by Diana Palmer
* * *
A week later, they celebrated their first Christmas together at a family party, to which Janie’s father, Aunt Lydia and Hettie were also invited. After kissing her with exquisite tenderness beneath the mistletoe, Leo gave Janie an emerald necklace, to match her eyes, he said, and she gave him an expensive pocket watch, with his name and hers engraved inside the case.
* * *
On New Year’s Eve, the family gathered with other families at the Jacobsville Civic Center for the first annual celebration. A live band played favorites and couples danced on the polished wood floor. Calhoun Ballenger had mused aloud that since Jacobsville’s economy was based on cattle and agriculture, they should drop a pair of horns instead of a ball to mark the new year. He was red-faced at the celebration, when the city fathers took him seriously and did that very thing.
While Leo and Janie stood close together on the patio of the second floor ballroom to watch the neon set of longhorns go down to the count, a surprising flurry of snow came tumbling from the sky to dust the heads of the crowd.
“It’s snowing!” Janie exclaimed, holding out a hand to catch the fluffy precipitation. “But it never snows in Jacobsville! Well, almost never.”
Leo caught her close as the horns went to the bottom of the courthouse tower across the street and bent to her mouth, smiling. “One more wish come true,” he teased, because he knew how much she loved snow. “Happy New Year, my darling,” he whispered.
“Happy New Year,” she whispered back, and met his kiss with loving enthusiasm, to the amused glances of the other guests. They were, after all, newlyweds.
The new year came and soon brought with it unexpected tragedy. John Clark went back to Victoria to get his jailed brother a famous attorney, but he didn’t have any money. So he tried to rob a bank to get the money. He was caught in the act by a security guard and a Texas Ranger who was working on a case locally. Judd Dunn was one of the two men who exchanged shots with Clark in front of the Victoria Bank and Trust. Clark missed. Judd and the security guard didn’t. Ballistics tests were required to pinpoint who fired the fatal bullet.
Jack Clark, still in jail in Victoria, was let out long enough to attend his brother’s funeral in Victoria. He escaped from the kindly sheriff’s deputy who was bringing him back in only handcuffs instead of handcuffs and leg chains. After all, Jack Clark had been so docile and polite, and even cried at his brother’s grave. The deputy was rewarded for his compassion by being knocked over the head twice with the butt of his own .38 caliber service revolver and left for dead in a driving rain in the grass next to the Victoria road. Later that day, his squad car was found deserted a few miles outside Victoria.
It was the talk of the town for several days, and Leo and Janie stayed close to home, because they knew Clark had scores to settle all around Jacobsville. They were in their own little world, filled with love. They barely heard all the buzz and gossip. But what they did hear was about Tippy Moore and Cash Grier.
“Tippy’s not Grier’s sort,” Janie murmured sleepily. They didn’t do a lot of sleeping at night, even now. She cuddled up in her husband’s lap and nuzzled close. “He needs someone who is gentle and sweet. Not a harpy.”
He wrapped her up close and kissed the top of her head. “What would you know about harpies?” he teased. “You’re the single sweetest human being I’ve ever known.”
She smiled.
“Well, except for me, of course,” he added.
“Leo Hart!” she exclaimed, drawing back.
“You said I was sweet,” he murmured, bending his head. “You said it at least six times. You were clawing my back raw at the time, and swearing that you were never going to live through what I was doing to you...”
She tugged his head down and kissed him hungrily. “You’re sweet, all right,” she whispered raggedly. “Do it again...!”
He groaned. They were never going to make it to the bed. But the doors were locked...what the hell.
An hour later, he carried her down the hall to their bedroom and tucked her up next to him, exhausted and still smiling.
“At least,” he said wearily, “hopefully Clark will go to prison for a long, long time when he’s caught. He won’t be in a position to threaten you again.”
“Or you.” She curled closer. “Did I tell you that Marilee phoned me yesterday?”
He stiffened. “No.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. She only wanted to apologize. She’s going to Europe to visit her grandmother in London. I told her to have a nice trip.”
“London’s almost far enough away.”
She sighed, wrapping her arms around him. “Be generous. She’ll never know what it is to be as happy as we are.”
“Who will?” he teased, but the look he gave her was serious. He touched her hair, watching her succumb to sleep.
He lay awake for a long time, his eyes intent on her slender, sleeping body. She made wonderful biscuits, she could shoot a shotgun, she made love like a fairy. He wondered what he’d ever done in his life to deserve her.
“Dreams,” she whispered, shocking him.
“What, honey?”
She nuzzled her face into his throat and melted into him. “Dreams come true,” she whispered, falling asleep again.
He touched her lips with his and smoothed back her long hair. “Yes, my darling,” he whispered with a long, sweet smile. “Dreams come true.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460341537
A Husband for Christmas
Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
Snow Kisses
Copyright © 1983 by Diana Palmer
Lionhearted
Copyright © 2002 by Diana Palmer
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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