?" He shook his head and glanced away. "Five years is a long time."
"If you want to stay," she said carefully, "I know it would mean everything to Maria."
His gaze swung back to her. "What would it mean to you, Catalina?"
She moistened her lips. "Everything."
He leaned down slowly, his lips coming across hers. He was hungry for her as he had never been before. She loved him. She wanted him. And that was all he needed, now or ever. He had been so unaware. Her mouth opened under his as she yielded to him, melting into his arms. Every moment of pent-up longing and uncertainty of the past five years was in her kiss; but there was more. There was the promise of tomorrow—if he would but share it with her.
He lifted his lips from hers. "I want to stay."
"I want that, too." He knew just how much it cost her to let go of the last remnant of her defenses. She was trusting him once more. He'd die before he ever hurt her again. His thumb skimmed over her full lower lip, as if committing it to memory.
Miguel nodded, releasing her. He put out his hand, and she took it with no hesitation.
Chapter Nine
"I want to see Maria."
Lina's expression was questioning. "Don't you want to eat first? It's been ready—"
He shook his head, leading the way toward the stairs. The need to see his daughter was more important to relieve than his hunger. "In a bit, Lina. I just want to look in on her. Such a miracle—as Esteban said. He was right—"
Lina stopped at the foot of the stairs, her expression stricken. "Esteban Montoya?"
"Yes." Miguel's look became somber at her concern. "Why?"
Lina bit her lip. "You—went to the mission?"
He smiled. "See how desperate I was to get those ribbons? I thought the priest might know—Lina, what's wrong?"
"Miguel, we have not had a priest here for over six months." She took a shuddering breath. "Esteban Montoya was killed in the spring, by Federales."
"Lina…" How could this be? "I talked to him…" His words trailed away, and he leaned against the banister for a moment, trying to make sense of this day. He didn't believe in miracles. Life had been rough and hard, and he knew he was lucky to be alive—but he was here by no "miracle;" rather, his own skill with a gun and a measure of luck.
Lina took his arm and he turned to look at her. "Others have seen him, too, Miguel. But you are the only one he has spoken with. They say Christmas Eve is—"
"A night when miracles occur," he finished for her, thinking of Esteban's words.
"Yes. I believe that. It is a miracle you are here; a miracle that you and Padre Esteban were able to talk together—"
"A miracle you still love me."
She smiled at that. "No, that is not a miracle. You are the love of my life. I knew that when I watched you ride away the last time." She reached up to touch his cheek, and he kissed her palm, holding it close to his skin.
"I wish I had known, too."
Lina nodded toward Maria's door. "Come on. We'll look in on Maria then have our dinner."
"Maria—she's the most unexpected gift I ever received." When he thought of the unconditional love Maria had held in her heart for him all the years of her young life, he felt unworthy all over again, and an incredible self-doubt shrouded his soul once more.
Lina laughed softly. "Is that how you see her? As a gift?"
They reached the top of the stairs, and Miguel turned Lina to him before they went into Maria's room. "Lina, I see this day as a gift. The fact that you waited for me—your love—is a gift."
"You've always had it."
Tears sparkled in her eyes, and Miguel was ashamed of the heartache he'd caused her. He pulled her close, holding her in his arms.
"You won't ever be alone again, querida. As long as you want me, I'm here to stay." It was all he could think of to say to her, to let her know it was her choice, this time.
Her fingers tightened at his waist and after a few seconds, she nodded, lifting her head to look into his eyes. "I will never stop loving you."
Miguel smiled at her serious pronouncement. "That might be enough to make me believe in miracles, Lina."
He turned to push Maria's door open, and together they walked inside.
Moonlight spilled through the window, like a stairway to the stars. From where she sat among the silvered moonbeams in the middle of her bed, Maria turned as they entered. She held up two ribbons of deep, rich scarlet, the very ribbons Miguel had bought earlier. Beautiful, fine ribbons, fit for a princess.
Miguel's chest clenched. He did not believe in miracles. But where had they come from? How had they gotten here? There was no explanation. If he lived to be a hundred, he'd never know where those silken ribbons had come from. The breath rushed out of him as he knelt beside the bed, and Maria hugged him, the ribbons clutched in her small hands. Her eyes…her beautiful brown eyes were shining with sight once more as she looked up at him. A miracle he could neither deny, nor understand. There was nothing left to do but to accept what this day had brought to him, and he embraced it, at last.
"Scarlet ribbons, Papa! The most beautiful scarlet I've ever seen! And with a cross here, on the back!"
His own eyes stung and blurred with tears of thanks as he looked closely at the gold etched stitches. A detail he had not noticed before… A detail which, without a miracle, m
ight not be seen by one who had been blind for so long.
The End
About the Author:
Cheryl Pierson is a native of Oklahoma. She lives in the Oklahoma City metro area with her husband. The mother of two grown children, and pet-sitter on occasion, she is always busy. A romance author who loves to read, Cheryl also teaches novel writing classes and is co-owner of West Winds Media, an editing/teaching business for writers. She writes short stories that have been published by Adams Media, Western Fictioneers, Western Trail Blazer, Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery, and Victory Tales Press, as well as Chicken Soup. She has four published novels to her credit and is always working on “the next one.”
Her novel, Fire Eyes, (available through Western Trail Blazer) was an Epic Award Finalist.
Cheryl’s Western/Time-Travel/Romance novel, Time Plains Drifter, is now available from Western Trail Blazer. She received the PNR PEARL Awards Honorable Mention as Best New Paranormal Author of 2009 for Time Plains Drifter, and she placed third in the San Antonio Romance Authors (SARA) Merritt Contest with her newest novel manuscript, Gabriel's Law.
The first two novellas of her new western series, Kane’s Redemption and Kane’s Promise, are available through Western Trail Blazer. The third and final book of the series, Kane’s Destiny, will be released in the winter of 2012.
White Christmas, a contemporary holiday novelette, is available from Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery. Other novelettes available from PbRJV are: To Make the Magic Last, The Last of Her Kind, A Heart for a Heart, and Always and Forever.
To learn more about Cheryl and her exciting books, visit her at
http://www.cherylpiersonbooks.blogspot.com/
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