by Sara Orwig
Tom dropped his hands from her shoulders and waited while she made arrangements with Nita and Connor. When Rose hung up, she got her jacket and joined Tom.
They walked to the house in silence. The sun had gone down, making the air chilly. Tom’s hand enveloped hers as they strolled along, a moment suspended in time that made her conscious that, beneath the arguments, a friendship of sorts was developing between them.
She found her father in the living room. “Just wait in the kitchen if you want. I’ll come get you after I tell him.”
Tom nodded. “We should be doing this together, Rose. I’m sorry we’re not and that this announcement isn’t going to be the joyous occasion it should be.”
Pain squeezed her heart and she turned away. When she glanced back at Tom, he was headed down the hall. Dreading the next few moments, she entered the living room.
Will sat in his big chair with his foot propped on the ottoman. He lowered a newspaper to place it across his lap. “Hi, Rose.”
“Daddy, I need to tell you something,” she said, crossing the room and shedding her leather jacket. She sat in a chair near him and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together.
“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me,” he said gently, and she was startled, unable to imagine that he had guessed what she intended to discuss.
“I want you to know who the father of your grandchild is.”
“It’s Tom Devlin, isn’t it?” Will asked.
Amazed, she stared at him. “Did Nita or Connor tell you?”
Will shook his head. “Nope. One look at the two of you and I knew.”
Surprised, she continued to stare. “We’re not in love.”
Her father gave her a long, hard look. “Are you certain about that, Rose?”
“Yes, I am,” she said. “He asked me to marry him, but I’m not going to.”
“Why won’t you marry him? Tell me again.”
“Because I want to marry for love,” she said, having a difficult time getting out the words and suspecting an argument was brewing. “You and Mom had a love marriage. So do you and Jane. That’s what I want.”
“And there isn’t love between you and Tom? Could’ve fooled me, Rose.”
“We barely know each other. Tom offered to marry me out of his sense of duty to me and his child.”
“Give it time, Rose. If you have a good man who wants to marry you and he’s the father of your baby, I’d say you need to think about this one.”
“Daddy, you hardly know Tom either, and it just won’t work between us. Tom has bought a ranch here. He wants to become a cattle rancher.”
“Oh, Rose,” Will said, and she hurt because of the disappointment she could hear in her father’s voice. “You’re like your mother. You never loved it out here. The farm is my lifeblood, and it is for Nita.” He ran his fingers over his face and gazed into the distance, and she could see the pain in his eyes.
“Daddy, I’m sorry, but I can’t change. And Tom wants this ranch badly. He’s already bought the land. It’s impossible for me to think about living on a ranch.”
Will nodded and in that moment, she felt a knot in her throat. Her father looked older and she noticed wrinkles in his face that she didn’t remember from before. She hated to hurt him, but she couldn’t change who she was.
“Thanks for being understanding,” she said. She was suffocating under the weight of disappointing her father and didn’t want to argue with him about marrying Tom. She stood and gathered up her jacket. “Tom wants to see you. Can I tell him to come in now?”
“Sure.”
She hurried out of the room, relieved, still surprised that her father had guessed. She found Tom standing in the empty kitchen. He was gazing out a window and turned when she entered the room.
“I told Daddy you wanted to see him,” she said.
He brushed past her, pausing a moment to give her a long, questioning look before he went striding down the hall.
It was almost an hour before Tom reappeared and he gazed at her solemnly. “Ready to go to your place?”
She nodded and wondered what had transpired between Tom and her father, but she didn’t want to ask about it.
As soon as they were locked in the guesthouse again, they went to the family room, where Tom steered her to the oversize leather sofa and sat close to her, turning to face her while she scooted back into the corner.
“Are we going to spend all our time together arguing about the future?” she asked.
He stretched his long arm across the back of the sofa and caught tendrils of her hair in his hand, toying with the silky locks. The slight tugs stirred more sparks within her. Only a couple of feet separated them. When his gaze lowered to her mouth, she couldn’t get her breath.
In spite of all the differences between them, she wanted to kiss him. It was an irresistible temptation, and she fought an inward, silent battle with herself as his eyes, darkened to the gray of storm clouds, showed the desire that blazed in their depths.
“No,” she whispered half to herself, her insides heating and her breath coming in gasps. He wanted her, and it was blatant in his expression.
“Rose, give us a chance,” he urged. “You want me in bed.”
“That goes only so far. It doesn’t cover deeper needs.”
“I don’t think you’re really giving me a chance here,” he replied, closing the short distance between them and sliding his hand around the back of her head while his mouth covered hers. His lips, then his tongue, engaged in a sensual duel with hers.
Her heart thudded and desire turned hot and heavy, pooling low within her. She wanted him, and he had to know that she did.
She couldn’t combat her longing. Drowning in his kiss, she slid her arm around his neck. Dimly she knew he lifted her onto his lap and cradled her against his shoulder while his passionate kiss became demanding. Currents sizzled over her nerves. She moved her hips, twisting in his arms to press more fully against him.
His hand slipped to her breast to stroke her nipple. She moaned with pleasure, tearing away from his kiss. Tingles radiated at his touch.
Winding her fingers in his hair, she kissed him with a desperate need that drummed along her with her pulse. Her thudding heart drowned out all other noises while she ran her hand across his broad shoulder.
“Ah, Tom!” she breathed, hating the problems between them. Whether he was angry with her or not, she wanted him, but this was leading to more complications and more chances he would bend her will to his.
“Tom, I want you to stop,” she said, wriggling away and catching his wrist, struggling to get her longings under control.
He raised his head to look into her eyes, his fingers threading in her hair. “I want you, Rose. It’s good between us—really good. You can’t ignore that.”
She knew he was thinking about marriage again and her desire cooled. What they had was fantastic sex together, but that wasn’t what she wanted as a basis for marriage.
She wriggled away, scooting off his lap to get herself together, catching her breath and feeling his gaze steadily on her. His fingers closed around her wrist. When she looked around in surprise, he framed her face with his hands.
“I want you, Rose.”
She shook her head. “You want this baby. If you’re so determined, let’s keep sex out of the equation,” she said, certain that he would lose interest in no time. From the little he had told her, he had never had a lasting commitment to anyone. She gathered that he was always the one to walk away—which she could well imagine—and she expected him to lose interest in her soon. There was still the baby that he thought he wanted, but she wondered if he really knew what he wanted.
She scooted back, but she was almost into the corner of the sofa to begin with, so she pushed lightly against his chest. “You can give me a little room here.”
He inched away, arching one dark eyebrow. “I disturb you when I’m close?” he asked.
“You kno
w you do.” She shook her head to get her hair away from her face. “We need to cool down.”
He gave her a smoldering look that only heated her more. She tried to shift her thoughts to something less combustible.
“I know this decoy-and-protection plan is very secretive stuff, but I’m in the middle of it. I have a right to know more about what’s going on,” she said, trying to bank the flames of desire. “In addition to you, who else will be protecting me?” she asked and listened to him list his five friends.
“My word! I can’t possibly be at risk while guarded by the men you’re naming,” she exclaimed.
“Don’t get complacent. You’re at high risk,” Tom replied, reaching out to nudge up the hem of her skirt and run his fingers in circles on her bare knee. Tingles radiated from his touch and played havoc with her concentration, but she made an effort to focus on their discussion.
“You’ll be bored out of your mind here,” she said. “I work at my computer most of the day.”
“Shut up in the house day and night with you—no way will I be bored,” he drawled in a husky voice that was like a brush of velvet. He pushed tendrils of hair away from her face and tucked them behind her ear, running his fingers around to her nape, caressing her. How easy it was for him! She took his hand and returned it to his own knee, but before she could pull away, he twisted his fingers, interlocking them through hers and holding her hand on his warm knee.
“Scared to have me around?” he asked in a seductive voice. “Afraid you can’t say no? Or are you afraid you’ll fall in love and want to marry me?” He leaned closer while he talked, his gaze pinning her, demanding her answer.
She raised her chin. “Tom, I’ll never live on a ranch.”
The heated desire reflected in the depths of his eyes cooled, and she wondered what was running through his mind. She couldn’t imagine him tossing aside his plans because she didn’t like country life. A muscle worked in his jaw and she suspected that she had summed up his feelings accurately.
“I’ll have to admit, Rose, I have my heart set on this ranch. Let me show it to you when this is over and we don’t have to be afraid of a sniper.”
She rubbed her arms. “Don’t even talk about a sniper. As soon as Daddy can get around, there will be no stopping him from going all over the horse farm.”
“He can’t yet and when the time comes that he starts to get out again, someone will go with him.”
“That wouldn’t stop a sniper with a high-powered rifle,” she answered grimly.
“Don’t think about it yet, because there’s no immediate cause for worry. Will doesn’t go any farther than the porch right now. With Devlins helping patrol around here, we should be able to keep him safe.”
“If I stay shut up here, the killer won’t be able to get to me.”
Tom inhaled deeply. “I keep hoping something will happen to catch the murderer and you won’t ever be involved.”
“I’m already involved.”
“All right—you won’t be hurt,” he said grimly. “Maybe we’ll catch the person soon.”
“You don’t have any leads, do you?”
“Nothing substantial,” he replied and they became silent.
She thought about the danger and the ruse they would attempt. She prayed it would work and this threat to her family would be over soon.
“After this is over, Rose, will you go with me and look at the land I’ve bought? It won’t hurt you to just look.”
She shook her head. “I told you before, there’s no reason to see it.” He gave her a hard look and she shrugged. “You might as well hear the truth. I want love, Tom. Love is two people who can count on each other, who want to be together through thick and through thin, who enjoy each other’s company outside of bed, too,” she said firmly.
“It’s people who get to be friends first and know each other long and well,” Rose continued. “I think people should develop a good, close relationship that lasts at least a year before they think about marriage.”
“Rose, you can’t order life up to fit the specifications you want.”
“My mother always said that she rushed into marriage to my father. She said they should have waited more than three months after they met to get married. She loved Daddy, but she hated the horse farm.”
“This isn’t like your mother’s and father’s situation. I disagree that a relationship requires a great deal of time. People fall in love instantly and only days pass before they marry and they’re happy forever after.”
“Name one,” Rose countered.
“Uncle Lucas, who thrives on telling the world how he met my aunt Edith when she was engaged to someone else. Within five days she was engaged to Uncle Lucas. A month later they were happily married in a union that lasted for years until she died from heart trouble. It happens, Rose.”
“Well, it hasn’t happened between us, and you know it.”
“I think you’re scared to let go and fall in love. You like to be in command of situations and it bothers you when you’re not.”
Once again she could feel the clash between them. There was a chasm dividing them that would never be bridged.
“Let’s go pick a room out for you. I’m sure you came all prepared to move right in,” she said, standing. “You can have your choice of three bedrooms, mine excluded.”
“I’ll take the one closest to yours,” he said, and she glanced up to find him watching her.
“I’ll show you your room,” she said briskly, trying to keep passion under control.
She entered a bedroom that had hunter-green and beige decor, a king-size bed and a wall of books. She switched on a lamp. “You can have this room. There are towels in the linen closet in the adjoining bathroom.”
“Thanks,” he said, facing her with his hands on his hips, scrutinizing her in a way that made her pulse beat faster.
“Breakfast is promptly at seven o’clock in the morning in the main house. Don’t ever be late for Jane’s meals,” Rose said, trying to ignore her physical response to him.
“I’ll remember. I’m going to the car to get my things. When do you turn on the alarm for this house?”
“Once I’m in for the night, which is after you get back from your car.”
“Go on to bed and I’ll take care of it,” he said. They gazed at each other and desire swirled around them like rising mist. Along with it was an ever-present clash of wills. She turned on her heel and left, her back prick-ling as she walked away. She closed the door to her room and let out her breath. The day had been emotionally exhausting, and she knew she was in for the battle of her life. It was either marry him or fight him in court for joint custody. She didn’t like either choice and all she could hope was to hold him off and let time temper his position.
He thought they could fall in love, and she recognized that they probably could. But he intended to move to his new ranch and she would never want any part of that. They were at an impasse. Unfortunately this living together every hour of each day was dangerous to her heart. She didn’t want to fall in love with him and risk settling for a life that would make her miserable.
She rubbed her barely rounded stomach. How complicated her life had already become. And now Tom was only a few feet away. She could be in his arms any time she wanted—awareness of that fact kept her nerves raw and desire a burning ache.
Thinking constantly about Tom, she moved around her bedroom preparing for sleep. Later she lay in the darkness while her thoughts still churned over him and her future and their baby.
The next day Rose arrived at the Royal Diner at noon for her prearranged meeting with Tom. They were about to set the decoy plan in motion.
When she swung open the door to the diner, crisp cold air swept in with her while the tiny bell tinkled over the door. A bluegrass song on the jukebox was a backdrop for a buzz of conversation while the smell of hamburgers filled the air. The lunch crowd packed the diner and people stood waiting for a booth. It was the first time for Ros
e to see some people since her arrival back in Royal.
She spotted Tom as he slid out of a booth and waved to her. He was wearing jeans and a navy sweater that made his dark looks appear dangerous, more commanding than ever. Threading her way through the crowd, she was aware of his gaze on her while she returned greetings from the locals.
Before she reached their booth, she saw that Tom could not have chosen better. In the booth on one side of theirs was Zelda Mae Whitman, the biggest gossip in Royal. Seated in the other adjoining booth was Malcolm Durmorr.
As Rose passed Zelda Mae and Vita Langston, she said hello. “It’s nice to have you back, Rose,” Zelda Mae said. Her blue eyes twinkled. “It didn’t take you long to meet the new man in town,” she said in a lowered voice. “And a Devlin, too!”
“No, I guess it didn’t,” Rose replied with a smile as she moved toward her own booth.
“Tom, I have something to tell you!” she exclaimed when she greeted him. She knew that would make Zelda Mae perk up her ears.
When Rose slid into her seat and motioned to Tom to be seated, Malcolm Durmorr glanced over his shoulder at her. “Hi, Rose,” he said. A degree of repugnance stirred in her because she had never liked Malcolm.
“Hi, Malcolm,” she replied while she wondered if he, too, had heard her remark to Tom. Malcolm said a perfunctory hello to Tom before turning away.
“I couldn’t wait to see you,” Tom told her, giving her a quick kiss, and she knew that kiss would draw even more attention to them and arouse people’s curiosity.
“So you look like the cat that swallowed the cream. Or the mouse or whatever it was.”
She leaned toward him and lowered her voice, but she whispered loudly enough to be overheard and she knew that Zelda Mae would be listening. “I have the most exciting news possible!” Rose exclaimed with her pulse accelerating. She hoped she was convincing, because she had never tried to trick people before and now lives were at stake.
“So tell me.” Tom stated.
“I know where Jessamine Golden’s treasure is,” she said, leaning closer and lowering her voice, yet still speaking with enough volume that both Malcolm and Zelda Mae could overhear her if they were listening.