Page 97 of No Child of Mine

He shook his head, puzzled. “What?” Tears trickled down her pink cheeks. Her mouth was red from his kisses.

“I think we need to stand before God and put ourselves back together again.”

“You want us to renew our vows?” Daniel had a sudden image of wounds being sewn closed.

“Yes.”

“And until then.”

“It’ll be like we’re dating again. You could ask me out to lunch. I could cook dinner for you. We could go to the movies.”

Daniel stifled a groan even as he saw the beauty of the suggestion. A new beginning. “So when were you thinking we’d have this marriage ceremony?” He pulled her close again so he could bury his face in her hair and inhale her scent.

“Well, I have to buy a dress, and we have to get the church, and there’s the cake and the invitations.” She pushed his head up so he could see smile on her face. “And vows to write and memorize.”

He managed a weak smile. “So two weeks should be plenty of time.”

She leaned into him, the jasmine scent making him dizzy, the feel of her skin under his hands so soft he couldn’t stop touching her. “I might be able to get it together in ten days.”

“How about six.”

They both laughed, an unfamiliar chorus. “In the meantime, I suggest we get reacquainted.”

“Danny.”

“All engaged couples kiss.”

“Fine. But I’m leaving in five minutes.”

“Fifteen.”

“Ten.”

Time was short. He focused on kissing, not talking.

“Hey! Mom? Is that—Dad?”

Daniel glanced up. Christopher stood at the top of the stairs, a puzzled look on his face. “Go to bed, Son, your mother and I are talking.”

A delighted grin danced across his son’s face. “That doesn’t look like talking to me.”

“Do what your father says, Christopher.” Nicole laughed softly, her gaze on Daniel’s face. “He has some more talking to do.”

Daniel didn’t look to see if his son obeyed. He was busy talking.

Chapter Forty

Abilene, Kansas

Alex slammed the cruiser door and leaned back in the seat next to Deborah. She turned away from him and peered out the window as if fascinated by the view of Kansas landscape. She’d been quiet during most of the trip. He’d caught her looking at him a couple times, her expression confused. It had been late when they’d arrived at the airport in Topeka so he hadn’t tried to talk to her on the drive to Abilene. The kiss had been too much too soon. That had to be it. He wanted to bang his head against the door. He was always doing that. Charging in instead of using a little finesse.

Detective Boyd Baker had the lined face of a middle-aged man coming up on senior citizenship fairly quickly. He shifted his belt under an ample belly that hung over his uniform pants, before putting his hands on the wheel. Cooper sat in the front next to his crony. Baker pulled on to the street and head out of Abilene. The sign said the road they were on Old Highway 44.

Baker had the heater going, but Alex zipped up his overcoat anyway. He’d been freezing from the second he’d stepped from the airplane. The wind blew across barren plains, even though Kansas wasn’t as flat as he’d imagined it. “So you haven’t run across Chavez yet?”

“Not yet, but I’ve been watching the Dodge place. Like I told Coop, I played it cool when I went out there. Just said I was checking up on their horses. Dodge was his usual arrogant self. Didn’t seem the least bit uptight about law enforcement showing up.”

“So you got a good look around?”

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