Barri Bryan - Return to Paradise.html

by Return to Paradise (NCP) (lit)

  "Not anymore." She kissed his bare chest, and felt a shiver run through his body.

  "Am I truly the center of your existence, Kate?"

  His insecurity was cause for despair. How much pain she had inflicted on him, and she hadn't even known. "Now and forever." Her voice shook with emotion. "And all those days after forever too."

  "I was afraid I'd never hear you say those words. I thought you had been so hurt, that you'd never trust another man again."

  "You are not just another man." She laid her head against his chest. "You are Hank Sinclair and I offer you, not only my trust, but my unconditional love."

  "You won't ever regret it, Kate, I promise."

  He had once told her that he didn't make promises he knew he wouldn't keep. In one swift, beautiful second, the truth in all its splendor dawned. He truly loved her! She slid his shirt from his shoulders, and tugged at the sleeves. "When did you first know you loved me, Hank?"

  He threw her blouse in the corner, and rubbed his hands along her arms. "I was captivated from the moment saw you asleep beside that bale of hay."

  "That was the first time you ever saw me. You couldn't have been in love with me then."

  "If I wasn't, I was damn close. I admired your spunk and determination. You were so vulnerable, and at the same time so determined. I thought you and Mamma wouldn't last a week on Paradise. The next thing I knew you were conning me into signing a five-year agreement with you. Then that day in the line shack when you let me hold you in my arms and kiss you, it hit me like a bolt from the blue, I was in love with you."

  Reaching for Hank's belt buckle, Kate asked, "Do you know when I knew I loved you?"

  "No." He unfastened her bra. "When?"

  "The day I saw you up on that windmill tower. I thought if he falls, my life is over. I knew then I had fallen in love with you."

  Slowly, between exchanging loving admissions, they undressed each other. Then, through the long afternoon, and far into the night, they made love, sleeping between episodes of flaming passion and quiet interludes of confessing their undying love.

  They slept past check-out time the next day, Waking at one-fifteen in the afternoon. Kate opened her eyes to see Hank sitting in the unsteady chair in the corner, staring at her with a look so blatantly adoring that it startled her into immediate wakefulness.

  She spoke the first words that came to her mind. "I love you."

  He stretched, then demanded, "Say it again, Kate."

  She wondered if she would spend the remainder of her life repeating each endearment she spoke, and decided if that was what pleased this man she loved beyond reason, she would be more than happy to do just that. She sat up. "I love you."

  His smile was like a burst of sunshine. "Promise you won't ever stop saying that to me."

  "I won't stop." She blew a kiss in his direction. "I love you."

  "And I love you, Kate." He watched as she began to dress. "That's why I want to tell you about Carol."

  "You don't have to." She sat on the edge of the bed, and felt beneath it for her boots.

  "I want to."

  Clad only in her bra and panties, She came across to him, and was about to sit down in his lap.

  "This chair won't hold both of us." He guided her back to the bed, then sat beside her, and watched as she picked up her blouse. "I asked Carol to marry me when I knew about the baby. She refused to even consider it. She didn't want a baby. She was set on an abortion." His hands moved to caress Kate's face. "I told her an illegal abortion was dangerous. She wouldn't listen. We had a terrible fight, and I left."

  Drawing his head down on her breast, Kate asked, "Did you love her?"

  He nuzzled his face into the softness of her bosom. "I thought I did. I was very young and immature. I know now I never knew what love was until I found you." Lifting his face, he asked, "Are you crying again?"

  "I'm happy" Kate slipped her arms into her blouse. "I never knew I could be so happy."

  "When can we be married?" He began to button her blouse.

  "I have to write Suzie and Michael. They may want to come to the wedding."

  "When we get home, you can call them." By now Hank was cramming garments into Kate's overnight bag.

  "There's no telephone at Paradise." Kate pulled her skirt over her hips.

  "I'm not taking you to Paradise."

  She smiled a secret little smile. "You already have."

  "Do you think I'm going to let you out of my sight, ever again? You're going home with me. Home is Circle S from now on."

  She realized he was serious. "Hank, I can't live there with you until we are married."

  "Why not?"

  "What would people say?" She put her feet into her boots, then stood, and smoothed her wrinkled skirt.

  "Who cares?" He held the door open for her.

  "Aunt Cat might." Kate waited for Hank to shut the door.

  "Aunt Cat is looking forward to having you there." He took her arm, and guided her toward his pickup.

  "She knows?" Kate settled herself in the seat.

  "She knows, Jake and Billy Joe know, everybody knows I'm going to marry you." Hank slid under the wheel of his truck, and pushed the key into the ignition. "I told them all months ago."

  "How did you know I'd say yes?"

  He threw his head back and laughed. "I'm psychic. Remember?"

  They were married three weeks later. Cody was Hank best man, and Suzie Kate's matron of honor.

  Kate had worried about Suzie accepting her decision to marry Hank. When she called Suzie to tell her of the approaching wedding, Suzie's first question had been, "Do you love him, Mom?"

  "With all my heart, Suzie."

  "Do I get to be your matron of honor?" The question was punctuated with a giggle.

  "Do you want to be?"

  "Only if you approve of a slightly pregnant matron of honor."

  "Suzie!" Kate's happiness soared. "When?"

  "Not until next February. Mom, David is so pleased, and so excited. He thought he'd never have a child. You should see his face when he puts his hand on my stomach."

  After many congratulations, and a promise that she and David would be at Paradise the day before the wedding, Suzie reluctantly hung up the phone.

  Michael was more reserved, but seeming just as happy as Suzie about Kate's decision to marry Hank.

  Sharon was ecstatic. Grabbing the telephone from Michael, she babbled, "That's wonderful, Kate. You deserve a little happiness after all you've been through."

  The long awaited day finally arrived. Hank and Kate stood under the oak trees where Belle and Cody had exchanged vows, and Suzie and David had pledged their eternal love.

  The ceremony was short, simple, and moving. As Hank placed a wide gold band on the third finger of Kate's left hand, she lifted her face and saw tears in his eyes.

  "Even after forever," he promised, as he bent his head and claimed her lips in a kiss that pledged nothing short of paradise.

  EPILOGUE

  Spring had come again to the Brush Country. The trees ran the gamut of greens, as mesquites burst forth with the innocence of first blooms, and oaks unraveled new leaves.

  Kate looked from the sleeping infant she held in her arms toward the lush landscape, and sighed happily.

  Through the long weekend the big ranch house had been a hubbub of activity. Suzie and David, who were now frequent visitors to the ranch, had arrived the previous Friday afternoon with their young son, David Junior. Saturday morning Michael, Sharon, and their six-month-old daughter, Kate, had put in an appearance. Early Sunday morning Belle and Cody had driven over from Paradise, bringing with them enough food to feed an army.

  The noon meal was over now, and with the excuse that she wanted to put David Junior down for his nap, Kate had taken the infant and slipped from the room. What she really wanted was some time alone to savor her happiness.

  "Your grandmother is a happy woman," she told the sleeping child.

  The sound of jingl
ing spurs told her Hank had come to stand behind her.

  "So is her husband."

  Turning, Kate saw Hank holding little Kate in his arms, and grinning sheepishly. With a shrug of his broad shoulders, he explained, "I offered to put little Katie down for her nap."

  Kate's adoration for the man who stood before her sounded in her voice, shone in her eyes. "You're a model grandfather, and a model husband."

  His grin spread. "Yeah, I had to get away, too."

  "Too much family?" The easy way that Hank had become a part of her children's lives had been the ultimate fringe benefit of her marriage to this strong, gentle man.

  Hank chuckled. "When you can listen to Belle explain the state of affairs in Washington, D.C., and it makes sense, It's time to leave."

  Early last fall Hank had put cribs in one of the bedrooms of the huge ranch house, effectively turning it into a nursery. As Kate lay the sleeping David into one of those cribs, she asked, "Do you think I should try to get Aunt Cat to rest for a while?"

  "Are you kidding?" Hank straightened from covering the sleeping Kate. "Aunt Cat is in seventh heaven. She has what she's always wanted, a family to call her own." He drew Kate into his arms. "Besides, between them, she and Mamma are solving the political woes of the world." He brushed his lips across Kate's lips before adding, "Well, at least the governmental troubles in the USA "

  They stood for several minutes looking down at the sleeping babies, before Hank took Kate's arm and began to guide her toward the back door. "Let's go for a ride."

  "But our guests..." Kate protested.

  "Will never miss us."

  Hand in hand they walked toward the barn.

  Kate sat on a bale of hay as Hank saddled Ringo, then Diablo.

  Kate lifted herself into the saddle. "Do you think we should tell someone where we're going?"

  Over his shoulder, Hank, shouted an emphatic, "No."

  The horses galloped across the open plain, a proud black stallion, and a slim-legged gelding. Atop a sloping ridge Hank pulled his horse to a halt, and dismounted. "Remember the first time I took you riding?"

  Kate slipped with ease from the saddle to the ground. "It was the first time I'd ever been on a horse. I was scared to death."

  The prairie stretched out on all sides of them. Wild flowers intertwining with the grass, had turned the countryside into a patchwork quilt of riotous colors, stitched with vibrant green threads.

  Kate pushed her hat from her head. The sun caught and tangled in the flame of her hair. "Look." She pointed toward a clump of scrubby mesquite trees. "The white winged doves have come back and brought spring with them."

  "You're beginning to sound like Mamma." Hank held Diablo's reins in one hand as he placed the other on his hip.

  "I am?" Her rounding eyes and questioning look made him smile.

  "You're guilty of faulty reasoning, Kate. The doves don't bring spring. They come back because spring is here."

  Her eyes challenged his. "Prove it."

  "Prove what?" One eyebrow climbed up his amused face, as his green eyes danced with laughter.

  "You know what, prove what you said is..." she searched around for a word before adding, "correct."

  "Yep. Just like Mamma. How would I prove a statement like that?"

  A wicked smile pulling at one side of Kate's mouth. "You could begin by proving you are a man of integrity and veracity." She took a step in his direction, "I'm easy to persuade."

  Dropping Diablo's reins, Hank drew Kate into his arms. "Woman, are you trying to make me forget any logical argument I ever knew?" Dropping his mouth to cover hers, he kissed her passionately. "Do you believe I love you?"

  "Oh, yes, I believe that. What does that have to do with the birds and spring?"

  "Will you answer the question?"

  "I did. I know you love me."

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "You show me in so may ways every day. But I still don't understand..." She wound her arms around his neck and smiled into his eyes.

  He nuzzled his face in her hair. "Do you trust me?"

  "You know I do."

  "There's your answer."

  Kate charged, "That's no answer."

  "Sure it is. The birds love spring. They trust that it will return each year so they come back. The birds only prove spring is here." He dropped his mouth on hers, and kissed her again.

  Opening her eyes, Kate looked up at him. "Now you're beginning to sound like Mamma. That's the worst analogy I ever heard."

  "Are you questioning your husband's good judgment?"

  She lifted her pleading lips for another kiss. "Could you be a little more specific?"

  He took his time. With consummate skill and slow pleasure, he kissed her again, then asked, on the end of a long breath, "Do you agree?"

  She moaned into his mouth, "Tell me more."

  "Here? On this hard ground?" He swatted her playfully on the back side. "I'm a grandpa, remember?"

  Her answering laugh was a melody in the warm wind. "Then let's go home. I like the way you argue your point."

  "That place is crawling with people. I have a better idea. Let's ride over to the line shack."

  Kate mounted Ringo and nudged her heels into his flanks "Let's go." The gelding broke into a trot.

  Hank shouted into the wind, "Wait for me!"

  Kate waited for Hank to catch up to her, and together they rode toward Paradise.

  The End

  If you liked this book, then you'll love Barri Bryan's A Love Like Mine -- A contemporary romance

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