Near midnight, Dan escorted her upstairs. Vanessa had pouted beautifully when he firmly told his mother they were calling it a night. He stopped at the bedroom door, opening it for Chris. Placing his hands on her bare shoulders, he smiled down at her.
“You’d better get some sleep, Raven.”
She nodded, excitement coursing through her body. She hungered for his nearness, needing to talk to him further of her feelings for him. It was as if Dan had read all this in her features because he leaned over, kissing her reassuringly.
“Not here,” he murmured. “We’ll have time at the ranch to do some more talking. Go on, beautiful lady pilot, before I lose all my control and follow you in there.”
Chris nodded, stunned by the culmination of events. “All right. Good night, Dan....”
“Good night, Chris. I’ll wake you up at six o’clock sharp tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams, honey.”
The morning was a whirlwind of activity. To Chris’s delight, Dan took a small single-engine Cessna from the hangar at the McCord Estate and flew the two of them fifty miles north to Howard McCord’s huge cattle ranch. Emerging from the Cessna on an arid strip, Chris met the man whom Dan loved like a father. Howard McCord came forward, a burly man of six-three and two hundred pounds. He gripped Chris’s hand in a shake that bruised her fingers.
“So you’re the pretty young filly Dan’s been tellin’ us about. Proud to know you, Chris. Just call me Howard and forget standing on formality around here. This is family.” He grinned fully, his parched, leatherlike skin crinkling like old paper. He released his grip and then strode around the small plane, gripping Dan by the shoulders and giving him a huge bear hug.
“Dan! You son of a gun. Damned if you don’t look the best I’ve ever seen you, son.” He gripped Dan’s shoulders, holding him at arm’s length, his dark eyes narrowing. “That filly of yours must be doing you some good, eh?” he asked, grinning fully.
Dan slapped Howard on the back. “She makes me pretty happy, Dad.”
The rancher smiled as he put his arm around each of them and escorted them to the Jeep in the distance. “We’ll get you young ‘uns settled back at the homestead. Melvina’s dying to meet you, Chris,” he whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “My missus thinks the world of this boy of ours, and she’s straining her corset to see who Dan finally settled on.”
Chris shot Dan a distraught look. Dan grinned happily, giving her a wink. “Why do I have the feeling I’m getting railroaded?” she asked, trying to halt a smile of her own. Howard helped her into the back seat of the Jeep.
“Naw, Dan don’t railroad anybody, Chris,” he corrected, starting the Jeep up. “Vanessa and Preston do, but this boy escaped their clutches in time. He always says ‘please’ first before he shoves somebody into a mud puddle. Ain’t that right, son?” He chuckled.
Chris couldn’t halt her grin. “I have a feeling I’ve lost both the battle and the war with you two around.”
Howard’s big Texas laugh boomed across the dry sagebrushed land. “You’ll find out something real quick, pretty filly. The McCord’s always get their way.” He drove off at high speed, the Jeep bouncing and jerking along, kicking up a high cloud of yellow dust in its wake.
The ranch house, nestled among cottonwood trees, was a sprawling affair fashioned out of adobe brick, set off with a red Spanish tiled roof. Chris felt free there and marveled at the difference in lifestyles between Dan’s parents and his uncle. There, she felt relaxed; as if she could be herself, and no one could tell her any different. There it didn’t matter what she wore. What counted, as Dan had said earlier, was the genuineness of the people.
Melvina McCord stood awaiting their arrival at the front-porch door, her chunky fists embedded deeply into her fleshy hips. Chris smiled brightly as the woman of some sixty years of age broke into a wide, welcoming grin.
“Ain’t she purty!” Melvina crowed, throwing her arms open to envelop Chris. “Dan, you outdid yourself!” she cried, hugging her until Chris thought she would lose her breath. “Why, child, you are even prettier than what Dan said. Let me take a good look at you.” She put Chris at arm’s length, her watery blue eyes dancing with pleasure. She cast a dirty look at Dan who stood there grinning. “She’s too skinny, Dan!” Melvina returned her attention to Chris, eyeing her shrewdly. “Child, what you need is some good home cooking to put some meat on those bones of yours.”
Chris managed a warm smile. “Really, I’m fine, Mrs. McCord —”
“You call me Aunt Melvina or auntie. None of this formality. That’s for the birds. And you noticed they ain’t bowing and say’n how’d you do to each other.”
Laughing, Chris obeyed. “You got a deal, Aunt Melvina.”
“That’s better,” she said gruffly, moving over to Dan. “Now you, you young upstart of a pup, come here.”
Chris felt tears coming to her eyes as Melvina embraced Dan for a long, long time. She cast a glance over to Howard, whose face had suddenly softened.
“Why ain’t you been home lately?” Melvina asked, brushing a tear from her plump, ruddy cheek. Her frizzy black-and-gray hair was all over the place, but it seemed to fit Melvina’s spunky image.
Dan wiped tears from his own eyes, keeping his arm around his aunt. “Got tied up with another class coming in, Mom.” He cast a meaningful glance over at Chris. “Besides, I met a pretty wonderful lady, and she’s taken up all my spare time.”
Chris smiled warmly over at Aunt Melvina. “I’ve probably seen him about as much as you have,” she replied in good-natured defense.
Melvina chuckled, patting Dan lovingly on the shoulder. “He was always known to tell a few white lies to cover his tracks. Both of you, come on in. I got hot coffee brewin’ and fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. We’ll just get your luggage moved in and settle down for a chat.”
After a huge breakfast of sausage, eggs, homemade bread and the rolls, Chris felt like she was ready to burst at the seams. The atmosphere of the cozy ranch was warm, relaxing and happy. Melvina sat ensconced between them on the old tattered couch that was covered with a hand-knit afghan of various shades of green and blue. She patted Chris’s knee.
“You know Dan is like a son to us? When Terry, our own son, died in a tractor accident at age seven, Dan was a godsend.” Melvina’s eyes got damp again as she cast a look over at Dan. “And he was such a good boy. I suppose you met Vanessa and her nest of cronies?”
Chris swallowed hard, surprised at Melvina’s sudden change in voice. “Why—uh, yes, I did meet her,” she said, hesitantly.
“You should have seen Dan when they dumped him on our front porch. Vanessa was young, foolish and didn’t want nothin’ to do with raising a child. Dan was only seven then. She was crying that the world was waiting for her and she couldn’t stay home to play mother.” Melvina snorted vehemently. “Best thing she did was give us Dan! Some people were never created to be parents, and Vanessa and Preston are two of them.”
10
NEAR TEN IN the morning Dan persuaded Melvina to free them for a ride. Capturing Chris’s hand, he walked toward the huge horse barn that sat north of the ranch house. Everywhere Chris looked there were large corralled paddocks with either cattle or horses in them. She smiled winsomely up at Dan as he led her into the shade of the horse barn. “I love your aunt and uncle. I can see why you think so much of them.”
“Howard and Melvina are my real family, Chris,” he answered, sliding open the first door of the box stall on the right. “They’re kind of taken with you, too,” he said, leading out a small gray mare.
“The feeling’s mutual. This might sound like wishful thinking, but they almost fit what I had wanted in imaginary parents.” She cast him a shy look. “Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? Even at my age I have a set of make-believe parents in my head.”
Dan put the mare in the crossties, coming over and placing his arms around her. “It doesn’t sound crazy at all, honey. I’ve tried to imagine what my world would be like without any family.”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I think I’d feel awfully empty inside and very much alone.” He caressed her face with his hands. “That’s why I’ve tried to make the effort to be here for you. You deserve it. You’re a special lady.”
Chris leaned up, kissing him soundly, glorying in the pressure of his mouth on her lips. She relished the hardness of his body on the softness of hers, his hands sliding down the expanse of her back, coming to rest on her hips. He drew her daringly against him, making her aware of his arousal. “Mmm, you are too tempting, Dan McCord,” she whispered against his mouth. “Let me go before I melt into your arms.”
He uttered a low growl, planting a hungry kiss on her full, wet lips. “You won’t be safe here,” he whispered seductively. “Even though there are two guest bedrooms here at the ranch, I’m not sleeping in the other room tonight.”
Chris gave him an intent look. “Will your aunt and uncle understand?”
“Yes. I don’t come home with young ladies very often. So they know you’re somebody special to me. They may look old-fashioned and are in some ways, but they taught me to make my own decisions and abide by them.”
Chris gazed up at him. “Even in this short time I can see their influence on how you make decisions and the way you think.”
Dan released her, going to the tack room and retrieving a saddle, blanket and bridle for the mare. “They helped me become what I am,” he admitted, throwing the blanket on the horse.
Chris leaned up against the stall, watching him. He looked so at home there. If she hadn’t known he was an Air Force officer, she would have thought he was a Texas rancher. That particular occupation did suit him, she thought. “Didn’t you ever go back home to Vanessa after she left you here?” she asked.
Dan cinched up the saddle. “I’d visit my parents a couple of weeks every summer. The rest of the time I lived here.”
“Have you ever thought of taking up ranching, Dan?”
He released the horse from the crossties, putting the bridle over the mare’s head. “Sometimes.” And then he gave her a wicked grin. “When things get murky in the rank and file of the Air Force, I often think I should have been a cowboy instead. But after the politics clear up, I always find my desire to sit in the cockpit of a jet fighter stronger than to throw my leg over a horse.”
She smiled thoughtfully. “Maybe later when they ground you to flying a desk instead of a plane you’ll get out.”
Dan handed her the reins, going down to the next box stall and leading out a large black gelding. “That’s crossed my mind,” he admitted. “I don’t think I want to be a desk jockey the last five or ten years of my career. But that’s going to be a tough decision.”
Within minutes, the gelding, known as Blackjack, was saddled and they were trotting out toward lush green pastures dotted with white Charlois cattle. The sun beat down hotly; the temperature was already in the high eighties. The sky was a light blue; the same color as Dan’s laughing eyes as he watched her try to post in the Western saddle. Finally giving in, Chris pulled her gray mare to a walk. She marveled at Dan’s natural grace in the saddle, but then reminded herself he had almost been born to one, having ridden from age seven until he was eighteen years old.
Several cowboys raised their hand in greeting as they passed them. Most of them were older men who slouched comfortably in their saddles, their weather-beaten features rough-hewed from a combination of sun, wind and rain. Dan rode at her side for almost an hour, telling Chris the layout of the huge working ranch. They neared a small stream and a grove of cottonwoods, dismounting and giving their charges a well-earned drink of water.
Dan hobbled both horses. Removing their bridles and putting them over the saddle horn allowed the horses to munch on the grass. Then Dan led Chris over to a stout cottonwood, pulling her down so that she rested in his lap. He touched her nose with his finger.
“You’re getting sunburned, Raven. I should have thought to pick up some hats before we left.”
“Somehow, I don’t see myself in anything but a camouflaged helmet, visor and oxygen mask.”
“No cowboy hat?” he inquired, his blue eyes dancing with merriment.
Chris shook her head. “The way my legs feel right now all I want is my bird and the straps of my ejection seat harness biting into my shoulders,” she said, laughing.
“I have to remember you’re a city girl at heart,” he murmured, kissing her cheek.
“And you’re a country boy at heart.”
“Think that makes us opposites, huh?”
She closed her eyes, relishing his maleness. “We don’t have many differences, really.”
Dan nodded. “That’s true,” he conceded. The silence lulled them into the quiet of noontime. A noisy crow cawed raucously in the distance. The lowing of cattle increased the sense of peace in her. Chris was content to lie in Dan’s arms and let her mind wander into bliss.
“Happy?” Dan murmured.
“Mmm, completely. You?”
“Never happier,” he admitted huskily. He ran his fingers down her rib cage, caressing her hip. “You make me happy, Raven. Matter of fact, you touch many people with your warmth.”
She nuzzled against his neck. “Some of the guys at the school think I’m a sourpuss of sorts and others—”
“Think you’re one hell of a woman,” he finished, sitting her up and forcing her to look directly into his intense azure eyes. “You don’t hear the talk that goes on over at the O’Club afterward.”
She smirked. “That’s because I never go over there for a drink after classes.’’
“No one thinks you’re a snob for not doing that. Most of the students think you’re studying your fool head off.”
Grinning, she said, “I am!”
Dan ran his fingers up her jawline, lightly brushing the nape of her neck. “Last night,” he whispered huskily, looking levelly into her eyes, “I said something to you, Chris. Something that I’ve been wanting to say for quite a while.”
She sobered immediately, aware of the tremor in his voice. “I know....”
His grip tightened on her shoulder, his face mirroring the intensity of his emotions toward her. “I love you, my sweet Raven. Like I’ve never loved another woman before.” His eyes softened as he gazed at her. “Since the first day I met you on that aircraft ramp, you reached inside me. You made me feel things that I’ve never experienced. You’re a dream come true for me.”
She lowered her lashes, her heart pounding wildly in her breast. “I never believed in dreams, Dan.” She swallowed hard, meeting his tender gaze. “Not until you walked into my life.” She gave a helpless shrug, tears suddenly filling her eyes. “I’ll have to admit, I tried to ignore you. I—after Jim’s death, I just felt too hurt to open up again. But there you were—you made me laugh, you held me during some of the worst moments of my life and you accepted me as I was. You didn’t want to change me or mold me into something else.”
Dan caressed her cheek, cupping her chin. “Honey, I wouldn’t change anything in you except about how you feel about yourself,” he promised thickly. “If only you could see what you’ve accomplished.”
Her lips parted in response as she heard the words fall like a loving hand upon her heart. “You’ve helped me realize some of it, darling,” she murmured. “And really, I love being with you. Not just in a jet, but anywhere.”
He grinned. “Even in a cowboy hat?”
Chris laughed softly. “Yes, even in a cowboy hat.”
Dan pulled a small box from his left shirt pocket. “This is for you, Raven. Open it,” he urged quietly, placing it in her hand.
Her heart stilled as she stared down at the small red-velvet case. Her fingers trembled as she began to open it.
“Because we’re both in the Air Force and we can’t wear engagement or wedding rings during flight, I wanted to give you something that you could wear regardless,” he said, watching her expression closely.
The latch was sprung and Chris lifted the li
d. A small gasp escaped from her lips. Inside, with a gold clasp and chain, was a carefully crafted violet gem in the shape of a heart. Dan picked it up, fastening it around her neck.
“It’s amethyst,” he explained, watching how the precious gem settled at the hollow of her lovely throat. “The color of your eyes, Raven.” He slowly looked up at her. “Eyes that I could lose myself in forever. I see every emotion in there, did you know that?”
She was speechless, overwhelmed with Dan’s generosity and his outpouring of love. Touching the stone carefully, she choked back a sob. “I—no one has ever given me anything so lovely, Dan....”
He pulled her into his arms, embracing her fiercely. “I’m going to shower you with gifts,” he promised fervently. “God knows, you deserve some happiness after the hell you’ve gone through.”
“But I don’t need things,” she protested softly, unable to stem the tide of tears. Chris buried her head in his chest. “I just need you, Dan....”
He rocked her, smiling tenderly. “I know,” he whispered thickly, “that’s why I love you so much. You value people, not material possessions, not money. And more than that, I love your unquenchable spirit, do you know that?” Placing his mouth against her trembling lips, he shared the salt of her tears. It was a kiss sealing eternity. Dan put as much of his soul into that breathtaking molding of his lips against hers as possible. He heard her moan, feeling the hardening of her taut breasts against the wall of his chest as he deepened the exploration of his tongue into her sweet depths. Slowly he withdrew, his eyes burning fiercely with cobalt desire as he looked down at her. “I love you,” he whispered rawly, “and I’m asking you to be my wife. I can’t conceive of life without you, honey. I never knew what living was until I met you.”
Her violet eyes sparkled with the wash of tears, her cheeks wet and flushed. “There is no life without you, Dan,” she murmured throatily. “I can only answer yes. I love you so much that it hurts,” she said, touching the area where her heart lay.
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