Page 63 of River Wild

He looked into Bailey’s face and felt his heart float up as if filled with helium. He’d do anything for this woman, even die to save her.

It gave him an idea. He just hoped she’d go along with it. But first he had to drive down to the general store before it closed. “I have to run an errand, and then you and I are going out to dinner.”

“GOOUTTOdinner tonight?” Bailey said, already shaking her head. All this talk about the man and now the barbecue had drained her. She knew it was the only way to draw him out and get this over with one way or the other.

Not that she could say that to Stuart. He wanted to believe the best. Bailey didn’t think she’d ever been an optimist. After what had happened to her, she pretty much expected bad things to happen. Not that she could tell Stuart that either.

“We’re going out, you and me, on a date,” he said.

“A date?” she repeated. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been asked out, let alone gone out to dinner with a man. “Stuart—”

“At dinner, I’m going to tell you my plan.”

She started to groan because she knew he didn’t like the idea of the barbecue and her using herself as bait. Who would? But she wasn’t changing her mind, and he should know that about her by now.

“Trust me. My plan works with your barbecue plan.” Bailey highly doubted that.

He wasn’t gone long. Somehow he’d managed to get to a store before it closed, because when he walked in, he was carrying a plastic bag. “I bought you something to wear tonight.”

When he pulled out a yellow-and-white-checked sundress, she blinked in surprise, her gaze going from the dress to him. “Are you sure about this?”

“We’ve been hiding out here in my house long enough.”

She wanted to argue. Mostly, she wanted to curl up on the couch, drink beer and watch something mindless on the television, but she could see how much he needed this. He’d even bought her a dress to wear.

“Let me change,” she said, taking the dress from him. Seeing this side of Stuart warmed her in a way that also scared her. She hadn’t let herself think about the future, believing she didn’t have one once the man came for her.

Nor did she want to let herself dream now. It would have been too easy to see herself with Stuart for the long haul. Yet she felt a thrill of excitement at the idea of going on a date with him—even only as far as the local Cattleman Café.

THESHERIFFCOULDN’Thelp being nervous as he and Bailey took the only empty booth at the café. “Busy night, huh, Penny?” Stuart said to the waitress after she told them the specials and asked for their drink orders.

It was dinnertime on a Saturday night and one of the reasons he’d insisted on dinner here tonight. He’d wanted them to be seen together. As they’d walked to their booth, he’d felt all eyes on them. He could imagine what the other patrons were thinking—if not saying. What an odd couple they made. He doubted anyone was thinking he and Bailey were perfect for each other, not that it mattered.

They both ordered the chicken-fried steak special. “Could we also have two empty glasses?” Stuart asked. The owner of the café allowed the less unruly patrons to bring in their own beverages on a Friday or Saturday night.

When he pulled out a bottle of red wine, Bailey’s eyebrow shot up. “Stuart?” she whispered, leaning toward him.

“Just go with whatever I do, okay?”

She laughed and looked at him warily as he opened the wine, one with a twist cap, and poured a little into each of the glasses Penny had brought them. He raised his glass in a toast. Bailey raised her glass too, her gaze locked with his.

“To the future,” he said, and saw her wince. “May it be everything I know it can be.” They clinked glasses, and he watched her take a sip of the wine, her eyes shiny, as he took a sip of his own, then put down his glass and got to his feet.

She looked at him in alarm. He could feel eyes on them as he dropped to one knee, making Bailey gasp, her eyes as wide as the café’s famous pancakes.

“Stuart?” she said again as he pulled a small, worn velvet box from his pocket.

“Bailey McKenna, you make my life so much more interesting. You make it worth living. Also, your father said he’d throw us a party, a barbecue to celebrate our engagement. I’ve always wanted to go to one of his barbecues.” That got a few chuckles from the crowd that seemed to be holding their collective breaths. “Marry me.”

For a moment, Stuart feared she’d get up and run out. Or just as bad, say no. Her gaze locked with his. “You’re serious?” No one seemed to be breathing, including himself, as he nodded and smiled. He figured at least a few of the crowd were taking bets on whether or not she would turn him down.

Tears filled her eyes. “Stuart Layton...yes, I’ll marry you.”

The full café erupted in applause and well wishes. He saw more than a few people taking photos with their phones. Everyone in the Powder River Basin would be talking about this by tomorrow morning.

“It was my grandmother’s,” he said as put the ring on Bailey’s finger. He wasn’t sure she’d heard because of all the noise around them. The café had taken on a party feel. He’d known it would fit, and it did.

Stuart rose, heart in his throat. He’d dreamed of this—the real thing, not a pretend engagement for a barbecue to draw out a killer. He wondered if Bailey would ever forgive him for springing it on her. But he’d needed her reaction to look as real as possible.

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