Wyoming Legend

by Diana Palmer

  “He said they had to get home.” She wiped away tears. “Well. Gold! Best in the world!”

  He smiled. “Yes!”

  “The ice show made me an offer,” she began.

  He laughed. “They made me one, as well.”

  “And?”

  “I’ll do it if you want to,” he said.

  “I’d like to get an endorsement or two, just to make enough for several semesters of college,” Karina replied. “I can teach at the rink while I attend classes.”

  He sighed. “I was thinking the same thing. I’m tired of living out of a suitcase. I want to teach as an adjunct, teach adults. I can also coach at the rink.”

  “So, let’s do what we want to instead of what people expect us to,” he suggested.

  She smiled. “Let’s.”

  * * *

  IN THE END, they did sign on for brief appearances at select events, including a stint at the ice show. They were up front about their participation as well, noting that they didn’t plan to skate professionally or even compete at an amateur level again. They had careers in mind now.

  That attitude was applauded. After all, they could still skate when they wanted to. And the ice show made them a promise; they could make guest appearances if they liked. Karina did like, to help with her college fees. And Paul liked the idea of some cash to put back for the boys’ education.

  They laughed and promised to think about it.

  Then they went home.

  * * *

  KARINA KEPT IN touch with Janey. She’d dreaded hearing that Micah and Lindy were engaged again, but no such announcement was forthcoming. That was a relief. At least, until Janey mentioned that her dad had brought one of his female personal assistants home with him to see the cattle. Janey liked the woman, and at least she didn’t yell. But it was early days yet.

  The certainty that Micah was seeing someone else made her miserable. She threw herself into her class work. One of the adjunct professors who taught geology asked her out. Miserable and lonely she agreed.

  They had little in common, but they ate hamburgers and fries and discussed rocks until Karina was ready to throw one at the man. He took her home early and didn’t even attempt a goodnight kiss. Just as well, because she was measuring her shoe against his head. It had been the most boring date of her entire life.

  She mentioned the date to Janey, but not the misery it had been. If Micah could see other people, there was no reason that she couldn’t, too!

  She hadn’t told Janey that she was enrolled in a degree program at the local college. It wouldn’t matter to Micah anyway. He and his PA apparently were happy together. At least, maybe the woman would be kind to Janey. That was all that mattered.

  * * *

  SHE’D JUST FINISHED her last class and was headed toward her apartment, walking, when she noticed a very expensive sports car sitting in front of the building. Apparently someone had a rich visitor.

  That reminded her of Micah and she sighed, still miserable. She hadn’t seen him in months. It had depressed her so much that she only went to skate occasionally now, having even lost her passion for the ice.

  She unlocked her door just as she heard a car door open behind her. She turned, and there was Micah, dressed in a very becoming dark blue business suit with a white shirt and silk tie. He was without the familiar Stetson for a change. Her heart started racing, double time, as he approached her.

  He frowned, noting the textbooks in her hands. Most of her classes had digital textbooks, but two of them required paper ones because they hadn’t been converted digitally.

  “What are those?” he asked. “Been to the library?”

  “To class,” she replied.

  “Class?”

  “I’m finishing my history degree,” she said.

  He looked down at her with faint surprise. “I thought you and Paul were working the ice show circuit.”

  “Only long enough to pay my way through college,” she said. “It’s expensive.”

  His face changed. “I thought you were going to keep on the circuit.”

  “We’re tired of living out of suitcases,” she said simply. “Paul wants to watch his sons grow up, and not from a distance. He misses Gerda, too, and she can’t travel now that the twins are in pre-K.”

  “I see.” He didn’t, but it was something to say.

  “Do you want coffee?” she offered.

  “I’d love a cup. I’ve been sitting out here for an hour, hoping you’d show up. I went to the rink, but you weren’t there.”

  “Janey told you I was back in Jackson,” she guessed as she let him in and went to the kitchen.

  “Yes.”

  She started a pot of coffee. “Is she doing well in school?”

  “So far,” he said. He perched himself on a stool at the counter and watched her move around the kitchen. In fact, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

  “That’s good.”

  He drew in a rough breath. “Okay, what’s this about a geology professor you’re seeing?” he shot at her.

  Her lips fell open. “Oh, yeah? What’s this about your PA coming to spend the night at the ranch?” she shot back.

  The light in his eyes that had gone out, came back abruptly. He laughed, deep in his throat.

  She flushed.

  He slid off the stool and took her by the waist, drawing her lightly to him. “I hoped it might provoke a reaction.”

  She bit her lower lip. “You didn’t stay, in Pyeongchang,” she said.

  “I wanted to!” he replied. “But you were surrounded by reporters and I didn’t want to rob you of your fame. It was hard earned, I know.”

  “I would have chucked it all, to see you,” she said huskily.

  “Oh, honey,” he ground out. “I’ve missed you!”

  He bent and kissed her hungrily. She reached up, linking her arms around his neck, and she kissed him back as if she was doomed and this was the last time she’d ever see him. Apparently he felt the same way, because he didn’t come up for air for a long time.

  His mouth slid down her throat as he rocked her in his arms. “You had the whole world. Why are you in college?”

  Her arms tightened around his neck. “I want to teach grammar school,” she said. “I have one semester to go, to get my Bachelor of Arts degree, then another two or three years to get my teaching certification.”

  He lifted his head and searched her pale gray eyes. “You don’t want to skate anymore? But you’ve got the whole world!”

  “No. I haven’t.” She reached up and traced his chiseled mouth with her fingers. “It’s very lonely, fame.”

  “It is?”

  She nodded. “I missed Janey. I...missed you, too. Janey said you brought the PA home with you...”

  He chuckled. “So she’d tell you.”

  She caught her breath. “What?”

  “I thought if you lost her temper, it might mean that you cared, just a little,” he confessed. He sighed. “But Janey wrote you and you didn’t say a word.”

  “Until today.”

  He nodded. He cocked his head and studied her pretty, flushed face. “So you don’t want to make a career of ice skating, not even when you have an Olympic gold medal?”

  She smiled and shook her head.

  He pursed his lips. “You want to teach.”

  She nodded. “Very much. I love kids.”

  “Interestingly enough, so do I.”

  She drew in a long, happy breath, because his dark eyes were saying a lot more than his lips were.

  His arms loosened. “I have an idea,” he murmured.

  There was a whimsical note in his deep voice. She pulled back, uncertain when she saw the wicked look in his eyes.

  “Listen,” she said, clearing her throat as she anticipate
d an imminent seduction attempt, “I know I must sound terribly old-fashioned and stuffy, but...”

  “Turn off the coffee pot and come with me.”

  He let her go.

  “But it’s just finished making,” she protested.

  “It will keep. Come on.”

  He took her by the hand and drew her along with him, waiting patiently while she fumbled the key in the lock and turned it before they left.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “It’s a surprise.”

  He put her into the sports car and climbed in behind the wheel.

  “You’re being very secretive,” she said.

  “It’s a happy secret.”

  “Okay, then.”

  He smiled at the easy way she accepted things. Totally unlike Lindy, who never lost an opportunity to argue. He felt for her hand and held it tightly. She clung to it, sighing.

  “What about Paul?” he asked.

  “He’s not as ambitious as I am,” she laughed. “He just wants to teach college as an adjunct. Adult education. It doesn’t require a master’s degree.”

  “I see.”

  “He’s going to teach skating on the side, as well.”

  “You could do that yourself,” he said.

  “Well, not if I’m teaching school full-time,” she began.

  “Here we are.”

  He pulled up in front of the courthouse. She frowned. “Why are we here?”

  “You mentioned wanting a job working with children,” he said, opening her door for her. “I have just the thing.”

  She laughed. “Working for the city?” she asked, all at sea.

  “Wait.”

  He led her into the probate judge’s office. The clerk greeted them with a smile.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Micah said. “We’d like to apply for a marriage license.”

  “Very well!”

  Karina’s eyes began to tear up. She’d never expected that he was anywhere near ready for that sort of commitment. She looked up at him, all eyes.

  “It’s okay,” he said softly, and he smiled.

  She drew in a breath. She smiled back.

  They got the license. He paid the fee. They went back to the car, and he drove them to a local jewelry store.

  “Rings,” he said. “They go with the marriage license.”

  “Oh.”

  He tugged her into the shop with him and led her to the most expensive wedding sets in the case.

  “It’s forever,” he said quietly. “So get something we can hand down to Janey.”

  Tears boiled over in her eyes. He drew her close. “Overflowing joy?” he teased.

  “Overflowing joy,” she agreed.

  * * *

  SHE PICKED OUT a white gold set with sapphires instead of diamonds. She’d never seen anything more beautiful.

  “One more stop,” he added when they were back in the car. “But first...” He took the engagement ring out of the box and slid it onto her ring finger. He kissed it tenderly. “I haven’t asked. But will you?”

  “Oh, yes,” she whispered with all her heart. “Yes!”

  He bent and brushed his mouth gently over hers. “I’m really glad that you said yes.”

  “Why?” she asked absently.

  “Well, I hired a band and a caterer, and I’ve got a minister scheduled to do the service at the ranch this Sunday...”

  She gasped. “But, but...”

  “But if you love me, and I’m pretty sure that you do, you’ll be as impatient as I am to get married.”

  She was still staring at him. “How did you...?”

  “Janey tells me everything, you know,” he said smugly.

  Everything. She recalled a few embarrassing texts that she’d sent to Janey, worrying over Micah and if he was well, and if he was pushing himself too hard. “She showed you the texts,” she groaned.

  “Every single one. I was sure you’d never want to settle down on a deserted Wyoming ranch with a ready-made family. Not when you’d just won an Olympic gold. I guess I looked as depressed as I felt. Because Janey brought me her phone and left it with me, turned to all your messages.”

  “The little minx,” she laughed.

  “She loves you.” He brushed back her hair. “In fact,” he said solemnly, “so do I. With all my heart. I’ve made a hell of a lot of mistakes with you. But if you’re willing, I’ll spend the next fifty years or so trying to make up for them. And we could have a few more kids. You know, to inherit the ranch and the oil business.”

  “Oh, I’d love that,” she said huskily.

  He pursed his lips. “Me, too. So now that we’re engaged...?”

  “No.”

  He lifted both eyebrows.

  She flushed. “No,” she repeated. “I want the whole nine yards. The wedding ceremony, the anticipation, the nerves, the wedding night—all of it.”

  “Why, Miss Carter,” he exclaimed. “Did you think I was working up to seduction?”

  She cleared her throat. “Well,” she began.

  He chuckled. “I want you to come up for the weekend. You can have your old room and Burt and Janey will guard your virtue. We can even put Dietrich on guard duty and he can sleep with you, if it makes you feel safer.”

  She burst out laughing and hugged him, hard. “Oh, I do love you.”

  “I noticed. Now. Last stop.”

  He drove them to a couture shop, the only one in town. “She has a wedding gown in the window,” he said. “I’ve been staring at it every time I came down here with Janey. I’ve pictured you wearing it.”

  “But it might not be my size, and if we’re getting married on Sunday...?”

  “I checked,” he whispered. “It is your size. Let’s go inside. I’ll prove it to you.”

  He walked her into the shop. The designer’s eyebrows arched and she chuckled as she saw Karina. “So, Mr. Torrance, she said yes?”

  “She said yes,” he replied. “And I didn’t even have to make her feel guilty by telling her I commissioned the wedding gown in her size.”

  “You did?” Karina exclaimed. “Oh, my goodness!”

  “I feel that I know you already,” the shop owner laughed. “He talks about you all the time.”

  Karina looked at him with her heart in her eyes. “I do the same thing,” she confessed.

  “Here, come and try it on, let’s just be certain that it fits. But if it needs adjustments, I can have it ready by tomorrow,” she promised.

  * * *

  KARINA TRIED IT ON. It fit perfectly, but she was superstitious enough not to let Micah see her in it.

  The proprietor wrapped it up neatly in a hanging bag and gave it to her, after returning Micah’s credit card to him. “I wish you the happiness I’ve had for the past thirty years with my own husband,” she told Karina and hugged her.

  “Thank you. The dress is beautiful.”

  “I’ll want a photo for my window,” she teased.

  “I’ll make sure you have one,” Micah assured her.

  * * *

  HOURS AND A few passionate kisses later, Karina snuggled close to Micah in the armchair they were sharing and sighed. “I wish I could go home with you,” she said. “But I have a nine o’clock class in the morning and a lab I have to study for.”

  “The weekend will come soon enough,” he mused. His tie was off, his shirt half unbuttoned. Her blouse was undone, her bra unfastened. He bent and put his lips tenderly to her soft breast. “We seem to be very compatible.”

  She laughed. “We do.” She touched his mouth. “I must seem ridiculously old-fashioned.”

  He kissed the words away. “I want to do it right, as well. For Janey’s sake. I haven’t set her a good example w
ith Lindy.” He shook his head. “That was a near fatal mistake. I still can’t believe I was so blind.”

  “Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of us,” she said soothingly. “You love Janey. She knows it.”

  “She’ll like having brothers and sisters,” he said softly, smiling at her. “But we can wait until you’re through school, if you want to.”

  “Pregnant women can still study,” she pointed out. “In fact, I could do distance education for a good part of my master’s work. I, uh, asked about it already.”

  He chuckled. “Thinking ahead, were you?”

  “Hoping,” she confided. She sighed as she studied him. “I wanted you more than I ever wanted skating. That’s a lot.”

  “Same here.” He kissed her hungrily, one last time and then stood up, taking her with him. “It’s been a long dry spell and I don’t trust myself too far right now. So I’m going home. I’ll come down to get you Friday. What’s your class schedule next week?”

  One of my professors is having surgery, so I only have one class, next Thursday morning.”

  “Nice,” he remarked with twinkling eyes. “We can fly down to Nassau for three days and have a brief honeymoon.”

  “But, Janey...”

  “She’s going to stay with Gerda and Paul,” he remarked. “And, yes, I asked.”

  “Well! And Gerda never said a word!”

  “I swore them both to secrecy,” he chuckled. “She’ll be in great hands.”

  “Yes, she will. Nassau?”

  “Yes. Have you been there?”

  “Actually, it’s one of only a handful of places I haven’t been,” she confessed. “There were pirates in the Bahamas. History,” she emphasized.

  “I can wear an eye patch and get a parrot for my shoulder, if you like,” he teased.

  She pressed close. “That’s very sweet.”

  “Yes, it is,” he chuckled, hugging her close. “I’ll see myself out. Study hard.”

  “I will. Drive carefully.”

  “I always do.” He lifted her engagement ring to his lips and kissed it softly. “A few more days. And then, fireworks!”

  Her gray eyes twinkled. “Promise?”

  “Cross my heart.”

  She grinned.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN