by Alison Kent
Harley couldn’t even think to respond. She just rolled her eyes, following Mona into the living room. When Mona lifted her shoulders in a questioning shrug, Harley said, “Take it to the bedroom. Just set it on my bed.”
She waited until she heard the lock click into place and Mona’s shoes scuff to the bottom of the staircase. Even then she could only stare at the box, wondering what Gardner had sent her. Wondering if she’d left something at the ranch and he’d returned it so he wouldn’t have to think about her again.
Lord, her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. And her heart still wasn’t through breaking.
Finally, not knowing got the better of her. The box wasn’t heavy; it made only a slight indentation on her quilt. She knelt carefully before it, scissors in hand, and eased one long blade beneath the length of brown tape. One by one, she lifted the flaps, eased away the packing tissue and, breath held, peered inside.
It was Gardner’s albatross, his anchor, the weight chaining him to the past. Slowly, reverently, Harley lifted his great-grandmother’s wedding gown from the box and spread it over her bed. The Parisian lace had yellowed with age as had the ivory satin and tulle. But the symbolism, the significance, the sense of love beyond life—none of that had dulled.
Blinking back tears, Harley reached into the box once more. Gardner’s great-grandfather’s medical kit filled with priceless equipment and a lifetime of sacrifice. The man had left his family, removed himself from position and wealth, for the woman he loved.
Unable to do more than move through mechanical motions, Harley pushed the box to the floor. Hugging her knees to her chest, she rocked back and forth. She couldn’t take any more When would their hurting stop?
What had Gardner suffered to break this bond? He was giving her his past and, by doing so, putting his future in her hands. His actions were so much louder than the words he didn’t say. This gesture screamed his love from the top of his lungs.
Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She swiped them away and reached for the tissue box on the table beside her bed. And that’s when she saw the note. A single sheet of folded white paper that must have fluttered to the floor.
His handwriting was scrawled but legible.
You alone are my life.
Yesterday, tomorrow. and today.
From this day forward, from this day past.
All my worldly goods I thee endow.
Gardner was having a hell of a time figuring out Jud’s emergency. “Get on down to the pond and you’ll see what I’m talking about,” didn’t explain much at all. But Gardner was in the Range Rover on his way to the pond.
From there he could head out to the south sixty and make one more check of the fence over Little Creek before Sam Coltrain moved his herd into the pasture.
The money from the lease was going straight into Tyler’s college fund instead of winter feed. Tyler didn’t know it but that was Gardner’s prerogative. And more than ever he intended to see to his brother’s future. Family was too important to take a back seat to business.
He owed his brother a lot. If not for Tyler’s interference, he probably would have gone on being as hardheaded as always, refusing to admit what he felt for Harley was never going to go away.
Funny thing, but he was managing to work around it. The gnawing was always there, the hunger, the need to feel her fingers on his skin and a load of her common sense upside his head. But he was managing.
His childhood would forever be a part of who he was but that was history. Living in the present had a hell of a lot more appeal, especially with Harley beside him. He wanted her beside him for the rest of his life and had told her so by bundling up the past.
He hadn’t called since sending her the package, wanting his gesture to speak for itself. Now all he had to do was wait. But he wouldn’t wait long.
His cell phone interrupted his musings. With a jerk of the wheel, he swerved to dodge a stump and lifted the phone from its sleeve. “What now, Jud?”
“Do you think we could build a treehouse in the oak tree by the pond?”
It was Harley. Harley. Harley wanted a treehouse in the oak tree by the pond.
Jud and his damned emergency. He was going to wring his uncle’s neck for this. And Tyler would just have to deal with another set of busted shocks. Gardner floored it.
“Gardner?”
What had she said? “A treehouse. Sure. How many stories?”
“I always wanted one of those Swiss Family Robinson things,” she said, her voice resonant with the innocence he loved.
“That might be a little too much for one kid,” he said, searching for casual conversation while he drove the hell out of the Rover.
“Who said there’s going to be just one kid?”
Gardner jammed on the brakes. He was having a heart attack. Right here. Right now. He wasn’t even going to live to see his child. “You mean twins?”
“No, silly. I mean one now, one next year, one the year after. As long as you pitch in and help.”
“Oh, I’ll pitch in.” He launched the Rover back into motion.
Harley went on as if he hadn’t said a word. “I mean, you didn’t have a bit of trouble making yourself at home in my apartment. And being handy around the house is just one of the requirements I have for my husband.”
Husband. Gardner couldn’t breathe. Damn this game. “What are you saying, Harley?”
“I’ve already talked to Mona about the store. She wants it and since she doesn’t need the second floor for living space, she’s going to put in a boutique.” Harley sighed. “I think she’s going to call it something like Moods, by Mona.”
Gardner thought Mayhem might be a better choice but he wasn’t about to get into a discussion that wasn’t important. Where was the damned pond?
“I’d also like for my husband to leave his work at the office. Considering we’ll be living at the office, I realize that’ll be hard.”
The oak tree appeared over the top of the rise ahead. Down one more hill and… “Don’t worry. I’ve just made it clear to both Tyler and Jud that I’m going to be backing off. I decided I want to enjoy what’s left of my life.”
“Good. I don’t want a husband who’s going to work himself into the ground.”
“Well, that’s taken care of. Any other requirements?”
“He has to be good in bed but that’s not a problem.”
“Anything else?” Gardner asked, his voice husky with need and want and so much more. Finally, finally, there she was, her blond hair catching all the fire of the sun.
She glanced his way as he rolled toward her. “The most important thing. Between those children and that job, he’s got to remember that I still need a whole lot of attention.”
He jerked the Range Rover to a stop and got out. His heart wedged in his chest as he stared at Harley sitting cross-legged on the ground beneath the spreading oak.
His tree. His children’s tree.
“That’s easy. My wife is my number-one priority in life.” He tossed the phone onto the dash, decisively strode across the pasture, and drew her to her feet. Her phone fell to the ground. “Now come here, wife.”
“What are you doing?” she shrieked when he lifted her cotton T-shirt and tugged down the elastic waistband of her leggings.
He didn’t answer but yanked his own shirt free from his jeans, unbuckled his belt, and spread open his fly. Then he pulled her to him and rubbed her gently rounded pregnant belly over his. She was warm. She was Harley. And she was going to be his wife.
He pressed against her, the curve of her stomach the sweetest shape in the world. A baby. Their baby. God, he was going to die from happiness.
He kissed her then, sealing their pact, and starting a fire that he knew would last a lifetime.
Finally, after he’d tasted her mouth, her jaw, the slope of her shoulder, and the length of her neck, Harley broke away.
“Gardner, are those my panties hanging from your rearview mirror?”
“Why?
” he purred into her ear. “You want ’em back?”
“Nope. Never. And that’s a very, very, very long time.”
“Ah, Harley.” He hugged her as close as two people could get and said the words that set him free. “I love you.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
THIS BOOK WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED in 1996 by Harlequin Temptation. It has been updated and revised.
READER LETTER
Dear Reader,
Nothing beats the thrill of being in the right place at the right time. How about driving past your dream house when the For Sale sign goes up in the yard? Or promising to start your diet tomorrow, then stopping for ice cream and meeting your fantasy man in front of the freezer?
How about having your manuscript at a publishing house in the hands of the senior editor of the line for which you want to write the very moment that house, that editor, and that line have been selected to be profiled on national television?
Call it fate. Call it luck. Call it serendipity. Any of the three could be applied to the selection of Call Me as the manuscript contracted live on CBS “48 Hours.” No one could have been more surprised than I to receive the call from the show’s producer.
The call from Birgit Davis-Todd would have come with or without the show, though I was thrilled at the way things turned out. The timing and circumstances allowed so many old and new friends to share the experience with me.
You can see a (VERY OLD!) clip of the episode here: https://goo.gl/T4Kj2P
I hope you’ve enjoyed Harley and Gardner’s story. One of the best things readers can do for authors is to leave reviews. If that’s something you’re inclined to do, thank you! I’d love for you to visit my website and learn more about my books (written under this name and others), and sign up for my newsletter (Psst! There’s a free book for you at this link!) for updates.
Thanks again for reading!
Alison Kent
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Alison Kent
MORE BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
Dystopian YA Science Fiction
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The above five books are available as a boxed set:
Smithson Group: SG-5
Larger Than Life
Deep Breath
Beyond A Shadow
Companions to the Smithson Group Series
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The above four books are available as a boxed set:
Smithson Group: Companion Novels
Contemporary Romance - Novellas
This Time Next Year
About That Night
Love Like Crazy
Erotic Romance - Novellas
At His Mercy
Baby Don't Go
Wrap Me Up
Contemporary Romance - Novels
Play Me
Call Me
The Best Is Yet To Come
When She Remembered
The You I've Come to Know
The Grinch Makes Good
The One I Want For Life
The One I Always Dreamed Of
Collision Course
Harlequin Blaze titles
Harlequin Temptation titles
Harlequin online short stories
Roped Into Romance (girl-gear series)
Mind Games (Eternally Yours series)
Kiss Me, Kate (Do Not Disturb series)
Non-Fiction
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance
Totally Charmed: Demons, Whitelighters And the Power of Three
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1996, 2017 by Alison Kent
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, events, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Originally published in 1996 by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
2017 Cover and interior design by Rocks and Ink
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
P raise for CALL ME
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Author’s Note
Reader Letter
More Books By the Author
Copyright