Hank could see that the offer meant a lot to his foreman. He held out his hand. “Thank you. Tell the men I appreciate what you’re doing. I’ll have the supplies you’ll need here by tomorrow at the latest.”
“Boss, one other thing. The men wanted me to tell you how much they appreciated the doc sticking around the other night. She’s going to be busy as can be if she sets up practice around here. She’s got a real gentle, reassuring way about her.”
Hank smiled. She did, indeed. “I’ll tell her that.”
As soon as Pete had gone, Hank went inside and called the lumber company. They promised he’d have his delivery by morning, along with all the men they could spare, as well.
Mrs. Wyndham appeared in the doorway, hands on hips, her expression grim. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you could do with some cleaning up,” she chided. “When was the last time you passed under a shower?”
Hank grinned. “Not as many days ago as you’re probably thinking, but I imagine I could do with another one.”
“Then get on upstairs and take one. I’ll have lunch on the table when you get down. Cody said he’d be back around then, and I expect we’ll be seeing Luke and the others, as well. This arson business hasn’t set well with any of them.”
At the mention of arson, Hank’s blood began to boil. It had taken all of his willpower to leave matters in Justin’s hands, but if he didn’t have answers soon, Hank was going after Brian himself. Unless he was made to pay for this, there was no telling what would come next.
By the time he got downstairs, the Adams men were all seated at his dining-room table. They fell silent when Hank walked in. Hank’s gaze shot to Justin.
“What have you found out?”
“The fool didn’t even have sense enough to buy the gasoline he used in the next county. Carl said he filled up three gallon containers at his pumps the very morning of the fire. Paid with his credit card, too. Now, could be he had a lot of lawn mowers to fill up or it could be he’s got an old tractor that doesn’t take much gas to operate, but I’m betting that gas came right out here. The insurance-company arson investigator agrees it was gasoline that got things started.”
“Surely the man’s not that dumb,” Hank said. “If he intended to set a fire, wouldn’t he have paid cash at least?”
“You would think so,” Jordan agreed. “But the way I figure it, maybe he wanted you to know who was behind it.”
“Why?” Cody demanded.
“Payback for Lizzy,” Luke said quietly. “You stole something he wanted right in plain sight, and now he’s done the same to you.”
“What kind of sick logic is that?” Hank demanded. Then another terrifying thought struck. “What about Lizzy? Will he go after her, try to claim her?”
Lizzy’s brothers exchanged a solemn look that told Hank everything he needed to know. “I’m going to White Pines.”
“Hank,” Cody called out. “Don’t worry. He’ll have to go through all of us to get to her.”
Hank didn’t wait to see if the others intended to follow or not. He saddled his horse and raced for White Pines. Janet met him at the front door. “Hank, what is it? The fire hasn’t started up again, has it?”
“No, it’s Lizzy. Is she here? I have to see her.”
“She’s upstairs resting.”
“Are you sure?”
She regarded him uneasily. “Of course I’m sure. Where else would she be?”
“I just need to see that for myself. Please.”
She stood aside. “Just don’t wake her, okay. She’s been restless. I don’t think she’s gotten much sleep the past few days.”
Hank barely heard her. He was already sprinting up the stairs. He’d known for years which room Lizzy had. She’d pointed out the window once, hinting that she would scale the tree outside to meet him for a secret rendezvous if he were willing. He’d never taken her up on it, but he’d never forgotten which room it was. Sometimes late at night, he’d sat outside in the dark at his place and imagined he could see the light beckoning from that window.
When he got to the room, he stood silently and forced himself to calm down. He opened the door quietly and eased inside. The drapes were drawn, but even so the sunshine crept through a gap, casting just enough light for him to see that she was safely tucked under the covers. A sigh eased out of him then.
He edged closer and gazed down at her, a lump in his throat. Whatever it took, whatever compromises were necessary, she was going to be his, he vowed. He would not lose her or his baby, not to Brian’s sick revenge, not to her own doubts. If that meant making a few sacrifices while she finished her medical studies, then so be it.
Satisfied at last that she was perfectly secure, he slipped out of the room and joined Janet at the foot of the stairs. He shrugged sheepishly at her puzzled expression.
“I got it into my head that Brian could come after her,” he said. “Cody and the others were afraid of the same thing.”
Janet shook her head. “Which explains why there are pickups barreling up the driveway even as we speak. This has to stop, Hank. Somebody has to deal with Brian, and I know who that someone is going to be.”
Hank stared at the grim set of her jaw. “You?”
“She’s my daughter, isn’t she? I’ll lay out a few legal facts for the man. That ought to put the fear of God into him.”
Hank grinned at her. “You would, too, wouldn’t you?”
“Don’t you laugh at me, Hank Robbins. Nobody messes with my family.”
Hank put his arm around her. “What about you and me going together?” he suggested.
“Not without the rest of us,” Harlan announced, joining them. “I’ve called Tate. I don’t want it to be said that we’ve turned this into a lynching of an innocent man. The sheriff’ll see to it that everything is taken care of nice and legal.”
“I could have done that,” Janet protested.
Harlan grinned at her. “Who are you kidding? You’d have been the first one to pop the man.”
“Somebody has to stay here with Lizzy,” Hank said.
“Melissa, Jenny and Sharon Lynn are on their way. Jenny’s a heck of a shot if I do say so myself.”
“Then we’ll go as soon as they get here,” Hank said, his expression grim. Come what may, he wanted this over. He wanted to start making plans with Lizzy for what promised to be the most unconventional marriage on record, at least for the next few years with her in Miami and him and their baby in Texas, and all of them chalking up enough frequent-flyer miles for a long honeymoon in Hawaii when it was over.
* * *
Lizzy awoke to the sight of her sister sitting at the window with a shotgun in her lap.
“Jenny?”
“Hey, sleepyhead. It’s about time you woke up.”
“What on earth is going on?”
Jenny glanced down as if surprised by the gun she was holding. “Oh, you mean this. Just a precaution.”
Lizzy sat up slowly. “Maybe you’d better explain that.”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I understand all the details myself, but Daddy and Hank were convinced you might be in danger, so here I am. Melissa and Sharon Lynn are on guard downstairs.”
“And the enemy is?”
“Brian.”
Lizzy might have laughed, if it weren’t so clear that everyone else was taking this so seriously. “He wouldn’t come here.”
“I would have said the same thing a few days ago, but then I wouldn’t have pegged him as an arsonist, either.”
Lizzy’s eyes widened. “They know for sure that he set the fire at Hank’s?”
“Justin’s convinced of it. He’s got evidence he took to Tate and it must be pretty darned convincing because the sheriff’s with the rest of them.”
Lizzy moaned softly and covered her face with her hands.
“Lizzy? Sweetie, what is it? Are you okay? Is it the baby?”
“No, but this is all my fault. It started out with that stupid party.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jenny protested. “You are not to blame.”
“Of course I am. I had to have my way. I had to make Hank fall in love with me, and look what a mess I’ve made of it. I’m pregnant and he’s off chasing down a lunatic. If anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Nothing is going to happen to Hank,” Jenny said with confidence. She tilted her head. “So, when’s the wedding?”
“Never. I can’t marry him. It would be a disaster. I’ve been nothing but trouble for him.”
“I don’t think that’s the way he sees it. He loves you, sweetie. There’s no hiding from it.”
Lizzy gave a sigh that was part dismay, part relief and wonder. “He really does, doesn’t he?”
Jenny glanced out the window. “And here he comes now, all in one piece. I guess the battle is over and the good guys have won.” She leaned down and brushed a kiss across Lizzy’s forehead. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”
Lizzy clutched her hand. “No,” she pleaded. “I can’t see him yet.”
“You don’t have a choice. He’s heading this way, and I, for one, am not about to stand in his way. Even with this gun in my hands, I’m no match for a man on a mission like this one.”
Jenny took off just as Lizzy heard Hank taking the stairs two at a time. She heard them exchange a few murmured words in the hall, and then there was a sharp rap on her bedroom door.
“Lizzy? I know you’re in there,” Hank said. “I’m coming in.”
She sighed and resigned herself to facing him. “The door’s unlocked.”
He opened it slowly and stepped inside. His face was haggard, as if he’d been getting no more sleep than she had been. The temptation to run to him was overwhelming, but she held back. To her dismay, she could already feel the faint stirring of resentment that because of him and their baby she was going to have to give up everything.
He walked over to the bed and sat beside her, not touching, but close enough that she could feel the heat from his body beckoning to her.
“Is everything over with Brian?”
“Tate has taken him in for questioning. There’s enough evidence to lock him up.”
“No shots fired?”
“Only one. Your daddy plugged the back tire on Brian’s fancy sports car as he tried to get away.”
“I’ll bet the sleazeball loved that.”
“He was madder about that than being taken into custody.”
He leveled a look deep into her eyes then that had her squirming. “What’s going on, Lizzy? It’s not like you to hide out in your room.”
“I had some thinking to do,” she said.
Hank nodded. “Me, too.”
Unable to stop herself, she reached out and pressed her hand against his stubbled cheek. “It looks as if all that thinking has been keeping you up at night.”
He glanced sideways at her. “Doesn’t seem to have affected you much. You’re more beautiful than ever.”
“You would say that even if I looked like something the cat dragged in,” she teased. “You’re just trying to have your way with me.”
He grinned. “What if I am?”
She placed her hand over her belly, which was just showing the first signs of expanding to accommodate the baby growing inside. “Seems to me like you already have.”
“Then a time or two more won’t make any difference, will it?”
She regarded him indignantly. “A time or two? And then what? Are you planning to get rid of me after that?”
He shook his head. “Not willingly,” he said quietly. “Never willingly.”
“What then?”
“I’m giving you a gift,” he said. “A wedding gift, if you want it.”
“I haven’t agreed to marry you yet.”
“Then think of the gift as a bribe.”
Lizzy sighed. “Hank, you don’t need to bribe me to marry you. I love you. I want to be your wife.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “In due time. But the baby changed the timetable.”
“Just one of life’s little unexpected surprises,” she said, trying to keep her tone light, instead of bitter. “Everyone always said I was the impetuous one. I ought to be able to handle this better than most.”
“But you’re not handling it, darlin’. You’re torn in two. I’m going to make it easy for you.”
Lizzy didn’t like the sound of that. She didn’t like it one little bit. She stood up and scowled at him.
“No,” she said heatedly. “You’re not going to make it easy for me. That’s what Daddy has done my whole life. If I wanted something, he got it for me. If I wanted to get into med school, he made it happen. If I wanted to have this baby on my own and turn it over to him and Janet or a nanny to raise, he’d make that happen too, but that’s not the way it’s going to be. This baby is my responsibility.”
“And mine,” Hank reminded her fiercely. “And it’s more than a responsibility, Lizzy. This baby is a miracle, our miracle.”
The anger went out of her at the wonder in his voice. When he opened his arms, this time she went to him and let herself be held.
“How could I have forgotten that, even for a minute?” she whispered against his neck. “How could I have forgotten what a blessing this is?”
“Because you have something to lose, darlin’, something that’s important to you. That’s here and now, while the baby is still to come. It’s harder to weigh them when one doesn’t seem quite real yet. As for me, I’m getting the best of the bargain. I’m getting everything I ever dreamed of.”
His gaze swept over her, and his lips curved into a tender smile. “You know, maybe we’ve been going about this all wrong. We’ve been looking at it as if it’s an either-or situation. Somebody very wise once told me that the best marriages are based on compromise.”
“Must not have been an Adams,” Lizzy said dryly.
“Oh, but it was,” he corrected, and the set to his jaw was every bit as stubborn as any Adams Lizzy had ever known.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” he continued. “We could manage it if you stayed in Miami, but if you would transfer to medical school here in Texas, it’d be just around the corner.”
Lizzy’s heart began to fill with hope. “And what? You’ll take care of the baby? Is that what you’re saying?”
Hank’s chin jutted up a notch. “Why not?” he challenged. “It’s better than hiring a nanny, which is what you’d have to do if the baby was with you in Miami. I suppose Mrs. Wyndham and I could manage to change a few diapers, assuming your daddy and Janet would let us near the baby.”
Her spirits began to soar at the possibilities. “And I could come home and take over on the weekends. And maybe you could even bring the baby up for a few days, if we got an apartment near school with room for a nursery.”
“It would take a lot of patience and flexibility on both our parts,” Hank warned.
“But we could do it,” Lizzy said. “I know we could.” She peered into his eyes. “Hank, are you sure? Will you absolutely hate having me gone so much of the time?”
“I would hate it more if I lost you and the baby for good.”
Lizzy was beginning to get the idea they could make it work. The prospect of actually marrying Hank without having to give up medicine actually took her breath away.
“We’d have to have a wedding before the end of summer,” she said, then added with dismay, “There’s not enough time. You know Daddy will want something elaborate.”
“Oh, I think I can persuade him that expediency is more important than formality just this once,” Hank said with confidence. “A little, old unexpected wedding won�
�t throw him for a minute. As for you, you can just think of it as a surprise party and just show up on time.”
Lizzy laughed and settled on his lap. “That gets us through the wedding, but Hank, what about later, after I get out of school?”
He leveled a gaze straight on her. “Now that’s the solution you’re going to have to come up with. I’ve done what I could to ease the way through the next few years.”
Lizzy sighed and buried her face against his neck. Visions of a medical practice in a major trauma center paled by comparison to images of being with Hank and their child. A smile began to form. If Hank could compromise, so could she.
“Do you think Daddy’d be in the mood to build a hospital in Los Piños?” she asked. “That would be a whole lot nicer than having to go all the way to Garden City to work, especially if I’ve got a whole passel of kids around the house and a handsome husband I won’t ever want to leave.”
Hank laughed.
“Darlin’, if it’ll bring you home where you belong, I can flat out guarantee it. Heck, I’ll raise the money for a wing myself.” His expression sobered. “Think about it, though, Lizzy. I know you had your heart set on a big-city hospital. Can you be happy back in Los Piños?”
Lizzy gave the question the careful consideration Hank obviously expected. She’d always cared more about medicine than about the money. Maybe she was more like Marcus Welby and less like those ER doctors than she’d thought. She might not become a world-renowned trauma doctor in Los Piños, but the past few months had proven that Los Piños had its own share of emergencies. And when it came right down to it, family practice was looking awfully good to her, too.
“To an Adams, Los Piños will always be home,” she said. “And you’ll be here. And our children. That’ll be enough excitement for me.” She would make it enough, because Hank was giving her so much in return, not just his love, but his understanding.
“Children?” he was saying now, his expression hopeful.
She grinned at him. “I have a feeling once we get started, Mr. Robbins, we’re not going to want to stop.”
“A whole new dynasty,” he whispered. “A Robbins dynasty. I think I like the sound of that.”
White Pines Summer Page 36