Theresa Michaels
Page 22
“And Mary has coffee on and hot food waiting for you.”
Rafe held out the torch to Sarah and was about to turn for his own horse when Rio stopped him.
“Wait. You don’t know me. Yet you offer welcome and turn your back on me?”
“That’s right. Sarah brought you here. Don’t need more than that.”
And later when the tale was told, Rio realized that Rafe had spoken the simple truth. He and his wife needed no more than that.
It was late, nearer to dawn when Rio roused Sarah from her bed near the fireplace. He motioned for silence as he led her between the pallets where his sons slept and drew her outside with him.
The crisp night mountain air brought Sarah to shivering until Rio wrapped his arms around her and walked away from the house.
“There are words I need to say to you, Sarah. Words of promise.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.
“From my heart I give these promises to you, iszáń I will be your shelter for the days to come. And I will be your warmth. You will never spend another hour of being lonely for I am here for you always. We are two, man and woman, but from this day forth we have but one life to share. We will spend our days together, bound by the generous hearts that share their love. And our days, Sarah,” he whispered, drawing her close so their lips just met, “all our days will be good and long beneath the sun. I love you Sarah. Love you and honor you as the woman of my heart.”
For Sarah it was more than hearing words as he locked her within the strength of his arms, his lips tender and seeking as they sought hers. A rainswept night had brought a stranger into her home, into her arms and into her heart.
And she vowed to keep him there—forever.
Epilogue
It took nearly three years before the once merry widows were able to come together again. The first few days of this spring meeting in the hidden valley were spent sorting names and children and a flurry of cooking and catching up with one anothers’ lives.
Three radiant women looked on as their husbands went down beneath a tangle of shrieking children. Shaded beneath the giant cottonwood tree outside of Sarah’s new cabin, it was the first time they found themselves alone. A warm breeze ruffled the thick grass and whispered through the leaves overhead as the sounds of children’s laughter filled the air.
There really wasn’t a need for words between them, but Sarah put their thoughts into words.
“I never knew happiness was something I could hold and touch every day of my life. I have only to look at Rio and—”
“And love is waiting there in his eyes, in his arms and his lips,” Catherine finished for her.
“You know,” Sarah said, looking at her.
“Oh, yes. It is the same for Greg and me and Mary here,” Catherine said with a short laugh as she poked a finger into Mary’s side. “She knew it first.”
There was more laughter then, for Mary merely winked. She rose and stood on tiptoes to see that Beth was standing. Tall for her age and already showing hints of the lovely young woman to come, she managed to extract little Robert, a sturdy four-year-old the very image of Rafe. Mary smiled to see them, blessing each day for the love they had given her, but the smile went to her eyes when she saw her handsome husband rise and tower over the tangle of bodies.
“I have been blessed,” she shared with the others, knowing they felt the same.
Catherine came to stand beside her, slipping her arm around Mary’s waist just as Sarah joined them to do the same. “My twins won’t want to leave here. The girls don’t have this kind of freedom back home.”
“Then stay with us. Greg could make money anywhere. Rio and Rafe have done very well with the horses they’re breeding. And Rafe still has other business interests, doesn’t he, Mary?”
“Some. He’s sold off quite a bit. Contentment, or so he tells me, does that to a man.”
“So think about it, Catherine,” Sarah said.
“Well, we have,” she answered softly, her gaze picking out the honey blond heads of her twin girls. Gabriel already had MaryKate by the hand and Lucas was lifting Sarah Beth into his arms. Moments later she saw Greg offering Rio a hand up.
They watched their men coming toward them, the children close by their sides, faint sounds of voices reaching them.
“Actually, we can’t give Greg too much choice. You see I want you two with me this time.”
It took Sarah a moment to tear her gaze from Rio’s lean, hard body coming closer and looked into Catherine’s eyes. Mary reached the same conclusion she did.
“A baby, Catherine? You’re going to have a baby?”
“Yes.”
The word was almost lost in the squeals of joy and laughter that followed, for the children reached them, crowding close.
Over the children’s demands to be told the news, the three men stood apart, whispering among themselves.
“You’re real sure about this, Greg?” Rafe asked.
“Look at Catherine. I can’t deny that woman of mine anything she wants.”
“Nor I, Mary.”
Rio was silent, for his gaze had locked with Sarah’s. Then he smiled. He understood what Rafe and Greg meant. A heart overflowing with love could refuse the giving woman nothing. Nothing at all.
“We’ll stay. But, true to tell, I don’t know if I can survive all this togetherness.”
Rafe, laughing, slapped Greg on his back. “We’ll show you. Won’t we, Rio? It’s all a matter of knowing when to run. Disappear. Like now.”
And while their women were distracted by bending to answer smaller children, they made good their escape.
“Where were you, Rafe, when I was trying to escape Catherine’s wiles?”
“Busy loving my wife,” Rafe answered as he led them around to the nearly completed barn.
Only Rio paused as they entered the dim interior and made for the loft’s ladder. He looked back to see that Sarah watched him. She blew him a kiss, her dark eyes sparkling with joy as she mouthed the words. “I love you.”
Escape? Rio didn’t think so. He never wanted to be without his woman, his Sarah and her love.
No silent mouthing for him. No whisper would do. He shouted out the words to her.
“Sarah, I love you.”
And the warm breeze carried the words throughout the hidden valley.
eISBN 978-14592-5084-0
THE MERRY WIDOWS—SARAH
Copyright © 1999 by Theresa DiBenedetto All rights reserved. Except for use In any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work In whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters In this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Excerpt
Dear Reader
Title Page
Books by Theresa Michaels
About the Atuhor
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chap
ter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Copyright