A Little Surprise for the Boss (Mills & Boon Desire) (13 page)

“I’m on my way.” Heart pounding, Terri ended the call and reached for the quilted, thigh-length down parka she’d bought in town. The coat was puffy enough to camouflage her pregnancy. The tougher challenge, she knew, would be masking her emotions.

* * *

Buck ushered his excited daughter up the snow-packed stairs to the restaurant. Quinn had seen winter weather before, but not for a few years. On their way to the stairs, she’d scooped up handfuls of snow, shaping the white stuff into balls and laughing as she tossed them in the air. Once Terri would have dropped everything to play with her. Now she claimed she was too busy. Something had changed. What was it?

The restaurant was crowded, with a long waiting line, but a generous tip got Buck quickly seated at a good table with a view. Outdoor heaters, placed among the tables, warmed the air, but it was still chilly. He ordered hot cocoa for Quinn while they waited for Terri to arrive.

A few minutes later she came up the stairs, wearing a bulky dark green parka and holding tightly to the rail. Her face was flushed, her expression harried. But she smiled when she spotted Buck and Quinn, who was waving her over to their table.

Buck stood to pull out her chair. Sitting, she reached across the table and squeezed Quinn’s hand. “Great to see you,” she said. “How do you like the snow, Quinn?”

“I love it!” Quinn grinned. “I wish we could stay long enough for me to take ski lessons. I want to do what those people are doing.” She indicated the slopes with a sweep of her hand. “Have you learned how to ski yet, Terri?”

“I’ve been too busy working,” Terri said. “Maybe next year.”

Buck studied her across the table. Terri was smiling, chatting with Quinn. But she looked tired. And the way she’d come up the stairs, gripping the rail as if pulling herself up. Was something wrong, or was worry feeding his imagination?

They ordered tuna melts and hot soup. Buck noticed how Terri picked at her food, as if too nervous to eat. Was it because he and Quinn were here, or was something else bothering her?

“Are you all right, Terri?” he asked. “You look a little frayed around the edges.”

“I’m fine. Just stressed. I like my job, but this is the busy season—lots to do. And I haven’t been sleeping well, probably too much coffee.” She made a show of glancing at her watch. “I can’t stay long—just wanted to say hello and catch up.” She turned away from him. “How do you like school this year, Quinn? Tell me about your classes.”

She was making small talk—avoiding him, Buck could tell. After their parting he could hardly blame her for being uncomfortable. But he was seeing more than that. This wasn’t the breezy, confident Terri he remembered. She was like a wild bird, ready to take flight if he so much as reached out a hand to her.

Only one thing was solid in his mind. He loved her more deeply than ever. But he was growing more concerned by the minute. Something was troubling her. Something bigger than their unexpected visit. How could he leave her without knowing what it was?

She finished her soup, having barely nibbled the sandwich, and glanced at her watch again. “Oh, dear, I really need to be going now. I’ve got so much happening at work.” She rose, motioning Buck to stay seated as he shifted his chair back. “Please don’t bother getting up. You should stay and order some dessert. The cheesecake here is pure heaven. So good to see you both. Say hi to Evie for me, and enjoy the rest of your day.”

She blew a departing kiss to Quinn, turned away and fled like an escaping prisoner toward the stairs. Buck watched her go. He needed to talk to her again—alone this time, he resolved. Maybe he could call her later, or even stay an extra day and try to see her again tonight.

His gaze followed the back of her dark green coat as she wove her way through the crowd. Something in him wanted to rush after her and stop her from leaving. He curbed the impulse. If Terri wanted to run away, he had no right to interfere.

What happened next happened fast. Two roughhousing teenage boys were wrestling each other in the waiting line. Grabbing and shoving, they stumbled hard against Terri, who’d just reached the top of the stairs and taken the first step down. The impact knocked her off balance. Arms flailing, she pitched forward, cried out and disappeared from Buck’s sight.

A collective gasp went up from the watchers. Buck shot out of his seat and bulled his way through the crowd to the top of the stairs. Looking down, he could see Terri at the bottom. She lay sprawled faceup on the icy sidewalk, her eyes closed.

In an instant he was at her side. He didn’t dare lift or move her, but as he touched her cheek, her eyelids fluttered open. Her lips moved as she struggled to speak.

“Get me to the hospital,” she said.

“I’ve called nine-one-one,” a man standing nearby told Buck. “They’re sending an ambulance.”

“Thanks.” Buck held Terri’s cold hand. “Lie still,” he murmured. “Help’s on its way, and I’m here. I love you, Terri. Do you hear me? You’re going to be fine.”

She didn’t speak, but her fingers tightened around his.

Somehow, in the confusion, Quinn had found her way down the stairs to crouch beside him. Her eyes were huge and scared in her small, pale face.

“Will Terri be all right, Daddy?” she asked.

Buck laid his free hand on her shoulder. “Let’s hope so. But if you want to say a little prayer, that couldn’t hurt.”

Quinn bowed her head, her lips moving in a whispered prayer. By the time she’d finished, the ambulance was pulling up to the curb. The paramedics supported Terri’s neck and back, eased her onto a stretcher and loaded her into the vehicle. As it sped away, lights flashing, Buck and Quinn raced down the block to where they’d left their rental car.

Minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. By the time Buck checked at the emergency desk, Terri had been taken back to an examination room.

“Are you family?” the desk nurse asked.

“We’re the closest thing to family she’s got,” Buck said, and realized it was true.

“Have a seat, the doctor will be out to talk to you after he’s examined her.” She turned away to answer a ringing phone.

Buck and Quinn settled on the couch to wait. Time crawled. Sick with worry, Buck thumbed through a stack of tattered magazines, barely aware of what he was seeing. Quinn asked for a dollar to get a soda from the vending machine. She came back and plopped down beside him. “Do you know what I think?” she asked.

“What?”

She popped the tab on her soda can. “I think you should ask Terri to marry you. We need her, and right now she needs us.”

Buck smiled at her through his worry. “I think you’re right. But what if she says no?”

“Then I’ll talk her into it. I can talk Terri into anything.”

Just then the doctor, a tall, balding man with glasses, came out into the waiting room. In an instant Buck was on his feet. He motioned the doctor into a side hall, out of Quinn’s hearing. “How is she?” he asked, bracing for the worst.

“She’s one very lucky lady,” the doctor said. “That was a nasty fall she took. She’s got a sprained wrist and some bruising, but no broken bones. And the baby appears to be fine.”

“The baby?” Buck stared at the doctor, trying not to look like a fool. The last thing he’d expected was that Terri would be pregnant, but it all made sense now—the puffy coat, the nervous behavior. She hadn’t wanted him to know. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

“We did a sonogram to make sure there was no problem,” the doctor said. “Everything looked fine, but we’d like to keep her overnight for observation.”

“Can I see her?”

“For a few minutes. Your little girl will have to wait out here. The nurse can keep an eye on her.”

Buck thanked the doctor and walked back to where Quinn stood. “Terri’s going to be all right,” he said. “I’m going back to see her. You’ll need to stay here. I won’t be long. Okay?”

“Okay,” Quinn said. “Are you going to ask her?”

“I’ll see how it goes. See you in a few minutes.” He turned to walk away.

“Dad—”

He glanced back at her. “What is it?”

“You can be pretty dense sometimes. Don’t let her get away again.”

“Got it.” He flashed her a grin, which faded as he strode back through the swinging doors. Quinn’s view of the situation was simple—just ask her and don’t give up till she says yes. But there were things Quinn didn’t know, or was too young to understand.

He found Terri sitting up in bed, dressed in a hospital gown with a flannel blanket over her legs. Her right wrist was bandaged, and an IV with a saline drip was attached to her left arm. She looked pale and shaken, but otherwise all right.

Buck’s first sight of her roused a storm of emotions—relief, outrage and a love so overpowering that it left him weak in the knees. Terri was the love of his life, the mother of his child. And he was mad enough to shake her silly.

He sank onto a chair that had been left next to the bed.

“You could’ve told me,” he said.

“I know. I’d planned to tell you eventually. But I didn’t want you thinking you had to do the right thing again. I saw what you went through with Diane, remember?”

“Blast it, Terri—” Buck bit back the rest of what wanted to be an angry outburst. That fall she’d taken could have killed both her and their child. But she was here, she was all right, and so was the baby. Anything—everything—else could be fixed.

“Listen to me.” He reached across the bed and captured her hand in his. “We aren’t perfect people, you and I. We’ve both done things that need forgiving—especially me. But damn it, I love you, Terri. Baby or no baby, I want to marry you and make a family—and Quinn wants it, too. So stop making excuses. Just say yes and make me the happiest man in the world.”

Her gaze dropped to their clasped hands. He could imagine what was going through her mind. Was he proposing because of the baby? After the callous way he’d treated her in the past, could she really believe his claim that he loved her? Buck waited in an agony of hope and dread before she finally spoke.

“Do you really think we can make this work?” she asked.

Buck began to breathe again. She hadn’t said no. There was still a chance. “We’ve been making it work for ten years,” he said. “We just need to make some changes. You won’t be my right-hand woman anymore. You’ll be my center, my heart.”

“Then, yes.”

Buck wanted to shout with happiness. He wanted to turn cartwheels down the hall. But this was a hospital. He stood, leaned over her the bed and gave her a gently lingering kiss. “They’re going to throw me out of here any minute,” he said. “But when I come back here tomorrow I want to bring a ring and put it on your finger—or would you rather wait and pick one out yourself?”

“I have an idea,” she said. “Take Quinn with you. Let her pick it out. Whatever she chooses will be perfect.”

Buck barely had time for another kiss before the nurse appeared to usher him back to the waiting room. When she saw his face, Quinn broke into a wide smile.

“She said yes, didn’t she, Daddy?”

“She did.” Buck grabbed her hand. “Come on, young lady. You and I are going ring shopping.”

EPILOGUE

Christmas Eve, one year later

S
now was falling, feathery light, on the big house in the canyon. Winter storms were rare in this warm country, and the snow seldom lasted long. Since this was Christmas Eve, the gentle storm added a special magic to the night.

As the clock struck eleven, Buck stood with Terri at the darkened window, watching the flakes drift down. Behind them, embers crackled in the fireplace where four stockings—one very small—hung from the mantel. A tall Christmas tree in the far corner glowed with light.

The two of them had put the children to bed and spent the past hour wrapping the last of the gifts. Now they were tired, but the peace and beauty of the snow kept them lingering at the window. Buck slid his arms around his wife, cradling her against him in the glowing darkness. Her head rested in the hollow of his throat.

“Do you think Quinn will know what her present is when she opens that big box?” Terri asked.

Buck laughed. “When she sees that saddle and bridle, she’ll figure it out. It’s not like we can put her horse under the Christmas tree.”

Quinn had been begging for a horse for months. Buck had bought her a well-broken registered mare and arranged to board it at a nearby stable. Terri had bought her a hat and some riding boots, now wrapped in another beribboned box.

“At least Stevie’s easy this year,” Terri said. “I bought him some clothes and a few little toys, but he’d be just as happy playing with boxes and ribbons.”

“Or climbing up the stairs,” Buck added.

At nine months, young Stevie Morgan was all boy. He hadn’t started walking yet, but he could crawl like a little champ, and he was into everything. His latest fascination was the staircase, which he could already climb. Buck had added gates at the foot and top of the stairs, but it took everybody’s vigilance to make sure the little explorer was safe. Quinn adored her baby brother, and she’d already become his favorite person.

Buck nuzzled his wife’s ear, inhaling her womanly fragrance. Desire warmed inside him. He slid his hands upward, cradling her breasts through her silky shirt. “Maybe it’s time we were in bed, too,” he murmured. “Santa won’t come if we’re awake, you know.”

She made a little purring sound. “Fine. But let’s check the children on our way.”

Holding hands, they mounted the stairs to the second-floor landing. Quinn’s room was closest. Their daughter lay curled in sleep. Her walls were decorated with horse posters. She was growing up too fast, Buck thought. In no time at all she’d be a young woman. Every day of her childhood had become precious to him.

The nursery was across the hall from the master bedroom. Stevie sprawled in his crib, restless even in his sleep. With his mother’s chestnut hair and his father’s blue eyes, he was the baby they’d created the very first time they’d made love. Now Buck couldn’t imagine life without him.

“We should make more of those,” he whispered to Terri.

“Shhh…” She drew him out into the hallway and stretched on tiptoe to kiss him. “Bedtime,” she whispered. “Come on.”

Content to the marrow of his bones, he followed her into their bedroom.

* * * * *

Pick up all the Harlequin Desire novels from Elizabeth Lane

IN HIS BROTHER’S PLACE
THE SANTANA HEIR
THE NANNY’S SECRET
A SINFUL SEDUCTION
STRANDED WITH THE BOSS

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