Hawk's Way Grooms

by Joan Johnston

  Drinking alcohol was forbidden, and couples were discouraged from wandering off into the dark. Randy figured one couple wouldn’t be missed in all the excitement, and he’d made special plans for himself and Faith—if he could manage to separate her from her sister.

  This year Jenny had volunteered to be one of the chaperons, along with Colt and his brother Jake. Randy supposed that meant Miss Carter would be present, too.

  Too bad for Hope.

  Faith had told Randy about Hope’s crush on Jake. He felt sorry for her after what had happened tonight, Jake getting engaged and all, and he understood Faith didn’t want to leave her twin alone at a time like this. But he was determined to have some time alone with her.

  “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled Old Nellie in line with two dozen other vehicles. “I’ve got a blanket in the bed of the pickup we can sit on,” he said to Faith.

  “I’ll get it,” Hope volunteered, hopping out of the truck.

  Within minutes, Randy was sitting next to Faith on a blanket beside the fire—with Hope perched on Faith’s left side. He racked his brain to think of a way to distract Hope. Once he found it, he had to wait almost an hour before he found a moment when Jenny was busy enough that he and Faith could escape the party without their absence being immediately detected.

  “Say, Hope,” he said at last. “Why don’t you see if Jake wants to roast some marshmallows? He’s been standing over there all by himself with his arms crossed, just staring into the fire, ever since Miss Carter left to take care of her mother.”

  He watched Hope hesitate, then rise. “All right,” she said. “I will.”

  Randy waited barely long enough to see the back of Hope before he turned to Faith and said, “Would you like to take a walk with me?”

  She laid her right hand in his and said, “Sure.”

  He helped her to her feet and edged out of the light of the fire and into the shadows beyond. They weren’t the only ones who’d decided to “take a walk.” They passed several couples standing in the dark kissing. Most lingered just outside the light from the fire. For what he had in mind, Randy wanted more distance.

  “Where are we going?” Faith asked as he led her farther into the moonlit darkness.

  “Just a little farther,” he said.

  “It’s awfully dark out here.”

  Randy stopped and looked up. “There’s got to be a zillion or so stars up there, and the moon’s pretty full. Trust me, Faith,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  She squeezed his hand back and followed without more argument. He saw the concern on her face when a glow appeared in the distance. They slid down an incline and into a gully, where he had previously set out a Coleman lantern, a blanket, and a picnic basket.

  “We’re here,” he announced.

  “What’s all this?” Faith asked, turning to look at him.

  Her eyes were wide and wary, and Randy knew he was about to find out whether she really did trust him. “I wanted us to have our own party,” he said. “Do you mind?”

  Her smile was slow in coming, but when it finally arrived, the muscles in his stomach unclenched. “I think it’s a wonderful idea,” she said. “Won’t your sister wonder what’s happened to us?”

  He settled onto a ring-patterned quilt that had been made by his mother and pulled Faith down beside him. “We’re no farther away than a shout, if anybody really wants to find us. I just thought…I wanted some time alone with you tonight.”

  “Why?”

  He was gripping her right hand tightly, trying to get up the courage to say what he was feeling. “You know I like you an awful lot,” he managed.

  “I like you, too, Randy.”

  “I want you to be my girl,” he blurted. He could feel the heat in his face where the blood had rushed. He was tempted to look away, but he made himself face her while he waited for her answer.

  “You know we’re going to different colleges in the fall,” Faith said tentatively. “I’m headed for Baylor in Waco, and you’ll be at Texas Tech in Lubbock. They’re hours and hours apart.”

  “We could each drive halfway on the weekends,” he said.

  “We’ve never even kissed,” Faith said with a gentle smile, “and you want me to drive halfway across Texas—”

  Randy leaned over and touched her lips with his. The shock was electric. He broke the kiss and stared, stunned, into her eyes. She looked equally shaken.

  Faith’s right hand came up to touch her lips as she searched his face. “I’ve never been kissed before. Is it always like that?”

  “It’s never been like that for me,” he said.

  “It was good?”

  “Better than good. Terrific,” he replied. “You want to try it again?”

  “Oh, yes,” she whispered.

  He moved slower this time, pressing his lips more firmly against hers, but feeling the same delicious, unbelievable shock to his senses. His heart catapulted in his chest, and his body turned rock-hard. His mouth slanted over hers, seeking more, and his tongue went searching.

  She was breathing as hard as he was, and he felt her body quiver as the kiss grew into something greater than the thing it was. Their bodies remained separate, but their souls merged.

  He wanted to hold her in his arms, to touch her. He reached out to encircle her waist and drew her close so he could feel her soft breasts against his chest. He was aware of her right arm around him, holding him, but she kept her left arm down and her body on that side angled away.

  “Put your arms around me, sweetheart,” he whispered.

  “But—”

  “Please, Faith.” She had to trust him not to hurt her. He only hoped he was worthy of that trust.

  Slowly, hesitantly, her arm with the prosthesis attached encircled his waist. He could feel the plastic against his back, the nudge of the metal hook at its end against his flesh. She looked up at him, searching for repugnance, for revulsion or disgust.

  Randy kept his expression neutral, knowing how important it was that he accept this part of her that was no part of her. “It’s okay,” he said. “I can handle it.”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “I’m not sure I can.”

  “It’s no big deal. Just a bunch of plastic and metal you need because you don’t have a hand.”

  She stared at him wonderingly. “You don’t mind?”

  He separated their bodies, though it was the last thing he wanted to do, and slid his hands down her arms. He made himself take her hook in his left hand, while his right hand held hers. He didn’t wince, though her fingernails dug into him, because he didn’t want her to think he minded holding that hook.

  “You’ve never really told me how this works,” he said, staring at the hook that lay in his open palm.

  “It’s myoelectric.”

  In response to his confused look, she explained. “Impulses from the brain are received in receptors in the elbow of the device.”

  “So you think this hook open and closed?”

  “That’s about it,” she said with a smile.

  “Neat,” he said. “Now, will you put your arms around me, please, and give me another kiss.”

  She grinned. “With pleasure.”

  Her enthusiasm was such, that very shortly they were lying side by side on the quilt, their bodies aligned, their mouths merged. Randy was having a hard time breathing, let alone thinking, but he knew they had to stop. Faith trusted him. He had to be worthy of that trust.

  He broke the kiss and pressed his face against her neck. “We have to stop, Faith.”

  Her hand tangled in the hair at his nape, and he shivered at the exquisite sensations her touch provoked. She kissed his temple and whispered, “If you want, I’ll be your girl.”

  “Oh, God, Faith.” That provoked another deep kiss, to express his gratitude and his love. When her tongue traced the seam of his lips, he opened his mouth and let her in. And felt her become a part of him. Four years wasn’t so long to wait. Four years. “I can’t wai
t, Faith,” he groaned against her neck.

  “I want you, too,” she confessed breathlessly.

  He’d meant he couldn’t wait four years to marry her, but as he looked into Faith’s lambent eyes, he realized she’d mistaken his meaning. Well, he’d wanted her trust. She’d given it to him in spades. He brushed her hair back from her face with a trembling hand. “I meant—”

  “There you are!” an accusing voice cried.

  Randy sat bolt upright, bringing Faith with him. They found themselves staring into four disapproving faces.

  HOPE WAS WEARING JEANS, A CUT-OFF T-shirt and cowboy boots, but as she marched the twenty or so feet that separated her from Jake Whitelaw, she felt naked, as though he could see through all the trappings to the vulnerable female inside.

  Jake’s eyes never left hers, but his grim look warned her away. She ignored it and walked up to him, carrying the unbent hanger she was using to roast marshmallows. “How about a roasted marshmallow?” she asked.

  He hesitated, then said, “Sure. Why not?”

  He followed her to a table that had been set up with bags of marshmallows and waited while she stuck a couple on the end of the wire hanger. “How do you like yours?” she asked as she crossed with him back to the fire.

  “Hot on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside.”

  “That’s me,” she said softly. “Hot and soft and sweet.” She looked at him and saw the glowing embers flare.

  “I warned you before to stay away,” he said. “I don’t play games with little girls.”

  She held the hanger over the fire, making sure the marshmallows stayed well out of the flames. “I’m not playing, Jake. And I’m not a little girl. I know exactly what I want. I want you.”

  “I’m engaged to be married.”

  “You don’t love her. You love me. You want to touch me, to kiss me, to put yourself inside me.”

  He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat of him, but he didn’t touch her. She felt his moist breath against her ear. “I thought you’d learned your lesson in the barn.”

  Hope felt the heat on her face and was grateful she could blame it on the fire. “It seemed to me that you liked what you saw,” she said brazenly.

  “Too damn much,” he muttered.

  She angled her head to meet his gaze, and the heat in his eyes melted her bones. She stiffened her knees to keep them from buckling. “Don’t marry her, Jake. Marry me.”

  He swore under his breath, but he never took his eyes off hers.

  “I’ll make you a good wife. I can—”

  “Shut up. Shut the hell up,” he said in a guttural voice.

  “Hey there, Hope!” Colt yelled from the other side of the fire. “Your marshmallows are on fire.”

  Hope jerked around and discovered the two marshmallows had been swallowed in flames. She yanked them out of the fire and blew hard to put them out, but it was too late. They were both charred beyond recognition.

  “Let that be a warning,” Jake murmured in her ear. “You keep playing with fire, little girl, you’re going to get burned. Go away, Hope. Get as far from me as you can.”

  He moved away and left her standing alone. It was then Hope noticed that Faith and Randy were missing.

  COLT TOLD HIMSELF HE MUST HAVE misconstrued the look that passed between Hope Butler and his brother Jake before her marshmallows caught fire. He considered whether he ought to confront Jake but decided it wasn’t necessary. His brother knew better than to get involved with a girl half his age, especially when he was engaged to another woman.

  But he had to admit that an evening campfire in the middle of the prairie had a way of encouraging romance. Colt had fond memories of a night he and Huck and Jenny had roasted marshmallows with friends and family around a similar campfire. Mac Macready, who’d later married his eldest sister, Jewel, had sat around the campfire vying for Jewel’s attentions with Gavin Talbot, who’d ended up marrying his sister Rolleen.

  “What’s put that smile on your face?” Jenny asked.

  “I was remembering a time when we were fourteen and we did this.”

  “The night Mac Macready warned off Gavin Talbot from Jewel?” Jenny inquired.

  “You remember that, too?”

  She laughed. “The way sparks were flying between Mac and Jewel, we didn’t need a fire to roast marshmallows.”

  “They’re an old married couple now with three kids. Gavin and Rolleen have four between them. Where has the time gone? I can’t wait till we’ve got a brood of our own.”

  Jenny’s face blanched.

  “Jenny? What’s wrong?” Colt asked.

  “I never realized you wanted a big family.”

  “I guess I never thought about it before, because I never wanted to marry anyone but you. I assumed you’d still want kids. Are you saying you don’t?”

  “I’ve already raised one family, Colt. I’d like a little time for myself. I’ll understand if that changes your mind about marrying me.”

  Colt felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. But Jenny and kids went together like peanut butter and jelly. She’d always loved kids. Apparently, raising four boys by herself had taken its toll. “I suppose I can live without having kids,” he said slowly.

  “Don’t do me any favors,” Jenny snapped.

  He caught her arm before she could escape. “Hold it right there! I’ve told you it’s okay.”

  “You don’t mean it,” she said. “I saw the look in your eyes, Colt. You’re shocked and disappointed.”

  “So what if I am? It’s not the end of the world. I’ll get over it.”

  “Will you?”

  “When it comes to a choice between you and kids,” he said, “there’s no question which I’d choose. I’ve waited too long for you, Jenny. I love you too much to give you up for any reason.”

  “You say that now,” she said. “What about later? What about a year from now or five years from now? What if you change your mind?”

  “All I can do is tell you how I feel right now,” Colt said. “Nothing could make me leave you, Jenny.”

  She looked stricken. She opened her mouth to speak, but they were interrupted by Hope Butler.

  “Miss Wright, my sister is missing and so is your brother Randy.”

  “They’ve probably gone for a walk,” Colt said.

  “I’ve looked around, but I can’t find them,” Hope said. “I’m worried.”

  Colt exchanged a glance with Jenny. They both knew why the couple had probably disappeared. If it was up to him, Colt would have waited for them to return. He was in a position to know Randy’s feelings about Faith, and knowing Jenny, he was sure she’d raised her brother to respect a woman’s feelings. Randy wouldn’t be doing anything Faith didn’t want.

  But the fear in Hope’s eyes was real and couldn’t be ignored.

  “What’s up?” Jake asked as he joined them.

  Colt watched as Jake exchanged an inquiring look with Hope.

  “Faith and Randy are missing,” Hope said.

  “I’ll go take a look for them,” Jake said.

  “I’m coming with you,” Hope said.

  Jake halted in his tracks.

  It was plain Jake didn’t want her along, and equally clear Hope wasn’t going to be left behind. Colt remembered the look he’d seen pass between the two of them at the campfire. “Why don’t we all go?” he said. “It shouldn’t take us long to find them.”

  Jake shot him a look of appreciation, then headed into the shadows with Hope a step behind him.

  “She’s in love with him,” Jenny murmured as they followed after them.

  Colt frowned. “I hope you’re wrong.”

  “I don’t believe I am.”

  “She’s only eighteen.”

  “I fell in love with Huck when I was fourteen,” she reminded him.

  “Poor Hope,” Colt said, shaking his head.

  “Poor Jake,” Jenny countered.

  “What do you mean
?”

  “Have you seen the way he looks at her?”

  Colt remembered the look he’d seen Jake and Hope exchange. “He can’t be thinking of doing anything about it,” he said half to himself.

  “Oh, he won’t do anything about it,” Jenny said. “The idiot.”

  “What are you saying? That he should go after her? He just got engaged!”

  “He’s a fool to ignore his feelings. He should admit he loves her, and let her love him back.”

  “I suppose you think I should have told you I loved you, even when it was hopeless.”

  Jenny stopped and turned to face him. “Maybe if you’d said something fifteen years ago we would’ve been together when there was still a chance—” She cut herself off and hurried to catch up to Jake and Hope.

  Colt’s mind was reeling. Jenny had always—only—loved Huck. Hadn’t she? As soon as he caught up to her he demanded, “Are you saying you had feelings for me fifteen years ago?”

  “It doesn’t matter now,” she said. “We can’t look back, Colt. We can’t focus on what might have been. We have to live in the here and now. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Colt should have felt ebullient at Jenny’s revelation. It took him a moment to figure out what was bothering him.

  Maybe if you’d said something fifteen years ago we would have been together when there was still a chance— A chance for what? Colt wondered. For true love? For a family? What was it she’d been about to confess when Hope Butler had interrupted them.

  In the far-off glow of a lantern, Colt spied Randy and Faith lying on a quilt. Jake and Hope reached them first.

  “There you are!” Hope said in an accusing voice. “What are you doing to my sister?”

  “I’m fine, Hope,” Faith said, quickly rising to her feet and self-consciously rearranging her blouse.

  Hope turned on Randy. “What’s the big idea sneaking off into the dark with my sister?”

  “Hope, that’s enough,” Faith said. “I came with Randy willingly. We were just talking.”

  Hope snorted. “Talking. Right. That’s why your lips are all puffy and—”

  “That’s enough,” Jake said.