Revenge on the Ranch, page 17
Each and every word he said seemed to magically take away the pain of the multitude of stitches she had just received. Each and every word he said eased the residual terror that had fluttered through her even though she was safe in the hospital.
“Luke, I need you to do me a favor,” she said.
“Anything,” he replied immediately.
“Will you tell me all that again tomorrow when I’m not on such strong pain meds?”
“Honey, I’ll tell you again whenever you want to hear it. Now, will you do me a favor?” His gaze held the warmth—the love she’d always wanted from him.
“Of course,” she replied.
“Will you answer my question?”
She frowned. “What question?” she asked. Darn the pain meds for making her more and more drowsy as each minute ticked by.
“Carrie Carlson, will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, I will.” Tears once again burned at her eyes, only this time they were happy tears. They lasted only a moment before a new worry filled her. “Oh, Luke. You might not want me anymore. I look like a rag doll that’s been put together too many times. I’ve got stitches in both my legs and my arm.”
“Carrie, I didn’t fall in love with a pair of legs or an arm. I fell in love with you, and no amount of stitches is going to change that.” He leaned down and took her mouth in a kiss of infinite tenderness and one that tasted of abiding love.
“Now, the doctor told me not to stay too long, so I’ll be back here tomorrow when you get out of here, and then you’re coming to my place after that.”
She smiled at him, still half-unsure if this was a dream or not. If it was a dream, it was the best one she’d ever had in her entire life. If it was reality, then she was the luckiest woman in the whole, entire world. Her eyes drifted closed. She felt his warm lips graze her forehead once again, and then he was gone.
* * *
SHE AWOKE THE next morning to sunshine drifting through her window and her wounds all hurting at the same time. She’d been moved the night before from the emergency room to a regular room. She hadn’t been awake long when Shannon Franklin, one of the other nurses, came into the room.
“Hey, Carrie. I’m so sorry to see you in that bed,” she said.
“That makes two of us,” Carrie replied ruefully.
“I’m used to seeing you taking care of patients, not being one.”
“Trust me, I’d much rather be wearing my scrubs instead of this ugly hospital gown,” Carrie replied.
“Well, you know the drill. I need to get your vitals, and then the doctor has ordered some more pain relief for you,” Shannon said.
“I’m not going to say no to that.” Carrie raised the head of her bed and then remembered the conversation she’d had with Luke the night before. Was she really an engaged woman this morning? Had Luke really been with her last night and professed his love to her? A wave of happiness swept through her at the very thought. Or had it been just a wonderful dream?
Luke showed up in her room just after she’d eaten breakfast. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked and swept her forehead with his lips.
“I’m hurting and a little bit confused. Luke, this may sound crazy, but am I an engaged woman or did I just have a wonderful dream last night?”
He smiled at her, the smile that always warmed her in a way no man’s smile had ever done before. “Well, I can’t talk to you about the wonderful dream you had last night, although I sure hope I was in it.”
She returned his smile. “You were a main player in it.” Her smile faded, and she looked at him more seriously. “Did you visit me last night? And did you really mean the things you said?”
“I meant every word. In fact, I’m late this morning because I made a stop on my way here.” He took a ring box from his pocket, and her heart instantly quickened. “I wanted you to know just how serious I was about what I said last night to you.” He opened the box to display a beautiful princess-cut diamond.
“Oh, Luke,” she said breathlessly.
“I’ll ask you one more time... Carrie Carlson, will you marry me?”
“Absolutely, positively yes,” she replied as her heart expanded with the depth of her love for him.
He slid the ring on her finger. “Now it’s official.”
“Looks like I’m just in time for the celebration,” Dr. Morris said as he stepped into the room.
“As soon as she’s better, we’re going to have a big party,” Luke replied and smiled down at her once again.
“Well, you can start celebrating a little bit now, because I’m letting her go today,” Dr. Morris said. “All I need to do is check on her stitches and rebandage them, and then she can go.”
“And then you’re coming home with me and we’ll never have to tell each other goodbye again,” Luke said, making her heart leap with the happiness and the knowledge that the man who was her best friend—the man she loved—loved her back.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER they were on their way to Luke’s house. They’d left the hospital and filled a prescription for pain medication. When the doctor had changed her bandages, Luke had seen all the damage Jason had done.
How could a man do something like that to a woman? Her pain hurt Luke, and all he wanted to do was make her better. When he’d left her house the night before and pulled to the curb down the street, he had thought long and hard about his feelings for Carrie.
In the end, he’d realized that what he was feeling for her was love, the kind of true love that he’d been looking for. She was not just his best friend; she was absolutely everything he wanted for a life partner. All the time he was telling himself he didn’t have time for romance, he’d been in a romance.
He’d driven back to her house, eager to tell her how much he loved her, and instead he had found her bloody and terrified. Even now, with her safe and in the passenger seat next to him, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. He never wanted to see her hurting again.
The things she’d said to him still rang in his ears. She’d given him a picture of himself that he hadn’t liked. He still wanted his father’s murderer to be caught, but he wanted to have Carrie in his life more.
She’d been right...everyone had been right. It was time for him to leave the investigation to Lane. And it was time for him to let go of his need for revenge—justice—and get on with his life, a happy life.
“You’re very quiet,” she said, pulling him from his thoughts.
He flashed her a smile. “I was just thinking how much I’m looking forward to having a wonderful life with you.”
“Luke, I want you to be happy, and I want you to be at peace,” she replied.
“I saw what revenge looked like last night when Jason came after you. I don’t want to be that man. I’ve found my peace with you.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his forearm, a familiar gesture that warmed him. “I love you, Luke King,” she said.
“That’s all I really need,” he replied as he pulled up and parked in front of his home...their home.
The afternoon flew by. Lane showed up to get an official statement from Carrie, and as Luke heard every single thing that had happened between Carrie and Jason, he was awed by Carrie’s strength and her courage in facing off with the madman.
Lane also told them that Elizabeth had been taken to the hospital. She’d been suffering from malnourishment and had been badly dehydrated. Jason had never taken her for any therapy after her stroke, but she was now set up to go into a rehab where she could get all the help she needed.
After he left, Emily called Carrie to tell her that she was doing fine but she planned to move back home with her parents for a while. She would pay her half of the remaining lease and make arrangements to move her things out of their house as soon as possible.
She had been apologetic to Carrie, but apparently her encounter with Jason had scared her badly. Carrie had assured her it was fine.
It worked out perfectly for Luke, who wanted Carrie to move her things into his house as quickly as possible. He wanted their life together to start immediately. With Carrie’s permission, he would pay off her rent and arrange for her things to be brought here to the ranch.
Finally, things had quieted down. He made them a quick dinner of soup and sandwiches, and then Carrie took a pain pill and fell asleep on the sofa.
He watched her sleep, grateful that he’d come to his senses where she was concerned. It comforted him that she would fall asleep in his arms tonight and that she’d be the first person he’d see when he opened his eyes in the morning.
He’d realized the night before that he had loved her for some time—he just hadn’t recognized it. He’d been too filled with his anger to see the love.
He wasn’t sure how long he watched her before he finally got out of his chair. He wrote a short note for her in case she woke up, and then he left the house.
His feet took him on the familiar path down the lane and to the stables. He flipped on the overhead light to ward off the coming darkness of night and then sank down on a bale of hay near the center of the building.
The scents of the hay and the horses filled his head and instantly evoked memories of Big John. This time the memories came without the enormous stabbing pain and anger, but rather they fluttered through him on lighter notes of shared laughter and conversations.
For just a moment he smelled his father...the fragrance of sunshine and the fresh, crisp cologne he’d always worn. A deep grief swept over Luke, a grief he knew he would probably feel for the rest of his life. He would always mourn for his father. There would always be moments when he would feel the loss of Big John.
But how lucky he’d been to have had as much time as he’d had with a man who had been bigger than life, a man who had been a good father and husband. How lucky he’d been to have had a father he loved and who he knew loved him.
Still, it was time to let go and make time and energy for Carrie and the life they would be living together. Eventually they would have children and he would tell them stories about Big John.
“Luke?” Carrie appeared next to him.
He got up from the hay bale and turned to face her. “Honey, you shouldn’t have walked all the way down here,” he said to her.
“I thought you might need me,” she replied somberly.
He smiled at her. “I need you every minute of the day and night, but I’m okay,” he assured her. He pulled her into his arms. “We’re going to have a great marriage, Carrie. We’re going to laugh and love and build memories every day. Are you in?”
“I’m in,” she replied with the bright smile he loved.
He took her mouth in a kiss that held all his love and desire for her. His father’s murder still wasn’t solved, and he didn’t know what kind of trouble Caleb might be in. But when he held her in his arms, those things faded to background noise.
He could have chosen to stay stuck in his anger and obsession with finding his father’s killer, but he’d chosen love instead. The woman he held in his arms had pulled him out of the darkness and into the light, and he knew it was a light that would shine on them for the rest of their lives.
* * *
Don’t miss the next suspenseful tale in
the Kings of Coyote Creek miniseries,
Gunsmoke in the Grassland.
And be sure to pick up other
exciting stories from Carla Cassidy:
Closing in on the Cowboy
Deadly Days of Christmas
Stalker in the Shadows
Stalked in the Night
48 Hour Lockdown
Available from Harlequin Intrigue!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Maverick Justice by Delores Fossen.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.
Dive into action-packed stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Solve the crime and deliver justice at all costs.
6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!
Maverick Justice
by Delores Fossen
Chapter One
The car was following her.
Delaney Archer was sure of it. She was sure, too, that the black SUV was quickly eating up the distance between them. When it caught up with her, the person inside would try to kill her.
Her too-fast heartbeat throbbed in her ears, and she shook her head, trying to will away the dizziness. She had to stay focused. Alert. Because her life depended on it. If she ran off the road, the killer would have her.
Lightning rifled through the black sky and lit up the sign that told her she was still five miles from the town of Clay Ridge. Too far. And on the rural road, there was nowhere to turn around and try to get back to her house in Lubbock. Besides, it wouldn’t be safe there, either. The SUV would just follow her, and since she’d be alone at her home, she would be an easy target.
The thunder came several seconds after the lightning. A thick rumbling groan that sounded like a primal warning. One that she tried hard not to allow to fuel the panic that was racing through her. Just a couple more minutes and then she could see her fiancé, Cash Mercer.
Cash would make all of this better. He always did, and more than ever she needed him. He’d know what to do about the person following her. Cash could stop it because he was the sheriff of Clay Ridge.
She took the road toward Cash’s ranch and checked her rearview mirror again. Even with the rain and her spotty vision, Delaney could see the SUV make the turn right behind her. He stayed close. Too close.
Delaney added more pressure to the accelerator and sped through the deep puddles that had already collected on the road. The wipers slashed over the windshield, smearing the rain on the glass so it was even harder for her to see.
Praying, she maneuvered her car around a sharp curve. The tires squealed and shimmied with the excessive speed, and she checked the mirror again. The other vehicle stayed right with her, its high beam headlight glaring into her eyes.
It certainly wasn’t safe to race through a storm at one o’clock in the morning while she was dizzy and feeling off, but she didn’t want to face a killer on a deserted country road. She had no weapon. No way to defend herself. Worse, she was exhausted and was worried she wouldn’t be able to stand, much less fight.
“A quarter mile to go,” Delaney mumbled when she saw the pond and cluster of cedars that marked the beginning of Cash’s property.
Delaney made the final turn and sped through the cattle gates that fronted the ranch with its acres of pasture, house and outbuildings. She glanced behind her. And everything inside her went still. Because there was nothing there. No SUV. No headlights. No one.
When her chest began to ache, Delaney released the breath that’d backed up in her lungs, and she stared into the rearview mirror. The empty darkness behind her should have made her feel elated and safe. It didn’t.
Mercy, had she imagined that someone was following her?
No. She couldn’t have been mistaken about something like that. She just couldn’t have.
Delaney slowed down and clamped her teeth over her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Why did everything seem slightly out of focus? And wrong. Something was definitely wrong. But what? She couldn’t think through the haze to try to figure it out.
More lightning veined across the sky as she came to a stop in front of Cash’s place. It was dark. Not even the porch light was on. He was obviously in bed, but that wasn’t unusual. He didn’t keep late hours since he was usually up early to deal with the ranching chores before going into the sheriff’s office.
The cold spring rain pelted her when she got out of the car, but Delaney managed to make her way across the yard. Each step was an effort. She was dizzy. So dizzy. And she was soaked by the time she used her key to let herself inside the house.
She leaned against the wall and peeled off her wet dress, surprised that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. It took her a moment to recall that she’d left everything but her purse at the hospital.
Yes. The hospital in Lubbock.
She’d dressed in a hurry so she could get out of there.
But why?
Because someone had wanted her dead. That was why she’d panicked when she’d seen the SUV following her. Except maybe there’d been no SUV. She shook her head again and pushed all of her questions and worries aside. The answers would come to her later after she’d rested.
She tossed her dress over the back of the chair in the living room. Drops of rain slid down her face, and she swiped at them with her equally wet forearm. Discarding her soggy shoes, she made her way down the hall to Cash’s bedroom.
Delaney pushed open the door, and thanks to another slash of lightning, she was able to see him lying on his stomach in bed. He had a patchwork quilt covering the lower half of his body. The storm raged outside, the rain pounded on the tin roof, but it didn’t disturb him. He looked peaceful.
Without taking her gaze off him, Delaney stepped closer. He stirred, his left hand brushing against the empty pillow next to him. Her pillow. Her place. Right there next to Cash.
She stood there for several moments, and despite the chill from her damp skin and the bone-weary fatigue, she just admired the view. And what a view it was. The rich black hair that swept against his neck. A solid back and shoulders that were corded with muscles he’d earned through years of hard work.
