by Ginna Gray
They made love on the giant bed and on Kate's feminine four-poster. They got into a tickling match that resulted in a lot of laughter and an awkward but thoroughly delightful episode on the stairs. In the shower they shared the most erotic passion Kate had ever experienced, their warm, soap-slicked bodies sliding against each other in a primal rhythm beneath the relentless spray.
One night a silly argument culminated in hard, fast, almost rough loving on the sofa in the parlor. Another night, while the blizzard howled outside, they made slow, sweet love on the hearth rug with only the dancing fire illuminating their entwined bodies.
Then there was a memorable evening when they were cooking dinner. What had begun as a quick kiss ended up a sizzling embrace that shut out the rest of the world. Within seconds they were both naked, with Kate astraddle J.T.'s lap on a kitchen chair.
By the time they had found fulfillment and collapsed together in satisfaction, the steaks they were cooking looked like charred hockey pucks and the veggies in the steamer had turned to mush. J.T. cursed a blue streak, and Kate dissolved into a fit of giggles. They ended up eating bologna sandwiches for dinner.
And neither of them cared in the least.
In between the sizzling lovemaking, they talked endlessly. Kate told J.T. about growing up in Gold Fever, how she and Zach had run wild over the forest-covered mountains, how she'd learned to ski at the tender age of six, what it was like to grow up in an isolated small town, to know all your neighbors and have them know you.
One afternoon, as they lounged on the sofa before a roaring fire, J.T. told her about growing up an adopted only child in an affluent family. He recounted often-hilarious stories about his studious college professor father and his funny, free-spirited and brilliant mother, who was a pediatrician.
He told her of the flashes of memory he often had of times before his birth mother gave him and his brothers up for adoption, and about Matt's recurring dreams of a tearful woman in the mist waving goodbye.
He explained that while he seemed to have weathered the separation with little apparent trauma, Matt had dealt with a lifelong feeling of abandonment, which was why he resisted change of any kind. That, J.T. felt, was one of the reasons the two of them had not been able to develop a closer relationship.
As she listened to it all, Kate's tender heart ached for the three little boys who had been separated so young.
When J.T. noticed the tears in her eyes, he quickly changed the subject and launched into a story about his beautiful, brilliant sister-in-law, Maude Ann, and her determination to provide a loving foster home for abused and neglected children.
"She calls the place Henley Haven, in honor of her first husband, who was also a police officer," he explained. "Tom Henley was killed in the line of duty.
"The first time Matt was wounded his boss coerced him into recuperating at the Haven. Lieutenant Werner is Maudie's godfather, and he knew that she would look after him. The stubborn cuss had been refusing to let anyone help him when he left the hospital, even though he was so weak at the time he could barely stand."
"Mmm. Still, I can understand how he felt," Kate murmured, snuggling her head into a more comfortable position on his shoulder.
J.T. rolled his eyes. "Now, why am I not surprised? Could it be because I'm talking to the number-one Miss I - Want - to - Do - It - Myself in the whole state? I swear, you and Matt have just about cornered the market on pride."
She poked him in the ribs, and he grunted. "There's nothing wrong with pride. Besides, I prefer to think of it as independence."
"Whatever," he said, taking the precaution of clamping his hand over hers. "Anyway, Matt fought against the arrangement, but his lieutenant gave him no choice. Then he fought against his feelings, but that was just as futile. He fell in love, not only with Maude Ann, but with all the kids who were at Henley Haven at the time."
Beneath Kate's ear a chuckle rumbled in J.T.'s chest as he rubbed his hand slowly up and down her arm. "Matt was one tough cop, and he's gruff and intimidating, but under that crusty shell, he's an old softie. When two of the kids were transferred out of Maude Ann's care by Child Protective Services it really tore him up. I think it was the first time he realized that they could lose any one of the kids at any time."
The more Kate heard about Matt and Maude Ann, the more convinced she became that she was going to like them. So would Zach, if he would just give them a chance.
"Now waiting for the courts to make a decision about the adoption is nerve-racking. I don't know what the holdup is. Every one of those kids has been permanently taken from their abusive parents by the courts and made a ward of the state. You would think they'd be happy that a great couple like Maude Ann and Matt want to adopt them."
Kate tipped her head back on J.T.'s shoulder and saw that a look of concern had replaced his usual happy-go-lucky expression. "You love those children, too, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do. I've always been a sucker for kids. All kids. I'd like to have a houseful of my own someday. But these five have lived through some hellacious things that no one should have to endure. They deserve the love and the stable home that Matt and Maudie can give them."
Emotion clogged Kate's throat. If she hadn't already been hopelessly in love with J.T., she would have tumbled on the spot. That such a strong, utterly masculine man so obviously loved children was deeply touching and wonderful, and as she gazed up at his profile, her heart melted like a chocolate candy bar in the hot sun. "I'm sure the adoptions will go through soon," she whispered, loving him so much her chest hurt.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I hope so, anyway."
The one thing J.T. did not tell Kate about, during their many talks, was his long career as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Herald. In his experience, particularly when it came to their personal lives, people tended to resent the press. He had never understood why. After all, they were merely doing their jobs.
Knowing how intensely private and proud Kate was, he was fairly certain she would react negatively if he told her. So, for the time being, he figured what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Until he could present her with his finished manuscript and prove that he meant her and Zach no harm, he thought it best to keep that bit of information to himself.
If now and then J.T. experienced a niggle of doubt about what he was doing, he quashed it by reminding himself that he had freedom of the press on his side.
Four days after Zach's call, J.T. and Kate awoke to sparkling clear skies and the insistent chirping of his cell phone. Snagging the instrument off the bedside table, he barked a morning-grumpy "hello," listened for a second, then jerked straight up in the bed.
Kate's heart gave a leap at his suddenly ashen face.
"Maude Ann? Is that you? Are you crying? What is it? What's wrong? Maudie, I can't understand a word you're saying. Stop crying and slow down and tell me.
"Matt! Thank God. What's wrong with your wife?"
Sitting up now, too, Kate chewed her bottom lip and anxiously watched J.T. Gradually his eyes widened, and a grin as big as Texas spread across his face. "That's great! Congratulations! But why the devil is Maudie bawling? I thought she'd be happy." He put his hand over the receiver and mouthed to Kate, "The adoptions went through."
Instantly his attention switched back to Matt. "She's crying because she's happy?" J.T. looked heavenward and shook his head. "Lord, will I ever understand women? Look, if you can ever get her to stop blubbering, give Maudie and the kids a kiss for me, will ya. And tell them we'll celebrate when Kate and I get there."
There was a pause, and then, from J.T., "Actually…" He glanced out the window at the bright sunshine and grinned. "Soon. Maybe even tomorrow, or the next day if we can get a flight out of Durango. Yeah, Kate's coming with me." Another pause, and then J.T. added in a more subdued voice, "It turns out that Zach Mahoney is our brother, Matt. At the moment he's busting broncs in the Houston Rodeo, so Kate and I will be there as soon as we can get a flight."
* * *
Two days later the roads were open again. Kate arranged for Mrs. Womack and her granddaughter to stay at the Alpine Rose. She and J.T. then drove to Durango, where they boarded a plane for Denver and made connections to Houston.
Matt and Maude Ann met them at the airport. Kate was nervous, not only about breaking the news to Zach that he was one of a set of triplets, but also about meeting J.T.'s family.
Her first look at Matt Dolan as they stepped from the jetway into the terminal did nothing to ease her edginess.
J.T. had described his brother as tough and intimidating. As far as Kate was concerned, that was an understatement. Even though he leaned on a cane, there was nothing weak or disabled about the man. He looked strong and tough. And dangerous.
Matt and J.T. were the same height and general build. There was a faint resemblance between them, Kate realized as they approached the couple, though it was not one you would notice unless you were looking for it. J.T.'s hair was a dark, rich brown and Matt's was black as coal. Both had chiseled features, but Matt's face had a craggy, go-to-hell look, whereas J.T.'s was drop-dead gorgeous.
Though both men had blue eyes, J.T.'s twinkled with mischief and good humor, where Matt's were fierce and piercing as an eagle's. When he turned that harsh gaze on her, she had to fight to suppress a shudder and force her feet to keep moving in his direction.
"Hey, it's good to see you two!" J.T. exclaimed as they reached the couple. Kate hung back as he and Matt exchanged greetings and a handshake that were just shy of stiff, but when J.T. turned to his sister-in-law he let out a whoop. Kate barely got a glimpse of the leggy redhead before he enveloped her in a bear hug and lifted her right off her feet.
"Maudie, you sexy thing, I swear, you get more beautiful by the day. Why don't you give us a kiss. It'll drive that tough guy you married crazy."
"Idiot!" Laughing, Maude Ann planted a smacking kiss on his cheek.
Kate sneaked a quick look at Matt and saw that, indeed, his eyes had narrowed into dangerous slits, but he made no move toward the pair.
J.T. finally put Maude Ann back on her feet and looked at her fondly. "So how's the new little mother?"
"Terrific. I can't tell you how good it feels to know that the children belong to us now. By the way, the kids send their love. They can't wait to see you."
"The feeling is mutual. Soon as we get this business over with we'll drive out to the lake to see the little rug rats. But first…" He grasped Kate's hand and drew her forward. "This is Kate Mahoney. Zach is her adopted brother."
Matt nodded and murmured a polite, "Nice to meet you, Kate," but Maude Ann surged forward with her arms outstretched and enveloped her in a warm embrace.
"Kate. I'm so glad you're here. I've been dying to meet you. J.T. has talked about you so much during our phone conversations, I feel that I know you," she said before Kate could get a word in. "I think it's absolutely wonderful that Matt and J.T. are gaining not only another brother, but a sister as well."
"Well, uh…" Kate cast an uneasy glance at J.T., and he stepped closer and put a proprietary arm around her shoulders.
"Correction, gorgeous. Matt may have gained a sister, but I promise you, my feelings for Kate are far from brotherly."
"Ahhh, I see." Maude Ann jabbed her elbow into her husband's ribs. "See. Didn't I tell you something was going on between them?"
"So you did, sweetheart." Matt looked at J.T. and rolled his eyes. "It's woman's intuition. I've been learning all about it lately."
Kate almost goggled as she watched a slow smile curve Matt's mouth and crinkle the corners of his eyes. The transformation was stunning, changing Matt's harsh, go-to-hell face into one so ruggedly handsome and sexy that just looking at him would make any female's heart do a back flip. Until that moment Kate had been wondering what a warm and beautiful woman like Maude Ann saw in a somber man like Matt Dolan, but no longer. The man wasn't just good looking, he was lethal.
"Well … what now?" Matt asked.
"First Kate and I check into our hotel and drop off our bags, then we go find Zach and break the news."
* * *
The rodeo was held in the Astrodome in southwest Houston, and the fat stock show exhibits took up all of the adjacent Astrohall. Near the back entrance to the hall, a large area of the parking lot had been roped off as a campground for the contestants who traveled from one rodeo to another in RVs. There, too, were the pickup trucks and stock trailers and temporary corrals filled with rodeo animals.
Kate, J.T. and the Dolans arrived an hour before the evening rodeo performance, which Kate knew meant they would most likely find Zach in his motorhome.
The guard at the entrance to the area was reluctant to let them in, but Kate finally convinced him that she was Zach Mahoney's sister by producing a picture from her wallet of the two of them together.
The air all around the area was redolent with the fecund smells of animals, hay, feed and manure. As they maneuvered through the corrals they were bombarded with the chink-chink sounds of spurs, neighing horses and the incessant bawling of cattle. Mingled in the cacophony were the Western drawls of the cowboys milling about, CW music blasting from the campers and pickups, and the distant sounds of city traffic.
They wandered through the jumble of corrals, trailers and pickups for almost fifteen minutes before they located the camping area and Kate spotted Zach's motor home.
The others held back a bit while she knocked on the door. It was opened almost at once.
"Yeah, whadda you— Kate!"
"Surprise!"
"Kate, what're you doing here?" Even as Zach asked the question he hurried down the metal steps and snatched her up in his arms. "Lord, it's good to see you, Sis."
She hugged him back, her heart swelling with love and pride. All of her life, Zach had been her rock, her hero, her protector. "It's good to see you, too."
Grasping her shoulders, he held her away and ran his gaze over her, frowning as though he expected to see visible signs of damage. "What's wrong? Why did you come here?"
"Calm down. Nothing is wrong." She smiled and touched his tanned cheek. "We came to tell you something, Zach. Something important."
"We?" His gaze narrowed even more and shot past her to the others. "What do you mean? Who are these people?"
Kate reached out and took J.T.'s hand. "This is J.T. Conway. And this is his brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Maude Ann Dolan."
Zach zeroed in on J.T., frowning as he took in the way his hand remained clasped with Kate's. "Conway. You're that writer Kate's told me about, aren't you? The one who sweet-talked his way into staying at the Alpine Rose through the winter."
Kate sighed. Her brother's tone bordered on belligerent. So did his scowl and his aggressive stance. He couldn't have made his disapproval clearer if he'd hired a skywriter to spell it out in letters a hundred yards high.
"Yes, I am."
"What are you doing here with my sister?"
"Za-ach," Kate groaned. "There's no reason to take that tone."
"No, that's okay, sweetheart. We probably should set things straight before we go on." J.T. met the hard glint in Zach's eyes with one of his own. "The main reason I'm with Kate is because I love her. And you might as well know right now that if she'll have me, I intend to marry her. You got any objections to that?"
"J.T.!" Kate gasped, before her brother could answer. She stared up at J.T. with her mouth agape, so thunderstruck she couldn't utter another sound. Happiness gushed up inside her in a warm tide, filling her pounding heart to overflowing.
"Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to spring it on you that way, but Zach seems to have some concern about my intentions. I just wanted to make my position clear."
"Di-did you mean it? Do you really want to marry me?"
"More than I've ever wanted anything in my life." He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, smiling at her over the top, his eyes full of love. "So? Will you marry me, Kate?"
Her chest was so tight Kate fel
t as though she might burst at any second. She smiled up at him with all she was feeling shining in her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. Then, laughing, "Yes!"
J.T. bent his head and kissed her, long and lavishly. Distantly Kate heard Maude Ann sigh and Matt clear his throat, but she was too lost in bliss to care that they had an audience or that they were standing in a parking lot that smelled of animals and manure. J.T. loved her and wanted to marry her, regardless of the controversy that surrounded her and Zach.
When he finally broke off the kiss he raised his head just inches and smiled, looking deep into her eyes. His own were warm with emotion and that familiar sparkle of mischief. "We'll continue this later," he promised in a sexy murmur.
Zach's hard stare didn't soften in the least as he turned his pale gaze on his sister. "Are you sure this is what you want? You haven't known this guy very long."
She beamed at him, then turned back to J.T. with a dreamy smile. "Oh, yes, I'm sure. I'm very sure."
Matt cleared his throat. "Touching as that was, shouldn't we get on with the real reason we're all here?"
Zach's gaze sharpened as he looked from Matt to J.T. "There's more? You mean you didn't come here just to announce your intentions to marry my sister?"
Before J.T. could answer, a battered-looking cowboy ambled by. He nodded to Zach and touched the brim of his Stetson with two fingers. "Howzit goin', Zach?"
Zach glanced at his sister's glowing face. "Fair to middlin', Pete." He returned his attention to J.T. "Well?"
"Look, is there someplace private where we can all go to talk?"
When her brother didn't answer immediately, Kate added her own plea. "Please, Zach. This is important."
"All right, I guess you can come inside. But I don't have much time. I have to be in the arena soon to get ready for my event."
Entering the motor home, they found themselves in a tiny sitting area located directly behind the driver's cab. To the rear of that was a minuscule galley with a banquette and table and still farther back a short hall with what appeared to be a bathroom on one side and a closet on the other. At the very back of the vehicle, the open bedroom door gave a glimpse of a neatly made bed and a well-used saddle and bridle on the floor next to it. Though tiny, Zach's home was neat and clean, Kate noted with a touch of pride.