“I did what I thought I had to.” g could stand the waiting.
Amber shook her head. “You and Gabe certainly de-As she was shampooing the customer, Amber walked serve each other. If it’s possible to breed this excessive back in, looking worried. nobility into your genes, the two of you will give birth Despite the fact they seldom discussed personal to the next Nathan Hale or Joan of Arc: ‘ business in front of customers, Amber walked over to
The idea of having Gabe’s children struck Dallas the shampoo bowl. “Fred just arrived; she said.. dumb. Dallas’s stomach began to churn.
“Ha; Amber said. “Gotcha again. You have a real “,
I’m sorry, Dallas. He’s alone.” case on the guy. So what are you going to do when he She clutched the edge of the shampoo bowl for sup comes in? Let’s think of something dramatic.” port.
“Let’s not .”
But he left a message on Gabe’s machine. He could
“Come on, Dallas. Your friends deserve a tear jerking still come in, you know. He’s probably been delayed wrap-up to this story. How about asking him to dance? , or he has a lot to do or-” I can give the deejay a signal, and he can play some- ” , ” thing special. What’ll it be?” Or he doesn’t want to see me, Dallas said through
Dallas swallowed the lump in her throat. “A waltz.” an aching haze that threatened to overwhelm her.
“I’ll finish this; Amber said, motioning her away from the customer. “Take a break. And doxi t give up.”
But she had. She couldn’t ride this roller coaster any longer. She remembered what it had felt like a month ago, when she’d been involved with Gabe. The uncertainty of the relationship was the part she d hated, even as she’d loved the excitement. She couldn’t keep herself dangling like this. With Gabe, it might be a pattern , and it was a pattern she couldn’t live with.
In the rest room shg dabbed at her eyes and took several long, calming breaths. The hell with him. She’d had a life before Gabe, and she d have one again. She had her business and her place in the country. Once Gretchen gave birth to her mongrel puppies, Dallas could get back to her plans of breeding purebreds.
She walked out of the rest room, and straight into Gabe’s arms.
He caught her and held her slightly away from him so he could look into her eyes. She stared back, drinking in the sight of him while her heart chugged like a freight train going up a steep rise. He wore no hat, and in the light pooled near the rest room area he looked haggard, with dark smudges under his eyes. His dark gaze searched hers. Then he reached down and brought her injured wrist, cast and all, to his lips.
Theremembered scent of him drew her closer. She touched his hair, grown shaggy around the collar of his flannel shirt. A Doug Stone song ended, and Dallas held her breath. When Anne Murray’s full-throated voice filled the dance hall, she felt dizzy, but kept her balance by looking into Gabe’s eyes.
Her voice trembled. “Would you… like to dance?”
“I would like that very much: He cupped her elbow and guided her to the floor. When they reached the polished boards, she turned and held out her arms. He swept her up, making her forget the bulk of the cast on her wrist, the agony of weeks without him, the pain of his imagined desertion. The sweet warmth of his embrace brought tears to her eyes.
They whirled around the floor, and she saw only him in the spinning colored lights. His hands were sure, his step unernng, his gaze locked with hers.
“You got Fred’s message, she murmured.
“Yes: ‘
“What did he say?”
His voice was husky. “That you wanted me. But I wasn’t sure what “
“Listen,” she said.
And as the words of Anne Murrays song surrounded them, the haggard lines slowly left his face, and the dark warrior eyes softened and began to glow with love. Vaguely Dallas realized that no other dancers were on the floor. Then, from the crowd sunounding the dance floor, came a smattering of applause. The applause soon swelled to a roar as shouts and cheers filled Rowdy Ranch.
Epilogue
Five months later
, “I’M Home'', Gabe called, opening the front door into the trailer. Then he realized his mistake as the floor shook under the galloping paws of the army coming down the hall to greet him. He struggled to maintain his balance as they barked and hurled themselves at him, covering him with dog slobber.
They surrounded him, and when Gretchen came around behind him and pushed against the backs of his knees, he went down. “Hey, you guys!” he protested as they whined and licked every available inch of exposed skin. Paws the size of soup ladles scrabbled over him. Ears flapped in his face. And above the clamor he could hear the sweetest sound.
Dallas was laughing. Dallas, who had once claimed to hate chaos, seemed able to handle it just fine. He liked to think that his unrestrained loving the past few months had something to do with her relaxed attitude.
He pushed away Gretchen and her four puppies, each the size of a midsize dog at four months. There, leaning in the entrance to the hall, was his wife. He’d been away for two weeks and it seemed a lifetime. Every trip got harder. He’d turned down two assignments that would have taken him out of the country.
A puppy surged forward, blocking his view, and he shoved it back so he could look at her and watch the way her eyes danced as she smiled down at him. “Hi ” , he said.
“Welcome back.” Her face glowed, and he knew that glow was in his honor.
“I see we still have four.”
“Considering we started out with ten, that’s not so bad: ‘
He managed to get to his feet, although both his shoelaces were now untied and the front of his shirt was soaked with puppy drool. They d inherited that from the Saint Bernard side of the family. “You guys are going out, he said, heading back toward the door.
“It’s raining, Dallas reminded him gently. “They’ll get muddy.”
Gabe weighed the options. It was August, so they might get muddy, but they wouldn’t get chilled. “I’ll hose them down later; he said, opening the door. All five dogs bounded joyfully into the rain.
He closed the door and turned to find Dallas right beside him. “I’m covered with “
She threw herself into his arms, cutting off his protest’ As if I care; she whispered against his mouth before claiming it in a greedy kiss.
He savored his return to paradise and wondered how he’d ever find the strength to leave when the next assignment came along. “Lord, I’ve missed you;’ he murmured when they came up for air.
“More than last time?”
“Much more.” He eased away and glanced down at her gently rounded belly. “How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful .” “you’re sure? Because if working at Rowdy Ranch is any problem, we could hire-“
“Gabe.” She gave him a warning look.
He sighed. “Okay, but promise me you’ll hire a replacement if you have any problems .”
She smoothed the frown from between his eyebrows’I think I promised that already. A few times. One of the reasons this works is that you can trust me to take care of myself when you’re away.”
He stroked his fingers through her hair. “And you want to know something stupid? I find myself wishing you weren’t so self-sufficient, that you’d beg me to stay home more, so I’d have a good excuse not to go.” He paused and stared at her. “I can’t believe I just admitted that .”
She gazed into his eyes, a soft smile on her face. “If we’re making confessions, I’ll admit that it tears my heart out each time you go, but I try not to show it. I don’t want to tie you down.”
He groaned and pulled her close. “Tie me down; he whispered, nuzzling the tender spot behind her ear. “Tell me you can’t live without me.”