"Aren't you forgetting something?" he whispered.
She tilted her head in inquiry.
He brushed her lips. "Aren't you forgetting to say, 'I love you, too, Gabe'? What about that?"
She drew back, smiled into his eyes. "Is there any doubt?"
"You're not the only one who needs to hear the words."
"I love you, Gabe. All the way to the bottom of my soul."
He shuddered. "No more talk of leaving me?"
"No more."
"No more arguments about getting married?"
"Not a single one."
"You'll put up with my brothers?"
"Don't remind me."
"And Chip's going to belong to both of us?"
She nodded, unable for a moment to speak. Now that he'd set his heart to it, Gabe Bonner would be a better father to her son than Dwayne Snopes could ever have dreamed of being.
She stroked the stubborn line of his jaw, kissed him again. She wanted to laugh and sing and burst out in tears all at once. The emotions were too much, so she hid behind some gentle teasing. "Don't think I'm going to forget about that million dollars. You were right about me not keeping those diamonds, and you're not competent to handle your own money."
"You are?"
She nodded.
"You're right." He sighed. "Still, for a million dollars, a man has a right to expect something special." With no warning he swept her into his arms. As he carried her into his bedroom, one hand caressed her bare bottom. "Let me think… What kind of kinkiness would be worth a million dollars?"
A dozen ideas skipped through her mind.
"First I'm going to strip you naked." His throaty whisper made her shiver. "Then I'm going to stretch you out on that bed and love every single part of you."
A soft moan slipped through her lips.
"And Rach? Chip's out like a light, so we've got all the time in the world. I'll be going about it real slow."
She struggled for air.
He set her on her feet, then locked the bedroom door. He returned to her at once, and his fingers brushed her collarbone as he unbuttoned the shirt. He dipped his head to her neck and nipped the skin with his teeth. The shirt slid to the ground. He nuzzled and nibbled and worked his way from one delicious spot to another.
When she couldn't stand it, she began pulling at his clothing, and she didn't stop until he was naked.
His, body. She drank in the sight of those ridges of muscle, the lines between tanned and lighter skin, the patch of dark hair on his chest and at his groin. She cupped him, feeling the heavy weight there, the tensile strength, loving the sound of his irregular breathing.
They fell back on the bed and discovered neither of them had the patience for slowness. She needed his heavy weight on top of her, anchoring her to this bed, this house, this town—binding the two of them together forever. And he needed it too.
Only when he was buried deep inside her did they slow. She wrapped her legs around his, loving the feeling of being completely open for him, of being possessed by him.
His gray eyes gazed down into hers. "I love you, Rachel."
She lifted the hand she'd curled around his hip and brought it to the nape of his neck, sheltering him as she smiled her own love back before she whispered the words she knew he wanted to hear. "I love you, Gabe."
He moved inside her, and their passion built, but neither looked away. They kept their eyes locked, unwilling to give in to the primal instinct that craved privacy at this moment of deepest vulnerability.
He didn't drop his head to the crook of her neck, but kept it above her, staring down. She didn't turn her cheek into the pillow but gazed upward.
The boldness of allowing another person, even one so deeply loved, to have such an open conduit into the other's soul intensified every movement.
Green eyes swallowed silver. Silver devoured green.
"Oh, Rach…"
"My love…"
Eyes open, they came together in a melding of souls.
Epilogue
« ^
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I just can't seem to make up my mind." Rachel caught her lip between her teeth, the perfect picture of an indecisive female except for the faintly diabolic glimmer in her eyes. "You were right, Ethan. I should have listened to you. The couch did fit better by the window."
Ethan exchanged a long-suffering look with his oldest brother. "Let's move it back to the window, Cal."
Gabe watched from the doorway with a great deal of amusement as his brothers hoisted the heavy couch until it was once again beneath the cottage's front window. He loved watching Rachel torture his brothers. She made Ethan fetch and carry for her, and when Cal visited, she developed an insatiable need to have all the new furniture they'd bought for the cottage rearranged.
She held the biggest grudge against Cal, so, even though he was around less frequently, he got the worst of it: She'd conned him into going to school with Chip last fall as his show-and-tell project, and she made him sign a ton of autographs for every kid she met. She still loved to save money, so she'd also made him agree to give future free medical care to Chip and the other children she and Gabe had, to all of Ethan and Kristy's children, and to herself, as long as she didn't have to take her clothes off. Cal had the nerve to argue with her about the last part.
No matter what Rachel demanded from his brothers, Gabe acted dumb, as if he didn't know what was going on. It drove them crazy, but they never complained because they still felt so guilty about the hard time they'd given her. As penance, they did as she asked, and she rewarded them by asking for even more.
Just this morning Gabe had inquired exactly how much longer she thought she could stretch this thing out, and she'd said she figured she could get another six months from it, but he doubted it. She didn't have a real killer instinct, and his brothers could be charming bastards when they set their minds to it. For a long time now, she'd been running more on mischief than retribution.
Cal finished positioning his end of the couch and shot Gabe an irritated look. "Tell me one more time, Rach. Why is it that lazy lug you married can't help move your furniture?"
Rachel reached down to stroke Snoozer, their calico cat. "Now, Cal, you know that Gabe has a trick back. I just don't think it's wise for him to aggravate it."
Cal muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Trick back, my ass."
Rachel pretended she didn't hear, while Gabe tried to support his beloved wife by looking like someone who might actually have a trick back.
As he lounged in the doorway, he realized that, after a year of marriage, he hadn't come close to getting tired of watching her. For the cookout they were having today, she wore tailored walking shorts with a silk maternity top, both of them the same blue as the hyacinths that had come up this spring in front of the cottage. A pair of small diamond earrings dangling from thin European wires glimmered through her auburn curls, which were cut shorter now, but were still a little disheveled, the way he liked. He'd bought her bigger diamond earrings, but she'd made him exchange them, saying this size suited her just fine.
What he most enjoyed about her appearance today—and most days, for that matter—were her shoes, a slim pair of silver sandals with a tiny wedged heel. He loved those sandals. He loved all the shoes he bought for her.
"Cal, that armchair… I hate to ask, but you're always so sweet about helping me. Would you mind moving it nearer the fireplace?"
"Not at all." Gabe could almost hear Cal's teeth grinding as he hoisted the chair across the room.
"Perfect." Rachel beamed at him.
Cal looked hopeful. "Really?"
"No, you're right. It's not perfect at all. Maybe by the couch?"
At that moment, the back door slammed and Jane shot past them on her way to the bathroom. Cal glanced at his watch and sighed. "Right on schedule."
"Three pregnant women and one bathroom." Ethan shook his head. "Not a pretty sight. I hope you get the expansion to
the cottage finished soon, Gabe."
"It should be done before winter."
Unlike everyone else, his parents had fallen in love with Rachel the moment they'd met her, and his mother had deeded the cottage to them as a wedding present. Even though they had the money to buy a much more luxurious home, they both loved living on top of Heartache Mountain, and they didn't even consider moving. They needed more room, however, so they were building an airy two-story extension off the back that was designed to stay true to the cottage's rustic architecture, while giving them the additional space they needed.
Despite the construction mess, Rachel had wanted to throw a family cookout to celebrate Gabe's formal adoption of Chip. It was a big deal to everybody in the family except Chip and Gabe. They'd adopted each other a year ago on the night Rachel'd been put in jail.
"At least we only have one of our wives throwing up this time," Ethan said. "Remember when we were all here on Christmas Eve, and Rachel and Kristy were both at it."
Cal shuddered. "It's not something any of us is likely to forget."
To avoid the construction rubble, they'd set up the picnic area near Rachel's garden, which was in bloom from the rosebushes they'd planted, and now Kristy called in through the side window. "Rachel, come out here. You have to see Rosie's new trick."
"I'll be right there." She patted Cal's back. "We can finish this later."
The cat followed as Rachel waddled toward the door. Rachel had her weight thrown back on her heels and her big belly leading. Gabe felt a surge of primitive male pride knowing he'd done that to her. In another month, the baby would be born, and none of them could wait.
The moment Rachel disappeared, Cal and Ethan collapsed on the couch they'd moved to four separate locations. Gabe took pity and brought them each a beer. Then he settled in the armchair he suspected he'd have to wrestle back to its original position as soon as his brothers left and lifted his own bottle. "Here's to the three luckiest men on earth."
His brothers smiled, and, for a while, they just sat there sipping their beers and thinking about how lucky they really were. Cal had finished his first year of medical school at UNC, and he and Jane were enjoying living in Chapel Hill. The architects had completed the plans for the renovation that would turn the mausoleum into a spacious contemporary. It would be their permanent home when Cal finished his residency and came back to join their father's practice.
Ethan seemed to have finally found peace in his role as a minister, although he griped about the series of church secretaries he'd gone through in a futile attempt to replace Kristy, who refused to leave her job teaching preschool to come back to work for him. And Rachel…
Chip dashed in, followed by Sammy, his year-old black Lab. Sammy dashed over to Gabe, while Chip ran to Cal. "Rosie's a pain."
"What'd she do now, pal?" Cal gave Gabe's son a quick hug. From the back of the house, the wheel on the hamster cage squeaked.
"Crashed my fort right after I got it built."
"You don't have to put up with that," Cal said. "Tell her no. Or build your fort out front where she can't get to you."
Chip regarded him with reproach. "She was helping, and she didn't mean to."
Cal rolled his eyes. "One of these days you and your Uncle Cal are going to have to have a long talk about dealing with women."
Chip wandered over to Gabe, crawled up on his lap, and settled in. At six, he'd started to shoot up, and, before long, his feet would brush the floor, but he still liked being in Gabe's lap. Chip's beloved Lab collapsed across Gabe's foot. "You know what I think's gonna happen, Dad?"
Gabe brushed the top of his head with a kiss. "What's that, son?"
Chip gave a sigh of resignation. "I think when me and Rosie grow up, we're gonna prob'ly get married, just like you and Mom did."
The men didn't laugh at his pronouncement. All of them had come to respect the mysterious bond that had formed between the two children, even though none of them quite understood it.
"Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do," Cal observed.
Chip nodded. "That's what I was thinking."
They did laugh then.
A huge Rosie-howl came from the side yard. Sammy lifted his head from Gabe's foot, and Chip sighed. "I better go. She's got Grandma and Grandpa wrapped around her little finger."
The men waited until Chip and his dog had disappeared, then grinned at each other. Cal shook his head. "That boy is spooky. Six going on thirty."
Ethan smiled. "I just hope the three new ones turn out half as terrific as those two."
Gabe glanced through the back window. Shadow, a collie mix he'd adopted a few months ago, lay patiently on the ground and let Rosie climb on him. Chip approached his parents. His Grandpa Bonner felt his bicep, while his grandmother reached over and ruffled his hair.
He was glad to have his parents back from South America, not only for his own sake, but for Chip's. The Bonner family had taken his son right to its collective heart, along with his mother. Chip also had friends now, and he'd done well in kindergarten. Gabe was so proud of him.
Jane, looking healthy, if a little green, came back through the living room. Tasha, an older cat Gabe had rescued from the shelter, waddled after her. Jane was nearing the end of her second month of pregnancy and was delirious with happiness when she wasn't throwing up.
Cal started to rise, but she waved him back down. "I'm fine. Visit with your brothers."
They exchanged smiles, and Cal patted her rear.
Gabe thought about how much he loved doing that. Not patting Jane's rear, of course, but Rachel's. Being able to pat a woman's rear whenever you wanted was one of the best things about being married, although nobody ever told you that.
"I spoke with Carol Dennis yesterday," Ethan said.
Gabe and Cal exchanged grim looks. The memory of the day Bobby Dennis had jeopardized their children's lives was something they'd never forget. Nor would Ethan and Kristy. They were still beating themselves up for having left the children alone in the car, even though nobody blamed them for it.
It had taken six months for Bobby to recover from his injuries, but the car accident had turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the kid. He'd been clean and sober for the past year, and he and Carol had gotten the counseling they so desperately needed.
Gabe suspected their relationship would always be difficult, but, according to Ethan, they were finally communicating. Bobby had also stopped blaming Rachel for his problems, which was a good thing, because if Gabe had still believed the kid was a threat to her, he'd have run him out of town, counseling or not.
"Carol said Bobby's planning on starting college in August. He actually finished high school with some decent grades."
Cal shook his head. "I still can't believe the way Rachel kept visiting him in the hospital. That woman's got more heart than sense. You know what people are saying about that, don't you? That if Rachel hadn't visited him, he wouldn't—"
Gabe groaned. "Don't say it."
"That reminds me." Ethan glanced out the window at Kristy, who was holding Rosie's hand against her belly so she could feel the baby move. He smiled, then returned his attention to the discussion at hand. "I'm going to need some help from you with Rachel. Brenda Meers is taking a long time recovering from her pneumonia, and I want Rachel to visit her."
"Here we go again." Cal stretched out his legs and looked amused.
Gabe thought he and Ethan had an understanding about this, and he regarded his brother with exasperation. "Eth, I told you last time that I'm not getting in the middle of this. You're Rachel's pastor, and you'll have to talk to her yourself."
The men sipped their beer and thought about how tough that might be.
"How long do you think she's going to keep fighting this thing?" Cal finally asked.
"I'd give her another forty years," Gabe replied.
Ethan held up his hand. "I'm not the bad guy here. I don't know whether she heals people or not, but the fact is, a lot of the
m seem to get better after she sits with them for a while."
The injured animals got better, too. Gabe was always making excuses to get her to handle the ones under his care. He didn't understand how it happened. He only knew that they seemed to heal faster after she'd touched them.
"A faith healer in denial." Since Cal wasn't the one who had to deal with Rachel, he continued to look amused. "Nobody in this town has a bad word to say against her since Emily's miracle. And when Bobby Dennis recovered from that spinal injury after the doctors said he'd be paralyzed…"
"People love her," Ethan observed. "It's ironic. G. Dwayne told everybody he could heal, but he couldn't. Rachel insists she can't, and she can."
"We don't know that for a fact," Gabe pointed out. "It could all be coincidence. Just do what you've done before, Eth. Tell Rachel that Brenda's sick and could use some cheering up. As long as you don't mention healing, you know she won't turn you down."
"Isn't she getting suspicious about all these sick calls I keep sending her out on?"
"She's so wrapped up in Chip, and the renovations on the cottage, and the new baby, and her classes, and making plans for the money she got from selling G. Dwayne's diamond stash that I don't think she has time to get suspicious." She was wrapped up in him, too, but Gabe didn't mention that because he didn't want to brag in front of his brothers. Not that Cal and Ethan didn't have plenty of room to brag themselves.
Rachel loved the finance courses she was taking at the local community college, although she pretended she was doing it only because he was so hopeless about money. If she left it up to him, she said, they'd end up in the poorhouse.
Just to give her a hard time, he'd pointed out that she'd never have to worry about the poorhouse if she'd hung on to some of G. Dwayne's fortune instead of using it for her pet charity after she'd paid his debts, but she paid no attention. She and Ethan were working together to establish a statewide foundation that would help single mothers get on their feet by providing decent child care while they took classes and started new jobs. Rachel had backed into the perfect career for herself.
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