“Nicky, Nicky,” his mother murmured. “I’m so happy for you. Tell Rosie I’m sorry.”
“I will, Mom. Now, all of you have a wonderful time. I’ll see you back in Salt Lake.”
“Be happy, son,” his father said hoarsely.
“Dad,” Cody said as they hugged one more time, “she really loves you.”
Nick clung to his son. “I think I kind of figured that out, Cody. Be a help to your grandparents. We’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks for coming, Jeff.” He tousled the affable teen’s blond head before getting back in the car.
Afraid to look at Rosie for fear he’d lose all sense of time and propriety, he turned on the ignition and headed toward the dude ranch at full speed.
“Go easy on the sarge, Rosie. He almost passed out on me in there. Maybe you ought to have someone at the clinic look him over.”
Nick grinned. “No one’s looking me over but my wife!” Now Rosie was blushing.
“Do you have our room number extension, Rosie?” R.T. asked.
“Yes.” Her voice sounded more like a squeak.
“That’s good. When the sarge gets to the part where he doesn’t know what to do, call me.”
“Dammit, R.T.!”
Cynthia started to laugh.
“You made him blush, R.T.” Rosie screamed in delight. “Finally!”
Unable to resist, he flicked his wife a probing glance. “What do you mean, finally?”
“You know exactly what I mean, Nicholas Armstrong.”
He did. Midnight poker.
“I’m warning you now, you’re in for a big surprise.”
He shook his head. “You’ll never win, sweetheart. Don’t even think it.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ROSIE HARDLY NOTICED the jack pines along the road that wound through the forest, taking them farther and farther away from the main cluster of cabins. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice the darkness around them. The late-afternoon sun could scarcely penetrate the green canopy.
Nick had escorted R.T. and Cynthia to their honeymoon suite in the main lodge. Now she and Nick were finally alone.
Last night Rosie had felt slightly feverish. Now she knew she was running a temperature. She’d reached her emotional saturation point while waiting for Nick to respond during the ceremony.
He might not have. Not because he didn’t love her, but because she wasn’t sure he’d accept that she’d come back to him out of love, not pity. And because he might not believe that she and Zach were through.
The fact that he’d made his vows to her—with no warning, no explanation, and in front of everyone—meant he was going on pure faith. Rosie was humbled by that faith and planned to take away every lingering doubt he hadn’t allowed her or anyone to see.
They needed to talk. She would insist that they talk before she made love to her husband. He’d gone all quiet since coming back to the car.
If God would grant her just one more wish, the intricate preparations she’d made would prove her love to Nick, show that she was wholly his, forever. Tonight had to set the seal on their marriage.
As soon as Nick had parked behind the cabin, she turned in her seat so her back was to him.
“Darling? Would you undo me? I need to go inside first and prepare a couple of things. Then I’ll signal you.”
Still no words. She felt his fingers on her back, releasing each button down the long row. He’d become incredibly adept at managing with one hand.
When he’d finished his task, she felt his hot palm against her skin with a sense of wonder. His hand followed the curve of her spine, then slid compulsively to her waist and around to her hip, as if he couldn’t help himself.
She never wanted him to stop. But the time wasn’t yet. Soon, darling, soon. I promise you it will be worth the wait.
Forcing herself to get out of the car, she disappeared into the cabin and quickly changed out of her dress and veil into the outfit she’d resurrected from the past.
The jeans were new, but they looked exactly like the ones she’d worn here on their honeymoon. More important, she still had Nick’s old T-shirt, the one she’d had on when they’d arrived at this cabin the first night.
Reaching for her brush, she caught her hair back in a ponytail. She’d been practicing so she could do it just right. A few drops of bath oil behind her ears and on her wrists, and she was ready.
The only difference was in the outfit Nick had been wearing that night. The original clothes lay in a brown sack at the foot of the quilted double bed. She knew they’d be a little loose on him now, but she’d added a belt, so it wouldn’t matter.
She picked it up and went to the door. Opening it enough to set the bag on the ground, she called to Nick and told him to change outside.
“What are you planning in there? A costume party?”
She smiled. “Don’t be embarrassed. The chipmunks will never tell. When you’re ready, knock.”
“It’s a good thing R.T. can’t see me now. He’d never let me live it down.”
She pressed a hand over her pounding heart. “In a minute you’re going to forget R.T. and everything else.”
“Is that a promise?”
That voice—the old Nick.
“What the hell?”
She had to stifle her excitement.
“Where did this old shirt come from?”
“Don’t ask questions. Just put it on.”
“Already she’s ordering me around.”
“And you love it!”
There was a slight pause. “I love it.”
She waited, anticipating the next outburst.
“My Dodgers baseball cap!” Another silence. “Rosie…”
She bit her lip. “Are you ready to come in?”
When there was no answer, she turned on the tape player and started dancing in place to their song.
The sounds of Toto’s “Rosanna” resounded in the cool air as the door flew open.
On the night she’d come home from a long miserable vacation with her grandparents—miserable because she was dying to be with Nick—he had played that song on his Jeep’s tape deck and had sung along, a little off-key.
When the song was over, he’d leaned across the gear-shift and placed his hands on her shoulders. His dark handsome face was within centimeters of hers and he whispered, “You’re my Rosanna. You know that, don’t you? You know we’re in love. Tell me you’re in love with me. Tell me now.”
She’d stared into the flame-blue eyes, her heart skipping crazily. “I’m in love with you,” she’d answered him honestly. It had been no less true all those years ago than it was now.
“That’s all I needed to hear. We’re getting married,” came his fevered response.
Rosie could believe it was that same handsome young man who entered the cabin now and shoved the door closed with his boot. He wore the baseball cap backward, as he had the first time they’d come home.
His chest rose and fell. “You still look eighteen and too beautiful to be real.”
“I’m real, Nick. Come here and find out.” She held her arms wide.
The smile he’d always reserved for her transformed him. Rosie’s senses ignited as he moved toward her and drew her into his arms. He pulled her close against him and they slow-danced to the music, delighting in the feel of each other. She heard his voice, still a little off-key. But he made a few changes in the words. He said “Rosie” in place of “Rosanna.” And he changed one line to, “It’s been a long time since I went away.”
Then he was kissing her. She was kissing him. All the things they hadn’t been able to say over the past month they were saying now. They clung together, talking, remembering, laughing, kissing, through a dozen songs.
She could feel them healing. It expanded and lifted her to a fullness of ecstasy. Caught up in the same intensity of feeling, he finally raised his head, revealing the eager tremulous face of joy.
In an awestruck
voice he whispered, “I have my Rosie back.”
“You always had me, darling. Don’t you see? Until six weeks ago, I couldn’t make a commitment to Zach—because of you.” Her eyes clouded over.
“If I’d truly been in love with Zach, I would have—should have—married him two years ago. Obviously what I felt for him was never enough. Deep down, a part of me wasn’t ready. I was too much in love with you, even when I thought you were dead. Even then, I couldn’t—”
“Rosie, you don’t have to explain.”
“Yes, Nick, I do. When Zach took Cody and me on that cruise, I noticed that most of the other tourists were older couples. I envied them because they had someone to share their lives. It made me think about Cody, that he was growing older and would be gone sooner than I could imagine.
“That’s when I broke down and asked Zach to propose to me again. I loved him very much, and inside I wanted a reason to go on living. I didn’t want to grow old alone.”
Nick’s eyes softened. “I would have wanted that for you, Rosie.”
She ran her hands lovingly up and down his cheeks. “I know that. Then I got the phone call from your parents telling me you were alive and coming home. Nick…I went into shock!”
He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers. “I won’t presume to understand how you felt, but there’s no doubt that kind of news would have turned your world inside out.”
She nodded. “It did. And do you know why? Because it threw me into a morass of confusion and guilt and torn loyalties.
“Last week, my head cleared of that confusion. I realized that no matter what you and I had once meant to each other, if I had truly been in love with Zach—the way I’d been with you—I would have gone up to Hill wearing his ring. It would have killed me to hurt you that way, but I would have done it because I was so certain of my feelings.
“Obviously I wasn’t certain. That’s how I know that what Zach and I shared wasn’t the profound love I’d had with you.”
“We have something extraordinary,” he said, his voice husky.
She nodded. “It was an illuminating moment for both of us when Zach asked me if I was going to wear his ring to meet you.”
Nick’s eyes searched hers intently. “What did you say?”
“I told him I’d put his ring in my jewelry box with yours. Consciously I didn’t realize that, in saying this, I’d taken a giant step away from Zach. I’m afraid he recognized what was happening to us long before I did.
“From the time you and I drove down from Hill, things started to degenerate between Zach and me. The more I tried to make it work, the more it didn’t work.
“I have no doubt we would’ve been very happy together, if nothing else had changed. But the second I knew you were alive, the part of me that was your wife wouldn’t let me give myself emotionally to Zach.
“I found myself wondering what you were doing, what you were feeling. I was so jealous of the time Cody spent with you. I was jealous of your relationship with R.T. I felt left out at every turn.
“Those weren’t the feelings I should have had when I was planning to marry another man! Nick, when you told me you were going to divorce me so you could start fresh—with someone new—I almost died.
“Zach knew I was in agony. Last week I went over to tell him that I couldn’t go through with the marriage. He’d come to the same conclusion. I hated hurting him, but it felt so good to finally say the truth out loud—that I was in love with you. That I wanted to stay married to you.”
Nick frowned. “Where is he now?”
“He’s moved back to California.”
“The man must be in hell.”
“I know he is. But as he said to me the last time we were together, he would rather hear those words about my loving you now than after we were married. I’m counting on that wisdom to help him recover.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed and his right hand tightened on her arm. “You’d be impossible to replace.”
“Your bias is showing, darling. He’ll find a woman who loves and needs him desperately. I’m sure of it. In the meantime, he has an amazing family, and all the support he needs from his brother, Richard. Zach’s a strong man. I know that in time he’ll end up as happy as I am.”
She pressed a hungry kiss to Nick’s lips, needing him as much as she needed water, air, sunlight.
He rocked her back and forth. “Now that I have you in my arms, I can feel compassion for him. But when I first found myself kissing a stranger, the pain was worse than everything I went through in all those seven years.”
“Nick—”
“Shh. It hurt too much, Rosie. I couldn’t stand it. And the other thing is…I wanted you to be happy. So I had to file for divorce. There wasn’t any other way.”
“I’m so thankful you did!” she cried. “It straightened out my confusion in a big hurry. The thought of you belonging to anyone else… I couldn’t let it happen. You were my Nick. No one but me was going to hold you during one of your nightmares!”
He ran his finger along her jaw. “R.T. told me about that night. I’m grateful you didn’t end up with anything more than a bruise.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I’m glad it happened. That night I felt like I was a part of you.”
A pained look crossed his face. “It could happen tonight.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” She smiled provocatively.
That little comment took the pained look away in a hurry. “Is that right?”
“That’s right.” She slid her hand into his and drew him over to the bed. “Now, you sit down here. And I’m going to sit here.”
“You’re too far away from me, sweetheart.”
“It’s the perfect distance to play poker.”
He gave a devilish chuckle. Then grabbed a Snickers bar from the nightstand and tore off the wrapping with his teeth.
Taking a bite, he grinned. “You trying to sweeten me up on the same stuff you fed me the last time we were in this room?” His intent look reminded her he was a fierce competitor. “As I recall, you lost every game. In fact you lost a lot more than that.” His piratical half smile sent delicious shivers across her skin.
She sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled out a pack of playing cards. “I learned a few tricks while you were gone.”
“Who from?”
“I bought a book.”
He reached out and covered one of her hands with his. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read.”
“You’re scared, Armstrong. Admit it.”
“You’ve got that one wrong, sweetheart.” He offered her a bite of the candy bar. “Win or lose, I win.”
She fluttered her lashes at him. “We’ll see about that. You need a handicap so we’ll start with twenty-one. Here’s hoping your little brush-up session with our son did the job. Winner decides the penalty. I’ll deal.”
At this point, Nick stretched full-length on his left side, his smile almost wolfish. She felt breathless with anticipation. “Ready when you are,” he murmured silkily.
She dealt two cards facedown, then two more faceup. She had an ace. They both checked their cards.
“Hit me.”
She gave him a card.
“Hit me again.”
With a deadpan face he said, “I’ll stay.”
“So will I.”
“All right, Rosie, baby. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She turned the card over. “A jack. Now let’s see yours.”
He eyed her suspiciously, then turned everything over.
“Hmm. Nineteen. You lose, Armstrong. Give me your hat.”
“You have to come and get it.”
“That’s not part of the rules.”
“What’s the matter? Are you scared?”
She felt a quiver of excitement. “No.”
“Then come here.”
Rosie leaned over the cards to take it from his head.
“Oh!” The next thing she
knew, she was flat on her back and he’d rolled on top of her. He pinned both her arms with his injured one.
“The problem with you, sweetheart, is that you never did know when your number was up.”
“No, Nick!” She screamed and giggled at the same time because he was feeling in her pockets with his right hand—and taking certain liberties as he did so.
Suddenly he pulled out a bunch of cards. “My, my, my. What have we here? All aces and jacks.” He tossed them over his shoulder. “I wonder if there’s any more where they came from.”
A further exploration turned into something else as their mouths fused in passion and Rosie found herself clinging blindly to her husband.
A SERIES OF ODD TAPPING sounds outside the cabin brought Rosie out of a sound sleep. As she started to stretch, she felt the heavy weight of Nick’s arm and leg thrown across her body, his right hand tangled in her hair.
Their lovemaking had been so feverish and intense, their desire for each other so insatiable, they couldn’t have fallen asleep before six or seven in the morning. Nick had gotten up during the night to close the wooden shutters. There was no way to tell what time it was. She would have to remove his hand from her hair if she wanted to take a look at his watch.
The tapping started again, a little louder. This time Nick stirred. Just feeling him take a breath ignited her desire for him all over again. She kissed her way to his mouth.
He groaned in satisfaction, returning her kiss with shocking ardor for one still groggy with sleep. To her joy he shifted his weight and began to make love to her in earnest. The tapping continued, even more loudly than before.
“I think we have a woodpecker outside our door,” she whispered against his lips.
Nick raised himself up on one elbow to listen. “That’s no woodpecker, sweetheart. That’s R.T.”
Intrigued, Rosie asked, “What’s he saying?”
His body shook with silent laughter. “He says it’s two o’clock in the afternoon, and he and Cyn are getting worried.”
“You’re kidding! Two?”
He nuzzled her neck. She could feel the rasp of his beard. “After our all-nighter, are you really surprised?”
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