Baby My Baby (A Ranching Family)
Page 21
“But you’d be leaving your grandfather, your home, your roots, your traditions.”
“In my tribe,” he said with a tired smile, “it’s the custom for the man to join the wife’s people when they marry. I may be a little late, but I’ll be upholding tradition to move here.”
“But Ash,” she persisted, still as if this whole idea was just conjectural, “what about ceremonies, the community, being a part of your heritage—”
“I can still go back for special occasions and participate. Being here won’t make me less an Indian. Just more of a husband.” His expression sobered then and he pinned her with those black eyes of his. “Because that’s what I want to be, Beth. So if you came here to run me out of town on a rail, you’d better know you’re going to have some trouble.” Which led them back to his unanswered question about her being there. “Is that why you sneaked in here—to try to get me to leave?”
“No, it isn’t,” she answered quietly.
He nodded his approval of that and made a sound that was part sigh, part laugh, as if that were the most he expected to hear from her in the way of an invitation to stay or a statement of her commitment. “Tell me you love me, Beth,” he said, sounding as exhausted as he looked. “If you never do it again for as long as we live, tell me now. Tell me that’s why you’re here and that it’s enough to work out our problems.”
“I do love you,” she obliged, finding it easier than when she’d said it before. “Jackson gave me a good talking-to and pointed out a few things to me, but that was the one thing I knew even without his help.”
The more she said, the higher his eyebrows arched, as if he couldn’t believe she was speaking so freely. “Jackson’s a good man, but what did he say that I didn’t?” he asked, as if testing to see if she really was going to open up to him.
“Among a lot of things, there was one that really struck home—that I was so busy hiding my feelings from you I was refusing myself what I really wanted. I was so afraid of being disappointed again that I was denying the possibility that things could be different.”
“An excellent observation. So here you are,” he said then, tossing the ball into her court again.
“So here I am.”
“And what happens now?”
She took a deep breath, shoring up her strength. “I decided that I’d like to give marriage a second try after all. That I know you’ll do your best to keep your promise about not being swallowed up by the foundation—especially if you move here—and that I’m willing to wrestle with whatever I have to to do my part.”
She stood and went to sit on the edge of his bed, facing him. “Because I really do love you, Ash. More than you’ll ever know. And I want us to be together when this baby is born and through all the good and bad that comes with raising it, and—”
He reached up and cupped her cheek in his big palm and she lost her train of thought as she melted into his touch.
“You know, I’ve been pretty dumb myself, missing out on all we had together by not putting you first,” he said. “I don’t plan on letting that happen again, so there shouldn’t be a need for you to do much complaining about my not being around. But there can never be enough of this kind of talk.”
“You want me falling all over you, is that what you’re telling me?” she joked through her third flash of tears, though now they were from happiness and the swell of love for him that rose from her heart to her throat.
“Physically you can fall all over me anytime,” he joked back, caressing her face. “But verbally? Just a little will do. Just a periodic hey you, I’m glad you’re my husband.”
“Will you be?”
“Will I be glad or your husband?”
“Both.”
“Is that a proposal?” he asked in mock surprise.
“I thought you had one coming since I’ve turned down so many of yours.”
“Yes, I’ll gladly marry you and be your husband, a real one this time. And the best father I know how to be.”
He pulled her to him then, capturing her mouth with his in a long, slow, deep kiss.
“I love you, Beth,” he said when he ended it.
“I love you, too.” She looked into his tired eyes and smoothed a finger along the dark shadow beneath one of them. “But you’d better get some sleep.” She kicked off her shoes and raised the sheet, trying not to notice just how naked he was, and slipped into bed with him.
“I suppose sleeping is all we can do?” he asked, sounding resigned.
“For a few days, until the doctor gives us the go-ahead again.”
He wrapped her in his arms and they lay back together, Beth curved to his side, her head on his chest.
“Then I guess we’ll have to plan our second wedding around when we can have our honeymoon—as long as it won’t be too far-off,” he said.
“And in the meantime,” she added, snuggling in very close to his gloriously naked body, “we can make the best of resting.”
Except, at that moment, the baby gave a kick hard enough even for Ash to feel against his side.
“Looks like we’re the only two who need it,” he said with a laugh. “My son is ready to play.”
“Or your daughter,” Beth amended.
Ash slipped his hand between them to just the spot where the baby seemed to be dancing a jig, and Beth watched as his eyes closed and his face relaxed into an expression of pure contentment.
He couldn’t go to sleep any too soon, because the wonders he was working at her middle were making it difficult to follow doctor’s orders.
But she managed to conquer her rising desires by reminding herself that they’d have their whole lives to satisfy and delight in them.
The divorce just hadn’t worked out.
* * * * *
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8801-0
Baby My Baby
Copyright © 1995 by Victoria Pade
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