Here Comes Trouble (41 page)

He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Wake up
baby, please tell me you're okay," he whispered by her ear and gave
her a one armed hug. "I love you, Terri," he said and kissed her
hair.

His breath caught in his throat when her green
eyes opened and latched onto his. "Am I dead?" she asked in a soft
whisper.

"No, baby...thank God, you're not dead," he
said and his voice trembled.

She sighed then put her hand to her forehead.
"That bastard pointed the gun at me and I tried to knock it out of
his hand. He hit me in the head with it and it went off. I thought
he'd shot me."

"I think he might've shot mama," Joel told her
and she gasped then struggled to get out of his lap. He held her
tightly, "Shh...Dylan and Jenny are trying to help her."

Her gaze fell on Caleb and softened. With a
whimper, she took him into her arms and rocked him gently. "Thank,
God you're safe," she cooed and kissed his downy head.

"How's mama?" Joel yelled, because he couldn't
see anything beyond the opened door of the truck.

"Bullet just grazed her arm, she lost a little
blood. We need to take her to the hospital and get them to sew her
up," Jenny told him.

"I have suture kits in the aid station at the
ranch, if you just want to do it there," Terri hollered
back.

"That'll work, and I can write her a script
for antibiotics. I write more of those now than I did at the
hospital!" Jenny replied loudly and Terri smiled.

"I'm fine, stop fussing over me!" Curly
shouted loudly and the baby jumped in Terri's arms.

"Texas girls yell, God blessed us with lungs
for a reason...get used to it baby boy," she said softly to
Caleb.

"He blessed me with a Texas girl," Joel told
her and leaned down to put a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love
you."

"I love you too, but you're damned stubborn
you know that? And you don't listen! I told you to stay in the bed,
and what do you do as soon as I turn my back? You're in a
truck--
with a gun
!" she screeched the last part when her
eyes floated up into the truck and saw the rifle on the
seat.

A confused look came over her face and she
asked, "What happened to that bastard who kidnapped us?"

She went to get up and Joel stopped her.
"Don't look, baby...I shot him," he told her gravely.

"Is he dead?" she asked and sat up straighter,
tucking the baby to her shoulder and patting his back.

"I didn't check, but I don't miss much. Mama
taught me to shoot," he told her with a snort.

"He's deader than a doornail," Curly yelled
from the other side of the door. "Good shooting, honey...bastard
won't be threatening my grandbaby again," she grumbled.

Pain shot through Joel's leg and he flinched.
Either the adrenaline had masked the pain and it was wearing off
now, or it was time for another pain pill.

"You hurting, sugar?" Terri asked with
concern. "We need to get you back home to bed," she said and stood
up with the baby."

"We need to get you to the hospital and make
sure your head isn't cracked," he corrected.

"My head is fine, it was just a glancing blow,
and my head is hard you told me so."

"But you were unconscious, Terri, you need to
go!" he argued then hefted himself up and balanced on his good
foot. He looked over the door and saw Larry lying face down in the
ditch with a pool of blood surrounding him. He pulled Terri to him
and hugged her. "Don't go over there, baby."

"Joel, I've seen blood before, I'm a nurse,"
she protested and tried to pull away.

"Yeah, but the baby doesn't need to be seeing
it."

"I haven't seen it before," someone said from
the truck and he heard gagging, before the truck door opened and
the tick tick of Ronnie's heels sounded as she crossed the
road.

Evidently she finally sat up in the seat and
looked around, Joel thought. So far, she'd been very quiet, but
she'd been a trooper. "Here let me hold the baby, why don't you go
make sure she's okay..." he suggested and held out his
arms.

Terri put the baby in his arms, but rolled her
eyes. "That woman needs to get a backbone," she said and stomped
around the back of the truck.

Joel heard sirens in the distance and breathed
a sigh of relief. Dylan must've called the police, he thought.
Chase was probably a madman, he'd better call him and tell him
everything was fine, before he wound up in jail himself. He reached
back on the seat and grabbed his phone to call his
brother.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A month later Joel was still trying to wrap
his mind around all that had happened on that road between his
ranch and Chase's house.

He'd almost lost Terri, his mother and
possibly his brother's wife and new baby. The thought of how close
he'd come to losing the love of his life three times now still sent
cold chills racing down his spine.

Terri was alive, his mother was alive and
healed, Jenny and Caleb were alive, his leg was well on the way to
being healed, and his ranch was successful. It was almost
Thanksgiving, and Joel had a lot to be thankful for, but money
wasn't on the list, even thought it wasn't a problem for him
anymore.

Since he and Karen hadn't settled and the
final divorce decree hadn't been filed, he was considered a widow
and everything from their marriage was his. Larry was dead, so
according to their partnership agreement, the business assets were
all his too.

Yeah, the man had scammed him out of nearly
half a million dollars, but it could be worse. Joel could be broke,
or he and Terri could both be dead, because of the man he thought
was his friend. The insurance company hadn't paid out because of
the situation, but that was okay. The money was just a bonus, he'd
have gladly paid every dime to make sure things turned out the way
they had.

Thanks to Terri pushing him in physical
therapy, insisting they install a state-of-the-art gym by adding a
huge room onto the spa then torturing him there, the doctor had put
him in a walking cast at his visit last week, so he could get
around. Although Joel had promoted Dylan to ranch manager after the
incident with Larry, he was glad he was finally able to get
involved in running the ranch again.

And there was the wonderful, unbelievable fact
that Terri loved him. Every day she showed him how much. Joel loved
her too, with everything in him. It was time for him to make her a
permanent part of his life. He was going to do that now that he
could get down on one knee.

Because Terri wouldn't let him leave the house
yet, he'd told his mama what he wanted and her to go shopping for
him. When he told her his plans, Curly had yelled so loud he
thought that Terri would surely hear her and come running. Then he
would have to explain why she was yelling to Terri, which would
totally blow his plans.

Terri hadn't heard, and his mother was on a
mission to the jewelry store, a restaurant, a liquor store and
finally a florist. Tonight, they didn't have any bookings in the
main house, so they would be alone. He'd given Penny the night off
too. Joel glanced at the clock, and figured his mother would be
back any minute, then he was shooing her out of the house too and
set things up.

Terri was at Jenny's watching Caleb while
Jenny was at school, so she wouldn't be back for another hour or
so.

Joel's stomach was in knots while he waited.
Even though Terri said she loved him frequently, that didn't mean
she wanted to put up with a lifetime of his bull. She'd had five
years of hell with her ex-husband.

She might not even be ready for something
permanent, especially with a man she probably considered
emotionally stunted from his own bad marriage. He had kind of gone
crazy after the divorce, and unfortunately Terri had witnessed some
of it.

That was another thing Joel had to be thankful
for now, his sanity. Terri had helped him keep that when he was on
the verge of going stark raving nuts, by simply loving
him.

If she said no tonight, he'd just melt into
the floor, but he kept telling himself nothing ventured, nothing
gained. If she said yes, it would all be worth it.

When his mother finally got there, Joel had
showered, changed into a suit and was waiting in front of the
fireplace. To accommodate his cast, he had to split the leg of his
suit, but he was going to burn all of them anyway, so it didn't
matter. Joel was not a suit kind of man anymore. He was a rancher
and a businessman and he'd never been happier in his
life.

A big grin split his mother's face as she
carried in boxes and bags. He ran over to help her and put them on
the kitchen table.

"Thanks for doing all this, mama," he told her
and sneaked a peek inside one of the larger bags. Tin foil
containers from the restaurant filled the bag, and delicious smells
wafted up to tease him. Careful not to burn himself, Joel took them
out and put them on the table.

"Here, you need to look at this and make sure
it's what you wanted," she said and reached into her purse then
handed him a small blue velvet covered box.

Joel's hands shook as he opened the box and
saw the ring. "Oh, God mama, it's perfect," he said and leaned down
to kiss her cheek. The ring was dainty, because so was Terri. A big
honking diamond would have looked ridiculous on her petite
hand.

He got her a three-diamond ring with a
medium-sized stone in the middle set in white gold. The setting had
meaning for them, and he hoped she understood it like he did
now.

They should learn from their past, cherish
their present and look forward to the future. He learned he could
let himself love someone again and not be hurt, he learned all
women weren't selfish and he learned some could be trusted. Because
of Terri.

Forgetting their past would mean they'd repeat
their mistakes in the future, and Joel had no intention of doing
that with Terri. He would make sure he took the time, like he had
been doing to just be with her and enjoy life. Joel Rhodes was not
a work-a-holic anymore.

After he thanked his mother again, she wanted
to stay and help, but he shuffled her to the door and went back to
the table to finish getting things ready. Excitement built inside
of him along with another dose of nerves.

Terri looked at the clock again, and cursed.
Jenny was late, and so was Terri. Joel had made her promise to be
home on time tonight, he told her he had a surprise. Pulling her
cell phone out of her purse she called Joel's number. He answered
on the first ring.

"Are you okay, sugar?" he asked quickly, his
deep sexy voice full of concern.

Terri smiled, every time she left the house
these days he worried about her. She liked being worried about, but
didn't like to worry him. "I'm fine, baby...Jenny's just a little
late. She called and said she was about ten minutes out. I just
wanted to let you know, so you didn't worry."

She heard his huffed sigh and felt terrible.
"I'll be there soon, just keep whatever my surprise is
hot
,"
she said with meaning.

"Oh, it's hot baby...I need a kiss hurry up,"
he told her in that sexy drawl of his. "But be careful!" he
qualified and she smiled. Smiling is all she'd been doing
lately.

Since the last bit of trouble, she'd moved
into his bedroom with him, and that's exactly where she'd been
every night since then...and it had been hot in there
too.

Joel Rhodes was her dream come true, he was
kind and loving. He gave her everything she ever needed...and then
some. Even with a broken leg he'd managed to get pretty creative,
so had she.

Waking up next to him every morning was the
best feeling in the world. Seeing him grin that sexy grin at her as
the sun came up, was the perfect way to start her day.

Terri just hoped that eventually he'd feel
comfortable enough to trust her not to hurt him like his ex-wife
had. That was the only thing missing between them...and
permanency.

But Terri was still taking one day at a time,
just like she said she was going to do. There wasn't any rush, and
she wasn't putting any pressure on him. Her love for him didn't
have an expiration date.

"I love you," she told him like she had a
hundred times lately. And she did, Terri had never felt the kind of
love for a man that she felt for him, not even her
husband.

She realized now that her marriage had been
doomed from the beginning, built on false promises, false
hope...and heat. She and Joel had the heat, plenty of it, but there
was love and respect too. He didn't do things that made her
insecure...took extra care to make sure she felt safe with him. And
she was doing the same for him.

"I love you too, baby...so much," he told her,
then said again, "Come home."

She loved that he included her in his idea of
home. The ranch had become just that to her. They were moving out
of the ranch house in a few months to a house he was having built
away from the other buildings. He told her they needed more
privacy.