Page 71 of Wyoming True

She grinned at him. “We just might be.”

She was over the moon. She wasn’t even impatient waiting for Maude. Her heart felt so full it was almost to bursting. What she’d dreaded at first was turning into one of the best decisions she’d ever made. Gone was the fear of Bailey and his thugs. Gone was her uneasiness about marrying Jake. She was suddenly positive that they really were going to make a wonderful marriage.

It was a long way to Manhattan, a tiring trip. But she wanted to go very much. An evening with Jake would be out of this world. She thought about travel with him after they were married. There were worlds of places to go and see. And just being married to him would be very nice.

The only thing was, she wanted a child. She’d spoken to Dr. Menzer about it, without Jake’s knowledge, because she had to know, just in case, if she could carry a child with her health issues.

He’d assured her that she could. It might put more stress on her bad hip, but there were ways of coping with that. He’d grinned and teased her about her so-called platonic marriage to the most eligible bachelor in town. She was quick to mention that she and Jake had agreed that it would be a marriage of friends. The doctor, however, was certain that it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Not if she was asking about her chances of carrying a baby to term. But he didn’t say that.

She glanced at Jake, wondering what a child of his would look like. He had silver eyes and hers were blue. They were both tall and musically inclined. Their child might be a prodigy, who could say? She allowed herself a brief daydream, of her holding a baby in her arms and Jake bending over her with joy in his face, his eyes. Truly a pipe dream, she thought after a minute. An impossible dream.

MAUDEWASBACKby the time Fred got really twitchy. He was tapping in rhythm on the steering wheel and looking all around him, as if he expected the police any minute. It amused Ida, who had no idea why he was so nervous. She’d mention it to Jake later, if there was time.

Fred took them back to the house, and Maude, after a minute of heartfelt gratitude to them both, went to the kitchen to cook something magnificent for supper.

“You need to rest for a while,” Jake told Ida. “You’ve been on your feet too long.” He felt the weight of the dress she’d purchased, in its neat bag that he couldn’t see through. “Going to show it to me later?” he asked with a wicked grin.

“Not until the wedding,” she said firmly.

“Does it come with a veil?”

She laughed. “Yes. It comes with a veil.”

He moved closer, one lean hand going to her cheek as his silver eyes looked intently into hers. “I’ll lift the veil when we’re married, and be the first to see you as a married woman,” he whispered.

Her heart ran away with her. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him with fascination. She’d never known anybody like him, and she’d have bet her life that he’d never raise a hand to her or shout at her as Bailey had.

“Mrs. Jake McGuire,” he added in a husky whisper, his eyes all over her beautiful face as he studied her.

She just stared at him helplessly. “Yes,” she managed.

He bent his head and brushed his mouth softly, tenderly, against her own, briefly, so that he didn’t upset her or make her feel threatened.

He drew back. She tasted like honey. He smiled. “Don’t panic,” he teased. “I’m just practicing for when Tolbert marries us.”

She laughed very softly and her eyes were full of her own delight. “Okay.” She hesitated. “Are you sure we don’t need just a little...more practice?” she faltered, uncertain of him.

But he smiled. “We might,” he murmured.

He bent again, but this time the kiss lingered, slowly building to an intensity that brought her closer as the arm that wasn’t holding the dress went around her shoulders and pressed her to him. His mouth was warm and gentle, even though his heart was racing and he felt himself going very taut at even that contact. But he mustn’t frighten her, he told himself. He had to be gentle for a while, and not give way to the desire that had unexpectedly bubbled up in him.

He drew back far too soon, his breath going into her mouth as he lifted it. She looked—he wasn’t certain—dazed, perhaps. Fascinated. He smiled. He liked the way she looked very much. He started to bend his head again, afraid that this time it wouldn’t be gentle or brief, because he was rapidly losing his self-control. He was in over his head. He couldn’t stop. But he had to. His lips were almost touching hers when the kitchen door opened suddenly and they broke apart.

CHAPTER TWELVE

MAUDEHIDAsmile as she told them that dinner would be served momentarily. They looked flushed and disoriented. Good, she thought. This might be a better marriage than they’d planned. Especially, she added to herself, since the boss lady was knitting a baby blanket. She’d said it was for the child of a friend, but the way she looked as she worked gave away her own hunger for a child. She wondered if the boss knew it.

He didn’t. He was too concerned with wedding preparations and faint doubts. He liked Ida, a lot. He was comfortable with her. But he had memories he couldn’t share with her, memories that brought him awake shouting in the dark. Flashbacks of horror, gore, war. He lived alone, so nobody knew about them.

He did recall Cindy mentioning that Ida had woken her screaming one night, and she’d called the sheriff, thinking the poor woman was being attacked. It was bad memories there, too.

Jake sighed. If Ida had nightmares, too, they might get along well. But he also had battle scars that he’d never shared. He didn’t go shirtless in the summer, even on the hottest days when he was helping the men out on the ranch, here and in Australia. It brought comment, which had quickly been squelched by foremen who knew about him.

He wondered if Ida had cold feet, too. He’d given his word, promised to marry her, bought her a ring. It was too late to back out. He’d have to go through with it. Some small part of him wanted to marry her. He was lonely. He missed the wonderful days he’d had with Mina when he hoped to make her love him. Those days were only memories. They comforted him when he was sad. He thought about her with the baby boy she shared with her husband, Cort, and recalled how much he’d wished it was his child.

He didn’t think Ida would want children, not in her physical condition. He wasn’t certain that she could carry a child in her body with all the damage it had sustained. But he remembered her knitting the baby blanket. It gave him an unexpected jolt of pleasure.

He went back to talk to Tolbert, because he was concerned. The wedding was tomorrow. He couldn’t back out now. The marriage had been announced in all the surrounding counties’ newspapers. Jake was well-known in cattlemen’s circles, in sophisticated circles in cities, as well. There would be coverage of the wedding. He hadn’t told Ida. It would be impossible to keep the newsmen away, even if they could be barred from the church during the brief ceremony. It was just one more worry to address.

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