Caress of Fire (36 page)

From across Texas Street, two women and a baby carriage headed this way. Gil held his breath. The moment of reckoning was at band. With a cape buttoned under her chin, he couldn't tell if Lisette wore the pendant.

“Damn.”

Quickly he closed the distance between them. Nothing adorned the cape. Nothing!

He took his wife by the shoulders. “Don't guess I can talk you out of your decision, can I?”

“Absolutely not. I don't know whether I can trust you. And you don't know what I'll do in the future. Or even today, as far as that is concerned. But–”

“I trust you, and I was a fool not to trust you from the beginning,” he replied, his heart breaking all over again at her rejection. “If you had decided to give me a chance, I would've proved worthy of your love. And I would've done my damnedest to do right by you and the girls.”

“That is what love is all about.”

“All aboard!”

The whistle blew. While the conductor helped Maisie with the perambulator, Lisette scooted around Gil. He saw his world leaving for Chicago.

“Lisette, I love you. I'll always love you.”

“I know.”

The big wheels of the Abilene-to-Chicago rolled over once.

Her back to him, Lisette put her foot on the step. “Gil, what's keeping you?”

She whirled around and the cape came unbuttoned. Hot damn! She was wearing his heart.

I hope you've enjoyed Lisette's and Gil's love story. In some ways, this story had a personal side for me. Because my husband's family came to Texas from Germany during the Republic Days, I have long been interested in the Germans, like Lisette, who settled this state. Matter of fact, I borrowed the name Lisette from Carl Hix's great-grandmother, Lisette Hof Tampke. And Gil McLoughlin, the Scotsman from Rock Island, mirrors my bit of background. My mother's father (my sole ancestral link to north of the Mason-Dixon line), David Jamerson, came to Texas from Illinois after serving in the Spanish-American War.

The blending of Scots and Germans held me so enthralled that I haven't been able to put Gil and Lisette away. Not at all. Their daughters will continue the McLoughlin story in my next two novels. And they have a son, too....

 

 

are published by

 

 

Kensington Publishing Corp.
475 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016

 

 

Copyright @ 1992 by Martha Hix

ISBN: 978-0-8217-3718-7

 

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”