by Becky McGraw
If someone came out this way, they would see them, would have a good shot at taking them out.
Two clicks sounded in his ear, and Dylan glanced at Slade to see he was the one who made them. That must mean they were in place. Dylan was starting to figure out their communication process. He wondered how they would go in. Who would go in. They couldn’t just sit out here all night. He’d already told Dave that.
But the man didn’t listen about calling in the authorities, why would he listen to that? He evidently made his own decisions, regardless of what anyone else had to say, or wanted. Dylan heard the purr of an engine, and saw Dave’s Hummer stop at the edge of the pasture, behind the house. He pulled the vehicle right inside the tree line, but it could still be seen. Probably so he could keep an eye on the kids. Now, he thought again about his decision to keep them with the convoy. Maybe that hadn’t been smart. He almost wished Dave would have overrode him and stopped at the R & R to drop them off.
The reality of this situation hit him when Slade took his weapon out of the back of his truck. These men weren’t playing around. They meant business, and knew that business well. It seemed like all of them were ready for war, had probably been in one or many before. Dylan had been a cowboy all his life, and the extent of his handling a gun, except for helping Joel that one time, was limited to hunting. These men were used to hunting animals of a different sort.
Dylan sucked in a breath and tensed when he heard a series of double-clicks in his ear. A few minutes later he saw dark figures moving at the corner of the house. They disappeared around the side. Another pair of men ran from the tree line and took up position at the back corner. One crept toward the back door and stood on the porch with his back to the wall.
Oh God, oh God, oh God, Dylan thought, when he heard a triple click and knew they were about to do something. What exactly he didn’t know, but he sighted the back door with his rifle. Slade did the same beside him. “How much range does that thing have” Dylan whispered.
“About as much as that rifle, but not as accurate,” Slade ground out. “Shhh.”
The guy on the back porch tried the door knob, and clicked the mic once.
“Shit,” Slade hissed quietly.
“What?” Dylan asked louder than he meant to . His voice echoed a little and he flinched.
Slade’s head swung toward him, and Dylan saw anger glittering in his eyes. “Why don’t you just send them a smoke signal that we’re out here, dumbass?”
“Sorry,” he said feeling like a dumbass.
“The door’s locked,” Slade said after a few seconds. “He’s going to have to kick it in, if there’s no other entry point.”
A second later there was another single click, followed by two more, then another. They were going to have to break in. That meant they had to find Carrie fast, or those men could shoot her before they could rescue her. A triple-click happened a split second, before the guy on the back porch rammed his shoulder into the door. It bounced but didn’t splinter. He rammed it again, then again.
Finally it crashed inward, and he sprang through the door. A gunshot sounded, and Dylan’s heart stopped. He held his breath, staring down the night sight, his hands sweating as he gripped the rifle and waited. The bright light from the porch light almost blinded him, but he didn’t look away. Another gunshot sounded inside the house, and his heart took off at a gallop.
He fought the urge to jump to his feet and run across that pasture. It was a good thing he didn’t, because a man in a suit suddenly appeared out of the back door with his arm across Carrie’s throat and a pistol to her head. The man’s eyes darted frantically across the pasture and stopped at the tree line, very near where Dave had parked the Hummer. Very near where the kids were in that Hummer. Dylan’s heart took a plunge to his toes, when the man dragged Carrie down the steps with him then turned his back and started crawfishing across the pasture with her in front of him.
A triple click sounded on the radio. “Aim high. Head shot,” Slade said, and Dylan looked at him. “Take the shot if you get it. Don’t let them get to that vehicle.”
Flashes of the day he killed that man at the back door of the van to save Terri clicked through his mind, as he brought the rifle back to his shoulder and looked through the sight. Dylan’s blood ran cold in his veins, but he knew he had to do this, or Carrie would die anyway. The kids would die. The man got to the edge of the light in the pasture, and Dylan’s vision cleared.
He could see him perfectly, but he saw Carrie too. Her frightened face, her fingers clawing at the man’s arm to break the hold he had on her throat. If he missed, he might hit her. Aim high. Dylan eased the mark in the sight up to the man’s ear. One shot. If he didn’t take it, didn’t nail it, this might be his only chance. Their only chance to save her.
“Take the fucking shot,” Slade growled.
Dylan’s hand shook, but somehow he found the trigger, steadied the rifle, then spotted the target again. Before he could think, he squeezed the trigger and the rifle bucked. Fire belched out the end, and his heart stopped as he waited for impact. He didn’t think he hit him for a second, but then the man’s arm dropped from Carrie’s throat, and he staggered before he fell. Carrie took off running across the pasture.
“Clear in the house,” someone growled into the radio.
“Clear in the field,” Slade said when the man didn’t get up.
Dylan dropped the rifle and got up. He had to catch Carrie, hold her. Know that she was okay. She sure didn’t look okay when she kept running into the darkness, and right into the woods at the opposite side of the pasture.
“Nice shot, man. Go get her,” Slade said.
Dylan didn’t need to be told twice. He shot out of the trees and ran across the pasture. He didn’t care about the sirens he heard in the distance, or the men milling around on the back porch, Dylan focused on the spot where he’d seen Carrie enter the woods.
“Carrie!” he yelled when he got closer. He heaved for breath, as he ran into the woods and yelled again, “Stop running, baby! You’re safe now!” His voice echoed through the trees and in his skull, but he barely heard it over his pounding heart. “Carrie, wait!”
He finally heard a breathless whimper, then a deep sigh, before she stepped out of the brambles. Tears ran down her face as she stumbled toward him. He opened his arms, and she ran to him. Never in his life had anything felt better than when she crashed into him and his arms closed around her. He was never going to let her go. Ever. Even if she said she was still pissed at him and didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
He had another chance, and like that one bullet, that’s all he needed.
“I love you, Carrie,” he said in a raw whisper, dropping a kiss on her hair. Until his last breath, he was going to keep saying those words to this woman. The words he never thought he’d utter to any woman. Until she believed he meant them. He hugged her tighter as unbelievable relief almost made his bones liquid.
She mumbled something into his shirt, and he pushed her away. “What did you say?”
“I said, I think it’s going to rain,” she replied, her lips wobbling uncontrollably, her whole body shaking.
Dylan looked up, but couldn’t see the sky through the trees. “I tell you I love you, and you are worried about the weather?” It hadn’t looked like rain earlier. He shook his head, thinking she must be in shock to be thinking about that right at this moment. He held her shoulders, trying to see her face in the darkness. “Are you in shock, baby?”
“Either that or hell has frozen over, Mr. One-Night-Stand-Man.”
He got it then, she was joking, so she was okay. He laughed and hugged her to his chest again. “I’m a one-woman man now, sweet cheeks. You worked a miracle, baby.”
She laughed, and it was the most amazing sound he’d heard in his life. She was the most amazing woman he’d ever met. Kidnapped, almost killed and she still had the ability to laugh. To call him on his stupidity. “I love you,” he said again, the w
ords feeling good as they slipped past his lips. “Get used to hearing it.”
“I definitely could get used to it,” she said, with emotion choking her voice. She stepped back to put her hand to her throat and rub it. “Where are my kids?” she asked in a shaky whisper.
Dylan swallowed down the knot of disappointment in his throat. She hadn’t said it back yet. But she was upset, had been through hell tonight and wanted to see her children. Understandable. Or maybe she doesn’t feel the same way. Sickness churned in his gut at the thought.
“They’re in that Hummer that asshole was dragging you toward.”
A whimper fell out of her lips, and her eyes filled. “I need to see them,” she said hoarsely.
Dylan took her hand and led her out of the woods. They walked across the field in silence, and it got thicker with every step they got closer to the Hummer. His heart dropped a notch with every step too. By the time they got to the other side of the pasture, he had to know. Had to ask her. He stopped and turned her to face him.
“Carrie, I have to know how you feel about me. I know I didn’t do some things right by you, but I tried. I’m just a stupid man who was used to doing things alone. Being alone. I’m sorry if I hurt you, baby.”
“You did hurt me,” she said, and tears filled her eyes again. “But you saved me too. I needed to meet you, Dylan. Needed to get my life back. I’d been dead in here so long,” her voice trailed off and she rubbed her chest. “Thank you.”
No, I love you. He wasn’t giving up. “I love you, dammit!” he growled, pulling her to him to slam his mouth over hers, to remind her how it was between them. Maybe to spark that memory that she loved him too. He knew she had once, or thought she was well on her way to getting there. Hell, she’d all but said the words at his trailer when they made love.
Carrie moaned and tapped on his chest. Dylan let her go, and she stepped back, breathing hard. She put her hand to her chest again. “I love you too, but I’m not going to pressure you into anything you aren’t ready for. Don’t want. Just because you love me and I love you doesn’t mean forever,” she said in an emotion-choked voice. “I have too much going on right now to talk about it. I need to see my kids, make sure they’re safe, and I’m sure you need to get back….”
He growled, and grabbed her arm to jerk her against him. His arms closed around her. “It does mean forever for me. I’ve never said those words to another woman, and I never will again. You’re it for me baby. No pressure, I’m here because I want to be. And I’m not going back to the rodeo. I’m done.” Dylan swallowed hard, because this was another string of words he never thought he’d utter. “Carrie, I came back to ask you to marry me, baby. I want forever with you and your kids. I want them to be mine too.” His nostrils flared and he sucked in a sharp breath, rolling his burning eyes, before he looked back at her. “I might suck as a father, I have no idea what I’m doing, but I can promise I will try to be a good dad. Make better decisions than the one I made with Chris, because I love Chris and Izzy as much as I love you.”
Her body wilted in his arms, and she rested her head against his chest. Dylan didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. A full minute went by while he waited. A full minute he held his breath. She finally pushed off on his chest, then grabbed his hands in hers.
She met his eyes, and he thought she was about to crush his world, but she said, “Yes, I’ll marry you. I told you, I’m a one-man kind of woman, and you’re it for me too. If I said no, I’d be alone for the rest of my life.” Her lower lip wobbled. “I don’t want to be alone anymore, Dylan.”
Relief swamped him, and his chin dropped to his chest. He hugged her to him, then dropped his arm over her shoulders. “Let’s go see about our kids,” he said, looking up at the night sky to wink a thank you to the man upstairs.
EPILOGUE
Two months later, Carrie could not believe how her life had turned on a dime. Her hand shook as she tried to balance the top tier of the cake on the pillars. All that was left was to add the topper. A very cute, dark-haired cowboy with his bride, flanked by two blonde kids. She hadn’t been able to find the perfect topper, so she’d found individual pieces, and melded them together with sugar paste. She thought the end result was perfect.
“Hey you, aren’t you supposed to be getting your hair done? Sadie said two o’clock and it’s already two-fifteen!” Terri chastised, as she walked up behind Carrie. “I just left the salon and she’s waiting for you.”
“I’m almost done,” Carrie replied stepping back to admire her work. If Dylan hadn’t insisted on keeping her in bed this morning for what he called a practice run for the honeymoon, she wouldn’t be running late. But she would never complain about that. That man could delay her that way any time he wanted. Except her wedding day. And except for tomorrow morning, when they had to take Chris to court to face the hanging judge. Her good mood deflated a little, and she huffed out a breath. You are not going to worry about that today. One day at a time, she reminded herself.
Terri shoved a box in front of her. “What’s this?” she asked, taking it from her to inspect the silver paper, and neat white ribbon bow. There was a card slipped under the ribbon.
“Wedding present from Dylan,” Terri replied with a shrug.
Carrie shook the box, but she didn’t open it. With her husband-to-be there was no telling what was in that box. Those toys she threw away? He had replaced them and then some. Her kinky cowboy especially loved those panties. They were his favorite, and he had insisted she wear them when she left the bedroom this morning.
A delicious shiver of anticipation worked its way down her spine to tingle at the top of her thighs. He and that damned remote control hadn’t been around, but she knew he was sneaky and would find her when it suited him. Probably when she didn’t want to see him.
He loved to distract her, thought it was funny to mess with her in front of other people.
Carrie had a wedding present of her own for him. One that would blow him out of the water. It would be there at five o’clock, right before they walked down the aisle, Dave Logan promised her. Nervousness fluttered in her stomach. Carrie had no idea if Dylan would like it, or how he would react, but she knew it was exactly what he needed to make his life complete again.
She just hoped he felt the same way, and it didn’t ruin the wedding. It could go either way, but it was a chance she had to take. For him.
The rich, buttery smell of the icing hit her, her stomach rolled violently and Carrie gagged. The same thing happened when she iced the cakes yesterday, then again this morning when she boxed them up to carry over to the pavilion.
“Oh, Lord…” she groaned, slapping a hand over her mouth as she ran for the bathroom at the back of the pavilion. There was no doubt about it. Carrie could no longer deny it. Her period was a month late as of today. She didn’t have an ulcer from stress, she was pregnant. That last period she’d had after she and Dylan had sex without a condom had been a joke. It lasted one day, and was barely there. She’d probably gotten pregnant then. So much for her faith in biorhythms. From now on, it was suit up or the kitchen was closed.
This was all she needed with everything else going on in her life. Her youngest was ten years old. At nearly thirty-three, Carrie thought she was done having kids. But fate had other ideas, it looked like. And she would love this baby just like she loved Izzy and Chris. She would never regret having her kids, they were gifts, including this unexpected one.
But Dylan was going to kill her. He’d been using a condom faithfully since that last slip up. Carrie ran into the bathroom, flew into a stall and promptly lost her lunch. Terri walked in behind her and leaned against the stall.
“So, when’s it due?” she asked solemnly.
Carrie got her breath back and jerked toilet paper from the roll to wipe her mouth. She swallowed hard. “I’d say in about six months.”
“You told Dylan yet?” Terri asked with a laugh.
“No, I guess that will be his wedding p
resent too.”
Terri blew out a breath, then shook her head. “Looks like he’s in for a lot of surprises today. He’s one lucky cowboy.”
Today was going to be a very emotional day for him. She hoped it wasn’t too much, but she had to tell him before the ceremony. It was fair. “I’m going to find him. Can you tell Sadie I’ll be a few more minutes?”
“Sure…don’t forget your present on the table,” Terri said as she walked away.
Carrie walked back to the cake table in the pavilion and picked up the box. She slid her nail under the ribbon, and pulled it off, then tore off the paper. Inside the box were two more boxes. Typical Dylan, she thought setting the big box down, and taking out the smaller of the two inside. She took off the lid and on a bed of cotton was a shiny silver key. Dangling in the center was a tiny heart shaped ruby. Tears were never far from the surface for her these days, and now she knew why. They rolled over her lower lids as she pulled the thin silver chain and held it up. It was beautiful. Undoing the clasp she laid it around her neck and hooked it, then situated it between her breasts. Patting it she decided to read the note before she opened the second box. She picked up the envelope and slid out the card.
Carrie – after today, you’ll have this forever, so I shined it up for you. I love you and can’t wait to be your husband, and Izzy and Chris’s father. Be sure to pack the second gift, and that spoon in your suitcase when we leave for Austin. I want to try out a different flavor on you tonight.
Always - Dylan
The tears came harder, as she took out the second larger box and popped off the lid. She could barely see the label on the jar. She swiped her eyes with her wrist then looked closer. Chocolate Body Frosting was scrawled on the lacy label. Carrie sucked in a breath, and shivered as her imagination went wild with the things he would do to her body with that. As for the spoon, she still had it in the envelope, but they hadn’t pulled it out yet. She wondered what he had in mind for that.