The Last Honest Woman

by Nora Roberts

  "I broke my arm." He was getting used to the idea as he showed off his cast.

  "Very impressive." She was already forgiven. Abby could see it in his eyes, feel it in the way his fingers curled into hers. "I guess it hurts, huh?"

  "It feels a little better."

  Chris walked over to inspect the clean white plaster. "Dylan said I could put my name on it."

  "I guess so." Ben looked up for the first time at Dylan. "Maybe you all could. Did Thunder run away?"

  "Don't worry about Thunder," Abby told him. "He knows where the grain barrel is."

  He stared down at his own fingers, wriggling them tentatively. "I'm sorry."

  "No." She cupped a hand under his chin. "I'm sorry. You were standing up for me. Thanks."

  He breathed in her familiar scent when she kissed him. He didn't feel so brave now, just tired. " 'S okay."

  "They want you to stay a little while. I'm going to get your medicine."

  "Why don't you and Chris do that, Abby?" Dylan moved closer to the table. "I'd like to talk to Ben awhile."

  Because she saw embarrassment rather than anger in Ben's face, she nodded. "An right. We won't be long."

  "Can I have a drink?" Ben asked.

  "I'll ask the doctor." Bending over, Abby kissed both of his cheeks. "I'm crazy about you, you jerk."

  He grinned a little and stared down at his cast. When she glanced over her shoulder from the doorway, he was looking at Dylan.

  "I guess you were pretty mad at me," Dylan began.

  "I guess."

  "Yelling at someone you care about's pretty stupid. Adults can be stupid sometimes."

  Ben thought so, too, but he was cautious. "Maybe."

  How could he approach the boy? With the truth. He spouted off about honesty, demanded it, expected it. Maybe it was time he gave it. Still cautious, Dylan rested a hip against the table. "I've got a problem, Ben. I was hoping you could help me out with it."

  The boy shrugged and began to toy with the edge of the sheet. But he listened.

  It was almost dusk when they were home again, settling Ben down and stacking up piles of books and toys for his pleasure. The day had worn him out, and he was asleep before he'd finished his supper. Even while Abby was tucking him in, Dylan carried a dozing Chris up to his room.

  "Fell asleep in his pizza," he told Abby with a half grin.

  "I'll be right there."

  "I can do it. Why don't you do down and fix us both a drink?"

  There were a few bottles of wine left over, gifts from Chantel. Abby poured two glasses, then dove into the pizza, realizing she hadn't eaten since early that morning. She was halfway through a piece when the tears started again. She closed the cardboard box carefully, put her head on the counter and wept it all out.

  Dylan found her that way and didn't hesitate. He gathered her into his arms, held her close and let her cry against him. "Silly now," she managed. "He's all right. I just keep seeing him in the air, hanging there for that one horrible second."

  "I know. But he is all right" He drew her away from him and began wiping away the tears. "In fact, besides one broken bone, he's great."

  Abby touched his cheek, then kissed it. "You were great. I don't know what I'd have done without you."

  "You'd have done fine." He drew out a cigarette because he was more than a little shaken himself. "That's one of the most intimidating things about you."

  "Intimidating?" She hadn't been sure she would ever laugh again, but it was easy. "Me?"

  "It isn't easy for a man to get involved with a woman who's totally capable of handling anything that comes along. Running a house, raising children, building a farm. It isn't easy for a man to believe that there are women who can not only do those things but enjoy them."

  "I'm not following you, Dylan."

  "I don't guess you would." He crushed out the cigarette, discovering he really didn't want it. "It's all natural for you, isn't it? It's incredible."

  She picked up his glass and handed it to him. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd already been dipping in the wine."

  "I'm just beginning to think clearly."

  "I am, too." She picked up her glass and sipped. The wine was unfamiliar and wonderfully cool. "I know you were angry with me this morning."

  "Abby-"

  "No, wait a minute. The last thing you said to me before Ben came in turned on all sorts of lights. I'd like to get it out now-all of it-and end it."

  He could have told her that it didn't matter anymore, not to him. But he could see it mattered to her. "Okay."

  "You've asked me why I stayed with Chuck. Very simply, I'd stayed because I'd made a promise. Eventually, when I knew I had to break it and end my marriage, I needed to take all the blame. Somehow it was easier for me to go on believing that I'd made a mistake, I'd failed in some way."

  Her voice was strained. Abby took another sip of wine, then continued. "But I hadn't made a mistake, Dylan, and I have two beautiful children to prove it. You said Chuck failed himself and you were right. He was capable of so much more, but he made the wrong choices. It's time I admit that I made the right ones. I've got to thank you for that."

  "I'll take your gratitude, but it's not what I'm after."

  As it had in the hospital waiting room, her stomach worked itself into knots. "I'll never forget what you did, what you've done just by being here."

  "I have a hard time hearing you put all that in the past. Don't you want to know what Ben and I talked about white you were gone?"

  She looked down at her wine. "I thought you'd tell me if you wanted me to know." Then she smiled up at him. "Besides, I could always get it out of Ben if you didn't."

  "That's one of the things I love about you."

  She looked at him with eyes that were clouded and no longer calm. "Dylan, this morning when you were shouting, you said-"

  "That I'd fallen in love with you. You have a problem with that?"

  She was holding her glass with both hands now, but she didn't look away. "I wish I knew."

  "Let me explain it to you the way I explained it to Ben." He set his glass down, then took hers and set it on the counter. "I told him I was in love with his mother. And that I was new at being in love and didn't know quite how to handle it. I told him I knew I'd make some mistakes and that I hoped he'd give me a hand."

  He combed a hand through her hair, let it rest on her cheek, then removed it. "I told him I knew a little about running a farm, but I didn't have much experience at being a husband and none at being a father, though I wanted to give it a shot."

  Her eyes had grown wide, so wide and vulnerable that he wanted to pull her against him and promise to protect her from everything. But there'd be no rash promises with Abby. She'd had rash promises before, and had them broken. He thought second chances should be based on faith. "Are you going to give me a chance?"

  She couldn't swallow. She wasn't even sure how she could still manage to breathe. "What did Ben say?"

  Smiling, he reached out and touched her cheek. "He thought it sounded like a pretty good idea."

  "So do I." She flung herself into his arms. "Oh, Dylan, so do I."

  Perhaps it was gratitude he felt, perhaps it was relief. Mixed with it was a sense of coming home at last. "Just don't start thinking about buying cows."

  "No. No cows, I promise." When she laughed, he pressed his mouth to hers. There was everything-love, trust, hope. There were second chances in life, and they'd found theirs.

  "Abby-" He could spend hours just holding her.

  "Mmm-hmm?"

  "Do you think we could talk your father into dancing at our wedding?"

  Her eyes laughed at him. "I'd hate to see you try to stop him."

  The End

 
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